St. Richard's Church

Slindon has a long history of Roman Catholicism and Slindon Manor was part of the see of Canterbury as long ago as 1106. St Anselm and many Archbishops of Canterbury stayed here including probably Saint Thomas a Becket, Saint Thomas More and the famous Cardinal John Morton who was Chancellor of England and (in)famous for ‘Morton’s Fork’.*.

Even when the religion was proscribed from the time of Elizabeth I, the family in Slindon House (now Slindon College) remained Catholics and secret services were held there. There are many stories of harbouring priests, secret chapels and priests holes and even of tunnels to nobody knows quite where !

However, following the laws which permitted Roman Catholics to practice their religion again, the Earl of Newburgh who died in 1814 left land and money in his will to establish a Roman Catholic chapel and a priest’s house in Slindon. His widow, Anne Countess of Newburgh preferred to continue to worship in the chapel at Slindon House and it was not until after her death that the present church was built by her heirs, the Leslie family from Scotland.
The foundation stone was laid in September 1864 and the church was completed in November 1865.
The architect Charles Buckler was a well-known church architect and the churches of St Edward the Confessor at Sutton Park, just north of Guildford, and St Dominic’s in Haverstock Hill in London are other fine examples of his work.

The Leslie family who succeeded the Earls of Newburgh, had estates in Aberdeenshire and some family members, including the last Countess, are buried in the cemetery here with commemorative headstones in a reddish stone which is granite from their Aberdeen quarries.

The last Earl of Newburgh is commemorated in a bas-relief plaque on the East wall by the great Danish sculptor Bertil Thorwaldsen. It is one of only three examples of his work in England, but although he worked in Rome for most of his life there is an entire museum in Copenhagen devoted to his work and the Slindon plaque is featured in that museum’s handbook. Other examples of his work are in great museums around the world.

The stained glass window dedicated to the memory of the Countess of Newburgh includes St Richard of Chichester after whom the church is dedicated. The small painted crosses on the inside wall of the church are ‘consecration crosses’ which are applied in a special service when the church is free from any debts taken up during the original building of the church.

From its inception, the house beside the church was the Presbytery in which the priest lived. It was originally a cottage or croft until 1817 when the Georgian house seen today was built on the front. The house was sold in 1983, since when the priests serving St Richards lived first in Barnham and now Bognor Regis. St Richard’s is now part of a wider parish, the mother church of which is Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church in Bognor Regis.

At the time of the sale of the Presbytery a rare mediaeval cope – a large church vestment – was discovered dating from 1500 and owned by Cardinal Morton. It is now conserved in Arundel Castle and was recently displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as a fine example of Tudor church vestments.

TODAY Catholic worship remains very alive in St Richard’s, Slindon with a Sunday Mass at 9am with good music and a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere. It is particularly popular church for weddings.

* Morton’s Fork is a mediaeval Catch 22 : If you live lavishly you must have plenty of money and can pay your taxes. If you live simply you must be saving your money and can also pay your taxes.

John G Moor (814227) 7th March 2005