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This website created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
THE OLD VICARAGE IN FINDON
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Copyright Valerie Martin 2003
First published in Along the Furlong in April 2003.
Findon is full of surprises — little bits of ancient history are always turning up and concern the most surprising topics for me to relate.
It is said that there stood a former vicarage conveniently situated near St. John the Baptist Church in the early 17th century but little is known of its earlier history.
I have discovered that this old vicarage was still standing during the reign of King Charles II, but before that everything concerning the property remains a mystery.
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"With 4 acres of land thereunto adjoining and lying within one hedge which boundeth on the South unto the King’s highway, and likewise on the West, and unto two lands belonging to the Manor of Findon on the North and East".
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The King’s highway mentioned is the defunct Arundel Road that led westwards from the village, skirted the church and vicarage and turned north through the gate to the Kennels. An Act of Parliament closed this road (with certain reserve rights) in 1823.
By 1724 (and maybe a little earlier), the Vicar of Findon was no long residing at the original vicarage but was leasing the rectory estate, including the rectory house, now the Findon Manor Hotel in the High Street.
Over the years the old vicarage would have been home to the men who held the spiritual charge of the parish of Findon. They now sleep their last long sleep in the churchyard near many to whom they ministered over the years.
It is not known for how many decades this vicarage stood a ruin after it was abandoned. I can find no record of its demolition. By the 1920s it is said that it was still possible to trace part of the ancient foundations in the grass in dry summers.
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The exact site of the property can best be described as being a little to the north of the church. Maybe it needs the practical eye of an archaeologist to investigate the area and show us exactly its proximity to our ecclesiastical edifice.
Sunlight and shadows now flit across the track to the church and lighten and darken the scene, almost unchanged from the days of the old vicarage.
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Taken from Cissbury Ring in January 2005 (looking west) in a tremendous gale followed by torrential rain. (St. John the Baptist Church stands out nicely doesn't it) |
Continue if you would like to read about Richard Woodeson's Findon in the 17th/18th century.
This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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