Kirsty Warren
Lindfield history pages
Lindfield history pages

Lindfield's only Victorian factory

By John Mills and Richard Bryant

Lindfield, being a rural parish, escaped the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, although one factory was built early in the Victorian era. It stood where Lindfield Medical Centre stands today.

In 1840, Thomas Durrant, a wood turner from a prominent Lindfield non-conformist family, set up a piano business. He soon established the Sussex Pianoforte Manufactory in a workshop next to his home, Broomfields (54 High Street). His first employee, Alfred Steibler, a piano maker, came from London to make pianos.

The Victorian values of hearth and home, with a family’s entertainment centred on music making, created considerable demand for pianos. His business quickly expanded and by 1851 he was turning out ‘cottage pianofortes’ and other types at a rate of 100 per year. Some were transported to London and Brighton for auction with the ‘commendation of several first-rate professional men and dealers in England and Scotland’. To expand the thriving business and accommodate a growing workforce, Thomas Durrant needed much larger premises.

Around 1852, he bought Milwards - an old freehold property that was opposite the original workshop - on the western side of the High Street. Shortly afterwards in 1854, Durrant demolished the old property and, in its large back garden, built a new factory with a wide gated entrance and an extensive forecourt. Unusually for Lindfield, it was a three-storey building with a high roof and large windows, necessary for good lighting. Within ten years, he contracted P Jupp to install gas lighting: the gas being supplied by the Lindfield Gas Works, situated at today’s Chaloner Close. The factory was described as a ‘modern, well-lighted and heated, clean, spacious building, specially built for the purpose for which it was used’. Pianos were made on a production line, with each man performing a specific task. Alfred Steibler was said to be the only Durrant employee who could make and construct an entire piano.

Anecdotally, it has been said villagers nicknamed this fine establishment ‘The Piggery’ because the workers were dubbed ‘the pigs’ on account of drinking so much beer at the end of the week in the Stand Up Inn.

In addition to making and carrying a stock of new pianos for sale at the factory, the business also proudly advertised its Repairing and Regulating Department, ‘where every care is bestowed’, and a tuning service.

In 1860, the factory employed over 30 men and during the next two decades established sales branches in London and Birmingham. By the 1880s, British piano making was in decline due to imported pianos made in Germany having taken a large share of the market. The decision was taken in 1881 to close the manufacturing department. Thomas Durrant retired in early 1882, after selling surplus stock and other items, handing the business to his son, Richard Durrant. Consequently, the name was changed from Sussex Pianoforte Manufactory to R Durrant Piano Warehouse, advertising piano, harmonium and American organs tuned and repaired, in addition to sales and hire.

As the nature of the business had changed there was no need for such a wide-gated entrance to the forecourt. This was narrowed, to the current width of the walkway to the Medical Centre and car park, by building two houses with shops, today Tufnells Home and Kitchens by Hamilton Stone Design.

The Piano Warehouse under Richard Durrant’s management continued to be advertised in local directories until 1887, when he relocated his pianoforte business to Rugby. He remained in business until his retirement in 1924.

Piano production having ceased, less space in the building was required; the Pianoforte Warehouse occupied only part of the ground floor thus freeing up the remainder of the premises. The Durrants rented the spare space to George Eastwood, who engaged a Lindfield builder, Charles Andrews, to convert the space into the New Assembly Rooms. The Assembly Room was on the first floor with a Mission Room below. Lindfield was in need of a larger entertainment and meeting venue as the only function rooms at that time were at the Bent Hotel and the Reading Room in Lewes Road.

The Mid Sussex Times reported at considerable length the opening of the New Assembly Rooms on 15th May 1883. The rooms were complimented for being light, airy, very neat and tastefully presented. There were ‘16 windows, letting light on the subjects, whilst from the ceiling there are two handsome gas pendants. There is a balcony at the entrance end and a stage at the other, and seating arrangements for about 220’. A grand curving staircase led from the ground floor entrance. The Rooms were regarded as providing a ‘valuable acquisition to the town’.

The New Assembly Rooms were managed by a ‘committee of gentlemen’ with George Eastwood as the Secretary and Josiah Durrant as Acting Agent and Booking Manager.

Until the opening of the King Edward Hall in 1911, the New Assembly Rooms were the centre of social life in Lindfield, with regular events ranging from Music Society concerts to harp recitals, from Captain Acklom’s Elocutionary Entertainment to chrysanthemum exhibitions, and Christmas entertainment for children to Lindfield Board School’s Prize Distribution and Scholars Entertainment. Perhaps its most noted event was in 1884 when Oscar Wilde delivered a lecture on ‘The Value of Art in Modern Life’.

In contrast to the entertainments upstairs, the Mission Room was the centre for the local temperance movement by the Church of England and Gospel Temperance Union, promoting alcohol abstinence. Meetings and lectures were held weekly and a lending library was provided, also occasional appropriate entertainments including ‘Mr & Mrs Brown and Miss Skelton the Singing Negro Evangelists’ and an ‘appearance by Wah-Bun-Ah-Kee (Red Indian)’; he was quite famous.

Following the relocation of the Pianoforte Warehouse, the New Assembly Rooms were enlarged. Some of the ground floor space was taken by Edward Durrant as a showroom and store for his High Street shop; and was described in December 1888 as providing ‘baskets, aprons, wraps, cushions, pottery and lace goods’.

The opening of King Edward Hall and the Great War signalled the final decline of the New Assembly Rooms building. Reputedly it was used as a rabbit farm to assist with food shortages during the war. During the 1920s and 1930s it was used for furniture storage and became derelict, but was requisitioned by the military in World War II for an unknown use.

In the early 1950s, the building was brought back to life, returning to its manufacturing roots when Herbert and Paul Christian, trading as O H Christian Ltd, used the premises for their clothing manufacturing business. They specialised in making good-quality skirts for leading brands, hence locally being known as the Skirt Factory. On the first floor was the fabric store, where Paul Christian made the patterns and did all the cutting. Downstairs was the machinist’s area, with many Singer sewing machines and the finishing and pressing department. The factory employed around 20 local women, who enjoyed the perk of ‘overs’ being sold cheaply.

At the beginning of the 1970s, O H Christian Ltd went into receivership and the property became empty again. Shortly after, the building was demolished, making way in 1974 for Lindfield Medical Centre and Toll Gate car park.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield Pond - Then and now

Looking at Lindfield pond around 1865. Note the lack of buildings behind the pond. This photo is believed to have been taken by William Durrant Jr., a commercial photographer working in Lindfield at that time, whose studio address was Pear Tree House - owned by his father. It was a later owner of Pear Tree House who donated the land to build King Edward Hall, nearly 50 years after this photo was taken.

Looking at Lindfield Census

By Richard Bryant

The 2021 Census has just been taken, but when did the censuses start and what can they tell us about our village in years past?

The Government ordered the first Census in 1801 and thereafter every ten years. The first thee Censuses were concerned with numbers; individuals’ basic details were not recorded until 1841. From 1851 onwards, the Census Returns gradually became more comprehensive, initially asking name, address, age, marital status, relationship to head of household, occupation and birth place. It also asked if the person was blind, deaf, dumb or a lunatic, and, in 1911, the number of main rooms in the dwelling. The information was collected by the Enumerator. Personal information contained in a Census is closed to the public for 100 years, meaning the last currently accessible returns are those completed in 1911. Looking at the Census returns for Lindfield from 1851 to 1911 gives a clear illustration of changes in society, occupation and the village when compared with Lindfield as we know it today.

Perhaps, the most striking changes relate to families and particularly the size of the household. There were few single person households and these were usually widows and widowers. Men and women co-habiting all declared themselves married and carried the same surname. The average number of children in a family was greater than today: four or five children was the norm and six or more was not uncommon. In the larger families, this resulted in the elder children having left school and started working before the last baby was born.

Looking at a random selection of entries across the period, in 1851 Thomas Botting, a 42-year-old pauper and his wife, had ten children ranging in ages from 20 years to one year, and the eldest sons were working as agricultural labourers. The family lived in a cottage in Kent Street, today the High Street end of Lewes Road. Close neighbours Martin and Faith Ellis, living in a similar cottage, had seven children, together with a lodger. He worked in a long-forgotten occupation as a higgler; a dealer trading in one-day-old chicks. In 1911, at the premises now occupied by Cottenhams, lived James Box, a master butcher, his wife Jane, and their ten children, together with two employees: the slaughter man and butcher’s assistant. Also noticeable is the number of dwellings shared by extended families; parents and their children, a spouse’s brother or sister and grandparents and, where space permitted, a lodger might be squeezed in.

Until Haywards Heath started to thrive as a town in the latter part of the 19th century, the Censuses show Lindfield was virtually a self-sufficient community with people living close to where they worked and most household and business needs were met within the village. There were numerous artisans, tradesmen and shopkeepers living and working in and around the High Street and Kent Street. These roads were the main part of the village prior to 1900.

The following is an illustrative selection of trades and occupations between 1851 and 1911. In 1851, Allen Davey lived and worked in Kent Street as a cordwainer employing his two sons as shoemakers and daughter, Lydia, as a shoe binder. An employer of many men in Lindfield between the 1850s and 1880s was Thomas Durrant’s Pianoforte manufactory, located at the site of today’s Medical Centre. Skilled jobs included piano makers, cabinet makers and French polishers. Thomas Durrant, the owner, lived in the High Street at Milwards.

Lydia, as a shoe binder. An employer of many men in Lindfield between the 1850s and 1880s was Thomas Durrant’s Pianoforte manufactory, located at the site of today’s Medical Centre. Skilled jobs included piano makers, cabinet makers and French polishers. Thomas Durrant, the owner, lived in the High Street at Milwards.

On the other side of the High Street in the house adjoining the bakery, latterly known as Humphreys, was Charles Mead, a tailor and his family of several tailors. At 4 Victoria Terrace in 1881, Louisa Allin and her two sisters ran a ‘Young Ladies School’, where, in addition to day girls, there were six borders aged between five and eight years. John Parker lived at The Poplars, Victoria Terrace, where he ran his watch making business employing two boys. The Holman family lived and ran a greengrocers and poulterer’s shop at Barnlands for many years.

Beyond the junction with Hickmans Lane was a grocers and drapers shop, run by George Bartholomew. This was one of several grocers and drapers, including Masters, on the Co-op site, and Durrants (Lindfield Eye Care). Everyndens was the home for many years of Dr Richard Fitzmaurice and family; he was the medical officer for Cuckfield Union and District Innoculator. Other doctors were Elliot Daunt in1891 at Pierpoint House and Dr Porter at the aptly-named Porters, and later Dr Alban.

In the yard behind the Bent Arms, Henry Packham lived with his family and employed two men in his wheelwright business. Also at the Bent Arms was Julius Guy, the coach maker. Across Brushes Lane, at Spongs, lived William Denman, a blacksmith; his forge can still be seen today.

At the cottage adjacent to Seckhams, in 1881 lived John Botting, a thatcher, and his wife, Eliza, a glove and leggings maker. Living at Froyles Cottage (today The Chantry) with her two daughters was Naomi Wells, who ran a dressmaking and milliner’s business.

In all the censuses, a major source of work was household work, which ranged from women working at home as laundresses to char women and day and live-in domestic staff, and, for men, work such as gardeners, grooms and coachmen. As the period progressed there was a gradual increase in prosperity, largely due to the opening of the London to Brighton railway line in 1841, leading to the building of villas on Black Hill and large houses around the outskirts. This resulted in a marked increase in the numbers working as live-in servants and outdoors employees, particularly gardeners. Every selfrespecting middle class family had at least one or two domestic servants. In 1891, Montague Turner, a solicitor residing at Milton House on Black Hill with his wife Augusta and their six young children, employed a child nurse, nurse maid, two house maids, an under house maid, footman and cook. This is modest when compared with Charles E Kempe, a 63-year-old single man living on his own at Old Place, who in 1901 employed 13 ‘live in’ domestic servants and outdoor staff. The roll call of jobs would not be out of place at ‘Downton Abbey’, there being housekeeper, cook, head housemaid, second and third housemaids, head kitchen maid, scullery maid, butler valet, first footman, second footman, hall man, coach man, head groom and finally second groom.

With the coming of the new century, new roads started to appear in the village. The Edwardian period also introduced motor cars and the new job of chauffeur. In 1911, Frederick Fulham, who lived at 2 Luxford Road, Albert Rix, at Hope Lea, Eastern Road, and Frank Walder, at Fairlight, were all employed as chauffeurs, the latter being Dr Alban’s driver who reputedly had the first car in Lindfield, previously he drove the doctor’s pony and trap. What will people notice about our village when the 2021 census is viewed in the future?

Contact Lindfield History Project Group via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ or on 01444 482136.

The Society and The Tiger, Lindfield

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

In the early decades of the 1700s, the need for financial protection of property and life started to be recognised. Local Friendly Societies began to emerge across the country to provide mutual help in the event of death or sickness. In 1757, local tradesmen formed a society in Lindfield. It is admittedly a dry subject, but the prospectus for the Society makes interesting and, by current standards, amusing reading. The prospectus’ introduction was heavily referenced towards the evils of sin and the need for moral conduct and even invoked God. This is recognising the influence of the Church and religion at this time. It explains ‘When the Creation is viewed over behold Man to be the noblest of all Creatures, and he, being the Favourite of Heaven was placed in Paradise, the delightful Place of all the whole earth; and had but one Order to obey’. It continues in the vein that sin brought death and sickness, but God loves all who obey ‘his Precepts’.

