St Nicolas Church, Portslade
| St Nicolas, Portslade | |
|---|---|
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| 50°50′35″N 0°13′06″W / 50.8431°N 0.2182°WCoordinates: 50°50′35″N 0°13′06″W / 50.8431°N 0.2182°W | |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Open Catholic |
| Website | Parish of Portslade & Mile Oak |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Nicolas |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Portslade, Parish of Portslade & Mile Oak - St Nicolas : St Andrew: The Good Shepherd |
| Deanery | Rural Deanery of Hove |
| Archdeaconry | Chichester |
| Diocese | Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | Fr Andrew Perry |
St Nicolas Church is an Anglican church in the Portslade area of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has 12th-century origins, and serves the old village of Portslade, inland from the mostly 19th-century Portslade-by-Sea area.
A Roman road ran from north to south through the area which later became Portslade. There was no recorded Roman settlement, although Samian ware pottery has been found nearby and neighbouring Southwick had a Roman villa. A village began to develop in mediaeval times, and a manor house and church were built close to each other in the 12th century. As originally built, the church consisted of a chancel, a nave with an aisle on the south side, and a square tower at the west end. The nave, aisle and part of the tower appear to have been built first, along with the typically Norman architectural feature of twin pillars of Caen stone; the chancel and the upper part of the tower were built in the early 13th century. The bell tower, with battlements, was added at the top of the tower in the 14th century; the porch on the south side was added later, but probably by the 16th century.
Portslade was originally the most populous and important of the villages and parishes west of Brighton, and St Nicolas Church never declined to a ruined state, unlike the churches at Hove (St Andrew's), Aldrington (St Leonard's), Hangleton (St Helen's) or West Blatchington (St Peter's). However, the fabric of the church and its fixtures did decay gradually over time, and like many churches in Brighton and Hove it was altered and restored during the Victorian era. Medieval wall paintings were uncovered in the nave in 1847, but were whitewashed over and lost. The mural depicted the Last Judgement; an illustrated article was subsequently written by the incumbent vicar for an archaeological journal, in which a date of 1440 was attributed to the painting. An aisle was added on the north side in 1849. In 1946, local stained glass designers Cox & Barnard made a small window which was installed in the church tower. It commemorates former verger A.C. Wheatland and depicts the church's patron saint.
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