Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the death of Maurice Lawrance of West Dean. The summer of 1913 was dry and hot and Maurice Theodore Lawrance, the 15 year old son of the rector of West Dean Church, was in the fields above the Cuckmere River when he spotted some indentations in the field which…
Category: Churches & Churchyards
Why is Charlie-Joe upside down?
The web-site of the La Trobe University in Australia reports that “Charles La Trobe is much better known in England than he is in Australia” This I doubt, even though he is buried in the delightful riverside churchyard at Litlington, East Sussex. Charles Joseph La Trobe was born in London on 20th March 1801 and…
Accidentally Shot
Last week I gave a talk to a Church Group in Crawley and bought a copy of the parish magazine. I was interested to read about a grave at Worth Church for an unfortunate woman who was shot. Yesterday I travelled back up to Crawley to visit Worth Church which, in my opinion is one…
The Alfriston Beaver?
The Church of St Andrew in Alfriston dates from the 14th Century and it is likely that the Easter Sepulchre to the north of the altar is of a similar date. The Easter Sepulchre was a feature often placed in medieval churches. It represented the tomb of Christ and was used for an elaborate ceremony…
A Chubby but Cheerful Soldier
This afternoon I did one of my Guided Tours of Lewes and took people through the lovely churchyard of St John Sub-Castro. I pointed out some interesting graves but noticed something today that I had no seen before. It was a Memorial Plaque – known as a Death Penny or Widow’s Penny, which had been inserted…
Of Booze and Bridges
One of my talks that I give to History Societies, Women’s Institutes etc is about the gravestones of Sussex and, despite the gloomy subject it seems to be quite popular! During the talk I show people a couple of my favourite gravestones, including that of Thomas Tipper in the graveyard of at Newhaven. The gravestone…
An overenthusiastic Home Guard!
Just before Christmas I visited the delightful All Saints Church in Waldron. I was lucky to catch the Church Administrator clearing up after a Christingle Service and he generiously, not only showed me around the church, but allowed me to climb up on to the tower via a rather narrow stone spiral staircase. According to…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 