Bailiffscourt Chapel
Encyclopedia
Bailiffscourt Chapel is a deconsecrated chapel in the grounds of Bailiffscourt Hotel, a luxury hotel near the hamlet of Atherington
in West Sussex
, England. Originally associated with the Norman
Abbey of Séez
, it was founded in the 11th century and rebuilt in its present simple Gothic
form in the 13th century. It later fell out of use, but after Atherington's former church was destroyed by coastal erosion
it was used again for public worship for a time—and as late as 1952 the building was again in use as a chapel of ease
. Situated outside Bailiffscourt—a mock-medieval mansion built in 1935 by Lord Moyne
on the site of an ancient manor house
—on the only stretch of open seafront land for miles in each direction, the chapel is now used principally for wedding and civil ceremony blessings. English Heritage
has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
, covers a large coastal area next to the English Channel
and the River Arun
in West Sussex. The land, a combination of silty brickearth
and alluvium
, is prone to erosion
, and large parts of the parish have been lost to the sea since the Middle Ages
. The former villages of Ilsham, Cudlow and Atherington are now depopulated, their former churches have been destroyed, and their parishes combined with Clymping.
The manor
of Atherington existed at the time of the Domesday survey
in 1086, by which time it was held by the Abbey of Séez
in Normandy
. The name later became Bailiffscourt because the manor was used by the bailiff
who administered the abbey's landholdings in England. The land on which the manor stood was an exclave
of Littlehampton
parish until the 19th century, but much of its associated estate was in Climping parish. The original manor house
was built in the 11th century and originally had a chapel attached to it.
The chapel was rebuilt in the late 13th century using stones and rubble from the original building. It stood at the south end of the main (east–west) wing of the L-shaped manor house, and may have been freestanding rather than attached to the house. Bailiffscourt Manor was subjected to rebuilding and remodelling several times, and the role of the chapel changed: by 1728 it may have been used as accommodation for servants, and it was later used as a dairy and a storage shed. Before this, though, it was apparently used as a "hamlet chapel" by the remaining villagers of Atherington, whose original church had been destroyed by the sea in the late 17th century along with most of its houses.
In 1927, Lord Moyne
bought Bailiffscourt Manor and its whole estate, thereby becoming a major landowner. Of the old buildings, only the chapel was retained, and between 1928 and 1935 the architect Amyas Phillips built a new manor house in a faithful interpretation of the 15th-century style. Ancient buildings were transported from other sites in Sussex and elsewhere and rebuilt in the grounds surrounding the chapel. Lord Moyne turned much of the land surrounding the manor house into parkland, which now forms by far the largest stretch of non-urbanised land on the coast between Brighton
and Bognor Regis
.
The manor and chapel were moved into Climping parish in the 19th century and ceased being an exclave of Littlehampton, although it was still part of its ecclesiastical parish until the 20th century. In 1952, the chapel came back into religious use briefly as a chapel of ease
to St Mary's Church, Climping: some services were held there on summer evenings. In 1948, Bailiffscourt House became a luxury hotel, now owned by HS Hotels (Historic Sussex Hotels) and operated under the name Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa. The chapel is now used for the blessing of weddings and civil ceremonies that take place at the hotel.
Bailiffscourt Chapel was listed at Grade II* by English Heritage on 5 June 1958. This defines it as a "particularly important" building of "more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 24 Grade II* listed buildings, and 960 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Arun.
building of the 13th century. The single-cell rectangular structure is dominated by a large three-light east window in the form of a lancet
with cusping. Smaller single-light lancets remain in the north and south walls. The exterior is built of flint, rough stones and cobbles, some of which came from the original 11th-century chapel, and the sloping roof is laid with tiles. Inside, there are arches whose capitals
are carved with foliage decoration and a Mass dial dating from the medieval era. This was found on the beach nearby, and had apparently washed up from the submerged remains of the old church at Atherington. The ashes of Lord Moyne and his wife Lady Evelyn were originally interred in the chapel, but they are now in a tomb in St Mary's Church, Climping.
Clymping
Clymping is a civil parish, located around the hamlet of Climping in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. The parish also contains the coastal hamlet of Atherington. It is located three miles west of Littlehampton, just north of the A259 road...
in West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England. Originally associated with the Norman
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
Abbey of Séez
Sées
Sées is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.It lies on the Orne River from its source and north-by-northeast of Alençon.-Name:...
