NEPCOTE'S NETTLEDOWN NOVELS

Copyright Valerie Martin 2007

First published in the Findon Valley and Village Directory in October 2007

Kathleen May Ockenden was born on Boxing Day at the beginning of the 1900s. She grew up in a cottage in Nepcote called Montana, not far from where I live in Findon Village.   Her parents were John and Margaret who had moved to the property on Monday, 15th August, 1898.

Their previous home had been at the Toll House at the bottom of Bost Hill between Findon Valley and Findon Village.  Kathleen May had five sisters, Margaret Flora, Violet Ruth, Ivy Muriel, Eva Chrissie and Gwendolen Iris.

As she grew up she became friendly with an author who lived in Nepcote.   His name was Arthur John Rees and he had been born in Melbourne and I guess all probability left that continent in the early 1900s.  There is a bit of confusion over his date of birth and various dates have gone down in history but his death certificate states he was aged 67 which means he was born in 1875 and I am assuming this is the correct date.  

On 15th April 1901 he married a lady named Mary Jane Gilbert.  He got around and at some point after 1903 he was working in New Zealand.  

It is known he boarded the White Star liner SS RUNIC for England and arrived on 14th March 1911.    In 1911 he was reputed to be 37 years old and working as a journalist on his own account.   By this time he was reputed to have been married for five years..... which is a little odd as he had married Mary Jane in 1901.    They do not appear to have divorced.

His first published venture was The MERRY MARAUDERS.   He ended up in Sussex in 1917 and became a journalist for the Times newspaper.   I do not know if this is the year he moved to Findon but can make a rough guess and assume this to be the case.    My foundation for this is because he named one of the characters Captain Nepcote in his somewhat chilling book entitled THE HAND IN THE DARK.    This was published in 1920 and was a mystery suspense story set in a large Sussex country house and ran through several editions in the States.

The first of his detective stories was THE MYSTERY OF THE DOWNS.    Arthur had given his earlier novels the typical eye-catching titles of the romances of the twenties. Such as ISLAND OF DESTINY and MOON ROCK.     For anyone who was not nervous there was an especially intriguing one entitled THE SHRIEKING PIT. 

Arthur appears to me to be a man of some mystery himself....and perhaps a philanderer or a bit of lad....as there is more confusion to be found over his wives and intended.

At this time he lived with "his wife".   No name can be found but could this be a mysterious lady named Marjorie (more about her later) and they were living bigamously.   They resided in accommodation not really fitting in the Nepcote scene and I would hardly describe as a bungalow.   It was named Nettledown and situated on the lane leading to the north side of Cissbury Ring.   Note that this property was not far from Kathleen’s family home and was situated to the east of Thistledown where Charles Fibbens lived at the top of Nepcote Green. (Charles Fibbens was in the publishing business and started the Worthing Gazette).

Nettledown was of rudimentary construction, being of wooden fabrication under corrugated iron roofing. When rain pelted on the corrugated iron in a downpour the din was horrendous — especially to Arthur trying to concentrate and write.

Otherwise, Nettledown was I assume homely and snug. On the opposite side of the lane the artist Frederick James Aldridge the marine artist had his studio at the property called Rookwood (now renamed Bramling). In all, it could be said that it was indeed a creative and artistic corner of Nepcote.

In 1925, much to Kathleen's delight, Arthur gave her a book because the heroine in his latest novel had been modelled around her and the Findon countryside.   The book had a more subdued cover than some of his previous works and was called CUP OF SILENCE  ― and the 25-year old Kathleen was thrilled that she bore such a resemblance to the heroine.  Chanctonbury Ring featured in the novel, plus the soaring ramparts of Cissbury Ring, Blackpatch and not forgetting Stump Bottom — where Arthur often went for his evening constitutional walk over the downland.      Whether alone or not, I cannot vouch.

CUP OF SILENCE was accepted for publication and initially appeared in serial form in the Westminster Magazine in 1924. Thereafter, Dodd, Mead & Company published it in New York in 1925 where it sold for two dollars.  It seems rather strange to think that back in the 1920s, American ladies were eagerly reading about a young Nepcote girl and our familiar Findon Downs and countryside.

A sign of the times shows in an extract from his text referring to the building work being carried out in the meadows  —

In the preface of the book dated 1924, Arthur had the foresight to predict —

Time has marched on since those words were written. Looking at the views today from Blackpatch, Cissbury and Chanctonbury, I do not think we have done so very badly — even if there are many more dwellings marching along the valley than in 1924.

In August 1935, Arthur sailed to Melbourne on the LARGS BAY.    Note here that he was accompanied by a mysterious lady named Marjorie Marchbank described as "secretary".

Arthur died seven years later during the war years on 22nd November 1942 (he was back in England again but his name has not been found on any Passenger Lists). The Worthing Gazette reported his death as "the beloved husband of Marjorie".    His timber and corrugated iron bungalow has long been demolished and completely forgotten except by a few. His plot is now amalgamated into the garden of the property known as Thistledown, which has been much extended since the 1920s.

Marjorie appears once more in a list of US copyright renewal entries for THRESHOLD OF FEAR and THE UNQUENCHABLE FLAME by Arthur J. Rees, renewed on 29th July 1953 by Marjorie Rees King (widow).

Do not go looking for the young Kathleen's cottage, Montana, in Nepcote.  It is now incorporated within the larger property renamed The White Cottage.

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