THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE ― These Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and are progressively growing to be the only record of life around Findon, West Sussex, England.  Everyday stories about real people..... in fact, a potted history of the village.  The topics today, are the history of tomorrow. 

MYSTERY LOCATION OF THE CADET CAMP IN FINDON

Copyright Valerie Martin

In February 2012, I received an email from a certain Alan Gregory living in Melbourne, Australia and he had an interesting story to tell from wartime days.

This was indeed a puzzle.   I could only assume that the camp was either at the grounds of......

 "Findon Manor"

 "Muntham Court"

 the Wyatt's residence known as "Cissbury"

..... or possibly "Windlesham School".   

In the event that any surfers did not appreciate the word "Cisestrian", I pointed out that it is a citizen of nearby Chichester in West Sussex.

At the end of February 2012,  I heard from Alan Gregory once more with a good conclusion to his story.....

"Dear Valerie . I apologise for my tardy reply to your wonderfully prompt answer .

The Muntham Court snow scape was so valuable - it showed that my campsite was not through that entrance .

I have an almost photographic memory of the one that I was seeking and it was of a wider gateway , without gates and with tall and massive square pillars in warm ,soft red bricks .

I read or reread most of your stories of the big houses and used Google Earth for hours .

I used Streetview to look at all of the possible entries and eventually I found a perfect match to the image that I have been carrying for so long .  It was the Southern ( Main ) Entrance to Highden House and the bricks match those of the original House . Everything is right - incredibly so ! . The other entrance has slimmer , more ornate pillers .

If you Streetview the entrance from the Northbound carriageway and get a good image , hit the "+" button and it is as if one is about to walk through it . Highden had so much happening with the Canadian troops that there would have been Nissen huts there for sure .

We were there on VJ Day and it was a happy memorable episode. I viewed photos of the School area and the whole - trees and topography fit the story .

Our manouvres were on the scrubby hillside and I remember trouble with a barbed wire fence where the scrub changes to open Downs below the South Downs Way .

Thank you Valerie for giving me the interest to continue to a nice conclusion and for putting my question to your readers . Well done . Sincerely , Alan Gregory"

I was not so far wrong in suggesting Windlesham School as a possible candidate for the site of the Cadet Camp because the school moved in 1934 to take over Highden House in the heart of the South Downs and was a flourishing school by the outbreak of the Second World War.     Large additions, including an extra storey, were made to the building in 1934 altering it to the present appearance today. 

The pupils continued attending Windlesham School at the beginning of the war.  To start with everything looked normal.... except for the presence of sandbags and the masters acted as ARP wardens.

Evacuation became necessary by 1940 and the pupils were "coached" to safer accommodation in Somerset. 

As the children departed for the much safer Glastonbury location, Canadian soldiers descended on our area and took over not only the grounds but the school.  The officers resided in the building itself and put the more lowly "ranks" in Nissen hut accommodation (the very same as later used by Alan's Cadet Camp).   Tents were also put up in the grounds for the soldiers.

The more adventurous Findon lasses visited Windlesham School on a Saturday nights where they indulged in good music, lots of free drink from their hosts..... and the company of an unlimited supply of desirable young men.  Needless to say, the remaining menfolk in Findon did not take too kindly to the presence of the brash and exuberant Canadians, there was much jealousy between them.

In addition to Windlesham being the home of the Canadians, it was also the headquarters of the Department of Petroleum Warfare.  During their stay at Windlesham, the Canadian engineers built a small number of pillboxes on the South Downs.  Two of the ones sited on Highden Hill were of a most interesting construction. 

The Canadians left a legacy of wall art (graffiti) in the school loft, apparently there are poems and names left by the soldiers.    An amount of these were found by the caretaker during the winter of 2005/6.

A certain Tom Hedges wrote to me in May 2004 to say that he had been a Windlesham pupil (he left in 1985).   He had an inkling of what became of the building during the war years.    He revealed that he had discovered a buried stash of unused blank bullets whilst using a metal detector on a rise overlooking the games pitches.    There were also a number of "fox holes" overgrown with brambles in the grounds (not the kind used by our four-legged friends).

Continue if you would like to read the tragedy involving Leonard Thomas Sheppard of Findon.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE —  is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.