THE MUSKETT GUNNE

Copyright Valerie Martin 2011.

Originally printed in Sussex Local in March 2011.

Was the community of Findon always sited at its present location?  This is a question that many argue about.  I firmly believe that the village of Findon migrated from its earlier position near the church, to its present site at an unknown date —  most probably late mediaeval times. I think that a new settlement of a few houses very gradually grew up around the Square and one of these was the property on the site of the Gun Inn.

I like to think that Findon’s situation on the important east-west route through the county would have made it less isolated than many other villages by the 1600s.  Because of its downland situation, Findon’s communications with neighbouring communities were relatively good. In bygone days (before improved road-making and drainage techniques) our chalk ridges of the downs provided the driest routes and were the most logical choice for travelling by horse and coach in all seasons and weather.

Findon was a district in the 1600s that many paupers, travellers and gentlemen of the road (tramps) continually passed through. There was perhaps a population of nearly 200 in the village by this time.  It was an quintessential agricultural community where the inhabitants grew such crops as barley, wheat, oats, peas, tares, hemp and grass.  I think that practically every household owned some sheep, making the district rife with petty sheep stealing.  These flocks ranged in number from a mere three belonging to poorer households, up to 160.   Cattle also provided the inhabitants with meat, milk and dairy products, and hides, while they also acted as draught animals on the land. 

The village appears to have been little affected by national events during this period, although Thomas Leicester proprietor of the inn in the centre of Findon (described as the Muskett Gunne in those days), was suddenly notified that he was to need a proper licence to operate. Up until 1617 the law had not required such establishments as the Muskett Gunne to be licensed.     It is probable that the inn had been actually operating and providing traditional fare for travellers for many years prior to this date.

How the Muskett Gunne originally came to have its name is rather a mystery and the answer has evaded me.   Was there a previous name for the property perhaps?   The answer to this is lost in the mists of time.

I suspect that Thomas Leicester was in all probability a country gunsmith by trade and operated business at the inn as a sideline, possibly ably assisted by his wife and family.  It was most likely during their tenure in the early 1600s that the Open Hall area at the inn was floored over and thus provided substantial additional living accommodation for the occupants.  

Who enforced the licensing of the Muskett Gunne?   An intriguing story now unfolds.  

The name of a certain short in stature and swarthy 32-year-old enterprising legislator of the day was Sir Giles Mompesson.   He was destined to go down over the centuries as being inextricably linked with the history of Findon.    Giles started life by becoming a well-known and respected Member of Parliament of the day.  As well as being a courtier of the first Stuart King of England, James I, he was also considerably well connected and related by marriage to King James' influential follower, the Duke of Buckingham.   He was described as a "good fellow" by all his contemporary cronies   This may have played a part in his career prospects and his path at court and assisted his continuing ascent in important government and society circles — at least that is until his plans were thwarted.   I would go as far as to describe this gentleman as a somewhat questionable and shady character and somewhat of a philanderer.....in spite of his excellent connections at court.

It was in 1616, when Giles voiced his idea of introducing a system to bring a special commission into existence.   Inns all over the country were his immediate targets.    Heads nodded as his peers listened to the proposals that would result in innkeepers being granted "licences" enabling Giles to extract fees and an annual rent from them.  James I duly granted him a patent.  No one appreciated that the corrupt Giles had his greedy little eyes fixed firmly on a generous slice for himself in pocketing the money.

This is how it came about that the well-known established Muskett Gunne was very soon to need an official licence to operate. In the spring of 1617, Giles’ mandate came to fruition and he immediately sprang into action and lost no time.    In March he appointed two trusted agents and their objective was to collect the bordering on unethical fees and rent from unsuspecting landlords. His two assistants (and the retinue they would have in turn employed) traversed the countryside enforcing the dubious new law (often with crooked methods and pressure) and collected the enforced revenue before returning to their master.

The initial fee levied for a licence was five pounds. This was subsequently followed by a further smaller yearly payment of ten shillings to be made in two supposedly "easy installments". The cost of staying at rural establishments such as the Muskett Gunne rocketed as a result.  The charges for fare were naturally increased in a frantic scrabble to combat the charge incurred by the licence.

News of the impending licences spread like wildfire across the green and pleasant countryside.   It was not until the autumn of 1619 that Giles’ commissioners traversed sleepy Sussex and actually arrived in the backwater of Findon.    No doubt they rode purposefully into the quiet neighbourhood.  The date was 22nd October and they headed straight for the Muskett Gunne and demanded to see the unfortunate owner, Thomas Leicester. Whether aggressive tactics and any extra encouragement to pay up was needed on the day we will now never know but they achieved their goal as their archive account ledger of the day confirms the visit.

It was a worrying time — the tavern was rocked to its very foundations. How was the proprietor going to recoup his immediate losses? Poor old Thomas may not have been the first innkeeper of the premises but the above important entry made him go down in the history of The Gun Inn as the first actually named owner.

Thomas was undoubtedly a somewhat gullible and law-abiding, character. When Mompesson's hired hands had finished roaming (plundering) the countryside and returned to demand their further dues, he dutifully paid his follow-up sums of ten shillings for the year 1620. This he remitted in the two required portions of five shillings each on the requested dates.   These were Lady Day, 25th March, and Michaelmas, 29th September.

By February 1621, a government investigation was well under way concerning Giles’ notorious little antics in collecting the revenue for the despised licences. This was after numerous indignant complaints had been brought to the attention of people in high places.   Giles had irritated many it appears and some had become angry.   It is reputed that the issue was finally brought to a head when threats were made to Justices of the Peace.  In the meantime, many rather dodgy "new" establishments had sprung up all around the countryside and opened as reputable so-called "inns". These had suddenly been "licensed", thus taking years of patronage away from the older, once thriving, establishments — such as the Muskett Gunne.

Giles received his well-deserved downfall and after damning evidence was finally charged for his misdemeanours.   Unfortunately for the law, he had already received a timely tip off through his accomplices and had foreseen his demise.  On 3rd March 1621 he escaped and hastily packing his bags sailed to France. His men would not be riding into the Square in Findon and troubling Thomas Leicester again.    His sentencing came a week later in his absence.    He was ordered to pay £10,000., lose his knighthood and most humiliating of all.... to ride his horse backwards down The Strand in London ......and last of all to be banished for life.    But he had already fled.

On 30th March, the government finally abolished his patent for licensing. The Muskett Gunne proprietor sank back, breathed a huge sigh of relief, and no longer suffered stress-filled days requiring a Mompesson "licence".  It then became the norm for inns to merely obtain an "alehouse licence", which covered them for the retail of beers and ales at their premises. The Muskett Gun slipped back into its familiar old routine in the rural backwater of Findon in Stuart England.

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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.