Kirsty Warren
Lindfield history pages
Lindfield history pages

Rainbow Pottery

By Richard Bryant & Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

In late 1921, an enterprising woman, Gladys Van Weede established - as sole proprietor - The Rainbow Pottery Company, trading from an outbuilding behind Abbotts Pharmacy on the High Street. Born in Worthing in 1888, she married Rollo Van Weede in 1915. They lived at Pascotts Farm, Sluts Lane, where he ran a dairy farm. According to the 1921 census, prior to founding Rainbow Pottery, Gladys Van Weede worked as an artist for Margaret and Christine Warneford, both artists, at 13 Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath.

Within months, the business was flourishing and commercial travellers secured sales across the country. In April 1923, the Lindfield Women’s Institute held an exhibition of Rainbow Pottery products at the King Edward Hall. Intriguingly, the Mid Sussex Times reported ‘that members of the Institute are responsible for the work. What the ladies really do is to hand colour, by a secret process, Staffordshire Pottery, and the artistic blending of colours on powder bowls, vases and other articles on exhibition was delightful’. It further commented, ‘The fact that any colours can be blended onto any articles of pottery and glass suggests infinite possibilities’.

On 28th November 1923, the company held another exhibition at the King Edward Hall of their ‘Novel HandColoured Pottery, Glass-Ware, Trays, and Tables etc.’ Mrs. Van Weede was assisted at the exhibition by a number of ladies from the upper echelon of Lindfield’s social scene. The hall was decorated with plants and cut flowers and to make the exhibition a social and charitable event, afternoon tea was served and a musical programme performed by local musicians. Fifteen per cent of Rainbow Pottery sales and a share of other proceeds were divided between the Haywards Heath Hospital and the Lindfield Nursing Association.

In 1924, Rainbow Pottery took a major step forward, securing a stand in the palace of Industry Pottery and Glass Section, at the prestigious British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. It was quite remarkable that a small, three-yearold company trading from an outbuilding behind the High Street exhibited at such an event

As well as their hand-decorated products, the company also sold, both retail and wholesale, the Danesby Ware Electric Blue pottery range, manufactured by the well-known Denby Pottery Company.

The Rainbow Pottery Company was acquired by Mr. J.N. Carter, who is understood to have also run the Lindfield Steam Laundry. The date the business changed hands is not known. The company continued selling various pottery items, miniature china animals and also glass and chrome items, such as honey glass table condiment sets, serviette rings and cake stands. They were advertised as being of ‘Special Attraction for Bazaars, Fetes, sales of works, etc.’ A far cry from the British Empire Exhibition.

It is believed Rainbow Pottery ceased trading at the end of the 1930s.

Contact via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/ or 01444 482136.

Royal celebrations in Lindfield - Part 2

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

On Coronation morning the Lindfield Coronation Committee sent the following telegram message to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, ‘With humble respect, congratulations to Your Majesty, from your loyal subjects of Lindfield, Sussex’.

Following Elizabeth’s accession to the throne on 6th February 1952, thoughts nationally turned to the Coronation and how it should be celebrated. The 3rd June 1953 was declared Coronation Day. To organise the celebrations in Lindfield an Executive Committee with eight members was established supported by a 39 strong General Committee. A souvenir brochure was produced and sold for one shilling.

The Mid Sussex Times reported ‘Lindfield had put on its gayest attire’ with the main centre of the decorative scheme being the pond, with flags, banners and shields on poles along the water’s edge. An archway spanned the road at both ends. Contractors undertook the decorations and illuminations. All the shops decorated their windows. Many houses were also dressed for the occasion and numerous Union flags hung from windows and improvised flag poles. The Lindfield Horticultural Society gave a prize to the best decorated house; the winner being 35 Luxford Road.

Coronation Day celebrations started at 9am with the pealing of the church bells by the Lindfield Church Bell Ringing Society. Unfortunately the weather did not match the joyous pealing of the bells; it remained grey with showers and chilly all day.

