By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group
On Coronation morning the Lindfield Coronation Committee sent the following telegram message to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, ‘With humble respect, congratulations to Your Majesty, from your loyal subjects of Lindfield, Sussex’.
Following Elizabeth’s accession to the throne on 6th February 1952, thoughts nationally turned to the Coronation and how it should be celebrated. The 3rd June 1953 was declared Coronation Day. To organise the celebrations in Lindfield an Executive Committee with eight members was established supported by a 39 strong General Committee. A souvenir brochure was produced and sold for one shilling.
The Mid Sussex Times reported ‘Lindfield had put on its gayest attire’ with the main centre of the decorative scheme being the pond, with flags, banners and shields on poles along the water’s edge. An archway spanned the road at both ends. Contractors undertook the decorations and illuminations. All the shops decorated their windows. Many houses were also dressed for the occasion and numerous Union flags hung from windows and improvised flag poles. The Lindfield Horticultural Society gave a prize to the best decorated house; the winner being 35 Luxford Road.
Coronation Day celebrations started at 9am with the pealing of the church bells by the Lindfield Church Bell Ringing Society. Unfortunately the weather did not match the joyous pealing of the bells; it remained grey with showers and chilly all day.
For those able to afford a television the ceremony was broadcast from Westminster Abbey. Fortunate owners invited family, friends and neighbours to watch the ceremony. Many more listened on the radio. Women and men over 60 and 65 respectively were invited to the King Edward Hall to watch a specially installed television rigged to project onto a large screen. About 260 attended, many seeing television for the first time. The sound broadcast was relayed to the Common.
The Firing of the Anvils at 2pm in the High Street, near the Lewes Road junction, heralded the start of the day’s events on the Common and pond. The first event was the Fancy Dress procession organised by the Lindfield Dramatic Club, with 60 entrants parading from Pondcroft Road to Lewes Road and onto the Common for judging. Betty Billins fondly remembers dressing up as a princess. This was followed by an Empire Tableau arranged by Mr Porter and Miss Anscombe of Lindfield School. The children performed an explanation of the Royal Coat of Arms painted on shields.
A short open air interdominational religious service followed, conducted by the three village churches. On Coronation Sunday, 31st May, the churches had held a Special Order of Service.
At 3.20pm, the presentation of ‘awards to Our Birthday Guests’ was made to the eight residents of the parish whose birthdays fell on Coronation Day. Each received an iced birthday cake.
Amid much excitement, the focus then turned to‘Aquatic Sports’ on the pond organised by Lindfield Men’s Club. These comprised swimming races for men and women together with novelty events such as a beer barrel race, mop fight, greasy pole and a Miller v Sweep contest. There was also a demonstration by Horace Putman of his radio controlled model liner.
The watching crowds returned to the Common for the start of the sports organised by the village sports clubs, the majority of which were for children. In addition to running events, less serious races were held including a balloon race, dog and child race, slow bicycle race, skipping and obstacle races. Adults were not ignored with a variety of competitions such as men and ladies tug-of-war, ladies over 50 years egg and spoon race and a ladies and gentlemen’s cigarette race.
While the sports were proceeding, an ‘Old Folks High Tea’ was served by the Women’s Institute with catering by the Bent Arms in the Social Centre, now part of Old School Court. Children of all ages lined up to receive souvenir mugs, emblems and a packed tea. In the early evening the Lindfield Conservative Association organised a Treasure Hunt on the common.
At 9pm, the Coronation Dance commenced in King Edward Hall with music by the Harmonists Band, the dancing continuing until after midnight. As darkness fell a torchlight procession from Pondcroft Road proceeded via Denmans Lane, Compton Road and High Street onto the Common for a giant bonfire and a spectacular firework display. Illuminations were turned on and the church steeple floodlit, bringing to a close this memorable day.
The next major royal celebration was the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. There was considerable enthusiasm in the village that it should be marked by a major event on Jubilee Day 7th June 1977. A programme was devised incorporating all the features from previous royal occasions including water sports. To make the pond safe, the village turned out to remove tons of weeds and debris. They were thanked by receiving nasty bites and rashes! As with previous events there were extensive decoration.
‘Reveille’ started the day with the village crier, Brian Newcombe, escorted by a piper touring the village to proclaim Jubilee Day. A major innovation was a grand carnival procession from Hickmans Lane playing fields, down the High Street to the Common. Entertainments on the common included a physical exercise display and folk dancing by children from Lindfield and Blackthorns schools, figure marching by the Girls Brigade, It’s a Knock Out competition, junior 6-a-side football tournament, a comedy stoolball match and a barbeque. The stoolball match was between the respective clubs and the players were ‘helped’ by a pantomime horse! The Bowls club staged an ‘international’ match between England and Wales; more precisely Lindfield v Llanelli.
During the evening the Dramatic Club staged two performances of an Old Time Music Hall in King Edward Hall, with the audience invited to dress in Victorian or Edwardian costume. No celebrations in Lindfield would be complete without a torchlight procession, huge bonfire and an impressive firework display organised by the Bonfire Society. To close the day the parish church was floodlit and finally the Burgess Hill Scout Band performed the Ceremony of Sunset on the Common.
To provide a permanent commemoration of the Silver Jubilee the Preservation Society planted a lime tree and presented a village sign for the northern entrance to the High Street, similar in design to the 1935 jubilee sign.
The day was adjudged a great success in bringing the village together. It was felt the enthusiasm and community spirit engendered should be harnessed for an event in future years and hence Lindfield Village Day was born. It has been held ever since.
The traditions of celebrating royal events, over the past 125 years, were again in evidence at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations on Monday 3rd June 2002. A committee with wide village representation was established, under the chairmanship of Brian Newcombe and Roy Billins, to develop the programme. To help fund the day, leather Lindfield bookmarks were produced and sold. Bell ringing, the village crier and firing the anvil all featured. In the morning, shops held a ‘Cuckoo – in – the Competition’, the aim being to spot unusual items in shop windows.
The cornerstone of the afternoon was again the Grand Carnival procession from Hickmans Lane playing fields to the Common, where judging and prize giving took place. Also on the Common during the afternoon was, a children’s pet show, boys’ and girls’ races, band displays, entertainments and stalls run by local businesses, clubs and charities. The evening brought more entertainment with a Knobbly Knee Competition, Line Dancing, Barn Dancing and Modern Dancing and closed with the usual firework display. A major omission from the programme was water sports on the pond, no doubt reflecting changing attitudes to health and safety.
The previous day, Jubilee Sunday, the three village churches had held ‘Songs of Praise’ and a family picnic. To permanently mark the Golden Jubilee, the Committee decided a mosaic was a fitting tribute. Ben Craven, a young Brighton mosaic artist, was commissioned to create the mosaic which was installed at the northern end of the pond, close to the Best Kept Village sign. It cost about £2,300 and was unveiled at 12noon on 2nd June 2003.
Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee was celebrated over the weekend of 2nd & 3rd June 2012 and broadly followed previous Jubilees and the format of Village Day. On the Saturday there was a carnival procession followed on the Common by a Children’s Pet Show and in the evening a Jubilee Barn Dance and Firework Display. The next day a ‘Lindfield Celebration Service’ was held on the Common and afterwards ‘The Big Picnic’, a part of the National Big Lunch initiative. In the afternoon there was entertainments ranging from magic shows to Rok Skool and sports competitions.
Contact Lindfield History Project Group via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ or 01444 482136.