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A likeness of the Findon Windmill and how it may have appeared in the nineteenth century. Sketch by Valerie Martin in 1997. |
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
ARTHUR KENNARD'S STORY
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A likeness of the Findon Windmill and how it may have appeared in the nineteenth century. Sketch by Valerie Martin in 1997. |
Copyright Valerie Martin 1997.
Text first published in the West Sussex Gazette 6th March, l997.
I have come across the name of an interesting gentleman from West Tarring by the name of Arthur Kennard. He recorded in 1955 an incident which may, or may not, have a bearing on the Findon Windmill and its demise.
He related how his father who was a builder, took him as a young boy to Findon. He recalled coming over Bost Hill and paying at the Toll House at the bottom of the hill. The Toll Gate itself was removed in either 1873 or 74, although the house remained until 1963.
When arriving in Findon his father had instructions to dismantle an old windmill at the top of Love Lane and young Arthur remembered his father's part in the work. (There is no record of a Love Lane in Findon and, unfortunately, Arthur did not describe where he went). He could only guess that the project might have been carried out at "Tribe’s Folly" as his father did work for Mr.William Foard Tribe — (born in Tarring in 1823). He was a solicitor and also a magistrate and ended his life living at the Manor house in Broadwater.
Mr. Charles Carter, a millwright from Tarring, c. 1880-1885, (mentioned in Kelly’s Directory 1882), superintended the demolition of the windmill according to Arthur Kennard on the day in question. Arthur recalled that he was a "good old tradesman and used to work all over Sussex".
Young Arthur kept a souvenir of his day out. This was in the form of a piece of iron from the windmill’s structure. He said no one could tell him exactly what part of the windmill it originated from.
It has been stated that Arthur's father paid at the Toll Gate. If he did in fact pay, the toll bar had been removed by 1874. Therefore, the date of their work in Findon that was supervised by Charles Carter must have been 1874 at the latest.
There was still a miller working at the Findon Windmill, north east of the village above the
racing gallops, in 1891. Therefore, it could not have been the Findon Windmill they set out to demolish that day. Which windmill in the Findon area could it have been?|
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1995 The exposed summit of Church Hill, site of the Manor of Findon Windmill in earlier days. |
A suggestion is that it could just conceivably have been to dismantle the remnants of an earlier old Windmill belonging to the Manor of Findon on Church Hill. Could perhaps "Love Lane" have been the local name for the track up to the summit of Church Hill?
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Aerial view of Church Hill in Findon pre 1931. From the downs west of Findon and looking north. On the summit, at the left hand side of the photograph, there are supposed to be three small dimples which mark the site of the old post mill and its outhouses. These were visible in the 1930s. |
It makes an interesting story. Maybe we will never know the truth about Arthur's trip with his father on the day they assisted in dismantling a windmill. On the other hand, information may come to light in the future.
Continue if you would like to read Jack Long's Story with the only surviving photograph of a portion of the windmill structure.
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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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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