Publications
Parochialization and patterns of patronage in 11th-Century Sussex, by Neil S. Rushton, published 1999 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 137, article, pp.133-152) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14439] & The Keep [LIB/500291] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:The 11th century was a crucial period for the formation of the parochial system in England. The old minster parochial were being broken up and their rights encroached upon by an increasing number of new churches, which can be recognized as the parish churches of the later Middle Ages. A study of Anglo-Saxon law-codes, Domesday Book, charters, confirmations, and other documentary sources from Sussex is used to recreate the chronology of parochialization in the county and allow for an assessment of the effect of the Norman Conquest and the subsequent changing patterns of patronage on the parish system. The patronage of magnates, particularly Robert of Eu and William de Braose, is used as an example of how a change of aristocracy did, and did not, come into conflict with the previously established jurisdictional areas of the minsters. An interdisciplinary approach is vital: archaeological and architectural evidence is assessed in order to gain as full an understanding as possible about the extent to which the parochial system was changing in the 11th century. The topographical and socio-religious peculiarities of Sussex are taken into consideration; especially the Wealden coverage of large parts of the uplands and the relatively late conversion of the South Saxons to Christianity which may have stifled the development of the minster parochial in the first place. Although the county is treated as a discrete example of parochialization, the interpretations are applied to the rest of the country in order to make some useful generalizations
The Parochialisation of Sussex 1000-1086-1291, by Neil Rushton, published 1 January 1999 in An Historical Atlas of Sussex (pp.36-37, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd, ISBN-10: 1860771122 & ISBN-13: 9781860771125) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14026][Lib 18777] & The Keep [LIB/501686][LIB/508903] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries