Nicaea AD 325

Due to unforeseen circumstances the final talk will now be on Wednesday 9th April.

To mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Fr David presents three talks exploring the history and theological debates that surrounded the Council.

Had these debates run a different course, our subsequent understanding of Christ and the salvation he gives would have been very different. Today, Christians throughout the world recite the creed that emerged from these debates in order to guard against error and heresy. For this reason, the wording of the creed matters enormously. During the course of these talks you will discover why.

The talks are on Wednesday 19th and 26th March and 2nd April at 6.30 pm at St Nicholas'. Each talk will conclude with compline, otherwise known as Night Prayer.

A Day in the Life of a Vicar

The Friends of St. Nicholas & The Friends of St. Leonard’s are Proud To Present:

“A Day In The Life Of A Vicar”
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly !

Fr Andrew Wadsworth shares his many amusing and challenging experiences of 38 years of ministry in parishes in Sussex, Shropshire, Devon, and Warwickshire.

Saturday April 26th at 3pm at St Nicholas' Church.

Followed by Refreshments.

Tickets £10 from the Parish Office

Email or Telephone the Parish Office (Tuesday to Friday 10am -2pm) or Book Online.

All funds raised will go towards the repair and restoration of St Nicholas' and St Leonard's.

Hear the Good News

Hear the Good News is an invitation to explore the central tenets of the Christian faith.

Each session will begin with a celebration of the Eucharist, which lies at the very heart of the Christian life. There’ll then be a short presentation followed an opportunity to ask questions over drinks and nibbles.

Although aimed at people who are new to the faith, or who have only a sketchy understanding of the principles of Christianity, these sessions will also act as a refresher for all the faithful.

The sessions are on Wednesday 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th February at 6.30 pm at St Nicholas'.

Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

The annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols has become one of our great Christmas traditions.

Its origins lie in the 1880s, but it came to prominence in 1918 when the Dean of King's College, Cambridge, Eric Milner-White, put together a service of lessons and carols to lift the spirits of the college following the dark and harrowing years of the First World War.

St Nicholas' annual carol service follows Milner-White's traditional format. Through the singing of joyful carols and the timeless words of sacred scripture, the service recounts the wondrous story of the birth of our Lord.

Friends of St Nicholas 100 Club

A great way to help maintain and restore Arundel's Grade 1 Listed parish church is to join the Friends of St Nicholas 100 Club.

The 100 Club raises funds based on regular giving from up to 100 people. All monies raised are ring fenced so that the profit from the scheme can only be used to restore or maintain the fabric of the church.

It works like this:
The Club recruits up to 100 people paying £10 per month.
Each quarter prizes of £50, £100 and £250 are drawn and distributed to the lucky winners.
These draws take place at the end of March, June, September and December.
So it operates like the premium bonds but the chances of winning are much, much greater!

So, what's stopping you? Join today!

It's quick and easy to become a member of the 100 Club. Simply follow these two steps:

Set up a monthly £10 standing order using your banking app payable to:
Friends of St Nicholas Church Arundel
Account Number: 00254119
Sort Code: 30-95-09

Send us your details by clicking on the Personal Details link below. We'll then enter your name into the quarterly draw and let you know if you win.

The Arundel Corbels and a Royal Connection

It is quite likely that Henry Yevele was the lead mason planning and managing the construction of St Nicholas’ Church at the end of the 14th Century. He was a loyal and long trusted employee of Edward III and would frequently have met the 3rd and 4th Fitzalan Earl at Court.

Edward III and his wife, Queen Philippa are buried in Westminster Abbey and effigies of them both were placed on their tomb. Henry Yevele supervised this work. He also supervised construction of tomb figures for the 3rd Fizalan Earl and his wife soon after 1376.

The most western corbels in the church present a strong stone likeness of the figures on the Westminster Abbey tomb of King and Queen. So, could it be that two of the corbels in St Nicholas' pay homage to Edward III and Queen Philippa? The evidence certainly points in that direction.

Below you can see an image of all the corbels in the nave at St Nicholas'. Corbels 1 to 6 go from west to east on the north side of the nave. Corbels 7 to 12 go from east to west on the south side of the nave.

Corbel 1

Corbel 2

Corbel 3

Corbel 4

Corbel 5

Corbel 6

Corbel 7

Corbel 8

Corbel 9

Corbel 10

Corbel 11

Corbel 12

Conserving and Sharing a Rich Heritage

For more than a decade, St Nicholas’ Parochial Church Council (PCC) has worked on an ambitious conservation programme. This has included repairs to the tower walls, rainwater goods, the church's

fine ring of bells, a complete restoration of the north aisle roof and a number of other essential repairs. Alongside this important restoration work, the PCC has stabilised the church's medieval wall paintings ahead of further restoration work.

To date over £1 million pounds has been spent preserving Arundel's medieval parish church for future generations to enjoy and treasure. About a third of the money has been raised from within the
Parish, greatly assisted by The Friends of St Nicholas’ Church and Sussex Historic Churches Trust. The remaining funding has come from grants provided by Historic England and subsequently the National
Lottery Heritage Fund.

Work still to be undertaken

There are at least two more essential and major projects to complete, repairing the south aisle roof and the west window. In total, these will cost in the region of another £1 million. To fund this the PCC will need to secure more grants and raise at least half of this sum. Each phase of work normally takes at least two years to move through all the planning and completion phases.

Until all this work is completed, the building remains, as assessed by Historic England, very much ‘at risk’.

You can support this work by giving a one-off donation or make regular donations by joining the Parish Giving Scheme. You could also become a Friend of St Nicholas’ Church.

Sharing Heritage

In June 2022 there was a major exhibition to share a wide range of information about the church and the town of Arundel. Research for the exhibition uncovered new information about the history of the church. For example, it led to an intriguing hypothesis that two of the church's corbels have a royal connection.

St Nicholas' helps children understand and appreciate their local heritage through a variety of educational visits.

Author Archive: Vicar