CHURCHES of SUSSEX
The Four Saints of Sussex
There are four saints of Sussex and they are as follows;
Wilfred (Selsey), Richard (Chichester), Lewinna (Seaford) and Cuthman (Steyning).
I have at present only have sketchy details for three of the saints, but
St.Cuthman as you can see, is more than amply covered.
Should you have anything details I can include here to provide more information
on these saints, please e-mail me with it and I shall include it.
St. Wilfred
Selsey lost its cathedral long ago, soon after the Conqueror came, which
is more the pity., for it was built by St. Wilfred (who lived before Alfred)
whose picture is in hundreds of church windows, and whose fame Mr Kipling
has put into his books.
It is the venerable Bede who tells us that when St. Wilfred landed at Selsey
1300 years ago he first won the sympathy of it's peope by teaching them to
fish with nets, for previous to his coming thay had only been able to take
eels.
At this time Ethelwach, King of the South Saxons, granted to Wilfred and
his monks the land of eighty-seven families for the foundation of a minster,
and for nearly four centuries there were bishops of Selsey, until, after the
Norman Conquest, the see was transferred to Chichester.
Both catherdral and monastery now lie beneath the sea, and the only link
with them (and that is not certain) is the two carved stone panels now in
Chichester Cathedral.
A few stones have come up in the fishing nets, the odd coins are washed
up on the beach but the glory of Selsey has long passed away.
St. Richard
In Chichester cathedral, behind the reredos on the
raised platform of the ambulatory or Retro-choir, which is on a level with
the platform on which the high altar stands, is a modern altar to Bishop Richard
de Wych, 1245-53, who was canonized in 1262 as St. Richard.
It stands on the site of his shrine, a famous object of pilgrimage, which
was destroyed at the Reformation.
St. Lewinna
In the neighbourhood of the Cuckmere valley occurred
the extraordinary theft of the relics of St. Lewinna, an early British convert
and the one female saint of sussex, who was martyred by the Saxons.
Two Flemish monks who were forced by bad weather to land near Seaford were
reasponsible for the theft which took place on Easter Eve, 1058.
The relics and the monastery of St. Andrew from which
(in a curious contemporary account) they are said to have been taken have
both disappeared, unless St. Andrew be regarded as Alfriston or Beddingham.
St. Cuthman
The earliest written evidence for Cuthman is found in a book published in
Antwerp in 1658 - a collection of stories about saints which claims to be
translated from earlier Latin documents.
Cuthman, it is said, lived in the south and was brought up in the Christian
faith. As a boy he was put in charge of the sheep and one day wishing to leave
them to collect some food, he drew a line around them on the grass and forbade
them in the name of God to stray further. When he returned the sheep were
all in the boundary he had set.
Cuthman used to sit upon a stone while he was minding the sheep and after
his departure it was said that many miracles and healings took place among
those who touched the stone.
When his father died Cuthman decided to take his invalid mother to find
a new home in the east. He built a barrow in which she could recline and set
off. At one point the rope which ran from the handles of the barrow around
his shoulder broke. This caused amusement to some mowers in a nearby field
but their laughter was soon dispelled by a heavy shower of rain which ruined
their harvesting!
Having replaced the rope with strands from the hedgerow Cuthman continued
on his journey, until his makeshift rope snapped again. Cuthman was so relieved
that his mother sustained no injury from the accident that he determined to
build a church at this place which he learned was called Steyning. the narrative
from this book describes the location of Cuthman's church in some detail;
" It was a place lying at the base of a lofty hill, then woody, overgrown
with brambles and bushes, but now rendered by agriculture fertile and fruitful;
enclosed between two streams springing from the hill above."
Cuthman found some helpers in his church building but one day they were
in difficulty when a main beam swung out of place threatening to destroy the
structure. A traveller appeared among them and devised a remedy which proved
effective. When Cuthman thanked the stranger he asked who he was and received
the reply:
"I am he in whose name you are building this church."
