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Colonel William George Margesson 1821-1911 |
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
COLONEL WILLIAM GEORGE MARGESSON'S HORSES
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Colonel William George Margesson 1821-1911 |
Text copyright Valerie Martin 1999
Original story line first published in Along The Furlong in July 1997.
The Lord of the Manor of Findon, Colonel William George Margesson, and his wife Lucy Matilda had no town house, as was usual in that era, I have discovered that the they lived at the manor house in Findon throughout the year and it is said that his relationship with the many estate workers and tenants was "of the most cordial nature".
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Findon Place — the Manor of Findon of yesteryear. |
Ice houses predated refrigerators. They were underground chambers (or partly subterranean) with suitable insulation above. Ice was collected from local ponds and lakes in the winter and was placed in the ice houses of large estates (such as the Manor of Findon) where, if properly insulated, it would last the year through. Servants of long ago can be pictured trudging from the Findon Manor up the hillside to deposit goods in the ice house on the slope of Church Hill.
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March 2003 —The now overgrown ice house of the Manor of Findon on the side of Church Hill. |
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Inside the old ice house of the Manor of Findon, 2001. |
Here is another ice house similar to the one at Findon Place. The Parham one is set in the hillside on the estate, facing north and is padlocked....
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June 2004 |
 Parham House in June 2004 |
The Manor of Findon was altered considerably during the Colonel’s tenure. He added a storey to the east wing and also built a reservoir holding some 15,000 gallons on the slope of Church Hill behind the manor house. The Colonel is remembered for sending his gardeners out armed with brooms each Saturday to sweep the long drive leading from St. John the Baptist Church down to the lodge gates. As a keen fox- hunter, he was a regular contributor to the publication The Field, using the pseudonym Southdown.
I think that the Colonel loved his horses and this was confirmed by the provision of his Horse Cemetery in Findon. This was near to the present-day remnants of the burnt out barn beside the A24 immediately opposite the small gateway from the modern church cemetery. This derelict structure marks the location of an original flint barn with cattle yard and a sinister uncapped well. All within sight of Findon church. The nearby meadow was known as Butcher’s Croft because it was used for confining cattle, sheep and pigs waiting to be slaughtered at the local butchers. (The slaughter house in the old days being at the rear of the shop in The Square). It was in this meadow, some 20 yards from the stone barn, that the Colonel laid his favourite steeds to rest. He did this with a certain amount of sadness, commemorated them with graves, and full sized tombstones appropriate enough to grace any churchyard. To complete the picture they were enclosed within iron railings.
I think that the words inscribed on the stones reveal their own stories —
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AT THIS SPOT LIES, WITH HER FILLY FOAL BY PAGANINI, THE BAY MARE MISS HERBERT COROBUS. BRED IN 1861. DIED 12TH APRIL 1878. RAN 8 TIMES AS A TWO YEAR OLD, WAS FAVOURITE HUNTER OF THE LATE SIR FRANCIS BONDHEAD BART. AND LATER OF COL. MARGESSON. HER PRODUCE BY ETHUS, ROBERT SIR FRANCIS ATVOE. A FAITHFUL MARE. HER COURAGE PRODUCED IN MANY SEVERE RUNS. |
another read —
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THE FAVOURITE CHESTNUT THE PROPERTY OF COL. MARGESSON BY RATAPLAN. HEIGHT 16 HANDS 2 INS. BRED IN 1869. DIED IN JUNE 1887. IN STRENGTH AND PACE NO EQUAL. |
The end of Colonel Margesson's beloved horses.
Continue if you would like to read more about the Colonel's family in Sunny Days at the Manor of Findon for the Margessons.
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This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