For those able to afford a television the ceremony was broadcast from Westminster Abbey. Fortunate owners invited family, friends and neighbours to watch the ceremony. Many more listened on the radio. Women and men over 60 and 65 respectively were invited to the King Edward Hall to watch a specially installed television rigged to project onto a large screen. About 260 attended, many seeing television for the first time. The sound broadcast was relayed to the Common.

The Firing of the Anvils at 2pm in the High Street, near the Lewes Road junction, heralded the start of the day’s events on the Common and pond. The first event was the Fancy Dress procession organised by the Lindfield Dramatic Club, with 60 entrants parading from Pondcroft Road to Lewes Road and onto the Common for judging. Betty Billins fondly remembers dressing up as a princess. This was followed by an Empire Tableau arranged by Mr Porter and Miss Anscombe of Lindfield School. The children performed an explanation of the Royal Coat of Arms painted on shields.

A short open air interdominational religious service followed, conducted by the three village churches. On Coronation Sunday, 31st May, the churches had held a Special Order of Service.

At 3.20pm, the presentation of ‘awards to Our Birthday Guests’ was made to the eight residents of the parish whose birthdays fell on Coronation Day. Each received an iced birthday cake.

Amid much excitement, the focus then turned to‘Aquatic Sports’ on the pond organised by Lindfield Men’s Club. These comprised swimming races for men and women together with novelty events such as a beer barrel race, mop fight, greasy pole and a Miller v Sweep contest. There was also a demonstration by Horace Putman of his radio controlled model liner.

The watching crowds returned to the Common for the start of the sports organised by the village sports clubs, the majority of which were for children. In addition to running events, less serious races were held including a balloon race, dog and child race, slow bicycle race, skipping and obstacle races. Adults were not ignored with a variety of competitions such as men and ladies tug-of-war, ladies over 50 years egg and spoon race and a ladies and gentlemen’s cigarette race.

While the sports were proceeding, an ‘Old Folks High Tea’ was served by the Women’s Institute with catering by the Bent Arms in the Social Centre, now part of Old School Court. Children of all ages lined up to receive souvenir mugs, emblems and a packed tea. In the early evening the Lindfield Conservative Association organised a Treasure Hunt on the common.

At 9pm, the Coronation Dance commenced in King Edward Hall with music by the Harmonists Band, the dancing continuing until after midnight. As darkness fell a torchlight procession from Pondcroft Road proceeded via Denmans Lane, Compton Road and High Street onto the Common for a giant bonfire and a spectacular firework display. Illuminations were turned on and the church steeple floodlit, bringing to a close this memorable day.

The next major royal celebration was the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. There was considerable enthusiasm in the village that it should be marked by a major event on Jubilee Day 7th June 1977. A programme was devised incorporating all the features from previous royal occasions including water sports. To make the pond safe, the village turned out to remove tons of weeds and debris. They were thanked by receiving nasty bites and rashes! As with previous events there were extensive decoration.

‘Reveille’ started the day with the village crier, Brian Newcombe, escorted by a piper touring the village to proclaim Jubilee Day. A major innovation was a grand carnival procession from Hickmans Lane playing fields, down the High Street to the Common. Entertainments on the common included a physical exercise display and folk dancing by children from Lindfield and Blackthorns schools, figure marching by the Girls Brigade, It’s a Knock Out competition, junior 6-a-side football tournament, a comedy stoolball match and a barbeque. The stoolball match was between the respective clubs and the players were ‘helped’ by a pantomime horse! The Bowls club staged an ‘international’ match between England and Wales; more precisely Lindfield v Llanelli.

During the evening the Dramatic Club staged two performances of an Old Time Music Hall in King Edward Hall, with the audience invited to dress in Victorian or Edwardian costume. No celebrations in Lindfield would be complete without a torchlight procession, huge bonfire and an impressive firework display organised by the Bonfire Society. To close the day the parish church was floodlit and finally the Burgess Hill Scout Band performed the Ceremony of Sunset on the Common.

To provide a permanent commemoration of the Silver Jubilee the Preservation Society planted a lime tree and presented a village sign for the northern entrance to the High Street, similar in design to the 1935 jubilee sign.

