THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.   
Everyday stories about real people.

Sections of medieval patterned pottery

discovered by Norman Allcorn —to the north of St. John the Baptist Church.

THE TREASURES OF DOWNLAND AT THE ORIGINAL MEDIEVAL VILLAGE OF FINDON

Text copyright Valerie Martin 2011

Have you ever asked yourself why the church at Findon is so far from its congregation?    An interesting subject and worth an archaeological dig in the fields to the north of St. John the Bapist Church.    This may reveal everything about the past for once and for all.

I have not discovered anything of exotic interest myself but if one takes the time and effort to sift through the Findon countryside, there is a likelihood of finding an ancient coin or some other treasure buried in the downland.

I have been told that in recent years a penny dating from the reign of Edward II (1307-27) was found with the help of a metal detector in the field opposite St. John the Baptist Church in Findon (northwards of the church).

Jay Howe, a metal detectorist from Worthing, also found a silver hammered penny in the fields near the church. He thought it was most likely from the reign of one of the Edwards, probably that of King Edward III (1327 - 1377).

These two finds indicate the site of the original Findon settlement directly north of the St. John the Baptist Church and Findon Place (the Manor of Findon).  It must be left for a future archaeological dig to confirm the exact location of the hovels where Findon's russet-clad peasants lived.    At what point did the village migrate to its present site on the east side of the A24 I wonder?   What was the reason?    Could it have been the stench from the hovels offended some earlier Lord of the Manor living at the Manor of Findon and he banished the inhabitants further afield?   An interesting thought to be mulled over.

St. John the Baptist Church in 1997.

 

A casual walk over the stubble field to the north of St. John the Baptist Church in November 2011 brought some items to my notice. I always keep my eyes open for an scattered remains or exotic artefacts but do not find anything because the best time for this is after the agricultural land has been ploughed. I must confess that traversing muddy clods of earth turned over by the plough do not appeal to me. My only discoveries yesterday were many worn oyster shells...


 

I wondered if these could be of social and symbolic significance.... being the remains of feasting at an earlier Findon settlement and the remains of village mealtimes.    These could have been plucked from the nearby coast some four miles to the south.    This seems to be the only explanation for their presence in the middle of a field said to be the site of the old village.

Gerald White (ex-Shoreham) now living in Lincoln confirms the nearby oyster industry even in more modern years....

"Hello Valerie...Oysters and Migration.... my grandmothers family, migrated to Shoreham in the early part of the 19th century, they came from the Blackwater area of Essex,and like many other Oyster growers, from that area, they found the River Adur, and the English Channel suitable for growing , and rearing Oysters.

The Oyster young rearing beds were in the Adur adjacent to the Norfolk Bridge. The main Oyster growing bed was about 8 miles off Shoreham , and stretched for about miles.

The Oyster industry lasted for most part of the 19th century, until pollution and over harvesting put paid to it.

The railway in Shoreham was a convenient way of shipping the Oysters fresh and caught daily to London.

Today people living on the housing developments above Shoreham find their garden subsoil is littered with Oyster shells......Some think it reflects life in the Army, during
WW1 . But the industry had almost finished by 1914. My grandfather said, the oyster shells were likely to have come from household and farming waste, used to fertilize the land, by local farmers. He trained at Shorehams Army Camp, and certainly never saw Oysters on the menial Menu.

In his book the ships and Mariners of Shoreham, Henry Cheal records that in the 1850s in one year 20,000 tons of Oysters were shipped from Shoreham to London. The Oyster smacks sometimes numbered 100 sail, and made three voyages per fortnight..........Gerald"

I told Gerald that I would love to go back in time and see all of those oyster smacks in full sail.

 

 

Continue if you wish to read.... Unearthing the Past with Mark Hobden

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

 

 

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Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial.   Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are!