St Nicholas Church, West Itchenor
St. Nicholas Church is the Anglican parish church of West Itchenor, a village in the Chichester district of West Sussex, United Kingdom. History In around 1175 Hugh Esturmy was given permission by the Bishop of Chichester John of Greenford and the Prebendary of Wightring to build a chapel in Itchenor. Between 1180 and 1197 Bishop Seffrid II allowed the chapel to be converted into a little parish church with its own graveyard. In 1935 the Parish of Itchenor was united with the Parish of Birdham as a single benefice. In 1986 the benefice of Itchenor and Birdham was united with the Parish of West Wittering. From there after the Vicar of West Wittering was made the Rector of the Benefice of West Wittering and Birdham with Itchenor, which is what the benefice is known as today. Music The annals of the village indicate that string or wind instruments would have been used to accompany the singing prior to 1862. From 1862 church music at St. Nicholas developed: a harmonium was purchased in 1870 to take place of the string and wind instruments, and in 1922 a small pipe organ was acquired. The next step forward came in 1950 when a