CHURCH.
In 1073 William de Braose gave the
church of Beeding, so described, to his newly
founded college at Bramber. (fn. 60) Since Beeding had
previously been served by the minster of Steyning (fn. 61)
it seems likely that the church too was of recent
creation, and that Braose was attempting at Beeding
as at Bramber to carve out a 'manorial' parish from
Steyning. (fn. 62) At some time apparently in the 1090s, in
exchange for the restoration of Steyning's rights in
Bramber, Beeding church was confirmed as a parish
church, the property of the abbey of St. Florent near
Saumur (Maine et Loire), to which the endowment
of Bramber college had passed. (fn. 63) Meanwhile at some
time before 1096 William de Braose founded another
religious house, Sele priory, as a cell of St. Florent
at Upper Beeding, apparently attaching it to the
existing church; (fn. 64) the priory thereafter enjoyed the
endowments of the mother house in Sussex. (fn. 65) A
vicar was mentioned at Beeding in 1218, (fn. 66) but a
vicarage was not ordained until 1261. (fn. 67) From 1897 it
was held in plurality with Bramber with Botolphs. (fn. 68)
The advowson of the vicarage was often exercised
by the Crown during the Hundred Years' War, (fn. 69)
and passed in the later 15th century with Sele
priory's other possessions to Magdalen College,
Oxford. (fn. 70) About 1953 it passed from the college to
the bishop of Chichester. (fn. 71)
The demesne tithes of Beeding, Horton, and
Tottington manors were granted in 1073 to Bramber
college, and evidently later passed to Sele priory. (fn. 72)
The tithes of the King's Barns demesnes were given
or confirmed to the priory c. 1230 (fn. 73) by John de
Braose (d. 1232), and remained with the college despite later 13th-century attempts by the canons of
Steyning to seize them. (fn. 74) A portion of tithes in Beeding, however, remained part of the endowment of
the Steyning rectory estate. (fn. 75)
Possibly from an early date the Braose family also
settled on Sele priory the right to take underwood in
St. Leonard's Forest, confirmed in 1234, (fn. 76) the tithes
of pannage and herbage there, confirmed in 1235, (fn. 77)
and those of calves, foals, and cheeses, confirmed in
1247, (fn. 78) together with timber for the repair of the
priory. (fn. 79) The parochial revenues of the Wealden
portion of the parish thereafter continued to belong
to Sele priory and later to its successor, Magdalen
College. (fn. 80) Tithes from Bewbush park were included
by 1354. (fn. 81)
At the ordination of the vicarage in 1261 the
priory as rector retained all tithes and offerings,
settling on the vicar and his successors a pension of
£8 a year, a house in the vill of Beeding, and any
legacies received up to 6d. in value. (fn. 82) In 1291 the
vicarage was said to be worth only £5 a year, (fn. 83) but
in 1535 it was valued at £8. (fn. 84) By 1578 the pension
had been increased to £10 a year, (fn. 85) as it remained in
1675; (fn. 86) in 1578 the vicar also received £2 from the
farmer of the rectory by custom. Often after the early
17th century, however, Magdalen College leased the
rectory estate to the vicar on a beneficial lease, (fn. 87) at
first with the proviso that the vicar should perform
the college's duty of maintaining Beeding bridge.
Twice in the 18th century the vicar defrayed all or
part of the cost of repairs to the bridge, (fn. 88) but in 1795
it was agreed that future vicars should pay £5 a year
to escape the duty. (fn. 89)
The vicarage house was described in 1635 as so
low that a man could not stand upright inside it. (fn. 90) It
still seems to have belonged to the living in 1875,
when it was said not to have been occupied by any
vicar for centuries. (fn. 91) From the early 18th century,
apparently, if not earlier, the vicars occupied the
rectory house. (fn. 92) In the late 18th century the living
was said to be worth £300 a year; (fn. 93) at commutation
c. 1840 Magdalen College's share of tithe rent
charge, excluding Lower Beeding, was £790. (fn. 94) In
1952 the college increased the vicar's stipend by
£500 a year in return for the parochial church
council's undertaking responsibility for repairs to the
chancel. (fn. 95) Meanwhile the rectory house had been
conveyed in 1951 to the Church Commissioners, (fn. 96)
who sold it c. 1965, a house east of the church being
bought to serve as a new vicarage. (fn. 97)
The presence of the monks of Sele priory, and
later of the Carmelite friars who took over its buildings, (fn. 98) presumably enhanced the religious life of the
parish in the Middle Ages. (fn. 99) After the advowson of
the vicarage passed to Magdalen College most incumbents were alumni of the college, usually being
former fellows. (fn. 1)
Two early 16th-century incumbents later achieved
high office: John Hygdon, vicar 1502-4, was a future
president of Magdalen College and dean of Christ