Not all the local people received Cuthman with kindness. When his oxen strayed,
a local woman, Fippa, impounded them and refused to return them to Cuthman
who took her two sons and yoked them to his cart in place of the oxen. Fippa
came to curse Cuthman but he returned her curse and she was raised to the
sky by a great gust of wind. As she fell the earth opened and swallowed her.
The Cuthman stories do appear fantastic to the modern reader and perhaps
this is the reason for Cuthman's neglect. But when these stories are placed
against the background of the times they do show up in a different light and
perhaps we can, with a little imagination and some historical evidence, produce
some reconstruction of events.
First, the time: we know that Cuthman's church existed when Alfred the Great's
father died for he was buried here at Steyning; that was in 858 A.D. We also
know the the major missionary effort in Sussex began with Wilfred's conversion
of the Manhood Peninsular in 681 A.D.
We may assume that Cuthman's lifspan fell within these dates. From ancient
charters in which grants of land to the church are recorded we can trace the
gradual movement of Christianity eastwards through Sussex and it is reasonable
to see Cuthman's work as part of that movement. He himself was brought up
a Christian, his father or grandfather may have been one of the many pagans
converted at the time of Wilfred's mission.
There is a legend that Cuthman came from Childham just outside Chichester,
other legends claim Dorset as his original home. We know that a parish church
existed at nearby Henfield as early as 770 A.D. (the earliest record of a
parish church in Sussex) so if the pattern of the gradual western advanceof
the faith is correct then we should place Cuthman's work in Steyning around
the year 750 A.D.
It is of course likely that Cuthman would have found some hostility to his
church and his faith and the strange stories of cursing and of the stone may
carry important clues. The Saxons believed that by uttering curses they could
paralyse an enemy - the stories show that Cuthman's words were more effective
than the most poweful pagan curses. These stories and that of the visit of
Christ carry the conviction of the people of the time that Cuthman was a man
who lived close to the true God.
The stone story may be the most significant. The word Steyning comes from
the Saxon word 'Stenningas', the most obvious meaning of which is "The
People of the Stone". As no stone was known to exist most scholars satisfied
themselves with 'The People who lived in the stony place' and guessed that
this referred to the flints. Then in 1938 at the eastern entrance to the churchyard
a stone, used by generations as a step, was fully uncovered and found to be
six foot in length and to have strange markings on the side which had lain
buried for centuries.
Was this the stone which gave Steyning it's name? It is possible. We know
the Saxons often set up stones in the places of worship, often in sacred groves
and we remember that the place where Cuthman built his church was formerly
wooded. We also know that it was the practise of the Christian missionaries
to build churches on the sites of pagan worship so that there could never
be any opprtunity for a return to paganism. Pope Gregory had given specific
instructions on this point in 601 A.D.
So when Cuthman came, perhaps he found the stone as the symbol of the local
people's identity and their religion. Gradually we may imagine him persauding
the people that their true identity and religion lay not in relation to a
dead stone but to the living God. To persuade the people that the stone had
no magic powers and held no threat to a believer in Christ, perhaps Cuthman
touched the stone, even sat upon it and although the priests uttered dire
warnings and promised retribution, Cuthman survived. Emboldened by his example
others followed and like Cuthman remained unharmed. This perhaps is the basis
of the stone legend in the original Cuthman stories.
When eventually his church was built, the stone was dragged from its 'high
place' and dumped face down at the bottom of the churchyard mound - serving
as part of a symbolic act perhaps to the worshipppers as they trod over it
(out of the old religion) and approached the church (into the joy of the Gospel).
The Cuthman stories represent very vividly that battle for truth, the Gospel
against the old entrenched pagan religion and, set against their time, despite
their fantastic nature, they make some sense. Certainly Cuthman made a deep
impression on the people of his time. The port of Steyning was named after
him and the church was known by his name until the Normans built in stone.
It is fascinating to stand on the very piece of ground where the battle
for the faith was fought and won over twelve-hundred years ago. We do well
to commemorate Cuthman and let us hope that the faith he brought and fought
for here in Steyning may be taught and learned and lived as effectively by
those of us who worship here today.
St. Cuthman's day is 8th February
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