This website created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

SAWDUST OR SWEETS

Copyright Valerie Martin 2005

Originally published in Along the Furlong in February 2005

Robert Cholmeley (born c.1819 and died 1880)  arrived in Findon in 1859 and was one of the Victorian vicars to go down in village history. 

The Reverend Cholmeley's predecessor in Findon was the Reverend George Booth and this gentleman had conducted two Sunday services at the church — and had introduced the celebration of Communion about eight times a year. There were also extra services in Lent.

Robert Cholmeley was a new broom and by 1865 he was conducting two full services on the Sabbath, with Communion once a month; his average congregation being around 175, including children. It was during that year that he had cause to complain that he could not afford to employ an assistant curate.

The whole of the decoration of the Chancel was carried out in 1866-68. The tower's four bells were restored to their former glory at considerable cost. Two of the bells were recast. Many years later the Reverend Cholmeley's successor, the Reverend William Dennis Allen, said —

In 1871 Robert Cholmeley married a Bloomsbury born girl named Constance. She was aged twenty-nine and the couple lived at The Rectory in the High Street — now the Findon Manor Hotel. The property has since played host to a number of celebrity guests including Terry Wogan, George Cole, Geoffrey Palmer and Jasper Carrott. As a hotel it has now been granted a licence for civil weddings — a fact that would have, no doubt, surprised Robert and Constance Cholmeley.

In 1874 an organ was installed in the church. A harmonium had provided music until that time. Previous to this — in 1848 it is known that a group of musicians had given the accompaniment at church services. It has also been suggested that before this time a barrel-organ was used in the church.

Constance was well liked in the village. Each year on her birthday, the village schoolmistress, Elizabeth Bull, instructed the pupils write a special birthday letter to the vicar’s wife as she was a great favourite with the children.

One year, Constance purchased eighty ties and umbrellas and gave them as presents to each boy and girl at the school. At the end of the school day the children came out onto School Hill and all of the girls put up their new umbrellas. Everyone in The Square spun round to look and wondered what was happening.

The annual village school treats were always looked forward to with great glee. The pupils met at the school on that special day of the year and marched in twos over to the church — merrily singing hymns as they walked. After the service, they returned to the main village street for tea on the Rectory grass.

There was a swing attached to a bough of an ancient beech tree to play on as well as organised games. A string was suspended from one end of the lawn to the other on which were dangled rows of enticing paper bags. Some of these contained sweets or biscuits — others were the booby prize and contained mere sawdust. When the bags were hit the pupils scrambled for the spilled contents. When a booby prize burst, there were loud shrieks of derision as the sawdust trickled out. Running races were also conducted in the school field and at last the pupils, somewhat tired by now, lined up two by two around the Rectory lawn.

The Vicar and Constance were by this time positioned at the front door ready with a table groaning with toys to be handed out to the passing children. Finally there were three hearty cheers for the Reverend, Constance and Elizabeth Bull, and so ended a happy day as the boys and girls trooped home along the main street.

One of the children was Jane Millen who had been born in 1870 in Findon. She lived with her great grandmother, Jane Holmes, in Nepcote Lane. As a young girl she attended the village school and was also a member of the church and on one occasion was given a bible by Mrs. Cholmeley. In later years Jane Millen became the companion of Miss Winton who ran the Findon Village Post Office. It was during this time that she wrote her papers entitled "Memories of Findon" before she died on 2nd January, 1942.

The Reverend Robert Cholmeley died on 30th August 1880 and was buried in the graveyard of St. John the Baptist Church, close to the extreme western perimeter. On the day of his internment, Elizabeth Bull, the schoolmistress, lined up the children to stand at the wall of the field that was situated between Grey Point and The Rectory. They then walked in solemn procession to St. John the Baptist Church for the service.

When Constance later departed from Findon, she received a farewell gift in the way of a large framed portrait of her late husband from the grateful parishioners. The school children that had played in her garden at The Rectory, made a presentation of a case bearing a silver cross. She immediately opened it to discover a hymnbook and a prayer book lying inside. This would always remind her of the school children she had left behind in Findon.

In August 2002, I received this e-mail from Johannesburg concerning the Reverend Cholmely —

For more on Robert Cholmeley's life in Findon, continue with A Year in the Life of Robert Cholmeley — 1867.

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