| Share page |
|
SHOREHAM 169 |
||
|
Bowsey, whose name has become corrupted into " by sea," a description appropriate enough. The dedication of the little church to St. Julian is evidently a relic of their influence. He was traditionally a third-century Bishop of Le Mans, and the first successful missionary in the territories that afterwards became Normandy. The quiet little sanctuary consists of chancel and nave with low central tower between, it is beautiful Early English work and belongs to the very first years of the thirteenth century; the tower is vaulted and the shafts of its arches have black marble caps. Soon after the church was built a tall but narrow aisle was added on the north side of the nave, high arches with round pillars and responds open into it. On the north of the chancel seems to have been an anchorite's cell; such are not uncommon in Sussex.
Only a short half - mile away is the still picturesque village of Southwick, with its old farm buildings and its green. Here, in 1611, was born the learned mathematician John Pell, who at a time when Holland led the earth in scholarship was made professor at Amsterdam. Later he was Cromwell's agent in Switzerland, and afterwards taking Holy Orders he was domestic chaplain for a time to the Primate of All England, but he died in poverty and left no work of any importance to sustain his once high reputation. Southwick church tower is Early Norman in the lowest stage, and the arch into the nave, which is hardly more than a doorway, has strange-looking caps with Ionic volutes. The next stage is still Norman with singular arcading, partly pierced; the next has poor Early English lancets and round openings for the sound of bells. Resting on the corbels that once |
||