History
Rottingdean: A short guide to Saint Margaret's Church and The
Village 2001
by Elvi Rhodes
Illustrated by Margaret Rhodes
This guide is dedicated to the voluntary Vergers who, by the giving of their time, enable Saint Margaret's Church to be open every day of the year for visitors and for a place of peace and prayer.
Welcome to the Parish church of St Margaret, and to the village of Rottingdean in East Sussex. Think yourself as perhaps the most recent visitor in a line which stretches back continuously for a thousand years. Though experts don't always agree on the exact date of the first church building here the general consensus is that it was begun in Saxon times.
Rottingdean 'the valley of Rota's people' was one of the prizes which fell to William of Normandy when he invaded England in the eleventh century. There was already a church in the little settlement, and the settlement itself preceded the church. At this time the Christian faith was spreading rapidly in England and there would have been a group of people here who now wanted their own church building, a place where the Mass could be celebrated, where they could meet together to worship God, be baptised, married, have Christian burial.
Though we might never know the details of these people we do know enough to allow us to imagine how the erecting of the first church might have taken place. There would have been the architect with his ideas and plans, brought to life by the skilled work of the builders, stone masons, joiners, glaziers, and then much of the labour would be likely to have been carried out by people who lived in the area.
The building would have grown slowly. Apart from the paid workers the rest would have given whatever time was left over from their everyday jobs of tilling the fields, tending the animals (Rottingdean was always a farming, not a fishing village), and the women from keeping house and raising children.
The strong would have been called upon to dig the foundations in the hard chalk, to move flints and heavy stones. An artistic one might have carved the stone, a man skilled with wood made the doors and a blacksmith made the iron bars and locks. There would doubtless, as happens to this day when there is work to be done, have been those who prepared food for the workers.
The first church would have been small, probably not as large as the present nave; simple and bare, with an earth floor and no creature comforts except, possibly, benches around the walls where the old and infirm could sit (hence the saying "the weakest to the wall"). It would have been built on rising group to emphasise its importance. It is a moot point whether any of the fabric of this first church remains; perhaps some traces in the North Wall. There is a plan in the front of this guide showing the dates of different parts of the church.
It was not named St Margaret's from the beginning. It was men returning from the Crusades in the eleventh century who brought news of Margaret of Antioch, a young Christian martyr. She was a poor girl, living under Pagan rule, which put her Christian faith severely to the test. Because of her faith she was imprisoned and, the story tells, in her dark dungeon the devil appeared to her in the guise of a terrible dragon, but by the power of the cross with which she faced him, he was overcome. Steadfast to the end, she was finally put to death for her beliefs.
If you stand in the chancel at the foot of the steps leading to the high altar, and facing the large East window, on our left you will see a window portraying Margaret of Antioch. This is one of the seven beautiful painted glass windows in the church by Edward Burne-Jones; of which more later. The Latin inscription under Margaret's window translates as follows:
Painted o'er my Chancel bright,
Three Archangels shed their light,
Ever watching: on the right
Stands the Virgin sainted.
With God's Mother face to face,
Trusting in her guardian grace
Now I, Margaret, take my place,
In this lancet painted.
Under Norman influence, which was strong in Sussex, the little church was improved and a tower added, but whoever built this did not allow for (or perhaps was ignorant of) the fury of the gales which still plague Rottingdean, and in one of those gales the tower blew down, and in doing so damaged other parts of the building. In 1205 AD the tower was rebuilt and it is that sturdy constructions, built with flints, and with stone brought from Caen in France, which still stands. Unfortunately one cannot say it is impervious to the gales. The take their toll, and even now expensive repairs are needed.
It might be that you are not totally acquainted with the general design of church buildings, so before you look further, why not take your bearings? When you enter, after going through the porch, you face the high altar, which is to the east. Behind you in the West door and the gallery, to your left the North wall and to your right the South aisle, with the Lady Chapel in the South-East corner and the font in the South-West. As you stand near to the entrance, notice how the floor of the church climbs towards the East. It is actually an uphill walk to the altar, broken only by awkward steps! But then, from the level of the sea, everything runs uphill in Rottingdean.
Straight ahead, in the East window above the altar, you will see the painted glass windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones (who lived across The Green from the church) and carried out by William Morris, his close friend, who was a frequent visitor to Rottingdean. These windows were given by Burne-Jones to commemorate the wedding here of his daughter, Margaret. They depict Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, the three archangels. Walk up to the altar to take a closer look at the beauty and skill which went into them, then turn right to the South window which shows the Blessed Virgin mary, also by Burne-Jones, then to the North wall opposite to the previously mentioned portrayal of the patron saint of our church.