The day was adjudged a great success in bringing the village together. It was felt the enthusiasm and community spirit engendered should be harnessed for an event in future years and hence Lindfield Village Day was born. It has been held ever since.

The traditions of celebrating royal events, over the past 125 years, were again in evidence at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations on Monday 3rd June 2002. A committee with wide village representation was established, under the chairmanship of Brian Newcombe and Roy Billins, to develop the programme. To help fund the day, leather Lindfield bookmarks were produced and sold. Bell ringing, the village crier and firing the anvil all featured. In the morning, shops held a ‘Cuckoo – in – the Competition’, the aim being to spot unusual items in shop windows.

The cornerstone of the afternoon was again the Grand Carnival procession from Hickmans Lane playing fields to the Common, where judging and prize giving took place. Also on the Common during the afternoon was, a children’s pet show, boys’ and girls’ races, band displays, entertainments and stalls run by local businesses, clubs and charities. The evening brought more entertainment with a Knobbly Knee Competition, Line Dancing, Barn Dancing and Modern Dancing and closed with the usual firework display. A major omission from the programme was water sports on the pond, no doubt reflecting changing attitudes to health and safety.

The previous day, Jubilee Sunday, the three village churches had held ‘Songs of Praise’ and a family picnic. To permanently mark the Golden Jubilee, the Committee decided a mosaic was a fitting tribute. Ben Craven, a young Brighton mosaic artist, was commissioned to create the mosaic which was installed at the northern end of the pond, close to the Best Kept Village sign. It cost about £2,300 and was unveiled at 12noon on 2nd June 2003.

Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee was celebrated over the weekend of 2nd & 3rd June 2012 and broadly followed previous Jubilees and the format of Village Day. On the Saturday there was a carnival procession followed on the Common by a Children’s Pet Show and in the evening a Jubilee Barn Dance and Firework Display. The next day a ‘Lindfield Celebration Service’ was held on the Common and afterwards ‘The Big Picnic’, a part of the National Big Lunch initiative. In the afternoon there was entertainments ranging from magic shows to Rok Skool and sports competitions.

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

Royal celebrations in Lindfield - Part 1

Jubilee 1935

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

On 3rd June 2022 the nation celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. How has Lindfield celebrated royal events in the past?

The first major event to be celebrated was Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee on Tuesday 21st June 1887. In readiness for the celebrations the village was decorated with bunting and strings of flags strung across the High Street. A triumphal arch decorated with evergreens, flowers, mottoes and lamps was erected at the site of the Old Toll Gate. Specially planted fir trees graced each side of the road from Black Hill to the parish church. Flags and decorations adorned all the shops and houses. Masters store carried the motto ‘The Queen, 50 Not Out’. On the evening prior to Jubilee Day an ox, donated by Walter Sturdy of Paxhill, was paraded on a decorated cart drawn by two farm horses to the Common, where the carcass was mounted for roasting and the fire ceremonially lit.

Celebrations commenced the next morning at 5am with three ‘firings of the anvil’ and was repeated 15 minutes later ‘awakening those who had yet to rise to greet the glorious Jubilee Day’. At 10.30am the Fife and Trumpet Band of the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers assembled on the Common before proceeding to the parish church which was filled to overflowing. After a short service conducted by Reverend E. d’Auvergne, with a similar service being held at the Congregational Chapel, the congregations and awaiting crowds headed by the band made their way to the Common.

On the Common, three trees were planted with ceremonial spades and much formality. Firing the anvil was repeated at 1pm signalling time for 160 leading residents, tradesmen and farmers to assemble in a large marquee for lunch.

The afternoon events commenced with maypole dancing by village children. This was followed by ‘a long programme of athletic sports and games’. The events ranged from cross-country to 100 yard races, high jump to putting the weight, and tug-of-war, together with novelty events such as egg and spoon races, three legged races and climbing the slippery pole.

