In 1107 William Warlewest was appointed Bishop of Exeter. Warlewest was an enthusiastic churchman and rebuilt Exeter cathedral. Some say he commissioned a small church at Thorney in 1120AD to be dedicated to St Nicholas, though this could be confused with the College of Prebendaries at Bosham established by Warlewest in 1120AD. Other sources place St Nicholas’ establishment later at 1178, perhaps as an outpost of the college, providing a supply of grain and fish.  

In any case, the chancel at St Nicholas is of Early Norman style signified by the small windows Norman style windows of its first construction.  The Font is also Early Norman, exhibiting the chevrons and apostle recesses carved around it.   The addition of North and South aisles suggest the building served a bigger community.  Though lost to us now, the old columns and arches can be seen in the Nave walls, North and South.  A lepers window is also known to have been available - there having been a Leper House in Hermitage, Southbourne in those times.

By the 13th Century, St Nicholas’ had been enlarged by a Nave, North and South aisles. With three aisles, St Nicholas would have been a big structure for the times, likely supporting a sizeable community. This leads to the contention that the priory or monastery continued at Thorney, but as an outpost of Exeter, which may explain why Sussex based records may be a bit thin for that early a time.  No traces of monastic buildings exist today, Henry VIII’s dissolution probably seeing to that. Clues exist in the naming of Priors Farm through to the 1930s. An old painting of the Padwicks Manor House shows ecclesiastical windows in a wing of the building. This wing was demolished in 1826.

By 1212AD, the Bishop of Exeter’s oysters were being paid by a Norman Richard de Thorney. When he died in 1222AD without an heir, the property was divided between his sisters’ families through complicated transactions of dowerage and reversion.  

By 1242AD, the major holding was held by Richard de Grensted, with a further third owned by the Aguillon family. By his time, the right to ‘present’ (nominate) the priest at St Nicholas was secular. This right is called an advowson so the exercise of this right to appoint rectors crops up through time. In 1291AD the benefice of West Thorney was valued at £20 though the advowson was complicated by the subdivisions of the manors and may have referred to the value of the advowson rather than the annual income of the benefice. 

Stephen de Molendinis is the first Rector of St Nicholas recorded on our priest list in 1308. Our bell, the oldest in Sussex, dates from the 14th Century and its inscription is held as a plaster cast in our pottery collection. The carving of the three legged Trinity symbol on the oak screen is also of this time, tho' the spindles beneath are a pine replacement.   We have reproduced this Trinity motif on the 2011 vestry screen cupboards.

In 1416, the advowson of St Nicholas was sublet with a portion of the Aguillon holding as the Manor of West Thorney Aglands. The land holdings subsequently reverted back to the bishopric of Exeter, who sold these on in 1584 to Thomas Fisher and a year later was acquired by a Henry Bickley. The Manor became known as Thorney Bickley and was linked with Chidham land holdings. The right to appoint the rector of St Nicholas was shared between the lords of the manor, the Bickleys presenting candidates for two of every three presentations.