The purpose of the Society is introduced as ‘since the Frailty of Man in this Life, by sickness, or a lingering Death, may have been in want …. Tis hereby intended by us, whose Names are hereunder subscribed, being of divers Trades, Arts, Mysteries or Occupation.’ It explains that as they are all subject to the same infirmities there is a need ‘for the mutual Help and Assistance of each other’ to prevent, ‘the Wants that generally attend Sickness and other casualties; and to the intent that we may relieve each other in such times of Extremity, by an honest and Just Way.’ The section concludes that a fund will be established for this purpose.

The remainder of the document comprises many rules that set out how the Society is to be conducted, member’s subscriptions, obligations and conduct, and most importantly the benefits payable. Every transgression resulted in members being fined.

The meeting place and times are stated as the ‘Society shall meet at the House of Thomas Finch, at the sign of the Tiger in Lindfield Town’ on the first Monday in every month ‘from seven to nine in the Evening from Lady-Day to Michaelmas, and from Six to Eight from Michaelmas to Lady-Day’; recognising the dark winter nights and bad weather.

Membership was limited to 71, a strange number but no doubt chosen for a reason. There were 28 founding members. New members had to be under 40 years, not ‘sickly or weak’ and approved by a majority of members. The entry subscription was one shilling for every £10 in the fund, plus the obligation at his first meeting to spend six pence at the Tiger on drinks. The regular subscription was one shilling payable at every monthly meeting.

To claim the sickness benefit, the member had to prove that he was ‘really sick, lame or infirm and incapable of earning a livelihood’. The benefit was seven shillings a week during the period of incapacity. Surprisingly a time limit was not specified, perhaps because death was not a long time coming if suffering with a major illness. The benefit was about the same as an unskilled labourer’s wage.

In the event of death his next of kin received £5 to pay for the burial. To prevent the fund becoming depleted, a charge of one shilling was payable by each surviving member towards each £5 death benefit paid. Every member was expected to attend the funeral, their meeting venue being the public house nearest to the deceased’s house. Each member was expected to spend three pence on drinks and then ‘to accompany the Corpse’ to the burial ground. A ‘decent hatband and gloves’ were to be worn, and again on the Sunday following. Failure to do so resulted in a six pence fine. Ominously, ‘if any Member shall appear disguised in liquor at a funeral he shall forfeit two shillings and six pence’. Failure to attend the funeral resulted in a one shilling penalty.

If claims resulted in the Society’s fund becoming depleted, members were charged an additional six pence a month, or an amount as agreed, until the fund had a stronger balance.

Anyone with ‘the foul Disease’ or known for ‘Cursing, Swearing, Profaning the Lord’s Day, Fighting, Quarrelling, Drunkenness’ and ‘Whoredom’ were excluded from membership. Whoredom in Lindfield - surely not! Exclusion was also the penalty for making fraudulent claims, with a five shilling reward for identifying a proven fraud. Failure to live a respectable life or neglecting family responsibilities resulted in a severe rebuke from the stewards.

The Society was managed by four Stewards. Every six months, two new stewards were elected and two retired. On election, each new steward had to spend sixpence at the meeting, presumably on drinks! Refusal to serve on being elected incurred a ten shilling and six pence fine.

The duties of the stewards and how meetings should be conducted were described in detail. At the monthly meeting a senior steward had to meet arriving members and collect their subscription. The rules tasked another steward to collect three pence as the member’s ‘share of the reckoning’, the purpose of this sum is unclear. Failure to undertake this task resulted in a ten shilling fine. The steward acting as meeting chairman was required to carry a white wand in one hand and a mallet to keep order in the other.

Any member continuing to talk after the table had been hit three times with the mallet had to pay a two pence fine. There was a six pence fine if a member became ‘disguised in Liquor’ during the meeting. The two longer-serving stewards held the keys to the Society’s chest, in which were kept the accounts and ‘stock’. Failure by a steward to have his key available at the meeting on a timely basis was another opportunity to inflict a one shilling penalty.

In addition to the monthly gatherings, a dinner was to be held in January and July each year, for which there was a six pence charge for drinks and the same amount for the meal. It was a requirement that the vicar had to be invited to the feasts and to be paid ten shillings and six pence to deliver a sermon.

There are further instructions and opportunities to impose fines detailed, with all the money, presumably, being used to improve the Society’s funds. From the prospectus the Society appears to have been a combination of a mutual self help group, brotherhood with rituals and drinking club. No doubt it served a need in its time.

Acknowledgement: An 18th Century Friendly Society
Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield School in the 20th century

School drill, 1906

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

This article looks at Lindfield School between 1900 and 2000. The 20th century saw many changes in the school’s management, structure, composition, name, location and, not least, significant developments in the approach to educating children. Since formation in 1881 it had been managed by the Lindfield School Board controlled by central Government. Two years into the new century responsibility for elementary education passed from government to East Sussex County Council, beginning a long period of local government control. Throughout all the changes the schools DNA continued to reflect the founding principles.

An early change arising from the County Council taking control was that drilling of school children should be done by the teaching staff and not a military drill instructor. The school said goodbye to Sgt James who had been drilling the boys for ten years; during which time it was reported that ‘it was not an uncommon thing to see the lads slouching along before Sgt James took them in hand, but now they were quite smart in appearance and in their movement’.

Life in the village school continued largely unchanged until the coming of the Great War in 1914. With teachers volunteering or being conscripted, including the headmaster, staffing became a problem necessitating the return of married women. Sadly, two teachers died in action. Pupils were expected to contribute to the war effort in a number of ways. The boys were taught gardening as part of their syllabus and maintained a thriving school garden, winning the County’s Challenge Spade in 1917 for best school garden. Their skills were put to use tending gardens of men away on military service, providing their families with potatoes and vegetables. Girls put their sewing skills to use darning and sewing for wounded soldiers at the Red Cross Hospital. The War Office supported a scheme to collect donated new-laid eggs for every wounded soldier and sailor in hospital. A national Children’s Week’s collection in 1916 received 183 eggs from pupils. Near the war’s end, in June 1918 the structure of the school changed with the amalgamation of the Boys’ and Girls’ School creating Lindfield Mixed School; the Infant School remained separate.

Without its own sports field, good use was made of the Common for sports that were becoming an increasing feature of school life. The first major success came in 1921, winning the East Sussex and Lewes Schools Football League final against Turners Hill School. The match, held at Ardingly Recreation Ground, was attended by over a 1,000 spectators; the Mid Sussex Times reported ‘practically all the inhabitants of Lindfield’ seemed to have attended. The thrilling match ended with Lindfield winning 3-0. On their return, the Ardingly Scouts Band led captain Les Wood, holding the trophy high, and the team down a cheering High Street.

The Mixed and Infant Schools merged into a single entity in 1933, providing education to all children aged five to 14. Further changes occurred in 1938 with pupils aged over 11 being transferred to the newly built Haywards Heath Senior School (now Oathall) at Scrase Bridge. At this time a new kitchen and dining hall opened in the main building, replacing the Reading Room which had been rented for this purpose since 1929. Perhaps more surprisingly, it was not until 1939 that electric lighting was installed into the Lewes Road buildings to replace the old gas lights.

Peace was again shattered when World War II was declared. Immediately schoolchildren from areas deemed vulnerable to enemy bombing were evacuated to the countryside. Lindfield received the Henry Fawcett School from Kennington, London, with 200 pupils on its roll, doubling the number of children to be educated in Lindfield. The schools were taught separately by their own teachers but shared facilities using the school buildings, Reading Room and King Edward Hall at various times of the day. With invasion imminent, 70 more evacuees from Romney Marsh schools arrived in August 1940. Gradually as enemy bombing eased many of the children, with their teachers, returned home. Those that remained were merged into Lindfield School.

From 1940 instructions required children to be kept in their classrooms and only proceed to the air raid shelters in the playground if danger appeared imminent. When flying bombs necessitated rapid evacuation, these shelters were abandoned and instead children were instructed to take shelter under their desks on the command ‘Rabbits’. To help fund the war effort the Government encouraged everyone to save in the National Savings Schemes. The school formed a Saving Association so that each week children could save a few pennies collecting a total of £2,321.10s.6d. Immediately after the war, a new canteen was built; and, following the passing of another Education Act, the school was renamed Lindfield County Primary School. This heralded the start of a period of stability.

Arising from a meeting of parents and teachers called by headmaster Mr McQueen, in the autumn of 1954 a Parent Teacher Association was formed, which has made significant contributions to the school ever since. A major contribution in June 1967, was to donate a prefabricated outdoor swimming pool that was positioned close to the Reading Room.

The County Council in 1958 purchased the Reading Room (aka the Social Centre), finally uniting what, in the past century, had been the National schoolroom with the current school to provide much needed additional space.

A major change occurred in January 1968 when the infant classes transferred to a new school built in the grounds of Beckworth House creating Lindfield County Infants School. This was the first time since 1883 that the schools operated from different sites. The Junior School continued at Lewes Road in its aged and increasingly unsuitable facilities. Four years later three teachers and their classes transferred from the Junior School to the newly opened Blackthorns School. By the late 1980s the Junior School buildings were deemed no longer suitable for current educational needs. A working party was established to find a way forward, with the option being to redevelop the Lewes Road site and build a new replacement Junior School either off Newton Road [today the Limes site] or at Beckworth. The latter was chosen and plans prepared for a two storey Junior School to be built in front of the Infant School. This was scheduled for 1992/93 but for various reasons the scheme did not go ahead.

It was 1998 before revised proposals were developed and approved, to replace the Junior School with new accommodation next to the Infant School, amalgamating the two schools to provide a single ‘all-through’ primary education for four to 11 year olds. This required building eight new classrooms, changes to the existing building, remodelling the grounds and the demolition of Beckworth House. Work was swiftly commenced and ready for occupation in 2000.

At the end of Summer Term 2000, Lindfield Junior School and Lindfield Infants closed. They reopened in their new state-of-the-art facilities as Lindfield Primary School; ushering in a new era for education in Lindfield to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ or 01444 482136.

The beginning of Lindfield School

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

A question has recently been received asking why the main hall in the Lindfield Primary Academy is named William Allen Hall. The answer lies 200 years ago and in the early history of education in Lindfield.

Although Lindfield School was established in 1881, its lineage can be traced back to William Allen in 1825. At the start of the 1800s William Allen, a Quaker philanthropist, was involved in the creation of the British and Foreign School Society to provide education for working class children from non-conformist families. Until this Society was established there was no nationally organised school system; at this time the Government was not involved in education.

William Allen was deeply concerned about the rural poor and tested his ideas in Lindfield. He realised education was one route out of poverty. In 1825, with help from John Smith MP and land provided on Black Hill by the Earl of Chichester, he established the Lindfield Industrial Schools. ‘Schools’ because it had separate boys, girls and infants classrooms each with their own teacher. The aim was to provide children from the labouring classes with a sound basic education and vocational training. To enable the school to continue after his death in 1843, it was transferred to the control of the British and Foreign School Society and supported by donations principally from the Congregational Chapel. At around this time a National School, supported by the Church of England, was opened and for a time Lindfield had two competing schools. Relations between them were not harmonious. The National School on the Common did not thrive and eventually closed, while the British Schools on Black Hill continued to flourish.

The 1867 Post Office Directory described the British Schools as providing ‘a sound and scriptural education to the children of Lindfield and its vicinity’. It further noted it was ‘open to all denominations, about one half now in attendance belong to the Established Church, the other half being dissenters. The number of children now attending is 223; the schools are sustained by voluntary offerings’. The Government began to realise that across the country education was not structured to meet the increasing demands of the Victorian age. The passing of the Elementary Education Act 1870 provided for the establishment of elementary schools, where school provision from other sources was insufficient. The aim was to make a basic education available to every child between five and ten years. An 1880 Act made school attendance to the age of ten compulsory.

By 1880 the Lindfield British Schools was facing financial problems, and in March 1881 the Management Committee decided insufficient funds were available to successfully carry on the education of Lindfield and the school should close. A Lindfield School Board was duly constituted and, not without controversy, in May the five Board Members were duly elected. On 24th June 1881 the British Schools passed into the hands of the Board and the next day the Board School opened and Lindfield School was born with Alfred Larter as the School Master in charge. This important day is recorded in the school log with the words ‘Yesterday a long and honoured name was dropped and the history and maintenance of the Schools is under a new name and order ‘The Lindfield Board School’, but it may be on the same working principle and practice’.

On handing the school over, subscribers to the British Schools voted the sum of £200, given as legacies in memory of William Allen, should be transferred to the Lindfield School Board in perpetuity. The interest to be applied annually for prizes in proficiency in scripture knowledge. The sound principles established by William Allen provided the new school with solid foundations for the future: the name William Allen is remembered to this day, as evidenced by the school hall’s name.

Government funding of Board Schools was based on achievement measured against a national curriculum and standards, together with levels of attendance. Additionally they were required to keep a daily log. Schooling was not free, and the local Board set a scale of fees based on age with different amounts charged for boys, girls and infants depending on the occupational class of the parent. The weekly fees ranged from 6d for the older boys of Master Tradesmen and Farmers down to 1d for infants from the labouring classes. The fees had to be paid in advance, with a deduction of 1d per week per boy or girl who during the previous week had attended regularly with satisfactory conduct. For the poorest family even a few ‘school pence’ a week for their children presented difficulties and often resulted in absences.

The most pressing issue was a new home for the school as the existing premises were not a long term option. Finding a suitable site proved a problem until the Earl of Chichester offered land in Lewes Road on the Common to the eastern side of the old National schoolroom. Brighton architect Thomas Simpson designed the school and master’s house. The building contract was awarded to Beard and Foster of East Grinstead at a tender price of £3,351. The buildings represented the latest in Victorian school design, providing space for 120 boys, 100 girls and 100 infants in large, light and airy classrooms with windows place high. Some rooms had tiered desking. The Mid Sussex Times described the red brick buildings as quite ornate and a ‘feature of the town, and Lindfield is to be congratulated on its latest institutional acquisition’.

