This website created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Copyright Valerie Martin 1999.

Some odd tales come to light when scratching the surface of Findon history.  

Once upon a time there was a village resident by the name of Mr. Grover.    He is described as "a gentleman of independent fortune".   Unfortunately, I do not have his Christian name.... nor alas do I know which house he resided in.   

At the age of 73 this Mr Grover  married a young lady named Miss Sally Terry who was aged 24.   Here again, I do not know if she was a Findon lass or not.    But I do know that it was reported at the time that ......."The old gentleman being rather infirm, rode to church on horseback".

I wish I had a little more flesh to put on the bones of this story but you will just have to imagine for yourselves Mr. Grover riding his horse up to St. John the Baptist Church on his wedding day in September 1787. 

The mystery continues to this day when I say that neither can I find a record of a Mr. Grover in later years being interred at the churchyard.

Here is another example of a good Findon story..... this time about a Mr. Wild who possessed some musical talent and was the schoolmaster in Findon during the reign of King George III in the eighteenth century.

I have discovered that a parochial petition was prepared soon after the Reverend Doctor John Metcalfe took office in 1798 from the Reverend Charles Pilkington. This petition was to the effect that the inhabitants of Findon were in agreement that singing in the church, (which had been discontinued for some time), should again be revived.

I do not think that in the past the congregation's hymns had been appreciated or well received. Many parishioners had idiosyncrasies that did not go down well with the rest of the flock, or the vicar. Maybe some were always two bars behind the rest? Perhaps a few simple souls with enthusiasm and erratic voices had sung so loud as to drown the voices of others?

The villagers now deemed that to assist with the harmony of a new choir, a specific string sound was definitely required. By pure coincidence, there just happened to be such an instrument with the approximate range of a cello already in the village. This was the bass viol, proudly owned by Mr. Wild, the schoolmaster. He not only offered his musical instrument for sale at three and a half guineas, but also gallantly put himself forward to play it gratis.

It appears that the villagers felt very positive about their proposition. They humbly begged that the principal persons of Findon would approve the proposal, and have the goodness to promote it by making voluntary contributions. William Frankland the owner of Muntham Court (who no doubt had a good singing bass voice), came forward and donated one guinea towards the purchase of the instrument for the choir. Another subscriber to the venture was William Richardson, the Lord of the Manor who with his wife Mary, donated £1. 11s. 6d.

Some two hundred years ago, on 24th August 1798, Mr. Wild officially sold his bass viol, and consented to play it in the church — and also when the singers met for practise. After negotiations, the technicalities of the arrangement were agreed and he was to play the viol for the term of his natural life, or till his removal from the parish. The politics of the arrangement were concluded and after discussion it was agreed that an entry was to be made in the church register that the viol was the property of the parish from then on. All that remained was for him to coax some festive music from the musical instrument on Sundays.

The Reverend Metcalfe remained the vicar of Findon for the next nine years and, no doubt, the sound of music emanated from the church and rang around the downs of Findon when the Reverend John Hind took over in 1807.

By 1848 church had a band consisting of violin, bass viol, clarionet and flute. A pitch pipe was used to start the hymns. This was a big wooden affair and it is said that occasionally when the plug became stuck a most discordant noise resounded over the church.

By the 1920s, St. John the Baptist Church could boast a full choir, consisting of some fourteen gentlemen, twenty ladies and young girls and sixteen boys. The singers filled the choir stalls and also the first two pews in the body of the church. The choir was required to attend the morning and evening services each Sabbath and also the Sunday School in the afternoon. The choirmaster and organist was Mr. Shelley, a genial man who was almost blind. He travelled to and fro from Worthing by bus and walked the short distance up the lane to the church. The vestry and the organ were on the left-hand side of the church in those days and the latter had to be pumped into life by hand by Shem Randall.

Prior to the arrival of electricity, the lighting in the church was supplied from a bracket situated at each pew, comprising of six candles. These were carefully tended and lit by the sexton, Mr. Langridge, and their friendly flickering glow lit up the church.

It was also Mr. Langridge's responsibility to solemnly toll the church bell on the occasion of the death of any Findon parishioner. The ominous and mournful knell rang out and the heavy tone reverberated over the Findon downs. No one could escape hearing the two doleful tolls for a man and three proclaimed a lady.

Continue if you would like to read about the Lyall Family, starting with John Lyall — The Findon Commuter.