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Selsey Abbey was founded by Wilfrid in AD 681 on land donated at Selsey by the local Anglo-Saxon ruler, King Æðelwealh of Sussex. According to the Venerable Bede the Kingdom of Sussex was the last area of mainland England to be evangelised.
The abbey became the seat of the Sussex bishopric, until it was moved to Chichester, after 1075 when the Council of London decreed that Episcopal see should be centred in cities not in villages. The location of the abbey was probably at the site of, what became, the old parish church at Church Norton just north of modern-day Selsey.
The "Ecclesiastical History" says that the local king Æðelwealh and his wife Eafe plus the leading thegns and soldiers had already been baptised in Mercia; he then goes on to say that only Queen Eafe was baptised. Also when Wilfrid arrived in Sussex, there was a small community of five or six Irish monks led by Dicul in Bosham; however according to Bede they had made little headway in evangelising the local people.
Kirby writes that Æðelwealh's bride Eafe was the daughter of Wulfhere, the Christian king of Mercia, and that Æðelwealh and his nobles would have been baptised at the Mercian court. On their return to Sussex, Wulfhere will have sent a number of priests with them, to baptise the ordinary people. Kirby further speculates that Christianity may have secured a foothold in early Sussex via one of its sons, the South Saxon Damian, bishop of Rochester . A more recent hypothesis, posited by the historian Michael Shapland, suggests that "there were likely several British churches in the area that predate the possibly biased historical accounts of Wilfred's successful Christianisation of Sussex".
Shapland also says that the choice of Selsey over the Roman city of Chichester seems illogical and that Wilfred chose an existing church in Selsey and claimed it as his Cathedral as part of a political maneuver.
A 10th-century forged foundation charter credits Cædwalla with confirming the grant of land to Wilfrid.
Cædwalla was a West Saxon prince who had apparently been banished by Centwine, king of Wessex Cædwalla had spent his exile in the forests of the Chiltern and the Weald, and at some point had befriended Wilfrid. Cædwalla vowed that if Wilfrid would be his spiritual father then he would be his obedient son. After entering into this compact, they faithfully fulfilled it, with Wilfrid providing the exile with all kinds of aid.
Eventually, Cædwalla invaded the kingdom of the South Saxons and slew King Æðelwealh. Æðelwealh's successors, Berthun and Andhun, drove Cædwalla out, but after the death of Centwine, Cædwalla was able to become King of the West Saxons. He then conquered the South Saxons, killing Berthun in the process. Cædwalla immediately summoned Wilfrid and made him supreme counsellor over his whole kingdom.
In about 686 Archbishop Theodore resolved to arbitrate between the various parties to end Wilfrid's exile. He was successful in his efforts and Wilfrid returned north. With Wilfrid gone, Selsey was absorbed by the Diocese of the West Saxons, at Winchester. In temporal matters Sussex was subject to the West Saxon kings, and in ecclesiastical matters it was subject to the bishops of Winchester. By AD 705 the West Saxon Diocese had grown to such a size that it became unwieldy to manage, so King Ine, Cædwalla's successor, resolved with his witan to divide the great diocese Accordingly, a new see was created at Sherborne and four years later the See of Selsey was created. Wilfrid had been in charge of the religious community at Selsey. When he left he probably would have nominated a president, and any subsequent vacancy would have been filled by election. Abbot Eadberht of Selsey would have been president of the brotherhood in 709 and according to Bede was consecrated the first Bishop of the South Saxons Diocese by synodal decree.
From the time of Wilfrid till after the Norman Conquest, when the See was transferred to Chichester, there were about twenty-two Bishops over a period of 370 years. By the time of the Domesday Book, the See of Sussex was probably the poorest bishopric in the country.
The See was transferred, to Chichester, after the Council of London of 1075 decreed that Sees should be centred in cities. Some sources claim that Stigand, who was bishop at the time of the transfer, continued to use the title Bishop of Selsey until 1082, before adopting the new title of Bishop of Chichester, indicating that the move took several years to complete, with work on the new cathedral not being commenced until the 1090s.
There is a dearth of documents for the early church in Sussex, with gaps in the lists. Most of the documents that do survive are later copies or forgeries, which has made it impossible to reconstruct a detailed history before the Norman Conquest.
The area that Camden refers to is the reef known as "The Mixon", although undersea now it was habitable during the 11th century. This added to the narrative, that the old cathedral was drowned. Another hypothesis suggests that the site of the submerged cathedral is an area of sea off Selsey known as "The Park", a former deer park that was the possession of the Bishops of Chichester.
Wilfrid's church, in reality, was more likely to have been at the site of, what became, the old 13th century parish church at Church Norton.
There is some supporting evidence for this. An excavation, in 1911, of the 'mound' that adjoins the current St Wilfrid's chapel yielded a 10th-century bronze belt tab of a type found in ecclesiastical contexts. Also various stone artefacts have been found in the area including remnants of Wilfrid's palm cross, that would have stood outside his cathedral. The design on the remains of the cross are similar to those on the Bewcastle Cross and it is thought that the Selsey cross would have been identical to the one at Bewcastle. Bishop William Reade, in his will dated 1382, requested that he should be buried before the high altar of the church at "Selsey ... once the cathedral church of my diocese".
In another will dated 1545, Geoffrey Thomson, a Rector of Selsey, asked to be buried next to the palm cross in the churchyard.
On the top left of the painting that hangs in the south transept of Chichester Cathedral, created by the early Tudor period painter Lambert Barnard, is a representation of the old church and bell tower at Church Norton as it appeared in the 16th century. The 1911 excavation of the mound revealed some strong stone foundations for a square tower and the remains of a ringwork. It is probable that the foundations were for the bell tower, shown separate from the church on the Barnard painting. The tower would have been constructed in the 11th century or earlier as a fortification and not actually part of the church. A churchwarden's presentment from 1662 stated that:
Another significant piece of evidence is a 13th-century Chichester cathedral capitulary seal. The picture on it is thought to represent the old Selsey Cathedral. It depicts a typical Saxon church with a separate tower. The old tower next to the church lasted till 1602 when it blew down. A replacement tower was constructed, this time attached to the church, in 1662. The ringwork was possibly established soon after 1066 and as the bishopric was not moved to Chichester till after 1075, it is likely that it was constructed to protect Wilfrid's 7th-century church
A young boy, in his prayers, appealed to Saint Oswald. Then Saint Peter and Saint Paul were said to have appeared to the boy, at Oswalds request. They told him that all in the Monastery would be cured of the plague apart from the boy. According to Bede:
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