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

EAST END HAMLET

Copyright Valerie Martin 2003

In the past there were two hamlets to the south-east of Findon.   Nepcote is still there and some of the surviving buildings are of the 18th and 19th centuries — but the other hamlet has vanished into thin air.   Around 1945, work on Threshers in Nepcote revealed a fireplace with the carved date of 1664. The property was, therefore, built in the days of King Charles II after he had made his bid for escape through the Findon countryside.

The hamlet that has completely disappeared without trace (and now no one even knows that it existed) was the community known as East End.   It was on the site of the Cissbury Estate.   In its heyday East End contained one large residence  and a cluster of smaller dwellings sprawled along a track wending its way eastwards towards Cissbury Ring. The track between the cottages has gone but was known in those days as "the road to Staning".   The route originally meandered round the foot of Cissbury Ring and over the downs to eventually arrive at Steyning.

The large house at East End was Foster’s Farm c.1606.  It was originally owned by the Leeds family of Steyning and then passed to the Faggs of Wiston.

The houses dotted along Nepcote towards the Green were in those days described as being in "Nepcutt Green".   

Where the Findon Sheep Fair is held today .... was then named "Nash Field".

A detailed 25in. to the mile map of Findon made by Jared Hill the surveyor in 1726 does not mention Foster's Farm but describes the area as being the East End Estate (OS 127 080) and belonging to Charles Fagg and shows the buildings and barns.  The acreage of each field is also indicated.  There is a copy of the map at the West Sussex Records Office in Chichester.  

Charles Fagg, younger son of Sir John Fagg of Wiston, resided at East End in the early 18th century.

The house in the 1700s was of five bays and two storeys, with a hipped roof.   Near the woods to the South of the house, were a whole range of flint buildings which at one time included cottages for shepherds working on the estate.

In about 1729 Charles Fagg‘s son (another Charles) sold the land at East End to William Cripps, described as a mercer of Findon, but evidently one who was steadily rising up the social ladder.

1877 — Above is the Pedigree of the Wyatts the owners of Cissbury.

By 1785 when William Groome, described as a gentleman, was living at the estate it was suddenly described as “Cissbury” and not “East End” from then on. 

In the 1800s sheep farming had reached a peak and even the steepest slopes around Findon were now grazed.

By 1803, as a result of engrossing by the owners of the Cissbury estate, only one of the other houses at East End was surviving.  

Unfortunately, by 1839 the last house in the little hamlet once known as East End had disappeared altogether, leaving only the large residence known as Cissbury to dominate the scene. 

The road that led from East End to Sheepcombe thereafter ceased to be used and vanished and access by the public could not be gained either through the estate to the slopes of Cissbury Ring.

Continue if you would like to read about the timber-merchant's business in Nepcote over the years entitled A Family Affair.

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