BEATING THE BOUNDS

Copyright Valerie Martin 1999.

First published in Along the Furlong, May 2000.

Maps were scarce, or non-existent, in centuries past. I doubt if many Findon parishioners could read nor write, so how were they to determine the boundaries of their village?

I can reveal that the answer was very simple; they "beat the bounds". This meant that participants literally traversed the parish limits to inspect the condition and confirm boundary distinctions. It was always a momentous and exceptionally meaningful exercise and not undertaken lightly as the extent of a village's boundary was very important. Findon has always been rather an extensive parish, comprising some 4250 acres of arable, pasture and downland. Its shape is exceedingly irregular and, therefore, its boundaries most difficult to be defined.

The younger lads of the day remembered the marking of their boundaries all their lives.  An disagreeable aspect of the exercise during this era was the bumping and whipping with willow wands of the village boys at every important point as they progressed along the designated route.  They were also unmercifully bumped around, turned upside-down and thrown into bramble bushes by their elders —  and also forced to climb up any roofs of houses that may have straddled the line. 

In May 2003, I received an e-mail from

If a dispute arose in later years, the boys would well remember their precise village boundary points. It may have been hard on the children but it did ensure they did not easily forget their lesson and could pass the knowledge down to future generations. Many abuses occurred through this activity of whipping and bullying and laws were finally passed to reform the practice during the Elizabethan era.

During the great Queen's reign, parishioners were liable to a fine if they did not attend their parish church. Village day-to-day life was closely connected to religion. When a particular July was wet, (which was disastrous for the haymaking), prayers for more temperate weather were offered in church with the Bishop's agreement. The same applied if rain looked as if it would spoil the village harvest. The three "asking days" before Ascension were the periods fixed for imploring -

The clergy and elected villagers then proceeded to travel around the boundaries. At every landmark they committed it, and themselves, to the -

"Providence of Our Father".

Doctor Charles Pilkington, (who had become Vicar of Findon in 1772), and Squire William Green (of the Manor of Findon), instigated a "perambulation of the bounds" in 1777. They called together a band of elderly respected parishioners, (and some elected from the adjacent parishes of Washington and Wiston), to confirm the exact extent of our Findon Parish. It was considered at that date that boundary distinctions were extremely important in the eighteenth century because of the very grave issues of charity, poor law and, of course, vagrancy. Each parish was responsible for its own particular patch and was keen to avoid any unnecessary iability or obligation that it could possibly shift on to another community.

I would like to think that the Reverend Pilkington and the Squire arose early and were eager participants in the procession of "walking the bounds" on 7th May 1777 — come rain or sunshine.  This was no mean task as the parish was some three miles across hilly country in each direction, with the village in the centre. Members of the walking party from Findon included -

I have discovered that a Manorial Map made thirty-one years later and dated 1808 also indicated the "bounds of Findon". This was surveyed professionally by George Bassett. The map indicated the extent of the Manor, the position of the boundary posts and the various copyholds, which were all numbered and detailed at the time. The County Records Office at Chichester holds the map today.

I then found that the worthy parishioners were up and about bright and early and trod the "bounds of Findon" again forty years later. At 7 a.m. on Monday 12th May 1817 they commenced -

I understand that a large party walked the Findon extremities on that day -

It has not gone unnoticed that Richard Herbert was, undoubtedly, a stalwart walker as his name cropped up also on the previous survey. It is assumed he is the same labourer as the interval between the two "beating of the bounds" was only forty years.

Secondly, it is interesting to note that no village womenfolk were put forward as participants in the day's proceedings in Findon in the early nineteenth century.

Each walker of the bounds, who was not a Parish Officer, pocketed five shillings for his day's labour on this occasion. The weary band of ramblers congregated at the Gun Inn following their footslogging exercise in 1817, (it is noticed that the gathering was not at the church this time). Their spirits rallied somewhat when the cheery innkeeper, with their welcoming dinner, greeted them. This was provided gratis - at the expense of the vicar (who must also have been tired and hungry following his hike over the downland); and with the grateful thanks of the Parish - including those parishioners who had not taken part in the day's expedition.

The County Record Office in Chichester holds the Steward's Notes dated ten years later for the Manor of Findon. This document, dated 1827, contains a list of the ancient parish boundary posts, with an added inventory of those posts found to be missing at the time. The record is followed by the Steward's urgent proposal that the Manor be perambulated yet again before it was too late -

This appears to be an exaggeration as the bounds had been walked ten years previously by a large party — had they all left the village or died? I must, however, bow to the Steward's superior knowledge of life in Findon in the 1820s. He, no doubt, had some reason for his recommendation of the day.

I have no idea when the last beating of the bounds for Findon was held.   The youngsters of nearby Worthing were still beating the bounds in the 1920s but the custom appears to have died out before the Second World War.