Wilfrid – Chichester – St. Wilfrid's

After his second banishment from Northumbria, St. Wilfrid found refuge in Sussex under the protection of king Eathelwealh of the South Saxons and became the very first bishop of Selsey (Church Norton) in 681 and established a monastic cathedral there. Later king Eathelwealh was deposed by Caedwaller of Wessex and c 683 Caedwaller granted further lands to St. Wilfrid to support a monastery at Pagham (known as the Pagham 100). In 687 Wilfrid made his peace with Archbishop Theodore and king Aldfrith of Northumbria and was reinstated to his Episcopal see in Northumbria. Before leaving, ‘he granted the villa called Pagham, which he had received with all its associated goods by royal gift, to that church at Canterbury for possession by perpetual right prior to returning to his own lands’. To this day this makes the parish of Bognor a peculiar of Canterbury.

After the Norman Conquest there was a requirement to move cathedrals into city centres and in 1075 construction started on a new cathedral in the centre of the former Roman town of Chichester sunder bishop Stigand, the last Bishop of Selsey. The cathedral was consecrated in 1108.

	The Lambert Barnard mural commissioned by Bishop Robert Sherburne c 1508-1536 in the South Transept. Shows Caedwaller (R) confirming the rights and territories to Wilfrid (L) (rights bestowed earlier by King Eathelwealh of the South Saxons who Caedwaller deposed)
	The Lambert Barnard mural of St. Wilfrid commissioned by Bishop Sherburne c 1508-1536 in the North Transept.
	The mural contains all the bishops up to the time the mural was commissioned and they all have the face of Bishop Sherburne! Lambert Barnard was Court Painter to Bishop Sherburne.Lambert Barnard also painted eight panels "Heroines of Antiquity" for Amberley Castle which was then a residence for the Bishops of Chichester and the eight panels are now on display in Pallent House, Chichester.
	The Cathedral banner given in 1901 by Canon Arthur Barwell, Prebendary of Fittleworth and situated on the north wall of the cathedral. The banner shows St. Richard (L) and St. Wilfrid (R) in episcopal robes and was embroidered by Miss H. Harvey of London. In 1970 the banner was borrowed for display by the Victoria and Albert museum as an example of outstanding Victorian embroidery.
	An enlarged picture of the St. Wilfrid part of (3) above. Note the shield to the right of Wilfrid's left hand is that generally attributed to St. Wilfrid including the various shields in York Cathedral - 3 gold estoiles with 6 points each on a blue background; the lower shield is that of York (keys of St. Peter) reflecting his office (before and after reinstatement after banishment from Northumbria) of Bishop of York..
	The stained glass window set in the North Wall - St. Wilfrid (R) as Bishop of Selsey 681-709. The window was installed in 1949 as part of the restoration following bomb damage of the Cathedral in the 2nd World War. Note the shield attributed to St. Wilfrid - 7 red mascles on a gold background is that normally attributed to St. William of York in York Cathedral. Note the same design is used for St. Wilfrid in the reredos c1919 originally in St. John's church and now in St. Wilfrid's church.
	An enlarged view of (5). Note the Seal (Selsey was known as Seal Island and Rudyard Kipling wrote the short story 'The Conversion of St. Wilfrid" which featured Padda the seal) and a fishing net (see Bede's account of how St. Wilfrid taught the starving people of Selsey how to fish)