England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Newhaven St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Newhaven lies in the extreme south of East Sussex, indeed it forms part of Sussex's English Channel coast. Newhaven is located about 7 miles south of the market town of Lewes and 9 miles east of the seaside resort of Brighton. Newhaven, itself a market town albeit a small one, is also one of the larger ports of this stretch of Sussex. Newhaven sits at the mouth of River Ouse and where the A26 (from London) meets the A259 coastal road connecting Brighton with Eastbourne. Newhaven was formerly named Meeching but its present name probably dates from the early 18th century marking the growth of the port. At the time of this transcript Newhaven was importing foodstuffs, wine & spirits and notably coal and exporting agricultural produce and Wealden timber for ship building, nowadays it is more noted for its Cross-Channel connection with Dieppe in France. The interior from the port would have had a mixed agricultural regime with arable on the better soils and pastures on both river floodplain and chalk downland. The mouth of the River Ouse runs through the town which has spread to the eastern banks and almost absorbed the former village of South Heighton. Newhaven is, of course, at sea level but the land rises steeply from the Ouse, the church is at 35 metres and local heights reach twice that on Lodge Hill to the northwest. Newhaven parish was fairly typically sized for this part of East Sussex, it covered almost exactly 1,000 acres and supported a population of around 950 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Newhaven or Meeching in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Michael's church sits in the western part of the old town at 35 metres above the sea and on the southern side of Church Road. The church has ancient origins and these are preserved in its tower and apse. The Norman style architecture indication an 11th or 12th century origin albeit with a later broach spire to the tower. Unfortunately the remainder of the church has been totally replace during Victorian times, Pevsner states that this was rebuilt in 1854. The church sits in a highly elevated position, a local stone wall buttressing the churchyard which sits almost at head height above the roads. Access is from Meeching Rise where a set of arched steps leads up to the church. The site is relatively open with few impediments for photography.