The Clock Tower in Steyning High Street

Steyning is a small West Sussex town on the South Downs in the Adur valley approximately 4 miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea.

In Steyning, there is access to a variety of facilities. These include 4 public houses, 4 estate agents and 4 banks. Furthermore, there is a state-of-the-art leisure centre, which was built with National Lottery funding. The town is home to Steyning Grammar School (a paradoxically titled state comprehensive), which has a body of around 2500 students, with a sixth form comprising over 400. The school has a catchment area that extends as far as Dial Post and sometimes Worthing.

History of Steyning

Steyning has existed since at least Anglo-Saxon times. King Alfred the Great's father, Ethelwulf of Wessex, was buried there in the church of St Cuthman, before being transferred to Winchester.

Edward the Confessor granted Steyning to the abbot and convent of Fécamp, who retained control until the 15th century. The Abbey of Fécamp re-dedicated the church of St Cuthman to St Andrew in the 13th Century.

According to the Domesday Book, by 1086 Steyning was a thriving port. It had a market, a mint and two churches. However, in the 14th century, the river began to silt up and the town began to decay.

Later, Steyning was a rotten borough, returning two MPs from 1278 until it was disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832.

In 1614, William Holland, Alderman of Chichester founded and endowed Steyning Grammar School.

Links

• St Cuthman of Steyning (http://www.dabnet.org/stcuth4.htm)
• Steyning Grammar School (http://www.steyning.w-sussex.sch.uk/)
• Steyning Town Football Club (http://www.steyningtownfc.org.uk/)
• Steyning Athletic Club (http://www.steyningac.org.uk/)
• Steyning Cricket Club (http://www.steyningcricketclub.com/)
• Steyning Strikers Football Club (http://www.steyningstrikers.plus.com/)
• Steyning Camera Club (http://www.steyningcc.org.uk/)