Wherever I travel, I take a copy of Simon Jenkins book ‘1000 Best Churches’ which is usually a good indication of churches worth going out of your way to see. Occasionally though, I come across a church not mentioned in his book and wonder why it has been omitted. One such church is St George’s at Trotton…
Category: West Sussex
The Sussex Stile Council
If, like me, you love to wander across the South Downs and the Sussex countryside you will often use gates and stiles. Gates were traditionally wide enough to allow a farmer to manoeuvre a horse drawn hay-cart through and were made of wood. Today however farm gates are wider and usually made of cylindrical metal….
Shrovetide in Sussex
Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) is the day before Lent commences. ‘Lent is a corruption of the Old English word ‘Lencten’ meaning ‘Spring’ Our ancestors would have shrove (confessed) themselves of sins in the morning. At noon the Shrovetide bell would ring from Sussex churches which would indicate that it was time to stop confessing and start…
The Martello Towers WEST of Seaford!
Seaford’s Martello Tower was not only the last to be built but also most westerly of the south coast towers. But that was not always the plan. In 1798 Thomas Reynolds, a Major in the 30th Foot Regiment, made a report to the War Office on the defences of the South Coast. The 30th Foot…
A Colourful Sussex Lawyer
St Helen’s Church in Hangleton, to the north-west of Brighton, has a remarkable grave. It is covered in brightly coloured stones set into the grave-slab in the form of a mosaic cross. The grave is that of an Irishman, Edward Kenealy. He was a lawyer who was as colourful as his grave. Edward Vaughan Hyde…
Look out for a man with Spatterdashes
I am always interested in early reports of crime and disorder especially in the early 19th century when the Police were still in their infancy. Sussex had no uniformed force to deter and arrest criminals. There were parish constables of course, but they were used by the parish vestry (a form of early local government)…
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…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 