Edward the Confessor gave a great part of the land to the Abbey at Fecamp, whose church is, or was, the counterpart of Steyning's.

These possessions Harold took away, an act that, among others, decided William, Duke of Normandy, upon his assailing, and conquering, course.

Steyning should be proud.

To have brought the Conqueror over is at least as worthy as to have come over with him, and far more uncommon.
In Church Street stands Brotherhood Hall, a very charming ancient building, long used as a Grammar School, flanked by overhanging houses, which, though less imposing, are often more quaint and ingratiating.
Most of Steyning, indeed, is of the past, and the spirit of antiquity is visibly present in its streets.
The late Louis Jennings, in his _Rambles among the Hills_, was fascinated by the placid air of this unambitious town--as an American might be expected to be in the uncongenial atmosphere of age and serenity.

"One almost expects," he wrote, "to see a fine green moss all over an inhabitant of Steyning.