ons had by then, if indeed it ever served
this church, been dissolved. At the suppression of the alien priories
in the fifteenth century Steyning passed to the new Abbey of Sion.

There can be no doubt that the church we have at Steyning is due to
the Benedictines of Fecamp, and it is one of the noblest buildings in
the county. Of the earlier church they built here much would seem to
remain, the rudely carved arches at the eastern end of the aisles, the
Norman window on the north, and much of the aisle walls. This church
was probably cruciform and may have been larger than that we now see.
It was rebuilt again by the monks in the middle of the twelfth
century, when the great chancel arch we have, the beautiful nave
arcades and clerestory were built, with the fine mouldings and
capitals and dog-tooth ornament. The font, too, would seem to be of
about this time. The tower only dates from the sixteenth century, and
the chancel is modern.

Now Steyning lies under Chanctonbury, but I resisted the temptation to
spend the afternoon in the old camp there looking over the "blue
goodness of the weald," for I wished especially to visit the church of
Wiston, and to see, if I might, Wiston House, which Sir Thomas
Shirley built about 1576, and where those three brothers were born who
astonished not only Sussex and all England, but Rome itself and the
Pope by their marvellous daring and adventures.

The old manor house is delightfully situated in its beautiful park
under the dark height of Chanctonbury, and though much altered,
retains on the whole its fine Elizabethan character. The manor
originally belonged to the De Braose, from whom it passed by marriage
to the Shirleys. In the church, a small Decorated building, there is
a fine brass of 1426 to Sir John de Braose, on which over and over
again we read Jesu Mercy: this in the south chapel. His little son is
buried under an arch on the north, where there is a curious effigy of
him. The first Shirley, whose monument we find here, though only in
part, is that of Sir Richard, who died in 1540; but it was Sir Thomas,
who also has his monument, that built Wiston and was the father of
those three remarkable sons. He was the great-grandson of Ralph Shirley
of Wiston, and the son of William Shirley, who died in 1551. Till his
time the family had of course been Catholic; it was he who first
abandoned the Faith; perhaps it was this spirit of adventure so
unfortunate in him which descended