During the afternoon and evening over 800 free teas were served. Boxes of sweets and toys were provided by Mr Masters for children. At 9pm the Jubilee Ox, with a piece of bread, was served to all-comers and free liquid refreshment supplied by Mr Sturdy was distributed.

As darkness descended, the village was illuminated and particularly noteworthy were the triumphal arch and willow tree on the pond’s island. The day concluded at 10pm with a grand firework display and in the distance ‘beacon fires were flashing from point to point’.

Pleasingly, the parish poor were not forgotten in the commemoration. The Mid Sussex Times reported tickets for ‘the dole’ were distributed to about 120 recipients who received beef and groceries prior to Jubilee day. Additionally 32 poor persons received a large joint of the Jubilee Ox on the Wednesday morning.

The celebratory day was much enjoyed, and most importantly a lasting commemoration was ‘a new peal of eight bells’ given to the parish church. Four of the old bells were recast, a new tenor bell given by Walter Sturdy and three others funded by public subscription. The bells rang out during the big day and in the afternoon teams of ringers rang ‘Grandsire triples containing 5,040 changes in 3 hours 7 minutes’. Originally the proposed permanent memorial had been a Jubilee Hall but there was insufficient support.

The Mid Sussex Times commented that the Lindfield celebrations can ‘truthfully be said to have taken the premier position in Mid Sussex by its manner of commemorating the auspicious event’. This programme of events was to become the blueprint for royal celebrations in Lindfield for the next hundred years.

The next major royal event was on 20th June 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, making her the country’s longest reigning monarch. The nation celebrated with a bank holiday on Tuesday 22nd June 1897. Jubilee Day in Lindfield commenced at 5 am with the neighbourhood ‘aroused by “salvoes of artillery” from the anvils of Mr Charles Wood’; the village blacksmith whose forge was in Denmans Lane, now Happy Feet shoe shop.

A full day of events followed, with the programme being similar to the Golden Jubilee Day’s celebrations. That is to say a decorated village, church services, military bands and procession, pealing of bells, sports on the common, free tea for 1,200 people in the Reading Room, illuminations and fireworks. Mr Sturdy of Paxhill again donated an ox for the celebrations. A pleasing addition was a large bonfire made of over 1,500 faggots (bundles of wood), and timber from Paxhill, Great Walstead and Buxshalls estates. Additions to the sports programme included a potato race and tent pegging on bicycles.

All Saints Church again benefitted from Jubilee subscriptions generously given, with sufficient money being collected to purchase and install an impressive new organ made by Forster and Andrews of Hull.

1911 Coronation in Lindfield

Lindfield’s way of celebrating royal events was beginning to evolve. This continued with the coronation of Edward VII following Queen Victoria’s death, and a few years later the crowning of King George V in 1911. The latter in addition to the services, events and sports on the common was permanently marked with the erection of a drinking-trough at the junction of Backwoods Lane and High Street.

The next royal event celebrated was the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary on Monday 6th May 1935. On this occasion the firing of the anvils was at the more civilised time of 1.55pm with the day’s events having started at 11.30am when the service from St. Paul’s Cathedral was relayed by radio to the parish church. Many more listened at home.

This was followed two hours later by an assembly and procession from the church to the Common, where there was a ‘British Empire and English Period Costumes’ competition for ‘ladies and gentlemen’. Prior to the sports and events commencing on the common, Mrs Blanche Cumberlege of Walstead Place unveiled the permanent memorial, the Lindfield village sign decorated with a lime tree and the six martlets of Sussex, which stands to this day, close to the drinking-trough.

A major addition to this Jubilee Day’s events was ‘Sports on the Pond’ that comprised swimming races and dressed swimming races for men and women, mop fighting on raft, walking the greasy pole and ‘miller v sweeps’. The latter involved two contestants, one with a bag of flour, the other sat astride a horizontal pole with the aim being to knock your fellow combatant into the pond. Spectators five deep lined the pond. The day concluded with a torchlight procession, bonfire and fireworks. There was also dancing to The Silver Star Band at King Edward Hall.

