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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these
Findon Chronicles were created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home
village of Findon,
West Sussex, U.K. Everyday stories about real people.
THE MYSTERY OF HERMIT TERRACE
Copyright Valerie Martin 2004
One morning in July 2004 I discovered a small portion of Findon that I did not know existed and I guessed
the late Tony Hammond
could solve a mystery for me as he lived there in the past.
For the very first time I had been to Hermit Terrace and walked to the very end.
I found a creepy ancient brick building on the right on two floors with a flight
of steps leading up to the First Floor. There were a couple of doors on the
exterior of the Ground Floor ..... damn! All locked. All very
mysterious.
Wearing my Sherlock Holmes hat I proceeded further. Beyond this building
and just on my left was another brick block with a row doors facing away from
Hermit Terrace. Alas all locked again. An ancient toilet block for the
inhabitants of Hermit Terrace?
(a) What was the purpose of the two storey building ....... a Wash House?
(b) Was the second building a toilet block for Hermit Terrace?
I had been told that a builder (?) had acquired the area where the deserted
brick buildings stand about 12 years ago but had not done anything with them.
I guess by now you are laughing as you imagine me creeping about under the ivy
at the back of Hermit Terrace.
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21st July 2004 Valerie - How brave of you to venture up Hermit Terrace, in my day you would have been held for ransom! First things first, the two storey building was shared among the residents, we had the one facing the wall and in there was a large copper where the weekly wash was given a good old boil. Richard Carey had the other downstairs one as a store come shed, and the upstairs was used by our immediate neighbour as a workshop. The brick block was indeed the loos and boy were they cold in the winter, and yes I did know that they were all owned by a developer....... Tony. Tony Hammond, East Preston, West Sussex.
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I subsequently discovered that back in December 1988, the Arun District Councillors decided to conduct an on-site meeting in Findon before deciding whether the ancient Wash House could be converted into a one-bedroom cottage.
The Findon Parish Council had already lodged objections to the scheme which, it said, constituted "backland development".
In 1988, the furore had started when Peter Pearce of Belsize Road in Worthing and two partners sent in an application to the Arun Planners to convert the empty Wash House into a small viable home. Much to their amazement the offending Wash House immediately sparked off a row in Findon and almost degenerated into a farce and its owners could not really understand why.
At Arun's Planning Committee, our Findon Councillor, David Birt, pressured members to reject the scheme, even though officers recommended the go ahead. He described it as —
"A very old building with plenty of heritage".
A decision was deferred awaiting a site visit.
Continue to read....Findon Racehorse Trainer of 1877 — Josepth Mascall Marsh
This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial. Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are! |
