St Wilfrid’s Chapel

This little chapel was built in the13th century, formerly the chancel of the much larger St. Peter’s Church which in 1864, was removed stone by stone and rebuilt further south in the New Town of Selsey. After it’s removal the chancel was closed and used as a mortuary chapel. St. Wilfred’s was granted chapel status by Bishop Ridgeway in 1917. It is located on or very close to the site of the first Cathedral of Sussex which was established by St Wilfrid when he came to live on this spot for a period of six years from AD 681. The Diocese was organised from here until 1075 when the Bishop moved his throne ( Cathedral) to Chichester. Thereafter a church has survived here to minister the needs of the local population who had established themselves under the Church’s protection.
Although the current building does not date from the period of St Wilfrid it contains features of considerable interest, including notable 20th century stained glass, together with fittings and memorials from earlier centuries. It is still used for occasional services and well cared for by the locals, although tiny inside, there are but a handful of people living in this area now, from the back view where I took this photograph is Pagham Harbour-which forms an area of salt marsh and shallow lagoons , it is not an estuary , as no major streams enter the harbour with only freshwater inflow of a few small streams draining from surrounding fields . An attempt was made to drain the harbour for farming in 1873 with an embankment constructed across the edge of the lagoon to hold back the sea , this failed in December 1910 and was not reconstructed, at present the entrance to the sea is 50 metres wide.
It is now a site of special Scientific Interest, a Local Nature Reserve , a special protection area, a Ramsar site and a marine conservation zone. In spring and Autumn rare migratory birds can often been seen on the mud flats and reed beds. The harbour covers 1,450 acres of salt marsh, farmland, copses, lagoons,Reed beds and shingle beaches popular with nature lovers.
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