Church Of St Michael And All Angels

Church of St Michael and All Angels

This is a parish church of Norman origin with significant later additions and alterations. The building features a Norman tower and apse, to which a broached spire was added subsequently. The north aisle dates from around 1795, while the aisle and nave were lengthened in 1810. A vestry was added in 1825. In 1854, the south aisle and south-east porch were erected, the church was refitted, and a west gallery was built. The mid-19th-century work was carried out by William Gilbert Habershon. A west porch was added in 1961 and the church was restored at that time.

The structure is constructed of knapped flint with stone dressings and cement render to 19th-century window openings, with tiled roofs and a wooden shingled spire. The plan comprises a west porch, five-bay nave, north and south aisles, a south-east porch positioned in the angle with the east tower, and an apse on the east face.

The apse is single-storey with pilaster buttresses rising to dentil eaves. It retains remains of a string course with dentil moulding below the east-end lancet window, with later lancets to the north and south faces. The two-storey tower has a broached spire and features gargoyles on a corbel table below the eaves. A moulded string course supports two-light bell-openings, with the east window positioned just above the apse roof ridge. The north window retains its original shaft with a shaft ring. The south-east porch has double doors with ornamental hinges.

The south front displays alternate lancets and two-light windows. The west end has three two-light windows and a single-storey porch entered from the south front through a glazed door, with a bull's eye window on the west front. The north front is buttressed with a butt-joint marking the aisle extension and features alternate lancet and two-light windows. A flat-roofed vestry with a 20th-century arched-head window is also present.

Internally, the nave and aisles are rendered and date from the mid-19th century. The south aisle has an open timber tie-beam roof, whilst the north aisle features a scissor-brace roof. The eastern bays of the nave retain a moulded wall-plate, possibly remaining from an earlier building. Five-bay Tudor-arch head arcades with pierced quatrefoil spandrels are supported on timber posts. The west face of the tower arch presents a plain round-arched opening with two orders of columns, which was altered by an inserted entablature. The outer face of the apse arch is similar, but the inner faces are roll-moulded and ornamented with scalloped capitals. Unmoulded transverse beams form the ceiling. The south tower window has a round-arched head with deep splays, whilst the north window is larger and was formerly a door.

The apse contains window openings resting on a string course, with pointed lancets to the north and south, and a central round-arch lancet at the east end with deep splays. It is roofed with a simple crown-post roof on a tie-beam.

A wooden organ gallery running the length of the west end features trefoil-headed arcade decoration. The organ was built by Bates and Son of Ludgate Hill, London, around 1854. Mid-19th-century fittings include a font with cover, pulpit, brass lectern, and elegant brass gas-mantel brackets (later converted to electricity). Late 19th-century stained glass is present in the apse and tower. Turned oak altar rails, presented in 1961, complete the interior furnishings.

The church is noted as a rare example of an east tower with an apsidal end. It was originally the parish church of Meeching, situated on the hillside above the River Ouse. Following a great storm in 1570, the river altered its course, and Meeching became Newhaven with the subsequent growth of the port in the 17th century.