The school moved into the new premises in September 1883, with Mr A Larter in charge of the boys and assisted by an assistant teacher, Miss M Woolgar, and Mrs H Stevens in charge of the girls and infants helped by pupil teachers. The Inspector of Schools’ visit in 1884 praised the new buildings and facilities, and reported favourably on the standards being achieved by pupils but was less complimentary about attendance levels. Achieving a good level of attendance was a perennial problem, with almost every event being a reason for absence, such as haymaking, harvesting, fruit picking, collecting acorns and a range of social events. Ill health and infectious diseases was also a major cause of absence.

A high level of absence was recorded in January 1882 following an outbreak of smallpox in the village as parents would not allow their children to pass the dwellings where cases existed. Eventually the school was forced to close for two weeks, and when reopened it was necessary for the Mid Sussex Times to publish a notice from village worthies, including the Vicar and village doctor, Dr Porter, confirming the risk of infection had ceased. Another smallpox outbreak in 1885 again forced the school to close. History has repeated itself with Covid-19!

The 1891 Free Schooling Act making elementary schooling free improved absence due to poverty, but this worsened again with the school leaving age being raised to 11 and 12 in 1893 and 1899. Nevertheless good academic standards continued to be achieved as the school moved into the new century.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ or 01444 482136

WWII victory celebrations in Lindfield

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

Unfortunately, local and national events planned to mark VE Day 75 on the May bank holiday had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus. Currently any events in August remembering the final ending of the war are looking doubtful, but what was happening in Lindfield and Scaynes Hill at this time in 1945?

In the first days of May 1945 there was great expectation that the war would soon be over. One sign of the impending Allied victory was the gradual return to this country of British prisoners of war captured by the Germans. The 5th May 1945 entry in Helena Hall’s war diary recorded that ‘Yesterday evening 340 of our POWs arrived at Paxhill Camp, one of the reception areas. In the afternoon today, I, with many others, went there to help sew on the men’s badges’. She noted: ‘The men all looked well and had happy faces after being prisoners for so long’. A mood of relief and happiness was spreading throughout the land.

On Monday 7th May 1945, the Government announcement of Victory in Europe Day was keenly awaited, and this was declared as 8th May 1945. Helena Hall recorded that she was busy making a Victory flag; a red V on white to hang outside her house. Shops were being decorated with red, white and blue and village children were happily building a large bonfire on the Common with material collected from around the village. Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th May were designated as Victory Holiday.

Newspapers carried a Ministry of Food announcement requiring shops ‘to provide a service during the V Holiday that will enable the public to obtain their essential minimum food supplies’, by opening for at least one hour.

In contrast to the jubilant crowds wildly celebrating in London, the VE-Day events in Lindfield were more sedate but the mood was none the less joyous. Helena Hall provides a lovely description of events in Lindfield writing: ‘In the evening at 7.30 we had a Thanksgiving Service in the church, a special service, details printed on a red leaflet given to all who came. The church was full’. This was followed by a grand procession of flaming torches that ‘came along from Pondcroft, and the Common to the bonfire, which was lighted about 9.30’, when the torches were thrown on the fire. When alight ‘a very large swastika and an effigy of Hitler in an old armchair were thrown on to the blaze. It was a perfect night for a bonfire and fireworks, fine and no wind. All the village was about, and singing around it went on till midnight’. A collection of £7 was made for the prizes for children’s sports to be held the following day. The Mid Sussex Times reported the sports proved most successful, with Messrs C Anscombe, E Dawes and F Howell acting as stewards.

At Scaynes Hill, their VE-Day event started with the Vicar conducting an open air service outside the Anchor Inn attended by about 200 people. This was followed by a well-attended social and dance in the Women’s Institute Hall. The evening culminated with a bonfire and firework display on Scaynes Hill Common.

Helena Hall, when writing the closing entry to her diary, no doubt reflected everyone’s thoughts: ‘It is impossible to give enough thanks to God for our great deliverance. Not until the war of Japan is over shall we have all our men home again. I pray that will not be a long war’. For, despite Germany having surrendered, the war was not over as fighting against the Japanese continued in the Far East, perhaps accounting for the rather measured local celebrations. When the war finally ended on 15th August 1945, VJ-Day, Lindfield and Scaynes Hill held larger celebratory events.

The Lindfield Peace Celebration Committee brought together clubs and organisations to provide a full programme of events for the two day VJ holiday. On Wednesday morning, following the Town Crier awakening the village, a service was held at All Saints and in the afternoon a cricket match against Ardingly was played on the Common; the home team winning 131 to 47. In the evening the village churches came together for an open air service. Afterwards a whist drive together with a social and dance was held in King Edward Hall, organised by the British Legion Women’s Section.

The next day’s programme started with sports on the Common. Events for children included three legged, skipping, blindfolded and potato races. Men and women were equally well catered for with events such as men’s boot race, women’s shoe race, a mixed cigarette race and a slow bicycle race in addition to running races. The afternoon’s fun also included a baby show and a tea catering for 400 children and 200 adults, with over 1,200 sandwiches, masses of bread rolls and cakes being devoured. In the evening there was a fancy dress competition for children and adults. While the entrants paraded, ‘Mrs Lampson perched high on a farm cart at a piano’ provided the music.

As dusk gathered, 100 flaming torches, made by the bonfire boys, were paraded to the church and back to the Common for the lighting of the massive bonfire. The crowd sang and danced around the fire, ‘whilst Mrs Lampson, still perched on the farm cart, accompanied them on the piano’. As the bonfire died down, many moved on to the pond to view the island illuminated with fairy lights and the firing of rockets, before entering King Edward Hall for a whist drive and dance to conclude the celebrations.

A not dissimilar programme of events was organised at Scaynes Hill with, on the first day, an open air service in front of the Anchor Inn, and a social and dance in the gaily decorated Women’s Institute Hall. Dancing to the Belgrave Dance Band continued until 2.15am! During the evening, a large bonfire built by the children was lit and a firework display much enjoyed. The second day was devoted to children, with races on Scaynes Hill Common and tea in the Women’s Institute Hall.

VJ-Day brought peace and the end to almost six years of fighting, during which time over 400 men and women from Lindfield and Scaynes Hill served in the military. Sadly 41 Lindfield men and seven Scaynes Hill men gave their lives in the conflict.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield and the B2028

Lindfield toll gate across the High Street

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

Lindfield has often been described as possessing an ‘historic High Street’, due to the attractive and varied architectural styles of buildings lining the road, but what is the history of the road itself? This north-south route has existed for millennia and appears to predate the Romans. Initially it would have been little more than a track running from the coast northwards. Following the Roman invasion it is well known that they started building roads across the country. One road went from London towards the coast at Brighton, taking a similar line to the old trackway, but Romans constructed a new road rather than develop the old trackway; this continued to be used by local people.

The Roman road passed to the west of today’s Lindfield High Street, taking a line through Sugworth Farm and the old Haywards Heath Sixth Form College grounds. Interestingly, when the Romans left Britain their road fell out of use and into disrepair, while the old trackway continued and over several centuries Lindfield gradually grew up along its route. For Lindfield it was an important route, serving as a droveway connecting the manorial lands that stretched from Stanmer to Crawley Down.

As centuries passed this trackway became a road, part of one of the routes through Sussex that radiated from London down to the coast. Richard Budgen’s 1723 map, the first Sussex map to show roads, identified the road from London running from New Chapel, north of East Grinstead, through Turners Hill, Ardingly, Lindfield and Ditchling as a primary route: today the B2028. The road deteriorated as usage increased. The surface changed with the seasons, from deep ruts baked hard to quagmire to frozen, which often became impassable in the wet. Maintenance within the parish boundary was a parish responsibility, but residents had little interest in paying to repair roads outside of the village to benefit through travellers. By the 1700s road conditions across the country had become so bad that drastic action was required. Parliament decided the solution was the introduction of tolled turnpike roads for major roads with each Turnpike Trust responsible for maintenance and toll collection. Parishes remained responsible for the other roads.

The Act of Parliament, authorising the setting up of a Turnpike Trust for the road from New Chapel through Lindfield to Ditchling was passed in 1770. However, the Lindfield toll gate was not erected until around 1803. The road was subsequently extended into Brighton. Toll gates were placed every few miles, locally at Turners Hill, Ardingly, and near Wivelsfield. Lindfield had two tollhouses and gates, Lindfield Gate across the High Street in front of the now aptly named Toll House and Side Gate across the entrance to Hickmans Lane. Its toll house is now Doodie Stark. Consequently it was not possible to travel north-south through Lindfield or the length of the High Street without paying a toll. Needless to say, this was extremely unpopular and tradespeople were especially enraged. It is reported a life-threatening letter was received in 1803 by a Turnpike Commissioner following the erection of the Lindfield Gate! Throughout their existence they were regarded as ‘a most intolerable nuisance’.

The toll varied according to the type and size of wagon or carriage, or the size of the herd or flock being driven. There were various exemptions, notably carriages carrying people to attend church on a Sunday. Residents walking in the High Street were not required to pay a toll. Non-payment of tolls was not uncommon and if caught led to a prosecution, as in the case of Henry Hoadley of Lindfield being fined 10s (50p) in 1865 for evading a 3d (1p) toll. Interestingly, a case was brought against a Mrs Nicholson of Clayton, who on travelling from Haywards Heath direction got her coachman to park the carriage in Lewes Road while she walked through the gate to collect a parcel and returned to her carriage. This was deemed non-payment and she was convicted of defrauding a toll gate and fined 6d, the amount of toll evaded, with 18s 6d (95p) costs. The gatekeepers had to be ever watchful.

The gatekeeper’s job was not held in high esteem, although one benefit was the provision of accommodation at the toll house. Few details exist of the gatekeepers, but the Census returns for the Toll House in the High Street show George Nye as the keeper in 1851 and George Robins with his wife, Derinda, in 1871. Harriet Heasman kept the Side Gate in 1871 and 1881.

The right to operate the various gates on the turnpike were auctioned yearly in accordance with the Act. An announcement in the Surrey Advertiser in 1830 stated ‘Tolls arising at the several Toll Gates on the Turnpike leading from New Chapel through Lindfield and Ditchling to the top of Bost Hill and thence to the town of Brighton will be let by auction’ to be held at the Tiger Inn, Lindfield. Lot Four comprised the Lindfield Gate and Side Gate, which had, in the previous year, ‘produced (clear of all expenses of collection) the sum of £119 12s 6d’ (£119.62p).

During the second half of the nineteenth century, faced with competition from the railways, tolls no longer generated enough income to maintain the road and make the Turnpike viable. In 1881, the Trust had insufficient money to maintain the Lindfield section and the Justices ordered £386 14s (£386.70p) be levied by Lindfield Parish and paid to the Trustees for repairs. Turnpikes across Sussex had gradually closed, but New Chapel to Brighton Trustees soldiered on to the bitter end. The Trustees exercised their right to collect tolls for a further 12 months beyond their Deeds expiry date in November 1883. This greatly angered Lindfield tradesmen who regarded tolls as a ‘great block to progress’ and a ‘tax on townspeople using their vehicles for pleasure only’.

At noon on the 31st October 1884 the right to collect tolls expired. A few minutes earlier the assembled crowd had encouraged a brewer’s drayman to pass through without paying: ‘This he did, amid much laughter, but was pursued by the female (‘Heavenly’) gate-keeper, demanding the toll, which he eventually paid’. As the church clock struck, the gates were lifted off. The honour of the first free passage was given to ‘the respected fly proprietor, Mr George Mason’, who living at Wickham House (near top of High Street), had paid the most tolls. That evening Lindfield tradesmen and others assembled at the Red Lion Hotel for a celebratory dinner. After the meal, Amon Anscombe proposed the toast ‘Success to Lindfield without the gates’. The following week George Mason was advertising a revised fare of 2 shillings (10p) from ‘Lindfield Town to Haywards Heath Station’.

Following the traditional 5th November bonfire on the Common the ‘fun of the evening’ moved to the High Street. Having started their merriment at the Red Lion, a crowd gathered outside the Bent Hotel. ‘Where in the street, quite a large fire formed of tar barrels, was blazing merrily’, and the fire boys hurled the ‘old pike’ on the fire. The fun continued ‘fast and furious’ until midnight watched over by Sergeant Smith and several policemen. A plaque on the wall outside the Toll House commemorates the removal of the gates.

When next driving on the B2028 be thankful you don’t have to pay every few miles!

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

The history of Lindfield's pubs - Part 2

Can you spot The Witch Inn? The Bricklayers Arms from Hickmans Lane

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

In the 1700s the land to the east of Sunte Avenue was common land mostly owned by the Manor of Ditchling. The north-west corner, around the site of the Witch, was however owned by the Manor of Framfield; held by the Sackville family. By 1798 this land had been cleared and enclosed as a farmstead known as Wigsell’s Watering occupied by a Nicholas Wisden. The name Wigsell could be derived from a Saxon word for a cattle and herdsman’s shelter.

George Clements purchased the property in 1851, and took it out of manorial control. A year later he sold it to George and Alfred Wood, owners of the Bear Brewery, Lewes, and by 1853 the Bricklayers Arms was opened. It was built by John Beard, a bricklayer, employing ten men. Being not too distant from the railway station at Haywards Heath, by the mid-1880s it had become a popular destination during the summer for ‘bean feasts’, a works outing and dinner, with parties travelling from as far afield as London and Brighton. It was the venue of choice for departments of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway’s engine works at Brighton, a London firm of book binders, and Reynolds builders of Brighton, among many others.