, it was founded in the 11th century and rebuilt in its present simple Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
form in the 13th century. It later fell out of use, but after Atherington's former church was destroyed by coastal erosion
Coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land and the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage...
it was used again for public worship for a time—and as late as 1952 the building was again in use as a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
. Situated outside Bailiffscourt—a mock-medieval mansion built in 1935 by Lord Moyne
Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne
Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne DSO & Bar PC was a Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assassinated by the militant Jewish Zionist group Lehi...
on the site of an ancient manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
—on the only stretch of open seafront land for miles in each direction, the chapel is now used principally for wedding and civil ceremony blessings. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
History
The parish of Climping, sometimes spelt ClympingClymping
Clymping is a civil parish, located around the hamlet of Climping in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. The parish also contains the coastal hamlet of Atherington. It is located three miles west of Littlehampton, just north of the A259 road...
, covers a large coastal area next to the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and the River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
in West Sussex. The land, a combination of silty brickearth
Brickearth
Brickearth is a term used in southeast England for loess, a wind-blown dust deposited under extremely cold, dry, peri- or postglacial conditions. The name arises from its use in making house bricks. The Brickearth is normally represented on 1:50,000 solid and drift edition geological maps...
and alluvium
Alluvium
Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel...
, is prone to erosion
Coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land and the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage...
, and large parts of the parish have been lost to the sea since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The former villages of Ilsham, Cudlow and Atherington are now depopulated, their former churches have been destroyed, and their parishes combined with Clymping.
The manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Atherington existed at the time of the Domesday survey
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086, by which time it was held by the Abbey of Séez
Sées
Sées is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.It lies on the Orne River from its source and north-by-northeast of Alençon.-Name:...
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. The name later became Bailiffscourt because the manor was used by the bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
who administered the abbey's landholdings in England. The land on which the manor stood was an exclave
Enclave and exclave
In political geography, an enclave is a territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory.An exclave, on the other hand, is a territory legally or politically attached to another territory with which it is not physically contiguous.These are two...
of Littlehampton
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....
parish until the 19th century, but much of its associated estate was in Climping parish. The original manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
was built in the 11th century and originally had a chapel attached to it.
The chapel was rebuilt in the late 13th century using stones and rubble from the original building. It stood at the south end of the main (east–west) wing of the L-shaped manor house, and may have been freestanding rather than attached to the house. Bailiffscourt Manor was subjected to rebuilding and remodelling several times, and the role of the chapel changed: by 1728 it may have been used as accommodation for servants, and it was later used as a dairy and a storage shed. Before this, though, it was apparently used as a "hamlet chapel" by the remaining villagers of Atherington, whose original church had been destroyed by the sea in the late 17th century along with most of its houses.
In 1927, Lord Moyne
Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne
Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne DSO & Bar PC was a Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assassinated by the militant Jewish Zionist group Lehi...
bought Bailiffscourt Manor and its whole estate, thereby becoming a major landowner. Of the old buildings, only the chapel was retained, and between 1928 and 1935 the architect Amyas Phillips built a new manor house in a faithful interpretation of the 15th-century style. Ancient buildings were transported from other sites in Sussex and elsewhere and rebuilt in the grounds surrounding the chapel. Lord Moyne turned much of the land surrounding the manor house into parkland, which now forms by far the largest stretch of non-urbanised land on the coast between Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
.
The manor and chapel were moved into Climping parish in the 19th century and ceased being an exclave of Littlehampton, although it was still part of its ecclesiastical parish until the 20th century. In 1952, the chapel came back into religious use briefly as a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
to St Mary's Church, Climping: some services were held there on summer evenings. In 1948, Bailiffscourt House became a luxury hotel, now owned by HS Hotels (Historic Sussex Hotels) and operated under the name Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa. The chapel is now used for the blessing of weddings and civil ceremonies that take place at the hotel.
Bailiffscourt Chapel was listed at Grade II* by English Heritage on 5 June 1958. This defines it as a "particularly important" building of "more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 24 Grade II* listed buildings, and 960 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Arun.
Architecture
The chapel is a simple GothicGothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
building of the 13th century. The single-cell rectangular structure is dominated by a large three-light east window in the form of a lancet
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
with cusping. Smaller single-light lancets remain in the north and south walls. The exterior is built of flint, rough stones and cobbles, some of which came from the original 11th-century chapel, and the sloping roof is laid with tiles. Inside, there are arches whose capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
are carved with foliage decoration and a Mass dial dating from the medieval era. This was found on the beach nearby, and had apparently washed up from the submerged remains of the old church at Atherington. The ashes of Lord Moyne and his wife Lady Evelyn were originally interred in the chapel, but they are now in a tomb in St Mary's Church, Climping.