Standing in the tower you will notice the reddish colour in the stone, and some deep cracks in the walls. Then the stone was first erected it would have been pale, golden colour, and certainly not cracked. Only great heat could have caused these changes, and the story behind them is:
In the 14th century, during the Hundred Years War when the French and the English raided each other's shores it was not unusual for the French to land in Rottingdean since it is the only gap in the cliffs for some miles, and the road through the village and over the downs leads to the important town of Lewes. On one occasion, in 1377, as the raiders rampaged through what is now our High Street, many of the villagers fled before them and took refuge in the church tower. Alas, it proved to be no refuge! The French set fire to the tower and those trapped inside perished. Now our visitors from France come in peace.
Walking back down the nave, on the North wall you will find two further windows designed by Burne-Jones, one depicting St Veronica and St George, and the other St Martin. The latter is to the memory of Edward Ridsdale, whose daughter married Stanley Baldwin, who later became Prime Minister. It was the Earl and Countess Baldwin, who gave the handsomely carved chair, know as the Bishop's chair, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage in St Margaret's.
Much time can be spent, and with interest, in walking around the church looking at the various reminders of people who once worshipped here, though there are more memorials from later ages, especially Victorian, than from earlier ones. Some bear the names of families, still connected with the village, whose forbears lived here generations ago.
The Beards were a Quakers family, much persecuted in the 17th century and beyond for their faith, when meetings of non-conformists were illegal. Nicolas Beard suffered particularly badly, spending several terms in prison. Down House, which you will see on the North side of the village as you walk around, was owned at one time by the Beard family, as was also Hillside, close by. It was the Beards who gave the Quaker Burial Ground, now hidden away in the garden of the house Quakers' Rest, just yards along the north side of Dean Court Road.
There is a memorial on the South wall to Vice-Admiral Mansergh, a notable resident of Rottingdean who died in 1990 at the age of 91. His long career in the Royal Navy was marked out from the beginning when, in 1914, at the age of 16 and barely out of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for service in the Dardanelles.
Doctor Hooker, who bust hovering over the pulpit you can hardly miss, was a former vicar of he parish and ran a private school in the Vicarage (now The Grange). He was generally regarded as the 'lookout' man for the Rottingdean Smugglers' Gang. Not without reason was Rottingdean known as 'Smugglers' Village'. Every year in December the village is closed to traffic and we have 'Smugglers' Night'. An evening of fun and festivity organised by the Traders, with many local organisations taking part.
In this brief guide it is not possible to mention all the interesting and noteworthy people who and lived, or still live, in Rottingdean. It seems to have been a village which either bred or attracted 'characters'. It still is! Nor is it possible to detail all the memorials, though you will probably notice that fifty-three men from what was then a small village, gave their lives in World Wars I and II. Most memorials are self-explanatory. Some, after the fashion of their time, are a mite fulsome.
In the South-West corner of the church, you will find the font. It is a replica of the 13th century one, which rests in pieces on the windowsill nearly, but the latter is now too damaged to use. In any church you will find the font not far from the entrance, since it is here, at baptism, that a new member is brought into the Christian family. And here you will find the list of Vicars of the church since 1237 AD to the present day.
These days most of our baptisms take place in the nave, at the foot of the chancel steps and in front of the whole congregation ask the question of the parents and godparents, who make their replies to the whole assembly.
But our church is not only a building, visited by people from all over the world. It is a place of continuous worship. At the time of writing we have four services every Sunday and at least two weekday Eucharists, as well as prayer groups in Lent and special services at other times.
This is no mean task for one clergyman but each services has its own adherents who find in it what they are looking for.
Our main service is the 9:30 am Parish Eucharist. At this time there is usually a full church, including many young fathers and mothers who bring their children with them from infancy. This does not always make for a quiet time but we are compensated by the joy of having so many families with us and the knowledge that St Margaret's is a place where families and children find friends.
We have a thriving Sunday School for children from the age of four to about sixteen. They join us in church at the beginning and end of the 9:30 am Eucharist and in the meantime have their teaching in St Margaret's Cottage, next to the church. The cottage was bought in 1988 by parishioners and others. It is in regular use, not only by the Sunday School but for meetings of the PCC, Bible classes, coffee after the 9:30 Eucharist and many other social events.
When you leave the church, hopefully to return, for it is worth more than a quick visit, walk around the churchyard and look at the building from the outside.
Here you will get a feeling of its great sturdiness and strength. Take your time in the churchyard. It is a place of peace and tranquillity. There are memorials here of interest too.
One is to four sailors, two of them unnamed, who were frowned off the Isle of Wight and washed ashore at Rottingdean, and another, in the newer part of the churchyard, to G H Elliott, the 'Chocolate Coloured Coon', a music-hall artist much loved by earlier generations. Time and weather have obliterated many of the inscriptions, but the stones can speak without words to those with imagination. Go into the Memorial garden, which is maintained as an English country garden and where we bury ashes after cremation.
As you leave the churchyard, glance up at the inscription over the lych gate:
BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HEAR THE WORLD OF GOD AND KEEP IT