In 1898, the Bricklayers Arms was acquired by the Southdown and East Grinstead Breweries and later this brewery was purchased by Tamplin Brewery, Brighton, and in turn that became part of Watney Mann. In 1925, the Bricklayers changed its name to The Witch, reputedly the only pub with this name in England.
Another Tamplin’s pub, the White Horse, was situated opposite the Pond. Like the Red Lion featured in last month’s article, the sign of the White Horse had also moved twice. William Mason senior, joined two cottages in Walstead, Walstead Cottages, and obtained a licence to run the premises as a beerhouse. The first reference to a White Horse name first appeared in the Lindfield parish records in the 1830s, this was just after the passing of the Beerhouse Act 1830. This name is usually associated with the Royal House of Hanover, as it was their crest.

In the early 1840s, the sign moved to Old Mead Cottage, now Mead Cottage, in Lewes Road, where it remained until 1851, when the sign transferred to the purpose built pub premises, built by George Mason, opposite the Pond (now Tamasha Indian Restaurant). However, it remained restricted to the sale of beer and cider only, with James Mason as the landlord. The Mason family connection continued for nearly five decades.

At a licensing hearing in 1867, it was claimed the White Horse had stabling for six horses and a three carriage coachhouse, but it transpired these were little more than coal sheds - the family also ran a coal and wood business. A full licence was not granted until 1931. Long-time landlords in the 20th century, Mr and Mrs George Cresswell, retained its character as a local pub and this continued until the White Horse ‘changed with the times’ becoming Tamasha a few years ago.

To the east of the village, in Snowdrop Lane, previously Sluts Lane, stands the Snowdrop Inn. The Mid Sussex Times reporting on a licence application in the 1930s said: ‘the Snowdrop had been an inn for 300 or 400 years. It was an ordinary common inn for a great number of years. Afterwards it became a beer house, with a six-day licence’. It would appear the Snowdrop’s history may have been considerably embellished to impress the Justices! At the time of the Tithe Map in 1848, the property was described as a ‘House and Garden’ owned by the Lowdell family, owners of the Bedales estate. The first identified reference for this property being licensed was in 1872, when a licence was granted to Edward Everest for the sale of beer and cider six days a week: it had to close on Sundays. Edward Everest had a market garden and shop and appears to have extended this business by acquiring the licence.

Apparently originally called Bedale Alehouse and later Lyoth Beerhouse, it was not given the name Snowdrop until about 1907 when a Mrs Knight was the landlady. It remained an alehouse selling about 100 barrels a year, mainly to local farmworkers and those living nearby. It was not allowed to open on Sundays until the full seven day licence, mentioned earlier, was granted in the 1930s. In making the case for this licence it was claimed to be needed due to the development of Franklands Village.

On the road to Ardingly stood the Borde/Board Arms, now Grange Farm; it has also been known as Crawfurd Arms and Winterton Arms, being part of the Paxhill Estate with its name changing to reflect the family ownership. This alehouse could have existed as early as 1660s or earlier, as Rev Giles Moore, Rector of Horsted Keynes wrote in his journal that he purchased beer in a farm house when travelling between Horsted Keynes and Lindfield. By the mid-1800s, the Borde Arms was becoming dilapidated and closed in 1867. George Saxby, the landlord for 40 years, was given notice to quit in 1849 and applied for his licence to be transferred to a new house built by himself, ‘situated by the canal side’ and ‘required for those who worked on the river’. The house, today Bridge Cottage, had its own brewery, but eventually closed following The Ouse no longer being navigable.

Moving across to Scaynes Hill, The Farmers - originally The Anchor - was another alehouse owned by an estate: the Bedales estate. Dating from around 1828, it is said that the name derives, not from any nautical connection, although an old ship’s anchor was displayed in the front garden, but because there was an anchor point used to ‘brake’ horse drawn wagons when descending the nearby hill. Rev Frederick Willett, formerly the vicar of West Bromwich, inherited Bedales in 1881 making it his home.

At this time The Anchor did not have a good reputation and during the late Victorian period temperance movement was in full swing. However, Rev Willett realised working men would not embrace teetotalism but could be encouraged to reduce their alcoholic consumption if the pub ambience and serving practice were improved. When the tenancy expired Rev Willett took the premises back into his direct ownership and installed a manager as licensee. The building was repaired, a club room with games opened, a quoits ground made in the orchard and an Anchor cricket team was formed. These changes almost ‘eradicated drunkenness’ and Rev Willett’s increased his income from a £29 rent to a profit income of £40 a year. He regarded this an improvement method that ‘might be followed by any lady or gentleman owning such a property’. Shortly afterwards the Bedale estate, including The Anchor was put up for sale, and as The Farmers the pub trades to this day.

At the river end of the lane that goes from Scaynes Hill down to the Ouse, it is understood a cottage was once an alehouse known as the Miller’s Arms; now long closed. Unfortunately little else is known of this establishment, if you have information, please make contact.
A short distance further down the lane stands the Sloop Inn. This opened in 1833, originally probably as a beerhouse, and extended in 1860. Apparently, sloops were the type of boat used to carry bricks for the building of the Balcombe Viaduct. It was no doubt opened to serve boatmen, men working on the nearby wharf and agricultural workers. It remain a beerhouse for many years, but like all the other pubs became fully licensed.

Research by Rosemary Davies, John Mills and Janet Bishop. Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

The history of Lindfield's pubs - Part 1

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

It is said that a village pub is the heart of the community. If this is the case then Lindfield must have always had a big heart. This is the first of two articles looking at the background of the inns and alehouses, past and present. The selling of beer has been regulated ever since the time of the Magna Carta (1215). Richard II passed a law in 1393 requiring a painted sign to be hung outside all premises selling beer.
In 1495 the Justices of the Peace received powers to supervise and suppress disreputable establishments. There were broadly two categories of pubs – alehouses licenced to sell beer and cider only, and inns that were permitted to also sell wines and spirits, additionally they traditionally provided food and accommodation to travellers. The former comprised one or two small rooms in a house. In the absence of other entertainment the number of licenced premises grew, as did drunkenness; this was no different in Lindfield.

The beheading of Charles I in 1649 led to the introduction of The Commonwealth that heralded an attitude of puritanism. Oliver Cromwell’s newly appointed Justices decided there was too much drunkenness and far too many alehouses and inns in England. Large numbers had their licences withdrawn and were forcibly closed. Lindfield did not escape this purge, and the Justices decided that the four licenced establishments should be reduced to one. The parish’s population numbered fewer than 650 people. Eventually the number of licences allowed to remain was increased to two. Unfortunately, the location of the permitted licenced premises is unclear, although one was an unnamed inn, possibly The Tiger. The other was Fuller’s alehouse about which no further details are known. On the restoration of the monarchy the number of licenced premises soon increased.

The former Tiger Inn standing at the churchyard entrance was originally an open hall house built, around 1400, by the College of Canon of St Michaels at South Malling as Lords of the Manor. It is believed to have been used as the parish guest house. Subsequently, it became a house occupied by the Michelbourne family. Edward Michelbourne, the family’s most noted member, was knighted in 1599 and was a merchant adventurer licenced by James I to trade with other countries. During his voyages he discovered the entrance to the Hudson River and Coney Island. When the family moved away from the village, during the 1500s, the house became the Michelbourne Arms. Later the name changed to Tiger Inn, allegedly after Michelbourne’s ship.

The building has been much extended throughout its life. In the late 18th century stables were built at the rear and it became a coach stop on the minor London to Brighton route; this ceased with the coming of the railways. It retained the character of a traditional inn and was frequently used for parish events, ranging from Lindfield Friendly Society’s meeting place to drill practice by the Lindfield Company of the Sussex Rifle Volunteers – a militia formed in response to the Napoleonic threat of invasion.

The Tiger closed in 1916, having been an inn for some 350 years, and was purchased for £700 by subscriptions from parishioners becoming All Saints’ Church House. During World War II it was used as a YMCA canteen for soldiers and an Air Raid Precaution first aid post, with the wardens, both men and women, sleeping in the cellar when on night duty. An ambulance was kept in the garage at the rear.

Further down the High Street, an alehouse has existed on the site of the Bent Arms since at least 1660 and probably appreciably earlier. In 1682 it acquired a wine licence, becoming the White Lion Inn; an ermine lion featured on the Newton family crest who had been Lords of the Manor from 1618 to 1632. The main parts of the building can be traced back to this time. From the late 1700s the inn was owned by Richard Wichelo, a brewer from Brighton. The Assembly Room was added in 1785 creating the main entertainment and social venue for the village for the next 100 years.

During the late 1820s the White Lion was acquired by John Bent and the name changed to the Bent Hotel. John Bent had owned a sugar plantation and many slaves in British Guiana before becoming the MP for Sligo and then Totnes. He invested his money in land and property in Lindfield and built Oathall (bottom of Oathall Road) as his home.

In 1839 the London to Brighton coach, ‘The Accommodation’, left the Bent for Brighton at 3.30pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Trains were soon to replace coaches, but brought with them a new trade – the summer day trippers on Sundays. To meet their needs the Bent introduced ‘an Ordinary (dish of the day) on Sundays at 2pm’.
Adverts in the 1880s described it as ‘The Bent Family and Commercial Hotel with private apartments and every accommodation for families’ and boasted a lockup coach house and stabling and attractive gardens. A far cry from the 1960s when it was frequented by bikers creating much noise and drunken brawls in the street!

The Red Lion was established around 1747 as an alehouse by Mary Bishop, not at its present location but lower down the High Street at Ryecroft (next to the URC). Early inn signs often reflect the crest of the owner of the property. Land in the area of Ryecroft was owned by the Russell family and their emblem was a rampant Red Lion. The Fairhall family became the landlords from 1785, and in 1804 the sign of the Red Lion moved up the High Street to Porters, also owned by Richard Wichelo. In 1833 the sign moved next door to its present location at the purpose built pub we see today; like the inns above, the Red Lion was also, for a time, a coaching stop.

The Mills family took over the inn and were enterprising landlords and during their time made Lindfield Sauce, similar to Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce. According to the bottle label it was served at George IV’s coronation banquet. The sauce had quite a following, with Wilkie Collins, the famous Victorian author, regularly ordering half dozen bottles, as did other London gentlemen. Charles Mills issued token coins and on the reverse was the clasp hand motif of the Lindfield Friendly Society, suggesting the Society had moved from The Tiger to the Red Lion.

The outbuilding to the rear was the HQ for the Lindfield Platoon of the Home Guard during WWII. Today in the garden stands the horse powered pump house relocated from Durrant’s Brewery site behind the Stand Up. In 1853/4, John Arnold built the five houses and shop, known as Arnold Terrace, to the north of Denmans Lane. The Stand Up, occupying the northernmost house, was the beerhouse of Edward Durrant’s Brewery. Its name is derived from having no chairs or tables, so workers would not linger over their beer.

Following the demise of Durrant’s Brewery around 1906, it became ‘tied’ to Page & Overtons, the Croydon based brewery with its roots dating back to 1586. It remained a beer house, with two small bars and limited opening hours, until well into the 20th century; a wine licence was not obtained until 1929. Now occupying three of the five original houses, the Stand Up has retained its character as a ‘locals’ pub. For a time the name was changed to the Linden Tree. Research by Rosemary Davies, Janet Bishop and John Mills.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Click here for The history of Lindfield’s pubs - Part 2

Life on the home front

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

The war had a dramatic effect on every aspect of life on the Home Front from shortages to bombing. As the threat of war increased, from 1937 Government started implementing precautions to protect the Home Front. Air raid precautions featured heavily as there was strong expectation an air bombardment by high explosives, incendiaries and gas would commence immediately on the declaration of war.
Volunteer Air Raid Precaution wardens were recruited in every community and gas masks issued. The months following September 1939 were quiet and called the ‘Phoney War’, as aerial battles and bombardment did not occur until 1940. The Lindfield ARP wardens were on duty night and day from the outset with one of their main duties being to enforce the blackout to ensure no light was emitted from any building. The street lights were turned off and vehicle lights restricted and darkness descended. The ARP wardens established posts around the village, the main ones being at King Edward Hall and the Tiger where the wardens slept overnight in the cellar and an ambulance was kept in a garage at the rear.

Early in 1940 British troops started to be stationed in Lindfield, followed a year later by a large contingent of Canadians. The village quickly turned into an army base. A large camp was established at Paxhill for about 1,800 soldiers and a considerable number of properties around the village, ranging from Old Place to semis in Backwoods Lane, were requisitioned for military use. The army units regularly changed and there was a large build-up of stores and equipment around the village in preparation for D-Day. On 29th February 1944 several thousand troops assembled on the Common to be addressed by General Montgomery, an event witnessed at a distance by most of the residents. The military presence in Lindfield was much reduced after the invasion of Europe.

Returning to earlier in the conflict, following Dunkirk the country was vulnerable with invasion expected in mid-September 1940. A volunteer home defence force was quickly recruited and the Home Guard, Lindfield Company, established their headquarters in the barn behind the Red Lion. The Scaynes Hill Company used the Anchor Inn (now The Farmers). Both were tasked in the event of an invasion to defend the Ouse, as the river had been designated ‘a stop line’ to hinder a German advance. The northern bank was revetted (made vertical with trees, timbers and wattles) to impede tanks and vehicles attempting to cross. Strategically positioned pill boxes and other defences were constructed to defend the bridges. Each night Lindfield Home Guard manned the Lindfield Bridge pill box; it was described as ‘very comfortable and homely’. When eventually equipped with Lee Enfield rifles each man was given ten rounds, ‘enough to kill 12 enemy: 10 with bullets, one with the bayonet and the last with the butt’. An anti-tank gun was not received until late in the war. Thankfully, the All Saints bells never rang to signal an invasion!

