John Bleach: The medieval churches in and around Lewes

About

Roman Christianity came late to Sussex, arriving with Wilfrid in the late-7th century, almost a century after Augustines mission to convert the English arrived in Kent. The see was established at Selsey, moving to Chichester only after the Norman Conquest. Several grants of land for the building of Sussex churches in the following centuries include an 8th century charter by which Ealdwulf, king of Sussex, responding to a request from one of his thegns, granted 16 hides in Stanmer, Lindfield and Burleigh to support a new monastery to serve God and St Michael. Domesday Book records that both before the Conquest and in 1086 what appears to be the same property was held by the Canons of Malling from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that there were seven sites in Lewes attached to this estate. While the authenticity of Ealdwulfs charter is a matter for debate, it pre-dates by a century the establishment of King Alfreds burgh of Lewes