THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE....These Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

Text first published in Along The Furlong in October 1997.

Text copyright Valerie Martin 1997.

The noise of workmen at a church can hail a major restoration, or perhaps refurbishment, or mere repairs. In retrospect, I have found the details of the various renovations at St. John the Baptist Church in Findon over the centuries, informative and interesting, as well as a little amusing. How many times through the ages have the parishioners of Findon been appealed to, and subsequently given, pledges and donations towards the Church Restoration Fund? As recently as August, 1996, half of the church was sectioned off as hazardous. This was in case plaster descended on the congregation from overhead following downpours of rain. The nave was unable to be utilised on Sundays for some four weeks until a provisional repair to the ceiling was completed.

Dangerous conditions have dogged the building over the generations as the following notes illustrate. Robert Cholmeley was born in Lincolnshire in 1819. At the age of forty, and still unmarried, he accepted the position of Vicar of Findon in 1859. He took up residence at The Rectory in the main street and made a few radical alterations to the property. He lived with his elder sister, Katherine, who found fulfilment in her work as fundholder. The property was a large one, with servants who had their hands full as there were many comings and goings in the busy clergyman’s house. The Reverend Cholmeley’s household was soon accepted into village life and the years passed by.

In 1866 the formidable task of the Great Restoration of Findon church was commenced and carried out along the lines of the design of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The most important episode during the Reverend Robert Cholmeley’s life in Findon was in 1867 when the Great Restoration of the church was finally and officially completed on 9th July. This was at a cost of £2,500. and among other amenities gave seating for 394 persons, and included the facing of the whole of the façade with dressed flints as seen today. The ancient font, probably dated c. 1200, was also replaced with a replica.

On St. John the Baptist’s Day, 29th August, 1868, the Reverend Cholmeley entertained his flock with a sermon and graphic narrative on the state of Findon Church preceding the repairs. This was to remind them of the plight they had overcome together. His words perhaps ring a bell today and can be appreciated:

"Let me remind you of the condition of our church two years ago. The area was filled with cumbrous pews almost to the steps of the altar. The pulpit and reading desk were alike inconvenient and unsightly. The noble span of the roof with all its curious and intricate arrangement of ancient beams was concealed by a flat whitewashed ceiling; and the now free and lofty space was further obstructed by two galleries; one over the font and adjoining sittings (erected in 1771), the other in the north-west corner of the Church over the pews by the north door. To enter the latter gallery the beautiful west lancet window had been converted into a doorway, and an incongruous excrescence of brick porch and steps added outside the church.

The whole of the eastern piers of the church were in a crushed and dangerous condition; and the wall plates and much of the timber in the roof were decayed and distorted. The restoration of these, the underpinning of the walls, the thorough repair of the roof and the draining have been the heaviest expenses. The tower was much dilapidated, and the basement used as a lumber room. The Mortuary (Manorial) Chapel was closed and rapidly falling into decay".

The "cumbrous pews" as described were apparently awkwardly crammed into the confined area of the body of the church. They were of a fixed nature with high sides and complete with doors. These congested and overcrowded enclosures were of various shapes and dimensions and seemed to have been conceived and erected by different families, heedless of the design of neighbouring seating arrangements. At the time the assortment of pews were nicknamed "sheep pens" — rather apt for Findon.

If one pauses to imagine the fabric of the building prior to this mid-nineteenth century restoration, it would seem that the church was in the process of tumbling down around the vicar’s ears. The refurbishing venture had been sympathetically carried out resulting in a dignified example of a flint building, with a large nave gable and imposing broached spire rising above. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was in high spirits with his architectural results and recorded the structure as "almost unique". Fortunately for Findon, his work left the original outline of the church unaltered, unlike some rejuvenations carried out in Victorian days.

It appears that the church of St. John the Baptist had been greatly improved during the Reverend Cholmeley’s office. Perhaps in years to come the villagers will be reminded of what conditions were like in 1997 prior to the renovations.

Continue if you would like to read about A Foggy Day on Findon Downs in the days of the Reverend Robert Cholmeley.

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