From May 1940 aerial battles in the skies over Lindfield were a common occurrence, especially during the Battle of Britain. Observing the ‘dog fights’, although dangerous, was popular with village children and the Common provided a good vantage point. A schoolboy at the time recalled being on the Common and ‘hearing loud sizzling noise as the hot metal of spent bullets lay on the damp grass’. Any Allied or German aircraft crashing in the vicinity acted as a magnet to boys and girls who would rush on their bikes to view the aircraft and hopefully collect souvenirs from the debris.

On 25th October 1940, during a routine patrol, a Hurricane suffered engine failure and made a forced landing at Haywards Heath Golf Club. The uninjured pilot escaped the damaged aircraft and a minor fire ensued. Village children arrived before the police and fire brigade and stood on a bunker watching as the fire took hold setting off the machine guns. The bullets went into the bunker just beneath their feet. A narrow escape. Sadly two brothers living at Walstead were not so lucky. While out playing they found a shell, and on taking it home it exploded. Tragically both were killed.

The threat of bombing increased from 1940 and the sound of the air raid siren became a feature of everyday life; the most was eight times in one day. Despite numerous warnings, thankfully Lindfield escaped any bombing casualties or significant damage. A stick of five bombs fell in the land off Backwoods Lane (now the nature reserve). Others fell at Paxhill and near Buxshalls. Lindfield did not have any public air raid shelters, although the cellars of Masters (Co-op site) and today’s Martin’s shops were designated as shelters during shop opening hours. The school and some households created their own shelters or ‘safe place’. After a time, with so many warnings being false alarms, life generally carried on as usual. At school, if a threat sounded imminent, on the command ‘rabbits’ children dived under their iron framed box topped desks for protection. All Saints built an emergency exit with a staircase in the South Chapel.

After D-Day, V1 flying bombs arrived in the sky over Lindfield causing much consternation, for when their rasping engine noise stopped it signified the bomb was about to fall to the ground and explode. Fifteen V1s fell in the Lindfield area. One was attacked by a Spitfire over Lindfield Common and hit the ground near Franklands Village causing extensive minor property damage but without casualties.

There was a brighter side to life for, despite blackouts, air raid sirens and shortages, a social scene thrived with many varied events being organised, usually to raise money for war related causes. These included national events such as Salute the Soldier, Fund a Spitfire and Warship Week, with each community being set a funding target. The Salute the Soldier target for Lindfield was £7,000. The entertainments ranged from concerts and plays to demonstrations of battle drill by the Home Guard, exhibition billiard matches and musical entertainments, plus the inevitable whist drives. In January 1940 the Lindfield and Scaynes Hill Royal British Legion held its first annual Rabbit Pie Supper in a decorated King Edward Hall. The Mid Sussex Times reported that, in spite of war casting a shadow, 180 attended and the ‘atmosphere was one of great joviality’ and ‘in addition to rabbit pies, Christmas puddings and other food, there was no lack of liquid refreshments and cigarettes’. Rabbits were a useful supplement to the meat ration.

Without doubt the weekly ‘penny hop’ dances in King Edward Hall were the most popular entertainment for young women and both British and Canadian soldiers. Recalled with fondness, these were generally regarded as the best in the area, with young women travelling by bus or bicycle from Haywards Heath and nearby villages to attend. The Rhythm Kings was the most popular band. Four young women from the village later became Canadian war brides.

Not unsurprisingly major annual events like the August Fair and Bonfire Night celebrations were not held during the war. Likewise the village sporting clubs suspended organised sport, although golf remained available at High Beeches albeit over only ten holes, the others having been put to the plough in support for ‘Dig for Victory’. The British spirit prevailed and the best was made of these difficult years. If you have any photographs of Canadian soldiers in Lindfield, please get in touch.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ for more information.

Lindfield Christmases over the years

By Richard Bryant with Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

The Christian festival of Christmas began to be widely celebrated in the Middle Ages and many traditions established at that time have been carried forward into today’s festivities. Some could, perhaps, be even older with roots in the celebration of the winter solstice, such as using evergreens as decorations. Across the country, in the 17th century much drunkenness and other misbehaviour became associated with Christmastime. In the increasingly puritanical climate of the Commonwealth, the Puritan rulers in 1647 banned Christmas, regarding it as a Catholic invention. This ban was widely unpopular and its effectiveness questionable.

In 1660, following the restoration of the monarchy, the ban ended. The old English traditions of feasting, merriment, dancing, carol singing and decorating homes and churches with evergreens joyously resumed. All the elements of the modern Christmas festive season were brought together and popularised thanks to Queen Victoria and Albert, and Charles Dickens’ popular novel A Christmas Carol.

The modern Christmas brought the introduction of the retail bonanza, which today starts in October. On the 25th December 1888, Mid Sussex Times published an article describing the ‘treasures for the delectation of the public’ available in Lindfield’s shops. The following are a few extracts.
Masters (site of Coop) had ‘an admirable display of fruit and biscuits’ together with ‘charming drapery and a capital assortment of china and earthenware’. Similarly, Durrant’s (Lindfield Eye Care) ‘thoroughly enters into the spirit of the season with a show of Christmas cheer both liquid and solid’, also the shop’s showroom under the New Assembly Room (site of Medical Centre) ‘boasts of a rare collection of novelties, including, baskets, aprons, wraps, cushions, screens, pottery, lace goods. Nearby, Miss Simmons’ shop (Tufnells Home) was ‘replete with a capital assortment of children’s toys, ornaments, fancy articles, stationery and favourite new booklets’.

Holman’s (95/97 High Street) ‘stock of geese, turkeys, duck and game is sufficiently large and varied to satisfy all who want a good roast’, also ‘fruit and nuts as a dessert’. Across the street Henry Simmons’ shop ‘looks after those fond of nuts, bon-bons and the narcotic weed while general grocery is not forgotten’. Humphreys and Charman’s (74 High Street) bakeries were both praised, and the latter’s ‘cakes iced and plain and confectionary, will be sure to make the public part with their bawbees’ (an old Scottish low value coin). In a similar vein Wearn’s shop (Somers) provided ‘a trinity of temptations in the shape of toys, Christmas fruit and hosiery’. Box’s butchers (Cottenhams) had a ‘capital show of beef, mutton, pork, veal, lamb, turkeys and geese’. Food a plenty was available!

Feasting, for those with money, has been at the centre of the celebration and today the turkey has become the most popular meat for the festive meal. Turkeys were introduced into this country from the Americas in the mid-1500s. Early references to turkeys in Lindfield at Christmastime include, in December 1660, William Older being brought before the courts ‘for the felonious taking of one turkey hen’ belonging to ‘Walter Brett, gentleman of Lindfield’. Three decades later, in March 1691, Sarah Edsaw, a widow living in Lindfield, entered into a lease for various lands in the parish belonging to Walter Burrell at an ‘annual rent of £50, and at Christmas two fat geese and two fat turkeys’. For centuries goose was the favoured meat.

For many in the parish such meats were beyond their means, but a little seasonal cheer was brought to even the poorest. Inmates at the village poorhouse, as an addition to their usual meals of gruel and pottage, were treated to plum pudding on Christmas Day 1782. Over the centuries for many midwinter was a difficult time and charity featured strongly. The Mid Sussex Times on 19th December 1882 reported that in Lindfield the winter weather was ‘throwing many of the labouring poor out of work’ resulting in many needing assistance from the Poor Relief Fund, and at the first distribution of soup there were ‘ready purchasers for soup at a penny per quart throughout the day’.

Christmastime was recognised as a time for giving and charitable deeds, as portrayed in Dickens’ story. It is also a time for carols, with old carols such as ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ traditionally having been sung in the street long before being taken into the church. The Lindfield Waits Benevolent Society, founded in December 1894, kept the old tradition alive singing carols ‘grievously early on ye morning of ye Xmas all through ye village in aide of ye Firemen’s Widows and Orphans Fund’. This was an annual event by the Lindfield Fire Brigade; the illustration is their 1912 poster.

Christmas festivities were austere during the Great War years, due to hardship and shortages of food, goods and, of course, menfolk away fighting the war. Increasing number of casualties and fear of bad news was ever present. However, Lindfield ladies devoted their time to charity and good causes. The focus each autumn was ensuring men in the military were not forgotten by the village. Money was raised for Christmas puddings, gifts and comforts such as knitted woollen scarves, mittens and socks. In 1917 the Women’s Institute (WI) made or collected 92 gifts of soldier’s comforts for the Royal Sussex Regiment. Similarly, the WI was very active in making children’s soft toys as their availability had ceased.

Two decades later and once more Britain was at war and Christmas festivities curtailed. The Women’s Institute organised that every Lindfield man and woman serving in the forces would receive a gift parcel together with a Christmas card produced by Helena Hall. In 1942 the men’s gift comprised writing paper, pencil, a Penguin story book, shaving stick, razor blades, a new 2/6d piece, a game, pack of cards, woolly socks or scarf with hood end and a printed letter from the vicar. To give Christmas cheer to local children, the Canadian soldiers arranged Christmas parties in King Edward Hall as a thank you for being made welcome in the village.

Children’s treats have always been a seasonal feature, earlier instances being a show entitled ‘Entertainment for Children’ at the New Assembly Room, Lindfield (Medical Centre site) on 30th December 1884, comprising a ‘Celebrated Company of Marionettes’ and ‘A Musical Medley by Two Clowns’. On a less grand scale in 1895, the Sunday School organised a children’s party at Lindfield School. The Mid Sussex Times reported ‘In addition to an excellent tea, a Christmas tree was provided, and each juvenile received something in the shape of a present’.

Needless to say entertainment was not solely the preserve of children. Adults participated in all sorts of fun such as on Boxing Day 1901 when ‘a grand match’ of the ‘noble game’ (football) was played on the Common between Lindfield Veterans and Haywards Heath Old Crocks. A good crowd watched the ‘capital fun’. Since being established in Lindfield, the churches have delivered the story of the nativity and the birth of Jesus, albeit the form of the services have changed over time. Special services and carols are now a feature of the Christmas festival today. Perhaps the true reason for the festivities is too easily overlooked among the increasing commercialism.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Humphrey's Bakery

Richard Humphrey standing outside the shop

By Richard Bryant with Janet Bishop and John Mills, Lindfield History Project Group

The August (2019) local history article in Lindfield Life explained that the Common and Pond uniquely defined Lindfield and challenged that similar features could not be identified elsewhere in the country. It would be remiss not to pay tribute to another Lindfield icon, Humphrey’s Bakery, about which a similar claim could be made. Namely, does any other community have a bakery that traded continuously from the same premises for 223 years?

At 65 High Street, Humphrey’s shop front proudly proclaims the bakery was ‘Established 1796’. Perhaps equally remarkable, it has been run by only three families since that date. Having regard to the bakery’s history, it is appropriately located in one of Lindfield’s oldest medieval buildings; Humphrey’s, Bower House and Carriers were all constructed between 1300 and 1343. Its age is evidenced by the massive arched timber framing on the building’s northern side, into which, rather quirkily, three tiny windows have been cut. When viewed from the street it will be seen that Humphrey’s shop is the cross wing of No 63 High Street, known as Wyncote. This is also of medieval date, although its age is not apparent having been re-fronted.

The early history of the building is yet to be fully discovered. However, a receipt document dated 1453, found during redecoration in the late 1940s, states the property was then occupied by ‘Thomas atte Ree’, probably a farmer. He was paying rent of seven marks per quarter to his Lord of the Manor, the Dean of the College of Canons, South Malling. A mark was a unit of currency with a value of about 67p.

Returning to the bakery business, John Meads (1759–1826), a baker, first appeared in Lindfield parish records in December 1791, when with his wife, Ann, their daughter, Mary Ann, was baptised at the parish church. In 1793, he took on a William Murrell as his apprentice. John Meads appears again in the Poor Rate records as a ratepayer from 1797 at Humphrey’s, which he rented from Thomas Blaker, a cordwainer. Accordingly, the claim that the bakery business at 65 High Street was established in 1796 is fully justified.

By the time of John Meads’ death in November 1826 he owned both Humphrey’s and Wyncote, having bought them from Thomas Blaker. Under the terms of John Meads’ will, his wife Ann inherited all his property and goods. She continued to run the business until about 1838, when control passed to her daughter Sarah Smith and husband Edward Smith, also a baker. Ann Meads lived with Edward and Sarah Smith in the house until her death. In 1844 Edward Smith bought the business and property from her executors for £500. During their marriage John and Ann Meads had nine children. Together with some of their children, they are buried in All Saints’ northern church yard. His headstone forlornly reads:

Afflictions sore long time I bore
Physicians were in vain
Till death did cease and God
Did to please to ease my pain

Their extended family became involved in many businesses up and down Lindfield High Street. Edward and Sarah Smith and other family members ran the bakery business for some 40 years. The property was sold around 1883 to Henry Gasston, a local miller. It is at this time the eponymous Richard Humphrey appears. Richard Humphrey senior was born Brighton in 1855. The Mid Sussex Times noted ‘as a boy he was employed on the same premises by the late Mr Smith, who was widely known for his gingerbreads and brandy snaps. Mr Humphrey assisted in making vast quantities for the Lindfield Fairs’. Subsequently, as a Master Baker, he worked as a bread and biscuit maker in Haywards Heath. On returning to Lindfield, in October 1883, Richard Humphrey senior entered into an agreement with Henry Gasston to rent the shop and dwelling (65 High Street) for £45 per year. Likewise his son Richard, also working in the business, rented the adjoining Wyncote, which at that time housed the bakery.

