Saxon Selsey

The cathedral, the bishops and the seal island

Selsey's Saxon heritage is the most remarkable chapter in the town's long history. For nearly four centuries, from 681 to 1075 AD, this modest fishing settlement at the tip of the Manhood Peninsula was the seat of the South Saxon bishops, one of the most important ecclesiastical centres in Anglo-Saxon England.

The story begins with the arrival of Saint Wilfrid of York in 681 AD. Wilfrid, exiled from his own diocese in Northumbria by political disputes, was granted land on the peninsula by the king of the South Saxons. The kingdom of Sussex was one of the last pagan territories in England, and Wilfrid set about converting the population to Christianity. According to Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Wilfrid taught the South Saxons improved fishing techniques using nets, winning their gratitude and their souls simultaneously.

Wilfrid established a monastery and an episcopal seat at Selsey, building a cathedral church at what is now Church Norton, on the north side of the parish overlooking the tidal inlet of Pagham Harbour. The exact location and scale of the original cathedral are uncertain, but the remains at Church Norton, now the chancel of a ruined medieval church, are believed to incorporate elements of the original structure.

For the next four centuries, the bishops of the South Saxons governed from Selsey. The diocese covered the whole of Sussex, and the bishop was one of the most powerful figures in the region. The cathedral at Selsey was the spiritual centre of the kingdom, and the monks and clergy who served it formed a community of learning and worship at the very edge of the land.

The name Selsey itself dates from this period. The Old English 'Seolsey' means seal island, reflecting the fact that in the early Saxon era the peninsula was effectively an island, separated from the mainland by tidal creeks and marshes. Seals were abundant in the surrounding waters, and the island character of the settlement contributed to its isolation and its sense of being a place apart.

The end came in 1075, when a council held at London decreed that episcopal sees should be moved from villages to towns. Bishop Stigand, the last Bishop of Selsey, transferred the seat of the diocese to Chichester, where a new cathedral was built. The old cathedral at Selsey was largely dismantled, and its stone is believed to have been reused in the construction of Chichester Cathedral.

The loss of the bishopric marked the end of Selsey's period of national significance. The town returned to its identity as a fishing village, and the centuries of episcopal grandeur faded into memory. But the remains at Church Norton, the name itself and the knowledge that bishops once ruled from this windswept headland give Selsey a historical depth that few communities of its size can match.