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This website created by
Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.CHICKEN IN THE BASKET
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Story-line first published in the West Sussex Gazette in April 1997.
Copyright Valerie Martin 1999
Findon village is always associated with flocks of sheep, so I think there is little wonder that there has been some violation of the law with spates of sheep rustling over the centuries.
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Sheep on the Findon Gallops in December 1999. |
The following story is surprisingly of chicken rustling early in the seventeenth century. This dip into history is an exposé of a certain misdemeanour dating from 1605. The revelation lifts the lid on a forgotten crime connected with St. John the Baptist Church. It brings into question the respectability of the perpetrator in his attempt at redistributing livestock to enhance his own larder.
It can only be guessed as to what living conditions were like in Findon in 1605. I think the village, embraced protectively by the familiar Downs, was a convenient watering hole for passing wayfarers. The community’s ideal situation on the main east-west road through Sussex made it much less isolated than many other 17th century villages. The main highway ran between Lewes and Chichester in those days, thus bringing it right past the door of the church and the
Manor of Findon. Passing paupers, vagrants, gypsies, thieves, drifting beggars and, of course, many of the higher social class were continually passing through the village.
I expect the converging crooked and lopsided route-ways over the Downs were deep with the notorious Sussex mud in winter. In contrast, the summer waysides were oppressive between the high hedgerows and became a dust track liberally littered with the droppings of passing horses, cattle and naturally, flocks of local sheep.
It is perhaps interesting to remember that religious observance in the sense of church attendance was legally compulsory during the 17th century. Religion played a dominant part in everyone’s life and everyone would have known the Reverend.
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The rectory in Findon's main street, now Findon Manor Hotel c. 1990. |
When the incumbent vicar, Thomas Story, departed in 1572 after being in Findon for ten years, the Reverend George Simpson took his place. He was a learned man and moved into the relatively commodious Rectory, which had been built in 1584 (now the popular Findon Manor Hotel). The site contained grounds stretching from the village street to Cross Lane. The kitchen garden occupied the area now surrounding the Village Hall.
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The Village Hall at Christmas 1999. |
There was also, near to the main house, an attractive turret-shaped dovecote, which was intended to supplement the meat ration during the wintry seasons; (this was demolished in 1841). Fresh meat would have been thin on the ground during winter and salted meat was both costly and unpalatable. It seems that the Reverend grew tired of his usual menu and decided to take the matter into his own hands to vary the larder at his household.
It was in the year of 1605 that he became one of the most notorious inmates of the Rectory and was shamed when caught red-handed. He was homeward bound from Muntham Farm — a good step from the main street and carrying a basket, which surprisingly concealed two hens from the said farmyard. It seems that the man of the cloth may have turned his hand to petty pilfering to supplement his stipend. On the other hand, it could just be conceivable that he was maybe clandestinely acquiring the necessary tithes he considered due to him from the farmer.
In those days the Tithe Owner gathered one-tenth of all that produced on the land; that is the tenth sheaf of corn, the tenth lamb, the tenth calf, a tenth of the wool, eggs, milk and wood. The vicar would have received Great Tithes consisting of corn, hay and wood. Nevertheless, it was not quite what George Simpson’s flock expected from one who should have been setting an example to his parishioners and residing as he did in by far the most substantial and luxurious private house in the main thoroughfare.
Local historians in later years tried in vain to hush up this local village misdemeanour but even after almost four centuries since it was perpetrated, it has refused to be swept under the carpet.
Interestingly, a George Simpson of Findon had appeared at East Grinstead Assizes some fifteen years earlier. It is perhaps just possible that there were two gentlemen bearing the same name in Findon at that time, but rather unlikely.
This "other" George Simpson was summoned to court for larceny. The date was 14th February 1590. He was accused of stealing a smock worth 10d. from another Findon resident named Harry Homewood. George Simpson was found not guilty of that particular crime in 1590. The question remains, was this George Simpson in fact the Reverend George Simpson of chicken rustling fame? A merciful God had no doubt preserved him on that day if he was.
For all his faults, the Reverend George Simpson’s tenure in the Rectory at Findon appears to have been a long one. He was not replaced until the year 1606 when Richard Bowghton arrived and became Vicar of Findon for the next seven years.
Continue if you would like to read about a Robbery at the School in 1835.
THIS IS FINDON — was launched 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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