England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
East Preston St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of East Preston lies in the extreme south of Sussex forming part of the county's coastline with the English Channel. East Preston is located about 6 miles west of Worthing & 4 miles east of Littlehampton. East Preston sits just south of the A2032 road which forms the coast road along this busy and very developed stretch of Sussex coastline. Formerly a separate village East Preston is now contiguous with its western neighbour, Littlehampton forming a strip of modern development that characterises this part of Sussex. At the time of this transcript East Preston, lacking a natural harbour, would have been largely an agricultural settlement albeit some inshore fishing from the beach would have also taken place. Today it is a commuter & retirement settlement with a degree of seaside trade too. AS a coastal settlement what surface drainage is too small to notice at map scale, East Preston is sited at sea level rising to just 6 metres higher by the church, the landscape being a largely flat coastal strip between the English Channel and the South Downs rising some 5 miles away to the north. East Preston parish was tiny, even by southern standards, it covered just over 450 acres and would have supported a population of just over 250 parishioners. In Domesday times East Preston was held by one Earl Roger of Shrewsbury and was equally small, offering just 4 ploughs although its coastal nature permitted 3 salthouses.

The Church

St Mary the Virgin's church sits about a half miles south of the A2032 alongside the roundabout marking the notional centre of East Preston and about three quarters of a mile from the sea. Despite the rather austere northern aisle St Mary has ancient origins, the nave dates from the 12th century as shown by the northern doorway, whilst the chancel Pevsner dates to the subsequent century and showing lancet windows of the Earl English Gothic period. The western tower is in the Perpendicular style and probably dates from the 15th century, until 1951 the tower was topped by a spire, now removed. The northern aisle which Pevsner finds so jarring describing it as "hard and characterless" was added in the 19th century. Sitting in its junction site, the church has entrances both from Station Road & Vicarage Lane, the church is rather hemmed in by trees at the western end and rather limiting the angles for photography.