England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Selmeston St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Selmeston lies in southeastern Sussex roughly 6 miles east of the town of Lewes, it stands on and mostly north of the A27 road which links Lewes with Bexhill. Selmeston is a linear village with its heads and inn standing on the A27 with most properties lining The Street which runs northeastwards from there. Selmeston is one of a number of spring-line settlements which line the base of the escarpment of chalk that forms the South Downs, the parish sits upon low-lying and rather marshy, at times, land; in periglacial times a lake was ponded against the chalk by the ice-front before it brook through along the line of today's Cuckmere River creating narrow steep-sided valley. The majority of Selmeston was, therefore, pastureland with cattle featuring prominently as well as a couple of managed woodland patches. Modern developments have come to the area, the railway line between Lewes and Eastbourne passing through without granting Selmeston a station. Selmeston is drained by small streams which coalesce to join the Cuckmere River, passing through the Downs to Cuckmere Haven and the English Channel. Selmeston is sited at between 25 & 40 metres above the sea on gently rising ground, south of neighbouring Alciston the South Downs rise abruptly to 190 metres on Borstal Hill and 217 metres to the west on Firle Beacon both carrying the South Downs Way National Trail. Selmeston was a relatively small parish covering just over 1,100 acres which would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Selmeston was an equally small rural manor, it was largely held by Count Robert of Mortain with the Count D'Eu having a smaller share, the collective assets totalled 8 ploughs, a small meadow and some woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the eastern side of The Street roughly midway through the run of properties that forms the village. Intriguingly the church sits within an near circular churchyard, similar to the "llans" of Wales, which usually denotes an early Christian site and indeed the church is documented in the Domesday entry so clearly its origins are pre-Conquest. Whilst the church was originally a mixture of 11th century Saxon and 12th century Norman styles the church has received a significant major change during the Victorian era. The basic church was slowly expanded during the later medieval periods, the 13th century Early English Gothic piscina survives, from the Perpendicular period of the 15th century an most unusual arcade was constructed in timber rather than stone using bracing timbers rather than stone arches. The church was in a rather lamentable state by the middle of the 19th century and in 1867, lead by the famous architect Ewan Christian, a major restoration was undertaken. In a strikingly modern feat of early conservation each stone of the church was individually numbered on dismantlement with the whole being rebuilt and each stone reset in its original place within the newly rebuilt church, the restoration also added a new southern chapel to complete today's layout. The Street is quiet so whilst fairly narrow parking outside the churchyard should not cause problems, the churchyard sits a few feet above road level with a sloping ramp to gain entry, trees are a considerable problem for the photographer with the church enclosed from every angles except the northwest, some scouting to identify the better image angles will be required.