St Mary de Haura Church, Shoreham-by-Sea

St Mary de Haura Church
The church from the northeast
50°49′58″N 0°16′27″W / 50.8329°N 0.2742°W / 50.8329; -0.2742Coordinates: 50°49′58″N 0°16′27″W / 50.8329°N 0.2742°W / 50.8329; -0.2742
Location	Church Street, New Shoreham, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex BN43 5DQ
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Website	www.stmarydehaura.org.uk
History
Founded	c. 1096
Founder(s)	William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber
Dedication	St Mary de Haura (St Mary at the Harbour)
Dedicated	c. 1096
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	8 May 1950
Style	Norman
Administration
Parish	New Shoreham: St Mary de Haura
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Hove
Archdeaconry	Chichester
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Rev. Ann Waizeneker

St Mary de Haura Church is an Anglican church (formerly a Catholic church) in the ancient "New Shoreham" area of Shoreham-by-Sea in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded at the end of the 11th century as a large cruciform church which, due to its original scale, has been described as a collegiate church—a reflection of the port of Shoreham's importance at the time. The former east end of that building survives to form the present church, and much 12th-century work remains. It functions as Shoreham-by-Sea's "town church" for major religious and social events, as well as serving its small town-centre parish. English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.

Old Shoreham was a mostly agricultural village on the east bank of the River Adur. Claims that it was founded near the place (Cymenshore) where Ælle of Sussex—the first King of the South Saxons—came ashore in 477 have been disproved, but it had become a successful village by the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, supporting a population of 76. In the decade after this, William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber or his son Philip founded a new settlement to the south, on the estuary where the Adur flowed into the English Channel. This may have been a result of William de Braose's failure to gain control of the harbour upstream at Steyning.