The Bishopric Moves from Selsey to Chichester

1075

Following the Norman Conquest, a council held at London in 1075 decreed that episcopal sees should be moved from villages to towns. Bishop Stigand, the last Bishop of Selsey, was ordered to transfer the seat of the diocese from Selsey to Chichester, where a new cathedral was to be built. The move ended nearly four centuries of Selsey's status as a cathedral town. The old cathedral at Church Norton was largely dismantled, and much of its stone is believed to have been reused in the construction of Chichester Cathedral. The chancel of the original church survived as a parish chapel and still stands at Church Norton. For Selsey, the loss of the bishopric marked the end of its period of national significance and the beginning of a long era as a small fishing settlement.