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St Helen's Church, an Anglican church in the Hangleton area of Hove, is the oldest surviving building in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is the ancient parish church of Hangleton—an isolated downland village which was abandoned by the Middle Ages and consisted of open farmland until the Interwar period, when extensive residential development took place. ==History== Hangleton existed at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, although the church was not mentioned; its first known reference is in 1093 when William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey put it under the control of Lewes Priory. The church stood between the manor house and the cottages and houses of the village to the northeast, and was a rectangular building long and , with flint walls thick. Rebuilding began in the 12th century. The nave dates from that century, while the square tower was added in the 13th century and the church was re-roofed at that time (having originally been thatched).〔 The 12th-century chancel was rebuilt in around 1300.〔 Hangleton village began to decline in the 14th century. The whole parish, which covered a much wider area than the village itself, had a population of 80 by around 1850. In 1864 it was formally united with the parish of Portslade, having already been administered by Portslade's vicar for the previous 100 years. The condition of the church building worsened, but it never became an unusable ruin and never experienced a period without services—although for a time these were as infrequent as once a year. The churchyard was still used for burials as well.〔 Unlike many other mediaeval churches in the Brighton and Hove area, which were heavily restored and altered in the 19th century, St Helen's was largely overlooked because of its isolation in a bleak, distant spot high on the South Downs above Hove.〔 In 1870, George Cokayne, later a Clarenceux King of Arms, funded a minor restoration of the church.〔〔 This may have saved the building from ruin, but also preserved its ancient character. Scenes for the 1909 film The Boy and the Convict, directed by Dave Aylott for Williamson Kinematograph Company, were filmed in the churchyard, which includes the grave of Samuel Augustus Barnett (1844-1913). The parish was incorporated into the then Borough of Hove in 1927.〔 The Borough started to use the expanse of open land for housing development soon afterwards. This spread northwestwards from Hove in the mid-1930s and continued until the 1950s, by which time the whole area around the church had been built up. Another partial restoration took place in 1929,〔〔 followed by a more thorough rebuilding in 1949. This added a porch and a vestry,〔 a new roof (at a cost of £2,500) and some battlements and a pyramidal roof on the tower. Work continued until 1951,〔 at which time the parish was split from Portslade.〔 The new Parish of Hangleton's first priest took over in 1955.〔 Following the 1949 alterations, St Helen's was reopened for regular use,〔 and was granted Grade II * listed status on 24 March 1950.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St Helen's Church, Hangleton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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