THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE FINDON HUNTSMAN

Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

Originally published in Along the Furlong in April 2001.

Francis Berrington was born not far from Findon, over the Downs at Wiston.  As a young man at the end of the eighteenth century he enrolled with the military and was accepted as a bugler in the Volunteer Service.  Here he acquired a good knowledge of the more refined key-bugle.

He was considered an excellent musician and this stood him in good stead to be employed as a guard on the coaches when he left the service of the King. A network of horse-drawn coach routes traversed the countryside and a proficiency at playing the key-bugle was considered an indispensable asset for a coach guard.

As well as his musical equipment, Francis also carried a blunderbuss and pistols on journeys. These were charged and ready at a moment's notice to be drawn against any footpad or highwayman daring enough to challenge the mail coach.

Francis had numerous stories to tell of his coaching days prior to coming to live in Findon. These included the many occasions when convicts travelled down from Manchester to London. They were in chains and fetters and "bound for Botany Bay". One night, some of them endeavoured to make a last desperate break for freedom but their chains and manacles made their attempt impossible.

On another dark night there was a dreadful coach accident. Francis was on the Independent coach travelling up to Manchester when the two leaders suddenly turned sharply round towards the vehicle. This caused the wheel horses to follow and in an instant the coach toppled and was over. Those inside the coach were tossed like dolls in a toy box in the pitch darkness. The passengers travelling outside were rudely thrust off and one unfortunate gentleman, who had elected to take an outside seat, was hurled off and landed straight under the coach body. He died instantly.

Francis loved to relate another incident of when the Peveril of the Peak coach departed from London for Manchester one winter's night with a full load of passengers and a great cargo of heavy luggage. The travellers ran into cold rain and sleet, followed by freezing fog that turned to rain again by the next morning. Travelling between Derby and Bakewell, a frost suddenly set in. It was a bitter day and this caused great suffering to the passengers, especially to those travelling outside.

The rain lying on the road became a sheer sheet of ice, making it impossible for the poor horses to remain upright. As fast as one was up on four legs, another two would be down on their knees.

The coach approached a hill and the driver stopped to consult how to attempt it. The ascent was gingerly commenced but before twenty-yards had been travelled, all four beasts were down and there was much struggling as each creature attempted to regain its feet on the incline.

It was finally suggested that if the passengers wished to arrive in Manchester in one piece, they should alight and walk. The shivering travellers duly started to descend but they could not stand on the ice either, and collapsed in heaps around the horses.

This incident concludes with the horses being put together again and an attempt being made to move the heavy vehicle a few yards at a time, and the wheels chocked at each stopping to prevent slipping backwards.  Francis during all of this was huddled in his cloak to fend off the cold.  In this fashion the coach strained and lurched to the hilltop. The somewhat painful and laborious struggle up the incline, (which would normally have taken only a few minutes), took the assembly some three hours.

One of Francis' favourite Christmas stories concerned the Peveril of the Peak and the Independent (both Manchester coaches), at the Belle Sauvage coach-yard. This historic inn was near Fleet Prison in London and the yard had been a venue for plays even before Shakespeare's time.

The gateway of the Belle Sauvage (as can be seen in the picture) was just high enough to admit coaches passing in or out with ordinary loads. At Christmas time, the scene in the yard was completely chaotic with the loading of baggage. The vehicles were dangerously piled with turkeys and numerous barrels of oysters.  It was on such occasions that the coaches were brought outside the coach-yard to the busy Ludgate Hill. Here the final touches were made to secure the mountains of baggage stowed on top before setting off on a hazardous journey in winter.

Francis' early employment as a coach guard made him imminently suitable for a huntsman and he no doubt looked forward to the tranquil Sussex life of rural Findon. 

He took up the appointment in Findon in the early 1800s, and was a huntsman attached to the  hunting scene in the village. He was soon well known in the community and famed in the hunting world for exhibiting a degree of spirit and reckless daring in his riding. His jumping in the field was bold over almost impossible fences and gates. At the end of a long chase, he was always in at the kill.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the population of the village was only around 380. The First Findon Census Returns dated 1801 recorded sixty-nine of the inhabitants as being engaged on the land.  Besides serving the local taverns like the Gun Inn, the village tradesmen supplied the outlying farming community with their needs and the cottagers provided the labour.  The agricultural workers were very poor and lived a meagre existence.

The Defence Returns for this same year list seventy-four cattle in the parish. This included twenty-six draught oxen used on the land, 3,192 sheep and 605 lambs. The community could also account for 185 pigs and 54 draught horses, the latter is interestingly a higher number than draught oxen.  From these old records a fair impression of Francis' Findon in the early nineteenth century can be gleaned.

Findon at this time was a useful halting place for travellers, lying as it did at the intersection of two important carriageways.  From east to west ran the main road across the South Downs from Steyning to Arundel (linking Lewes and Chichester).   A minor road running north to south passed through the parish towards Worthing for pack-horses, waggons and coaches.  Access to the village from the Brighton area was by crossing the bridge (by now built) at the Sussex Pad and passing through North Lancing and Sompting. The road then joined the imposing sounding Findon Terring Highway at Broadwater. (Broadwater was more important at this time than Worthing).

Life was not always as idyllic as Francis had imagined and nor so quiet. It was at a time when Bonaparte was always feared to invade.  A French invasion had been considered back in the spring or late summer of 1793 and a large camp had been set up at Brighton housing some 7,000 soldiers, reinforced with 3,000 members of the local militia.   The following year, a larger camp of 15,000 had been established in the hope to deter the enemy by a show of force.   Secondary camps were established at nearby Arundel, at Chichester and Petworth.  There were dotted strategic sites for infantry all over the area.

The summits of Chanctonbury and Cissbury were beacon stations where a sergeant and a couple of men were in constant readiness in possession of tar barrels and other ignitables. These were to be fired immediately if the alarm was raised.

Villagers went to their beds in constant dread of being aroused from their slumbers by the dreaded cry of "Bonaparte has landed". Contingency plans were put into operation in the rural community of Findon as invasion was considered to be a real risk. Every farmhand had responsibility for certain tasks — such as the driving of sheep, horned stock and horses inland in the event of a raid. Carts and wagons were kept provisioned in Findon in order to convey the terrified villagers to a distance inland and out of danger. There were strategic sites for infantry dotted all over the area.

On the 20th August 1811 Francis married Jane Stevens from Hurstpierpoint.  The ceremony was held at St. John the Baptist Church in Findon and conducted by the Reverend John Hind, in the presence of James Holmes and George Holford who were witnesses.  

It is not known for certain, but I think it is a good guess that the couple lived at Huntsman's House on the Long Furlong Road.  William Richardson, the famous hunting squire and Lord of the Manor had built the property c. 1800  along with extensive hunting stables at the Manor of Findon.   The property was later referred to by Nimrod, the famous 19th century sports writer in his "Hunting Tours" of 1835.

Francis and Jane had a son, Francis Junior, born in 1813.

The year 1815 started with thick snow in Findon.  It was while he was a huntsman in Findon that a second son was born to Francis and his wife.  The happy occasion took place on Saturday 25th February 1815 and the couple named the baby Luke Luther. The name had rather a nice ring, Luke Luther Berrington — click to read about The Huntsman's Son.

 Back Villagers Past and Present Index

 Back to Main Index

This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.