St Clements Church

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Dordle
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Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 6:03 pm

St Clements Church

Postby Dordle » Mon Dec 19, 2016 6:11 pm

I have quite a few Shingleton relatives that were baptised and buried at St Clements and All Saints Churches. Does anyone know why St Clements hardly has any churchyard? Thanks

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ColinL
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Joined: Sat May 21, 2016 3:45 pm

Re: St Clements Church

Postby ColinL » Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:00 pm

Some of the houses on Croft Road are early 19th century which was a part of the estate of John Collier which was parcelled off at roughly the same time. All of the side around Exmouth Place are fine examples of Regency architecture. I have seen some of the plans of the original site when the road was developed that shows the different plots being laid out. One of the Croft Rd B&B owners showed me the documents when I stayed there. (The Milward family may also have owned some of the land)

It could simply be that when the Church was first founded it was only given a small piece of land. The original church of St Clement was closer to the sea. 'but in 1286 Alan the cheesemonger and his wife Alice, gave a rood of land to the Abbey of Fecamp, which then owned both St Clement's and All Saint's to rebuild it" (Manwaring Baines 1955) St Clement's has about 30 Charters regarding Church lands between 1350 and 1486. Anyone fancy delving in the National Archives, where I assume they are preserved? Way back then they were leasing land for houses to be built.

They may simply have sold off more land which eventually ended up in the hands of the Collier /Milward family)

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Richard
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Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: St Clements Church

Postby Richard » Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:07 pm

The relative size of a church and its churchyard may be a matter of some understandable conjecture.
But, since Hastings Old Town was owned by the Norman Abbey of Fe-camp, well before the Norman Invasion, and since the Church was strictly Catholic, in those days, it may be accepted that burials were often laid out in a Crypt, in the basement of a Church, as was the Catholic habit for the respect of its wealthier patrons.
The common-folk being treated less favourably, up at ground level beyond the body of the church, as a token of somewhat lesser respect.
Religious practices changed down the years and so the habit of burials around a Church may have also come about at a time when land was scarce and different religions or customs had arisen.
All Saints is often referred to as the 'upper church' and St Clements as the 'lower church'.

Basically, I have no idea, but it is interesting to speculate on what might have been the case!

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Richard
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Re: St Clements Church

Postby Richard » Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:34 pm

Around the year 1200, most of Hastings was in the Bourne Valley, with few buildings in the Priory Valley, but coastal erosion and sea-incursions were starting to reduce the viability of Hastings as a major port.
Tradition has it that the first St. Clement's was nearer the sea, perhaps near Hill Street Steps, and that the encroachments of the sea eventually destroyed it.
Major storms were recorded, around the year 1250, some of Hastings Castle was probably lost to these storms and Winchelsea was largely destroyed, leading to the laying out of the new town of Winchelsea in 1283.
Ground for a new St Clements Church was made available in 1286, some way inland from its Norman site
We know that 'Sea Walls' were eventually put in place to protect the Old Town from ravages of the storms and and that three 'Sea Gates' existed from, at least, the late 14th century.
c1385 – A wall is believed to have been built at about this time across the south end of the Old Town. It was probably for protection from defence against the sea, and may have also been an anti-French defence:
The Sea Gate, in the High Street, by No 58; the Great Gate, where The Bourne road is today, by Winding Street; and the Pulpit Gate with an adjoining fort on the site of 74 All Saints Street.
The next St. Clement's Church was built on the present site, inside a protected area, and probably consisted of a nave and chancel.
The only unusual feature being that the tower was at the end of the aisle, instead of that of the nave, this was due to the fact that the direction of Croft Road made it impossible to put the tower at the end of the nave, and the fall of the ground towards High Street prevented the building from being placed farther east.
The first Rector, whose name has come down to us, is Laurence
Soher, who resigned in 1331.

1339 – The town was plundered and burnt by the French, after burning Portsmouth.
1340-50 – Successive storms damaged the coast and properties close to the sea.
1377 – In their second major attack on the English coast since 1066, the French failed to beat Winchelsea, so they plundered and burnt Hastings and Rye. All Saints Church and St Clements Church were both probably destroyed, and the castle lost (and never regained) its military role.
1379 – In retaliation for the 1377 French attack, the Cinque Ports attacked and burnt several towns in Normandy.
c1380 – St Clements Church was rebuilt, following the French raid. It replaced one built on this site in the 1280s, which itself replaced one nearer the sea, which had been destroyed by storms and, possibly, the French.


So it looks like St. Clements was in a bit of a 'tight spot' and had to adopt itself to restricted circumstances, moving location to avoid sea-storms, surviving the marauding French and then it had to manage taxation and the threat from the Reformation of Henry VIII...


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