Description

NEWHAVEN

TQ4401SW CHURCH HILL
769-1/7/6 (East side)
20/05/49 Church of St Michael and All Angels

GV II*

Parish church. Norman tower and apse, broached spire added
subsequently, N aisle added c1795, aisle and nave lengthened
1810, vestry added 1825, S aisle and S-E porch erected 1854
when church refitted and W gallery built, west porch added
1961 and church restored. (The latter was then linked by a
covered walkway to the coeval flat-roofed church rooms - not
of special interest.) Mid C19 work by William Gilbert
Habershon. Knapped flint, stone dressings, cement render to
C19 window openings, tiled roofs, wooden shingled spire. Plan:
W porch, 5-bay nave, N and S aisles, S-E porch in angle with E
tower, apse on E face. Single-storey apse, pilaster buttresses
rising to dentil eaves, remains of string course with dentil
moulding below E end lancet window, later lancets to N and S
faces; 2-storey tower with broached spire, gargoyles on corbel
table below eaves, moulded string course upon which rests
2-lightbell-openings, the E window just above roof ridge of
apse, N window has original shaft with shaft ring. S-E porch
double doors with ornamental hinges; S front alternate lancets
and 2-light windows, W end with three 2-light windows and
single-storey porch entered on S front through glazed door,
bull's eye window on W front, buttressed N front with
butt-joint marking aisle extension, alternate lancet and
2-light windows, flat-roofed vestry with C20 arched-head
window.
Interior: rendered, nave and aisles mid C19. Open timber
tie-beam roofto S aisle, scissor-brace roof to N aisle,
moulded wall-plate toeastern bays of nave, possibly remaining
from earlier building. Timberposts to 5-bay Tudor-arch head
arcades with pierced quatrefoilspandrels. W face of tower
arch: plain round-arched opening with 2orders of columns
altered by inserted entablature, similar on outer faceto apse,
but inner faces roll-moulded and ornamented with
scallopedcapitals; unmoulded transverse beams to ceiling; S
tower windowround-arched head with deep splays, N window
larger and formerly adoor. Apse: window openings resting on
string course, pointed lancetsN and S, central round arch
lancet at east end with deep splays;simple crown-post roof on
tie-beam. Wooden organ gallery runs the lengthof the W end
with trefoil-headed arcade decoration. Organ by Batesand Son
of Ludgate Hill, London, c1854. Mid C19 fittings including
fontwith cover, pulpit, brass lecturn, elegant brass
gas-mantel brackets(converted to electricity), late C19
stained glass in apse and tower.Turned oak altar rails
presented 1961. A rare example of an E towerwith apsidal end.
This was the parish church of Meeching, set on thehillside
above the River Ouse; the river subsequently altered its
courseafter a great storm in 1570 and Meeching became Newhaven
with the growthof the port in the C17.
(Buildings of England: Nairn I: Sussex: 1965-; Anon: The
Parish Church of St Michael, Newhaven; Sussex Directory:
1895-).

Listing NGR: TQ4426101128

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17555686

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)