St Nicholas Parish Church (Bognor Regis)

 church, Neo-Gothic (architecture), 1840s construction

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While there had been a church at Middleton in 1086, by the late 18th century most of the chancel had been destroyed by the sea, the south aisle demolished and its arcade filled in, and part of the west end including the tower removed. Repairs were carried out in 1803. There were seldom more than six or seven in the congregation in 1804. The erosion of the churchyard inspired the poet Charlotte Smith to write a sonnet "Written in the Church-Yard at Middleton in Sussex" (1789).

A very high tide early in 1838 virtually destroyed what was left of the building, rendering it unusable; the ruins survived in 1847 but had disappeared by c. 1849. A small portion of the north part of the churchyard remained in 1860.

The new church, with the same dedication, consists of apsed chancel and nave without structural division, and west porch and vestry. There is a bellcot. Of flint with stone dressings and some brick and in 13th-century style, the building was consecrated in 1849 on a site given by Richard Coote, lord of Middleton manor.

www.stnicholasmiddleton.co.uk/