THIS IS FINDON — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
GUIDED TOUR OF FINDON (3)
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The Gun Inn pre 1903, looking towards the nursing home known as The Village Home (later The Village House). The innkeeper's name displayed on the swinging sign is that of George Goatcher. Findon Farmhouse at the beginning of the Horsham Road, stands on the opposite side of the Square, built of flint. |
Text first published in Sussex Life dated April 1999.
Text copyright Valerie Martin, 1999.
Continuing into the Square, the ancient coaching hostelry, the GUN INN on the south east side is seen. During 1998 I remember the inn frequently hitting the news with threats of closure. It was originally most likely a dwelling house and one of the oldest structures in the village.
THE OLD VILLAGE HOUSE HOTEL on the north west corner of The Square is a hotch-potch of fascinating styles. It carries an eighteenth century façade added to an older building. Conveyancing records go back to 1527 when it was called Faulkners when it was conveyed to a gentleman named Thomas Benet. Work on the house in the 1960s revealed herringbone brickwork of the Tudor period on the south wall.
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The butcher's shop c. 1909 when George Rice owned the premises. |
PECKHAMS the butcher’s on the north east corner of The Square commands a very early date of the sixteenth century or earlier. It was re-fronted in flint and brick in the eighteenth century, and extended outwards during the nineteenth century. In the 1950s, work behind the shop disclosed considerable slabs of carved sandstone, believed to have originated from a religious building, maybe the local church.
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GREY POINT on the south east corner of The Square is nineteenth century Georgian and was originally named "Salteystead". It is rumoured that Sir Isaac Newton resided there. Whether this was prior to his major work on the theories of universal gravitation, or after, is not known. He died in 1727 and so it seems hardly likely — unless he lived at a previous house on the site.
The grounds once extended to Nepcote Lane and embraced many species of exotic trees. In its time it was a hotel, and it is here that the proprietor claimed the actress Joan Collins stayed. In 1961 the building was converted into flats and the grounds were sold to make way for the present-day Tudor Close.
| 28th April 2006 Dear Valerie Joan Collins |
| 2nd May 2006 Dear Valerie, Forgot to add in my last e-mail that I lived in the Grey Point in the fifties, as my mother worked there. I don’t remember anybody like Joan Collins staying there
! Lawrence May,Antigua, West Indies. |
The Horsham Road contains a number of Grade II buildings. FINDON FARMHOUSE, (next to the Post Office), is early nineteenth century, and perhaps best known locally as being the home of the farmer Albert Short Senior and later his son, Albert Junior. It has a bull's eye window over the front door.
Almost opposite is the flint and brick NO. 1 ROSE COTTAGE belonging to the eighteenth century. Its partner, No. 2 Rose Cottage was originally a later addition to this property, but is now a separate dwelling and is not a listed building.
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1990 — No. 1 Rose Cottage on the left with its partner, No. 2 with the white chimney, on the right. |
KINGSWOOD FARMHOUSE lies alongside the A24 heading north out of Findon. It is an L-shaped, eighteenth century dwelling and it is probable that an earlier house standing at this location was the home of the fourteenth century Findon landowner, John Kingswoode. The property contains huge cellars. One of these was entered by outside steps and was in the past a refuge for old tramps who knew the benevolent owner of Kingswood would always let them rest up for the night.
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Kingswood in 1915 |
At some point Kingswood was split into two residences but by the 1960s it was sold for just £5,000. and converted back into one property. At this point it was used for bed and breakfast accommodation. Later in the 1980s, Kingswood was the site of much flooding and the average depth of water on one occasion was three feet on the ground floor. The lower part of the house was impassable and the cellars were completely filled with water.
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The A24 stretch of the road outside Kingswood on 2nd June 1981. |
Further on the left proceeding north on the A24 is the Regency NORTH END HOUSE with later 19th century additions. In days gone by the water supply for the household was drawn from a well in the yard. When this ran dry, water had to be collected by horse and cart from Frankland's Brook in Washington. One of the well-known occupants of this property was the farmer, George Hampton, a notable breeder of Southdown sheep in the 1860s.
Next comes the half-timbered OLD WELL HOUSE that was initially two small flint rendered cottages of the early nineteenth century, built to imitate timber-framed dwellings. When the Muntham Estate was auctioned off in October, 1958, this house fetched a mere £3,000.
NOS. 1 AND 2 IVY COTTAGE were part of the same auction and at that date were £2,700 for the pair. The former contains the original sweep’s ladder in one of the chimneys, dating from the days when little lads earned their keep by chimney cleaning. An Act of Parliament, passed in 1840, put a stop to the cruel practice.
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www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created exclusively for documenting life in Findon.|
E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