An advertisement in Clarke’s 1884 Directory announced ‘R Humphrey, fancy bread and biscuit maker, pastry cook and confectioner, High Street, Lindfield. Brown and home-made bread. Families waited on daily at Haywards Heath’. Henry Gasston, as owner of both properties, in 1896 built the first detached bakehouse replacing the bakery in Wyncote. When Henry Gasston sold the properties to Richard Humphrey, senior, in 1912, this facility was described in the sale particulars as ‘Bakehouse and Flour Room, fitted with Webber’s 8-bushel Iron Oven, and Truck Shed, Stable for three horses, Van and Cart Shed, W.C., and Manure Pit. Well of Water.’.
Richard Humphrey senior and junior were still listed as running the business in early 1940. Following his father’s death in March that year, Richard junior took control but sadly died less than two years later.

Richard Humphrey senior had been well respected and active in Lindfield, having served on many local committees and as a Parish Councillor. Like his father, Richard junior was a keen cricketer playing regularly for Lindfield Cricket Club. Consequent upon the Humphreys’ death, Clayton Wiles took over the bakery, having previously been a Master Baker and Confectioner in Guildford. He ran the business throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Following his passing in 1968, his son, David Wiles, took over the running of the bakery, having worked with his father for many years.

The name Humphrey’s has continued and the beautiful old style shop front retained, but one major change was made. The modern bakehouse we see today replaced the old 1896 building. Unfortunately the bakery closed this summer, it is understood, due to ill health. The Wiles family having provided excellent service to Lindfield for the past 77 years. There cannot be a resident, of any age, in Lindfield who has not enjoyed bread, cakes, pastries or a snack baked by David Wiles, our Master Baker. His doughnuts are legendary – thank you. The community can only hope a bakery of similar quality will continue the 223 years of tradition established by the Meads/Smith, Humphrey and Wiles families.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield's evacuees: The friendly invasion

Party given by the Canadian soldiers - Russell (mentioned in the article) is one of the evacuees in the photo.

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

Eighty years ago this September (2019) saw the start of World War Two. As tensions between Britain and Germany increased during the 1930s the Government started making plans for a major war. In 1938, Cuckfield Urban District Council, the local authority responsible for Lindfield, commenced planning for an evacuation. The Government scheme provided for the dispersal of schoolchildren and under school age children with their mothers from ‘crowded towns where the result of air attack would be most serious’ to safer rural areas.
A survey was conducted to identify households with space to accommodate evacuees; everyone was expected to do their bit. Households taking in children with board and lodging would receive 10s 6d (52p) per week for the first child and 8s 6d (42p) for each additional child. Mothers with children under 5 years were provided with accommodation only, the payments being five shillings (25p) per week for the mother and 3s (15p) a child.

The first real sign that a war was imminent and inevitable was on 1st September 1939 when Mid Sussex received the first wave of evacuees; the war started two days later. Children were evacuated by schools, and all travelled by special trains to Haywards Heath station for distribution around the area. Evacuees in the Cuckfield UDC area at the beginning of the war numbered 951 unaccompanied schoolchildren, 223 young children accompanied by 148 mothers, 95 teachers and helpers. It is thought over 300 evacuees were assigned to Lindfield. Further evacuees were received during the war.

After being given a drink and biscuit by the Women’s Voluntary Service, Southdown buses transported all the evacuees allocated to Lindfield to King Edward Hall. The unaccompanied children waited in the Hall to be chosen by residents. Most host families only wanted a single child not siblings. Some were prevailed upon to take two or more children, with a couple at Butterbox Farm, who had no children of their own, taking six evacuees. A temporary dormitory was provided at Old Place for children who remained unchosen until the Billeting Office placed them with suitable families. Unplaced children were then accommodated in a communal home at Sewell’s Cottage (today St Johns Lodge), owned by Maud Savill, opposite the church.

Gladys, aged 13 stayed at St John’s Lodge which was run by Mrs Marx, recalls ‘we sleep on camp beds with one pillow and a blanket. There was no furniture apart from blackout curtains, trestle tables and benches. I used to help with the younger children, bathing the girls and washing their hair. Mrs Dennett with her son moved into help, as nine children were too much for one woman to look after. The soldiers had a cookhouse in the Mission Hall and they used to give us meat to help our meagre rations. Children paid a penny a week for treats such as jelly. We used to shake an apple tree behind the house to get apples.’. After about a year Maud Savill wanted the house and the children were found local families.

An evacuee, Lionel, who came to Lindfield accompanied by his mother and young sisters, recollects ‘after arriving with our Jewish school we were taken to live in a tack room above stabling belonging to Mr McNaught at Little Walstead. We shared the tack room with Mrs Cohan, another mother and their children. My mother asked the Billeting Officer where food could be obtained. He kindly promised to take care of this and returned with milk for my six week old sister and various provisions including bacon. This was the first time I had encountered and eaten bacon. While at Walstead, Mr McNaught’s daughters taught me to ride, it was a revelation that people rode for pleasure. In London we had only seen horses pulling carts.’.

The Lindfield School role in September was about 180 and they were joined by some 200 pupils from Henry Fawcett School, Kennington, London. The schools operated separately with their own teachers, and in theory shared the school facilities, although Lindfield always had priority! The Reading Room and King Edward Hall provided extra classroom space. If a room was not available the children had to do gardening, collect acorns for pig food or blackberries for the Horsted Keynes jam factory. As the war progressed the number of evacuated children reduced as many returned to their families. In May 1943 those that remained were merged with Lindfield School.

Scaynes Hill School hosted St Gabriel’s School, Westminster. The newly opened Haywards Heath Senior School (Oathall Community College) welcomed St Matthew’s, Westminster and Senrab Street School, Stepney, these formed the LCC Schools Unit which operated separately to the end of the war. The private schools also took in evacuated schools at various times. Lindfield Women’s Institute, the Town’s Women’s Guild and Women’s Voluntary Service rallied to help by establishing a clothing depot, a canteen and playroom for mothers and their children, and social meetings with a penny being charged for a cup of tea and a bun. Similar support arrangements were made by Scaynes Hill women.

For both the residents and evacuees there was a bit of a culture shock. On the one hand there was an influx of inner city children and families, many from an impoverished background with ‘Cockney’ accents and ways. For the others a small village surrounded by field with animals, woods and country noises presented new experiences. All quickly settled into their changed life. One girl had the novelty, and anxious times, walking across a field of cows on her school journey. Another billeted with a family in America Lane used to walk their goat to its field each morning and learnt how to milk. After school the evacuees met up on the Common, their new green playground, and increasingly mixed with the village children; who found it useful to blame the evacuees if anything went wrong.

Russell, who came with his school from Kennington Oval, was billeted in a council house in Eastern Road ‘with Mrs G, her son and daughter, there were seven of us in the small house. Then from time to time my elder brothers would stay. Also her husband when on leave, to say nothing of the generous hospitality to Canadian soldiers – though not at the same time! How we managed I can’t think. I only know I had never been as happy before.’. Russell and other evacuees have fond memories of Lindfield, playing on the Common and in streams, enjoying entertainments, film shows and Christmas parties put on by the Canadian soldiers in King Edward Hall.

However, there were also unhappy memories. Three sisters and another girl were billeted in a house where they were poorly fed, not well looked after and badly treated. The woman used their rations to feed her son and had black market sugar under her bed. They were not allowed upstairs during the day for fear of wearing out the carpet! Unhappy, it was not long before they returned to London. To end on a happier note, some friendships were established that lasted many years and two girl evacuees, Gladys and Dorothy, met their future husbands while staying in Lindfield eventually marrying after the war ended.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield Common and Pond history

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

It could be said that Lindfield is defined by the Common and Pond. Many communities have a village green or at least the remnants of one, and some a village pond, others have a common remote from the village. How many communities can you name that has a large common with its impressive pond abutting their High Street?

Within the old parish there was also a large common in the area today known as West Common, owned by the Manor of Ditchling; not to mention sizeable commons at Walstead and Scaynes Hill. The fact that Lindfield Common and nearby West Common were owned by two different manors, suggests the Common could date back a thousand years to the time when the manorial system was being established in Sussex.
Unfortunately the early history is unknown, nevertheless it has certainly existed for very many centuries as unenclosed land. Lindfield Common, historically called Town Common, has remained largely intact due to the stewardship over the centuries by the Lords of the Manor of South Malling Lindfield and latterly Lindfield Parish Council and Mid Sussex District Council. However, it was originally larger than today. Even as late as 1830 it extended a little further up Black Hill and to the west over the High Street to join with the pond. Similarly it extended a short distance on the northern side of Lewes Road. Manorial documents generally describe common land as ‘waste’ as the land did not provide rental income. To increase their income the owners sold off plots either as agricultural land or for erection of buildings.

The first major encroachment of Lindfield Common was in the late 1600s when leasehold plots for dwellings were made available in the area bounded by High Street and Lewes Road for the expansion of the village. These houses were demolished mainly during the 19th century and the land used for the buildings we see today, including King Edward Hall. Lindfield School, the houses on the western side of High Street, Blackhill and northern side of Lewes Road were subsequently built on land once part of the Common.

Historically the freeholders and copyholders (leaseholders) of the Manor had rights to use the Common, mainly for grazing cattle and sheep but all use was strictly regulated. The Pond provided water for these animals and those passing through the village. Any unauthorised or stray animals would be placed in the village pound situated in the area of the Bowling Club.

In 1899 Lindfield Parish Council took control of the Common and Pond and duly issued a booklet entitled By-Laws, which prohibited practically everything from setting traps, nets or snares to taking birds’ eggs and shooting animals; from riding horses or driving any vehicle other than hand propelled vehicles to removing turf or dumping earth. One by-law of particular note was ‘The exclusion or removal of gamblers, cardsharpers, vagrants, sellers and exhibitors of infamous (later changed to obscene) books, prints, photographs or pictures, or persons guilty of brawling, fighting, or quarrelling, or improper language, or any idle or disorderly persons’. Surely not in Lindfield! Increasingly the use of the Common was moving solely towards recreation, although cricket had been played since 1747. In 1907 Mr H L Durrant, the village watchmaker, who organised the sheep pens for the annual fair complained to the Council ‘that the new cricket ground considerably encroached on the ground hitherto used for the pens’. The same year the recently formed Bowling Club and Tennis Club sought permission to erect a ‘small rustic pavilion within the enclosure surrounding the tennis courts and Bowling Green’ for their joint use. Permission was granted subject to the clubs agreeing to remove at any time if requested. The Lindfield Football Club and other teams, and to a lesser extent stoolball teams, have long played on the Common.

Despite the increased usage for recreational purposes, even as late as 1912 the Parish Council was continuing to rent out sheep grazing rights for one guinea to James Box, subject to him cutting ‘the grass on the Common all over during July each year’ and the right for the Council to cut the grass ‘for a distance of 30 yards outside the Cricket Ground Enclosure’. Each year the Lindfield Bonfire Society’s firework display to commemorate Guy Fawkes Night is an immensely popular event, as is Village Day.

The Common and Pond have been the focal point for major village celebrations. Sports Days have been one of the traditional ways to mark Coronations, royal anniversaries and weddings, with events ranging from children’s running races to adult tug of war. The Pond hosted swimming and aquatic fun events such as boat racing, climbing a greasy pole and ‘miller and sweeps’; the two combatants would straddle a pole, armed with a bag of flour and soot, the winner being the first to knock their opponent into the water. Similar events and bonfires have been held to celebrate the ending of the World Wars. Some royal events were also commemorated with permanent features on the Common, such as the horse drinking trough, by the High Street and Backwoods Lane junction, marking the 1911 Coronation of George V and the nearby Lindfield sign erected in 1935 for his Silver Jubilee.

The ancient August Sheep Fair traditionally held in the High Street outgrew this venue and moved solely onto the Common. Thousands of sheep were sold during the major eight day long fair. Entertainment and pleasure always a part of the fair, took over when animal sales ceased due to trade transferring to the Haywards Heath Cattle Market, on the site now occupied by Sainsbury’s. The entire Common would be taken over by rides, sideshows, amusements, stalls and refreshment tents. A fair continues to visit to this day as does a circus. At times of war, or when there was an invasion threat, the Common has been used by the military. The first known use was by the Lindfield Company of the Sussex Militia formed when Napoleon threatened the country with invasion during the 19th century. It was similarly used for drill and exercises during the Great War, by the Royal Army Medical Corps when stationed in the village and also the Volunteer Training Corps, forerunner of the Home Guard.

It was used again during World War Two by British and Canadian regiments and the Lindfield Home Guard. Most notably on 29th February 1944, several thousand troops assembled to be addressed ahead of D-Day by General Bernard Montgomery, the Allied Commander. The Pond was used to wash army vehicles until residents complained, and it was also designated an Emergency Water Supply in case of a major fire caused by incendiary bombs. An earlier much talked about military event was the landing on 20th April 1912 of H.M. Airship Gama on a training flight commanded by Captain Broke-Smith, whose father-in-law, Admiral Twiss, lived at Lindfield House. Lindfield and its Pond reflects the story of the village.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Walstead Place and its burial ground

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

This month’s article looks at the reason why there is a burial ground at Walstead and its design. Until the early part of the 19th century burial facilities were mainly provided by the Church of England in parish churchyards and, for some high status burials, inside churches in vaults sunk into the floor. All Saints Church, like many other parish churches across the country, had existed for close on a thousand years and its churchyard had become full. Existing burials were frequently disturbed by new graves with the consequent fear of risk to public health. Similarly new interments within the church also gave rise to health concerns. There were also issues concerning the burial of non-conformists and members of other religions, as parish churchyards were exclusively Anglican. The churchyard at Lindfield was so full, it is said, new burials were being interred on top of existing graves, which accounts for the raised ground in the northern part of the churchyard.

