England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Telscombe St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of Telscombe lies in southern Sussex forming a stretch of the county's English Channel coastline. Telscombe is located roughly 5 miles south of the town of Lewes and sits a little over 2 miles north of the A259 road which forms the coast-road between Brighton & Newhaven. Until rather recent times Telscombe was a rather rural and secluded hamlet, set at the head of a winding dry valley within chalk downland and reachable only by a narrow dead-end lane or by footpaths. Modern Telscombe Cliffs is part of the extensive urbanisation of the chalk cliffs lying east of the resort of Brighton, extensive rows of properties set at right-angles to the coast designed to enable folk to spend time by the sea. The original settlement of Telscombe, by complete contrast, is a rather picturesquely quaint rural idyll of chocolate-box thatched cottages set amongst tranquil beech. The poor soils of the South Downs lead to most farming being devoted to grazing sheep on the broad flower-rich downs, today, however, modern machinery and fertilisers have rendered this unique habitat something of a relic as arable farming has spread to the area. The porous chalk means there is no surface drainage with water largely making its way subsurface to the nearby River Ouse and reaching the English Channel through the port of Newhaven. Telscombe is sited at around 60 metres above the sea but surrounded by chalk downs at twice that height, local heights of 125 metres lie less than a half mile west. Telscombe was a rather small parish at just under 1,200 acres it would have supported a population of close to 150 parishioners. Telscombe is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Lawrence's church sits on the eastern side of the lane that leads to the hamlet, Gorham's Lane. It is typical that obscure tiny settlements often have early churches and that is certainly the case here. Both nave and chancel have their origins in the Norman period and immediately post-Conquest. Rounded arches abound not only within these first areas but also in the northern arcade an chapel added as early as the late 12th century, Pevsner tentatively assigns c1185 - 1190. Even the western tower's lancet style windows, typical of the early English Gothic period, show, internally, rounded arches from the Norman Romanesque period - these windows are replacements rather than original 13th century work. For once Pevsner fails to mention any significant Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light and sensitive, much more likely that St Lawrence, tucked away in its valley, was simply left be. Parking is difficult in such a narrow lane but can be found with care and consideration. The churchyard sits elevated strongly above road level, banked by flower-strewn grassy slopes topped by a flint wall, a rising gravel path leads up to the churchyard which has a few obstacles easily overcome by careful selection of angles.