St Mary de Haura Church, Shoreham-by-Sea - 01273 440202

St Mary de Haura Church is an Anglican church (formerly a Catholic church) in the ancient "New Shoreham" area of Shoreham-by-Sea in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded at the end of the 11th century as a large cruciform church which, due to its original scale, has been described as a collegiate church—a reflection of the port of Shoreham's importance at the time. The former east end of that building survives to form the present church, and much 12th-century work remains. It functions as Shoreham-by-Sea's "town church" for major religious and social events, as well as serving its small town-centre parish. English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance.HistoryOld Shoreham was a mostly agricultural village on the east bank of the River Adur. Claims that it was founded near the place (Cymenshore) where Ælle of Sussex—the first King of the South Saxons—came ashore in 477 have been disproved, but it had become a successful village by the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, supporting a population of 76. In the decade after this, William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber or his son Philip founded a new settlement to the south, on the estuary where the Adur flowed into the English Channel. This may have been a result of William de Braose's failure to gain control of the harbour upstream at Steyning.

Tags: Christian Church