The government, recognising the widespread nature of these problems, passed the Burial Acts 1853. This Act allowed for the Parish Vestry, forerunner of a Parish Council, to form a publicly financed local burial board to establish a burial ground. Furthermore by ‘her Majesty in Council’ an order could be made that required the discontinuance of burials at specific locations. Such an Order in Council passed on 30th January 1854 applied to Lindfield, requiring ‘burials to cease at once under the church and from and after the first of May 1854 in the churchyard burial ground’. Lindfield churchwardens and parish overseers were faced with establishing a burial board together with the urgent and difficult task of finding a new burial ground.

Their aim was to acquire land near the parish church but owners were not willing to sell. Two grants extending the closure date for the Lindfield churchyard were given, to allow time to find a site, with the final deadline being 1st September 1854. A two-acre plot on Walstead Common on the northern side of East Mascalls Lane was eventually identified as a suitable site. Walstead Common at that time covered over 35 acres and was part of the Manor of Walstead held by the Earl of Chichester, who made the land available. A Vestry Meeting held on 11th May 1854 agreed that the Lindfield Burial Board could borrow the money ‘required for providing and laying out the new burial ground’ and for it to be charged to the parish poor rate. It was further agreed that the Board should ‘provide fit and proper places in which bodies may be received and taken care of previously to internment and to make arrangements for the reception and care of the bodies to be deposited therein’. At a further Parish Vestry meeting on 29th June 1854, the Burial Board was authorised ‘to expend the sum of Twelve Hundred pounds for the purpose of providing and laying out the New Burial ground.’ The following are examples of the Burial Fees set by the Parish Vestry to apply from 19th October 1854:

Vaults 4ft
Minister £1 15s 0d
Clerk £0 7s 6d
Sexton £0 3s 6d
Registering £0 0s 6d
Total: £2 6s 0d

Children under 12 Years of Age buried in a Common Grave
Minister £0 1s 8d
Clerk £0 0s 9d
Sexton £0 0s 9d
Registering £0 0s 6d
Total: £0 3s 8d

Persons Buried at the Expense of the Parish
Minister £0 1s 0d
Clerk £0 1s 0d
Sexton £0 1s 0d
Total: £0 3s 0d

There was no tradition of cemetery design to draw upon and small burial grounds, like Walstead, were often utilitarian but with design references drawn from small country estates that is to say, an entry lodge, some landscaping, boundary walls and the mortuary chapels taking the place of the country house as the focal point. These four elements can be seen to this day in the Walstead Burial Ground. Two mortuary chapels, stood a short distance behind the Entry Lodge, formed the focal point of the burial ground. The identical adjoining chapels each having their own porch and doorway, were dedicated for the separate use of the Church of England and Nonconformists. The Church of England chapel was on the eastern side. They were described, in language of the day, as being for ‘Episcopal’ and ‘Dissenters’ respectively.

The simply designed brick chapels with tiled roofs in the traditional ecclesiastical style had wood lined tunnel vaulted ceilings and tall stone framed, three light arched windows. By the 1900s the Chapels and Lodge were heavily covered in ivy. Today the Chapels have been sympathetically restored to retain their original character and are used as offices. The Entry Lodge built of brick with a tiled roof had living accommodation on either side of the central arch and gabled entranceway that ran through the middle of the building. This archway, with sufficient width to permit the passage of a horse drawn hearse, aligned with the Mortuary Chapels behind, which had pathways running to their respective porches. The arch, although now bricked in, remains visible in outline at the rear of the lodge.

The original boundary wall enclosing the ground was built to a strict specification requiring a uniform height of five feet and one brick thick. This wall was replaced, when the burial ground was enlarged and the boundaries realigned, with the more substantial walls that largely exist today. The original two acre site was laid out with two wide curving pathways running northwards across the burial ground from each mortuary chapel. Trees were planted around the perimeter and the ground generously planted with evergreen bushes such as yews and rhododendrons. Remnants of this planting can still be seen.

In the original layout the ground to the east was consecrated land for Church of England burials. A central area was given over to common graves, burials without headstones and those buried at the expense of the Parish. The ground on the western side was non-consecrated ground for Nonconformist and other burials. In 1905 Lindfield Parish Council, the owners at the time, acquired an additional two and a quarter acres of land to enlarge the burial ground to its present size. The two footpaths extended to the new northern boundary have since been removed. Although perhaps not as pristine as in years past it remains a tranquil resting place, now under the care of Lindfield Rural Parish Council.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield’s hidden horticultural industry

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

During the first three quarters of the last century horticultural businesses thrived in and around Lindfield providing much employment. The demand for house building land, the rise of garden centres, large scale commercial growing and other local employment opportunities contributed to their demise. Before it became Linden Grove, the land had been used as a nursery. First in about 1906, it became home to the Orchid Nursery run by Andreas Jensen, who imported and grew orchids in a range of heated glasshouses. After the Great War he sold his entire stock of 16,000 orchids by auction. The nursery was then taken over by Christopher Jupp and traded as Phurah Nurseries growing summer bedding plants, pot plants and vegetable plants for over four decades.
Another nursery that began early in the 1900s was located behind the houses in Compton Road, in what today is the Tollgate car park. Like Phurah Nurseries it had a range of glasshouses and cold frames. According to Ordnance Survey maps it had disappeared by around 1950. The owner or what was grown is not known and if you have any information about this nursery please do get in touch. The name Appledore Gardens suggests the road and houses were built on what might previously have been a market garden or an orchard, but again information has not been found. However it is known that nearby French Gardens took its name from a small market garden business of that name established on the land by the French brothers in the early decades of the twentieth century. It specialised in growing salad crops under glass, for sale at market and by greengrocers until the mid 1960s.

The largest nursery in Lindfield was Box’s, a name perhaps better known in recent decades for the butchers and greengrocers in the High Street. Their land stretched from behind the High Street, Lewes Road, and Luxford Road up to the line of Brushes Lane, north of today’s Dukes Road. Originally this land comprised four fields, Great Tainter, Upper Tainter, Lower Tainter and Farm Mead. It is said the Tainter names were derived from tenter, as in tenterhooks, being the frames used in processing flax to become cloth that stood in the fields in centuries past. Like the other nurseries, it opened around 1900 and continued until the land was sold for the expansion of Lindfield. At its peak up to 50 men were employed in growing trees, shrubs and perennial plants. The Box Nursery regularly won prestigious awards at major horticultural shows.

In 1935, Frederick Smith, an employee at Box’s, acquired an adjoining field, off Luxford Road, and established his own nursery. His speciality was roses and he had a stock of over 4,000 bushes. With the advent of the blackout in World War II everyone needed a torch. To meet the demand for batteries Frederick Smith established a small factory employing 12 women in a shed on his nursery to make ‘No 8 batteries’. Smith’s Nursery (Lindfield) Ltd closed in 1976 and the land became Harvest Close.

Nearby, also in the mid 1930s, a Mr Slack purchased the land to the east of Eastern Road, behind Noahs Ark Cottage in Lewes Road, with plans to develop the site to primarily grow mushrooms. Lindfield Nurseries Ltd came into existence although locally it was better known as the ‘Mushroom Factory’. It was a major undertaking, with eight 90 feet long windowless growing sheds, a packing shed and a covered yard plus ancillary buildings. Each growing shed comprised three rows of growing beds that ran the length of the building, with the beds having four tiers. Manure was delivered from farms and stables, but had to be well rotted before it could be used. On becoming rotted it was transferred to the covered yard, known as the turning shed, where it was constantly turned until ready for use as the base for the growing beds, and topped with compost or soil.
To ensure a constant supply of mushrooms the sheds were used in rotation. The filled beds when sown with mushroom spores did not take long to germinate in the dark, humid conditions maintained in the shed. In a matter of weeks the mushrooms could be harvested and sent to the packing shed for grading and packing. At peak times, up to three tons a week were despatched to market. When each crop had finished the beds had to be emptied and refilled ready for the next crop cycle. The spent mushroom compost was transferred to the market garden section of the nursery, adjacent to the sheds, where it was used to grow rhubarb and salad crops. After a few years Mr Slack sold the business and shortly after it changed hands again when it was bought by the Filmer brothers. The business continued to trade successfully until the late 1960s and following closure, the land became the Noahs Ark Lane housing development.

Towards Lindfield parish’s eastern boundary in Sluts Lane, latterly renamed Snowdrop Lane, and close to the Inn was Snowdrop Gardens, a nursery specialising in summer bedding plants, fruit and vegetables, run for many years by Mr H Cross and his son. On nearby Lyoth Common was the site of Charlesworth & Company’s renowned orchid nursery. Joseph Charlesworth while involved with the Yorkshire wool trade had pursued the cultivation of orchids as a hobby. In 1886, he decided to convert his hobby into a business opening an orchid nursery in Bradford. His passion was to create hybrid orchids and to obtain new varieties, he toured South America collecting new species and studied how they grew naturally. The nursery quickly prospered and Joseph Charlesworth decided to open a small nursery at Valebridge, Burgess Hill, to compare how growing orchids in the milder climate of Sussex compared with Yorkshire.
The results were very favourable and Joseph Charlesworth, in the early years of the 1900s, moved his entire orchid business to a new site at Lyoth Common. This nursery became a major and renowned grower of a large range of hybrid orchids which were exhibited at major horticultural shows, winning many awards. Examples of ‘Charlesworth’ varieties found their way into all major collections and continue to feature to this day.

A significant number of young Lindfield men found employment at the nursery. At the outbreak of the Great War, Joseph Charlesworth, as a proud patriot, offered his young employees a bounty of five pounds and guaranteed re-employment if they volunteered to join the Army. Sadly, not all who served ‘King and Country’ returned. Following Joseph Charlesworth’s death in 1920, aged 68, the company continued for a further 50 years.

In 1971, McBean’s Nursery at Cooksbridge, near Lewes acquired the stock and business of Charlesworth & Co. Resulting from the acquired collection, McBean’s produced two new hybrid orchids, Royal Wedding and Royal Occasion, which were proudly supplied for the wedding bouquet of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales. Like most of the other nurseries, on its demise growing gave way to housing although its past usage is recognised in the names Charlesworth Park and Orchid Park in nearby Northlands Wood development.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Bedales History - A different kind of school

Hidden between the A272 and the road from Lindfield towards Scaynes Hill, stands Bedales, a grand house with its origins in Elizabethan times. It is perhaps an unlikely location for the founding of a revolution in education. In 1893 John Haden Badley, aged 28, rented the house and founded Bedales School as a humane alternative to the authoritarian and harsh regimes typical of late Victorian public schools. His vision was to establish a co-educational boarding school for nine to 18 year olds with the ethos of ‘head, hand and heart’ and the development of ‘intelligence, initiative and individuality’ within a sense of community.
The education provided was to be profoundly different from that available at other schools. It was not until decades later that schools such as Steiner and Montessori were founded with a not dissimilar ethos. On formation, Bedales School was groundbreaking.

Corporal punishment, so prevalent in all other schools, did not feature; instead pupils had to run up and down the drive for the required number of times. Whilst the regime was described as humane, school life was by no means soft. The dormitories’ windows were kept open in all weathers, and before getting into bed, washing water was poured into the hip baths under an open window. Not infrequently, in consequence, a sheet of ice had to be removed in the morning before washing. A run to Scaynes Hill before breakfast followed, then bed-making. It was essential to make the bed correctly, failure resulted in bedding being thrown on to the floor. Boot cleaning also required exacting standards. Lessons were held each morning except Sunday, with a curriculum that included Latin, French, German, Ancient History, Classics and Surveying, plus, unusually, free study time.

Behind the house was the stable yard with a fine range of buildings that contained the woodworking room, chemistry laboratory and natural history laboratory. Three afternoons a week were devoted to sports, swimming, football or cricket, initially on a pitch levelled by the boys. If wet, a run to Chailey Common. The remaining afternoons were spent learning practical skills like woodworking and undertaking outdoor work such as gardening, digging, hoeing, lawn cutting, haymaking, gathering leaves and renovating school buildings. Not to mention the weekly task-force detailed to clean the earth closets!

A stream running through the school grounds was dammed with clay and wood to make the bathing pool about six feet deep, including the deep muddy bottom. It was equipped with diving boards and touching the bottom was to be avoided at all costs! Outdoor activities at weekends included expeditions and bicycle outings to explore Ashdown Forest, the South Downs and local countryside in quest of wild flowers, birds’ eggs and village churches for sketching and brass rubbing.

Pupils regarded Bedales as standing supreme for the quality of its food; the mushrooms and asparagus in their respective seasons being particularly unforgettable. The feeling of semi-starvation experienced by pupils at their previous boarding schools was not repeated. At dinner, Mr and Mrs Badley sat at the High Table on a raised dais in front of the oriel window, with seniors taking it in turn to eat with them. Regarded as a privilege, it was nevertheless a daunting experience. After dinner, the evenings in the hall were spent on fireside chats, rehearsing plays, readings from the classics and music making. Between 7pm and 7.30pm each evening the whole school song; mainly parts out of Tannhauser, Gaudeamus and the Messiah.
On Sunday evenings the school came together for The Jaw led by John Badley. Similar to an old style school assembly, The Jaw comprised prayers, readings and a talk giving an insight into the ways of the world, a moral perspective on issues of the day and other weighty topics. A compulsory and formal procedure before going to bed each night was ‘Handshaking’ when all pupils had to advance in a single file and solemnly shake hands and wish ‘Goodnight’ with every member of the staff. The aim being to build a bond between pupil and teacher and to wipe the slate clean of any misdemeanour that occurred during the day. This ritual still takes place at Bedales School, albeit with vastly more students, and, similarly, the Sunday evening ‘Jaw’ remains a feature of school life.

