England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Poling St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Poling lies in the southern part of West Sussex just north of the seaside resort of Littlehampton. Poling lies just south of the busy A27 highway and is accessed via a dead-end lane off that road. Poling is around 3 miles southeast of the market town of Arundel. There is not much to Poling, just a collection of farms and cottages at the end if its lane and sited in a broad flat plain. Poling is just 2 miles from the English Channel coast of Sussex but here is a world apart from the crowded urbanised coastline. The area is largely devoted to pastoral farming with dairy cattle predominating on the broad flood plain of a tributary of the River Arun, the Black Ditch. This is a low lying area, Poling is sited at only 5 metres above sea level and in prior times this would have been part of a broader estuary to the Arun. The parish is a small one, typical of southern Britain at just over 900 acres and supported just over 200 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Poling in Domesday Book despite the church probably predating that effort.

The Church

St Nicholas church is only accessible on foot from the end of Poling's lane. A footpath heralded by the church sign leads around the back of farm buildings to the churchyard. The standard layout of western tower, nave & chancel applies. The nave is oldest part and Pevsner confirms its Saxon dating, much else has been rebuilt over the centuries notably during the Perpendicular period whence most of the windows originate. The church sits in a sparse graveyard, some trees restrict views but else all is open to the big skies of the plain.