Church, Oxford, who apparently did not reside at
Upper Beeding, (fn. 2) a 'reader' serving as curate in
1504, (fn. 3) and Owen Oglethorpe, vicar 1531-6, was
later bishop of Carlisle. (fn. 4) Of later 16th-century incumbents Ralph Barnes (fl. 1551-61) and Ralph
English (d. 1602) seem to have resided, since both
were buried at Upper Beeding, (fn. 5) but the living was
served by a curate in 1563. (fn. 6) Hugh Holden, vicar
from 1644, was apparently deprived by parliament. (fn. 7)
Two post-Restoration incumbents held canonries at
Chichester: Malachi Conant, (fn. 8) vicar from 1667, spent
some time abroad as chaplain to Lord Holles; his
successor, Henry Allen (d. 1720), was apparently
non-resident since he was buried in Dorset. (fn. 9)
Between 1720 and 1891 the cure was served by
only six vicars. During the 18th century they were
apparently usually resident, though curates served
sometimes after 1750. (fn. 10) In 1724 there were two services every Sunday and communion five times a year
with about 30 communicants. (fn. 11) From 1831 to 1861
the incumbent was not often resident; (fn. 12)
c. 1830 the
curate's stipend was equal to the net income of the
living excluding the lease of the rectory, (fn. 13) and
Thomas Calhoun, vicar 1841-61, lived apparently
and was buried at his other cure of Goring. On
Census Sunday 1851 the morning service was
attended by 90 besides Sunday schoolchildren and
the afternoon one by 137. (fn. 14) In 1856 there was
monthly communion. (fn. 15) J. R. Bloxam, vicar 1862-91,
'the real originator of the ceremonial revival in the
English Church', (fn. 16) was resident and did much for
the parish. (fn. 17) A former curate and lifelong friend of
J. H. (later Cardinal) Newman, who visited him at
Beeding, he adorned the sanctuary of the church in
imitation of Newman's at Littlemore (Oxon.), inaugurated hymn-singing and installed an organ c.
1875, and had instituted a harvest thanksgiving by
the 1880s. (fn. 18) Bloxam's successor, H. D. Meyrick, in
1892 rented 2 a. which he leased to the poorer
parishioners as allotments; by 1913 their management had passed to the parish council. (fn. 19)
In 1875 the Sunday morning service was said to
be patronized chiefly by farmers, and the afternoon
one by women. Inhabitants of Small Dole then
sometimes went to church at Henfield or Edburton, (fn. 20)
but by the 1890s a weekly service, apparently in the
schoolroom, had been instituted there, and communion was held weekly by 1903. (fn. 21) An iron mission
hall on the west side of the Shoreham road had been
opened by 1909 for the benefit of workers at the
cement works; it was sold c. 1960, and later demolished. (fn. 22) In 1937 a curate was being employed to
help serve the combined parishes of Upper Beeding
and Bramber with Botolphs. (fn. 23)
The church of ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL
(originally dedicated to St. Peter alone) (fn. 24) comprises
chancel, nave with south aisle and south porch, and
west tower. Nothing survives of the church mentioned in 1073, (fn. 25) though the north wall is 12thcentury and in 1981 many Norman architectural
fragments were visible in the churchyard wall and
elsewhere nearby; the north wall, which abutted on
the priory buildings, had no window or doorway in
1864. (fn. 26) The arch between nave and tower is apparently 13th-century, but may have been altered; the
tower itself, which is not in the centre of the west
nave wall, is probably 14th-century, though a belfry
had been mentioned in 1283. The nave was used by
the parishioners, (fn. 27) and there was a medieval south
aisle demolished between 1627 and 1802. (fn. 28) The
chancel was the monks' church; it was rebuilt c.
1308, when north and south chapels dedicated to St.
John the Evangelist and to St. Mary respectively
were added to it. (fn. 29) The chancel was again rebuilt in
the 16th century; it incorporates plain and decorative stonework in its east and south walls of early
14th-century character, notably, in the latter, a fragment of arcading possibly from the cloister and an
arched door. The north chancel chapel seems to
have survived in 1733. (fn. 30)
In 1821 the building was damp, and despite
attempts to ventilate it was covered internally in
'verdure'. (fn. 31) It was restored c. 1852, a new south aisle
being added to replace the lost medieval one, and
post-medieval accretions being removed, including a
west gallery, (fn. 32) and a flat ceiling installed in 1778. (fn. 33)
A screen which existed in 1830 (fn. 34) was also evidently
removed; pieces of pierced tracery on the west wall
of the nave in 1981 were perhaps parts of it.
The octagonal font is late medieval. Of the eight
bells two are 14th-century and the rest 19thcentury. (fn. 35) The plate includes two silver patens of
1669 and 1794. (fn. 36) The registers begin in 1544. (fn. 37)