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

THE HUNTSMAN'S GHOST

Copyright Valerie Martin 2003.

Huntsman's House on the Long Furlong Road (A280) was built by William Richardson, the famous hunting squire and Lord of the Manor.  This was sometime between 1803 and 1837, 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.

It is said that game abounded in the parish c. 1835, and a pack of harriers was kept by William Westbrooke Richardson of the Manor of Findon at Huntsman's House.  I have heard that these hounds were of the greyhound variety and their speciality was hunting hares.

The fearful din at feeding time at the kennels also echoed all over Findon. Just over the wall at the edge of the wood on the Long Furlong road, stood the hideous Gibbet.  No Findon felons were ever hanged here though. This was a gruesome wooden structure on which the shocking sight of carcasses of old horses were strung whilst being skinned. The great slabs of grisly horseflesh were chopped up for hound meat and brought across the road to the kennels to the waiting inmates to devour.

The Hyam family who had lived at Huntsman's House during the Second World War, kept greyhounds — presumably for racing purposes.     At the close of 2009 I heard from Frank Leach with a few more details of the Hyams days at Huntsman's House...

"And as we get closer to the Hyam family of Huntsman’s Cottage (not House, I am assured), there could be a few war time experiences of Findon yet to emerge.

We now know that my wife’s mother Iris was the third child of John and Hannah Hyam and that there were six Hyam children living there at the time.

My wife’s father was a Canadian Air Force pilot stationed in Worthing. He and Iris planned to marry but he was killed in action before they made it to the altar. It seems he was prone to “looping the loop” over the cottage on his return from a sortie. So the story goes.

There are still three brothers surviving, two living in Worthing. If I can get their agreement and it appears worthwhile I will give you the details when they emerge. It is taking the shape of a dramatic Mills and Boone tale.

Iris’ father refused to allow her to keep her baby which was sent to adoption on birth. At the end of the war Iris married a US serviceman and emigrated. Her life in the USA was not good and she died there some nine years ago.

Her elder sister never forgave her father and on her deathbed two years ago had exhorted her own two daughters to try to find Iris’ lost child, known to them as Patricia Anne (Margaret Elaine to me and her daughters). And now they have! The likeness of her mother is almost identical to my wife, almost spookily so. We haven’t met any of the family yet but this will be remedied in the New Year. Incidentally the father John Hyam was the Hyam Bakery in Storrington High Street at the time. He must have been quite successful as they had four delivery vans".

In 1987 "the Findon window" came into the news.   Windows that appeared to be of unique design and feature in several buildings in the village had for some years been a source of fascination for retired architect, Mr C. J. Goodman.   He set about seeking information on the oval windows which at that time could be seen at Huntsman's House, the Gun Inn, Findon Farmhouse in the Horsham road, Grey Point in The Square, Grey Walls in the High Street, and Findon Place near the church.....(there are two windows at the latter).  

He thought they must be the personal creation of a local carpenter-joiner of yesteryear and would have required a high degree of craftsmanship to make the "S" shaped spokes.   Mr Goodman's investigations attracted the attention of Judy Humphrey (a visitor from the States).   So taken was she by the Findon Window that she had one incorporated in a design of a new house she was having built in Waynesboro in Virgina, U.S.A.

In January 1988 Findon cricketers complained about the noise from kennels and a cattery near their Long Furlong ground.   Seems to have been a strange complaint for mid-winter! 

News that the owner of the Huntsman Cattery and Kennels wanted to add sixteen more kennels sparked off the latest concerns it seems.   The Arun District Council received strong objections from the club about the premises which took in 36 dogs.   Members of the Planning and Economic Development Committee heard that barking canines often spoilt the enjoyment of cricket matches.

The bid to add more accommodation for dogs was subsequently thrown out by Arun Planners.   The present inmates were causing enough noise problems and more would add to the troubles.

In August 2003 I heard from the present owner of the property once known as Huntsman's House on the Long Furlong Road A280 that many years ago (date unconfirmed) the huntsman had entered the hound yard and was not wearing his customary coat for feeding the animals.    He was torn to pieces.  His ghost is said to forever more inhabit the place where he met his untimely death.

The owner of Huntsman's House mentioned to me that, unfortunately, the property had been built without either foundations or damp course.   The bays on the front of his old house had been a Victorian addition to the building.  By the time he was living in the property, the lime mortar was crumbling, the walls were sinking and he and his family had to live with mice and occasionally rats in the house that came in from the arable farmland around.

Arun Council granted the Planning Permission in 1994 for demolition of the property and replacing Huntsman's House.  The footings for the new garage were laid in due course and time past and the owners had to make an application to the Council for renewal of the unimplemented permission in 1999 before continuing with the work.

This is how it came about that yet another Findon landmark from the early 1800s disappeared from the Findon scene in 2000.  At first I thought the distinctive cyclopic Sussex window on the façade of Huntsman's House was destined to no longer gaze forlornly down the Long Furlong road.  But the Flanagan family went out of their way to make the new house as sympathetic with the area as possible.   They renovated and kept the old spider window so it does still look "forlornly" down the Long Furlong road, A280.

Some of the old flint barns of the Huntsman's Cat & Dog Hotel were once the stables, and today's kennel blocks are in the old paddock area which had over the years had been turned into a kitchen garden.

Last but not least, the staff at the boarding kennels say the ghost is still around.   They are serious it seems.

Continue if you would like to read about A Remarkable Shepherd's Friend at Tolmare Farm

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