John Badley’s vision of a co-education boarding school educating both sexes together was finally realised in 1898 when a girls’ boarding house was established in Scaynes Hill. Eight girls formed the first year’s intake. The girls participated on equal terms in all activities, the only differences being they had breakfast in their boarding house before walking the half mile to school. On arrival they were closely inspected by the formidable Miss Withers, the Matron. Also the girls had to be called by their first names while surnames continued for boys.
In the beginning the girls were not welcomed by the boys, and neither sexes had experienced being taught together. After a short period of initial shyness, no notice was taken either by the boys nor girls of each other. In addition to establishing the girls’ boarding house, the increasing number of boys required another boarding house and Lyoth House, about half a mile from the school, was acquired. It was in poor condition and the boys undertook the redecoration. Like the rest of the school it was lit by gas lamps and all water had to be drawn from the well. With increasing pupil numbers it was not long before it became apparent that that the school required larger premises.

In 1899 John Badley acquired a 120 acre estate at Steep, near Petersfield, Hampshire, and set about building a purpose-built school. After seven successful years in Scaynes Hill, the school and its nearly 50 pupils moved in 1900 to its new home, retaining the Bedales name. The school has expanded beyond recognition from its early days in Scaynes Hill and continues to thrive encompassing the revolutionary approach to education pioneered by John Badley. A Royal seal of approval was achieved when Princess Margaret chose Bedales School for the education of her children. Scaynes Hill should be justly proud of having hosted the school during its formative years.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Lindfield history - 500 years

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group 

Lindfield West Common

In last month’s article we looked at how Lindfield developed from its earliest days through to the time of the Reformation in the 1500s. For eight hundred years much of the land in and around Lindfield formed the Manor of South Malling Lindfield held by the College of Canon, South Malling on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry VIII in seeking a divorce and the establishment of the Church of England led to the dissolution of religious houses. 

In March 1545 an order for the dissolution of the College of Canons was issued and subsequently all possessions and lands were granted by the Crown to Sir Thomas Palmer of Angmering, a gentleman of the Privy Council. After a couple of years the manorial estate was surrendered to the Crown. Between 1574 and 1618 ownership changed six times, before being acquired by William Newton of East Mascalls in 1618. Fifteen years later Thomas Chaloner of Kenwards bought the manor, becoming Lord of the Manor, until it was acquired in 1689 by the Pelhams, subsequently ennobled as the Earls of Chichester. These names can be recognised today around the village. The transfer of the manor to secular owners and the frequent changes in ownership lost the stability and stewardship long enjoyed under the Canon’s control. 

Another major impact was the church tithes, paid to the Rector as his ‘living’ and for church upkeep, also passed into lay ownership. After being acquired by William Newton the tithes descended through his family to John Nainsby. Only £30 from the annual £600 tithes were given to the church. This led to difficulties in retaining a vicar and the church falling into disrepair. 

Many of the houses lining the High Street, built in medieval times, needed replacement or at least renovation and modernisation, such as installing chimneys. A good number were re-fronted and it is
for this reason that very few of Lindfield’s 41 timber framed houses have exposed timbers when viewed from the street. From the late 1500s onwards for the next two centuries Lindfield saw a period of renewal and construction along the High Street, although apart from some encroachment on to the Town Common, the village remained a one street community. The 1600s and 1700s provided much of the architectural heritage prized today, for example Pierpoint House, Malling Priory, Nash House, Manor House, Everyndens, Froyles, Lindfield House and Rosemary Cottage to name but a few. A feature no longer existing, which stood for some three hundred years until the early 1800s in the middle of the High Street, opposite Doodie Stark, was a blacksmith forge and adjoining shop, both with a room above. Horse-drawn traffic had to pass on either side of this ‘middle row’; it was probably longer in earlier times. 

Just as ancient communication links had formed a key element in Lindfield’s earliest developments, so they would be an important factor in its later periods of growth. Roads across Wealden Sussex were notoriously poor and the north-south route through Lindfield was no exception until becoming a turnpike road in the 1770s operated by the Newchapel and Brightelston Turnpike Trust. As the name indicates it went from north of East Grinstead down to Brighton and became a minor coaching route from London to Brighton, with the Bent Arms and Red Lion inns used as horse change stops. 

The turnpike had two toll gates in the village, one across the High Street by the Toll House, and the other in the entrance to Hickmans Lane. Tolls were collected until 31st October 1884 when the gates were removed and burnt in the street on Bonfire Night with much celebrating! 

Across the country in the 18th century canal building was at its height and following an Act of Parliament in 1790 the Ouse Navigation was established. Modifications to the river allowed barges, 45 feet long, 14 feet wide, carrying up to 30 tons of mainly agricultural cargo and coal, to sail between Lewes, Lindfield and Balcombe. The canal did not have a significant impact on Lindfield and its opening coincided with a period of economic depression. 

The agricultural economy that had provided wealth and stability to Sussex steadily weakened during the late 1700s creating much poverty. Following the Napoleonic Wars and a succession of poor harvests, the social conditions deteriorated rapidly during the early decades of the 1800s. By 1820 Lindfield was an extremely depressed parish, leading to it being chosen by William Allen, the Quaker philanthropist, as a suitable location for his experimental colony, off Gravelye Lane, to aid impoverished agricultural labourers. He also established an industrial school for boys and girls, on Black Hill, to educate children from poor families. Universal free education was not available until the ‘Board’ school in Lewes Road opened in 1881. 

Compton Road in about 1908. One of the first new roads in Lindfield built in circa 1902.

As the 1800s progressed the economy steadily improved and Britain was gripped by railway mania. Neither Lindfield nor Cuckfield wanted the London to Brighton railway to pass close to their communities, so the line was routed along the parish’s western edge. The line opened in 1841 with the station one mile from the village and initially called for the ‘Towns of Cuckfield and Lindfield’. At that time Haywards Heath comprised little more than a couple of farmsteads and a few cottages, whereas Lindfield had a population of over 1750 residents. The coming of the railway created Haywards Heath. Some twenty years later, Lindfield was to have a station on the northern edge of the village on the planned Haywards Heath to Hailsham route. The line was not completed but the remains of an embankment are still visible at the entrance to Lindfield, looking south by the 30mph limit sign. 

Nevertheless the opening of the London to Brighton line led to a period of growth, and as Haywards Heath developed so did Lindfield. A particular feature during the Victorian era was the building of fine villas on Black Hill and mansions around the outer edges, Summerhill, Finches, The Welkin, Old Place, Walstead Place, Beckworth, Oathall and a little later Barrington House. Together with the existing large houses such as Paxhill, Bedales and Sunte they became major employers. In the central section of the High Street old buildings were demolished and replaced by new shops in Victoria Terrace and Albert Terrace. 

Reliance on agriculture for employment reduced as village businesses flourished, such as Lindfield Brewery, Durrant’s piano factory which employed ’25 hands’, Julius Guy’s coachwork, plus many jobs in the building trade and on the railways. Lindfield started to prosper again but despite this growth Lindfield’s commercial importance waned. 

However, throughout the 1800s, Lindfield remained basically a ‘one street’ community. It was not until the new century that new roads started to appear, such as Compton Road, Luxford Road and Eastern Road. Following the tragic years of the Great War, the interwar years saw some growth, but it was not until after World War II that the expansion of Lindfield really took off and continues to this day. 

Discovering Lindfield’s West Common

Map of West Common area in 1829 with current roads overlaid in white

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

Today nothing exists of the West Common and you would be forgiven for thinking the area completely lacks historical interest. Less than two hundred years ago the unfenced common extended from Sunte Avenue down to the stream that runs close to Blackthorns and from Hickmans Lane south to Summerhill Lane and then east along Scrase Stream. The southern part belonged to the Manor of Ditching with the remainder by South Malling Lindfield and Framfield Manors. The land is mainly flat and in parts sloping with good well drained soil. In early medieval times, could this land have been the ‘west field’ of the Lindfield cultivated in strips by villagers in the open field system? Perhaps we will never know. 

What we do know is that in the 1820s the land was largely unenclosed and contained only a few dwellings. In the north western corner, at the junction called Pickesgreen Cross, was a small old farmstead dating from at least 1600, part of Framfield Manor, called Wigsel’s Watering, that extended into the area now Oakfield Close. This was replaced by the Bricklayers Arms, now the Witch Inn. In the 1870s the Bricklayers became a popular venue for ‘bean feasts’; annual works outings travelling by train from as far afield as London and Brighton. Following the arrival of the railway, the road running along the western edge was made up and named Station Road (Sunte Avenue) as it was the most direct route from Lindfield to the station. The first housing built was Albert Cottages, typical small Victorian houses with shared wells and privies at the bottom of the garden. 

Towards the southern end, near Oakbank, stood two cottages known as Golden Nob. The 1851 Census listed four families, the Beard, Bish, Gorrange and Miles families, totalling 19 men, women and children living in the cottages. All the adult men were agricultural labourers. The Golden Nob cottages were demolished around 1860, when Summer Hill was built by Charles Catt, a brewer and son of William Catt of the Bishopstone Tide Mills. The Catt family lived in the house for many years and farmed nearby land. From the late 1940s it became a school. 

In 1835 three acres of unenclosed land held by the Manor of South Malling Lindfield was sold for £56 5s 0d to John Elliott, a Lindfield blacksmith. John Elliott operated the forge in the middle of the High Street (mentioned in last month’s article) and built the forge at Spongs in Brushes Lane. Perhaps with an eye for a quick profit, John Elliott sold the land to Edward Humphreys in October 1838 for £153. In today’s terms this is the land of Chestnut Close across to the west side of Summerhill Drive and north to Hickmans Lane. 

For a couple of years Humphreys rented the newly enclosed land to James Harding of Burnt House Farm, before taking back the land on which he built a house in 1844. The Poor Rate Valuations in the late 1840s record this house as Westfield Lodge, owned and occupied by Edward Humphreys; no connection with the baker of that name. It was approached by a long diagonal drive, and when Summer Hill was constructed the drive was extended to this house and entrance lodges built. 

By the mid 1850s Humphreys was living at Pear Tree House (junction of High Street and Lewes Road), another fine house he built along with St Annes. Westfield Lodge was rented to tenants before being acquired by William Copeland in c1870 when the property was renamed The Chestnuts. 

The Mid Sussex Times in May 1877 carried an advertisement for the letting ‘unfurnished, a well-built detached villa residence, most pleasantly situated, approached by a carriage drive from the high road, and within 15 minutes walk of Haywards Heath Station, and known as The Chestnuts. There is a large drawing room and dining room, two other sitting rooms, six bedrooms, and a dressing room, kitchen, scullery, cellars etc, also a capital garden with greenhouse and vinery’. Even in those days easy access to the station was a desirable feature and evidence of Lindfield becoming attractive to commuters. 

During the 1880s, The Chestnuts was taken by a Mr Hartland and then by Mrs Gertrude Lysons, the widow of Rev Canon Samuel Lysons, rural dean of Gloucester, a noted antiquarian and an early proponent of British Israelism. This was the belief that British people are ‘genetically, racially and linguistically the direct descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel’. 

The Chestnuts was sold in 1895 for £2,000 and subsequently described as being ‘brick built and cement faced’, with grounds containing a good lean-to vinery, stables, detached coach house with loft and a small cowshed. A substantial property but unfortunately we have no photographs of the house and grounds. (If any readers have a photograph, please do make contact). The new owner was Charles Catt of adjacent Summer Hill. 

Following a succession of tenants, in 1909 William Lancelot Knowles J.P., a member of the Stock Exchange, and his wife took up residence, having previously lived at Pear Tree House. A county cricketer, he had played for Kent, Sussex and Gentlemen of England and in 37 first class appearances as a right-handed batsman scored 1439 runs with a highest innings of 127. He was unstinting in his community service being involved with many clubs and organisations in Lindfield, Cuckfield and Haywards Heath. 

In 1933, The Chestnuts became the new home for the Parents’ National Educational Union School (PNEU) started 12 months earlier at Plumpton by Mrs Seymour and Mrs Morgan. Called the Summerhill PNEU School it was the twentieth such school in Sussex and one of a family of about 800 scattered around the world. All the schools worked to a common ethos and curriculum. A notable local example, with its roots in the PNEU system, is Burgess Hill Girls School which continues to thrive today. 

After two years it ceased being a PNEU school and changed its name to Lindfield Preparatory School under the headship of Miss Arnold. Education was provided on the ‘Froebel and other modern methods’ for children aged 6 to 12 years, with a kindergarten for younger children. It advertised ‘Bright, colourful classrooms, Small Classes, Individual attention’ and ‘All general subjects taught’ with a large garden for games, tennis and cricket. A limited number of places were available for boarders. The school was short lived and closed in about 1937, the building reverting to a private residence. There was no connection between this school and the school later established at Summer Hill. The house continued to be occupied as a private residence until being demolished in about 1960 and shortly after replaced by Nos. 1 – 8 The Chestnuts. 

Lindfield Prep School Kindergarten Room. Photo: J Potter

Returning to the 19th century, the Common was divided by a section of the New Chapel to Brighton turnpike road, now West Common. By the 1840s, the Common on both sides of this road had been enclosed with fields, except for an area around Appledore Gardens but this soon became enclosed. In 1852, at the Red Lion, four acres were auctioned as four building plots fetching £138, £145, £82 and £82. The first two lots restricted the building of any dwelling of less value than £200. None of the plots were built upon at that time. 

It was not until the interwar years that the area started to be developed with the building of Haywards Heath Senior School and housing at Oakbank and along West Common and Sunte Avenue plus the creation of a market garden, French Gardens. Houses started to appear along Summerhill Drive, and although Chestnut Close was constructed by 1937 houses were not built until a few years later. The remainder of the houses on West Common land are predominantly post war. 

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