Copyright Valerie Martin 2011

First published in Along the Furlong in August 2000.

I suspect that in former times, the remote village of Findon, cut off by the downs from the surrounding countryside, lent itself to the excitement and romance of the smugglers who by the mid-18th century were plying their trade with apparent impunity throughout the area.  

For several hundred years, smuggling was a legitimate trade that gave employment to our villagers.   Many highly respected villagers benefited from the illegal service the smugglers provided on a regular basis.   Farmers helped them in return for the occasional repayment, and their farmhands moonlighted and worked for the smuggling gangs as carriers of the illegal goods or night bodyguards.     The Findonians would take the comparatively quick journey down to the deserted shore to accept loads of valuable goods to be worked inland and eventually destined for rich London consumers.

Because of our coastline being close to the continent, it had become the gateway to England for smugglers working day and night to meet an insatiable and lucrative demand for cheap, untaxed goods. 

Looking east from the crest of Cissbury Ring hugging the skyline above the Findon landscape — across the fields, one catches sight of the bleak façade of a farmhouse. It sits amongst outbuildings within half-a-mile of the eastern boundary of Findon parish. This was a smugglers’ citadel with a fascinating old loft and ripe for the secretion of illicit merchandise.

The property is Lychpole Farm (O.S. TQ 155 076), which is rife with interesting stories. It is likely that a house has long stood on the site as a dwelling and outbuildings were already there long before the 15th century as proved by the discovery of an ancient well.  Below the gables, within the capacious roof of this venerable house, it is reputed that smugglers of old operated. They stealthily hid spirits away from prying eyes and avoided paying lawful customs charges or duties.    Seeing the site today I can well imagine the goings-on in the lonely location.   To make even larger profits, it is thought that when the smugglers procured French brandy they watered it down before selling on. 

click to enlarge

Lychpole Farm in 2010

That romantic word "smuggling" developed as far back as around the year 1300 in response to the introduction of customs duty on the export of wool, where previously all export and import trading had been free.

Although initially the duties were quite small but as the Hundred-years War progressed, taxes increased, and in 1614 with the introduction of a ban on the export of wool, smuggling came into its own.  The smuggling of contraband goods increased dramatically following the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1797-1815), and as levies on tea, tobacco and spirits were increased these goods were also smuggled.

Smuggling was rife on the Sussex coast in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries and the men of Findon reaped a considerable share of the booty.  With their isolated way of life, Findon villagers had very low legitimate earning prospects, which made the easy profit from smuggling a temptation.  Added to this, there were bad roads, a crumbling coastline as well as corrupt politics to all help smuggling on its way.

The intrigue of smuggling took two forms — export and import. The first being the illegal exportation of fleeces by smugglers engaged in the clandestine act of taking sacks of wool out of the country. Wool smuggling had been common in Sussex since the Middle Ages as the county was famous for its sheep and there was a ready market for wool in France.

The clergy, gentry, farmers, trades people and innkeepers were all deeply involved. Through the centuries, smuggling concerned villagers from both ends of the social scale and was considered an accepted part of the local Findon economy.   Smugglers terrorised the local neighbourhoods.

Continue to read about Smuggling in the 1700s.

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