England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Icklesham All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Icklesham lies in the extreme southeast of Sussex forming not only part of its English Channel coastline but also not too far from the border with neighbouring Kent. Icklesham is located roughly 5 miles southwest of the small market town of Rye and sits on the A259 road which connects Rye with Hastings. Icklesham stands on a ridge of raised ground overlooking grazing marshes to both north & south with most of the village along and to the north of the A259. A curiosity of the parish is the small inclusion of Winchelsea, a territory purchased from Icklesham when the town of Old Winchelsea was engulfed by the sea and nowadays occupied by the town of New Winchelsea. As a coastal settlement with access to fishing and shell fisheries the parish had much grazing marshes on reclaimed areas of the Brede & Pett levels whilst around the village orcharding is particularly important. Modern developments have come to the parish, defenses against French invasion litter this coastline, the most important being the Royal Military Canal which skirts the parish; later a railway line has been built linking Rye with Hastings across the Brede Levels and again skirting Icklesham parish. Both the River Brede and the Pannel Sewer (a local name for a man-made drain) funnel water to Rye and exiting via the Rother into the nearby English Channel. Icklesham is sited at around 60 metres above the sea, the highest point being only a few metres higher for some distance. Despite the loss of the Winchelsea enclave Icklesham parish was still large in extent by Sussex standards, covering close to 5,700 acres within which would have been supported close to 700 parishioners. Icklesham, despite the age of its church, is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints' church (or more formally All Saints & St Nicholas) sits just south of the A259 and behind the Old Vicarage. Pevsner notes the church as originally Norman (and early in that Romanesque style) and cruciform with today's northern tower previously sitting above a transept. From the 12th century that tower remains along with the arcades and aisles. Lancet styled windows in the northern chapel arcade show modification during the early 13th century in an Early English Gothic style. Further work followed in the latter half of that century when the present chancel in a Decorated style was completed. Whilst much else dates from the Victorian restoration of the late 1840s the church remains of great interest for its retained, if much modified, Norman heritage. The A259 is busy and no parking is permitted so that should be sought off Workhouse Lane from where a roughly surfaced track leads to a churchyard with few obstructions for the photographer.