The ancient parish church of Brighton, St Nicholas, is dedicated to St Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, patron saint of fishermen and sailors, children, pawnbrokers and Russia. A church with this dedication has been the centre of Christian worship in Brighton for the past nine hundred years and on Friday 24 September, for the first time in almost two hundred years, there were sheep grazing in St Nicholas churchyard.

Under the guidance of Brighton & Hove’s Park Ranger, Dominic Franklin, the sheep grazed the blessed grass of central Brighton. Children from St Paul’s School came along to see and pat the sheep. Dominic explained that not so long ago, there would have been grassland right outside the walls of the church, and that sheep would have been grazing in the centre of Brighton. Indeed, according to an ancient by-law the Vicar of Brighton has the right to rear a flock of sheep in the churchyard. Continue reading Sheep May Safely Graze →