On 12th May 1937, the coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth was celebrated in very similar fashion to the Silver Jubilee two years previously. The popular events at the pond were repeated and extended with a procession of decorated craft, beer barrel race, pirate’s race and model boat races. An addition to events on the Common was the ‘Empire Tableau presented by the Children of Lindfield Council School’.

The next event celebrated was Queen Elizabeth II coronation day and this will feature in the next article.

Contact 01444 482136 or via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

Click here for Royal celebrations in Lindfield - Part 2

Workhouses and helping the poor in Lindfield

By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group

Country life in past centuries is often depicted as the idyll of ‘merry old England’. The reality was dramatically different, with rural parishes like Lindfield rife with poverty, hardship and pauperism.

To help the poor, between 1563 and 1601 the Government enacted legislation that provided a framework for the provision of poor relief by parishes. To pay for this relief, the parishes levied a poor rate according to needs. The Poor Law Act 1601 became the basis for administering relief for the next two centuries. Overseers of the Poor were elected by the Parish Vestry, an early forerunner of Parish Councils. The poor receiving relief were divided into three categories: the able-bodied (who were to be found work), those who were physically unable to work, and those unwilling to work. To keep the poor rate down to a minimum, the Overseers often made payments ‘in-kind’. Provision of a poor house for the destitute was permitted, although it is not thought Lindfield took such action at that time.

In 1723, parishes were empowered to establish workhouses in addition to the provision of poor relief. The first mention of a workhouse in Lindfield is around 1730 and the property was rented by the Parish Overseers, but so far the location has yet to be identified. The workhouse moved in 1740 to another rented property, today known as Firs Cottage, on the High Street near All Saints Church. The inmate numbers steadily increased from about ten in the beginning to approaching 30 by the late 1700s. To accommodate the increasing numbers, an ‘annexe’ was established in a neighbouring small cottage to the north, now long since demolished. Little is known about conditions in the workhouse, but it can be assumed they were not comfortable. The menu for inmates in autumn 1783 was:
Breakfast - Six days a week, pottage (a kind of thin stew) and on the seventh day (presumably Sunday) gruel (a thin porridge).
Lunch – beef or pork pudding and lard buttered pudding.
Supper – bread and cheese.
On Christmas Day 1782, it is recorded the inmates had plum pudding and perhaps this was a treat every Christmas.

In April 1788, trustees acting for Mrs Priscilla Merry purchased Firs Cottage from its then-owner Joseph Beard and the adjacent annexe. The new owner continued renting the property to the Parish Overseers. Around this time, Mr and Mrs Merry also purchased Old Place, today West Wing in Francis Road. Shortly after her husband’s death in 1793, Mrs Merry offered to sell Old Place and its acre of land to the parish, to replace the over-crowded Firs Cottage. This fine Elizabethan house, built by the Chaloner family in 1584 when they were Lords of the Manor of South Malling Lindfield, had subsequently passed through various owners.

The Overseers, on behalf of the parish, secured a large loan to purchase Old Place and the workhouse moved to its new location in 1794. The workhouse accommodated the elderly, disabled, able-bodied paupers and orphans. Expectant mothers were taken care of and their illegitimate children delivered at the workhouse. In exchange for their keep and accommodation, the able-bodied were expected to work and were usually hired out to farms and local businesses. Where possible, pauper children aged over seven were apprenticed in an effort to provide them with a skill and thus break the cycle of poverty.

Nationally, the early decades of the 1800s were the time when poor relief was at its height and the poor rate was creating an unacceptable burden on those required to pay. Poor harvests, the Napoleonic War and its aftermath, and an increasing population resulted in a dramatic rise in corn prices and, in turn, flour and bread, a staple of the diet. Farmers depressed labourers’ wages in the knowledge that the parish would address the resultant poverty from the poor relief, also most agricultural labourers were employed by the day so if no work meant no pay. This was a particular problem during winter. Being a rural parish, Lindfield was badly affected in this way.

The demand in Lindfield for relief in 1831, resulted in a poor rate of 2s 6d in the pound for the summer quarters and 5s in the pound (25%) for the winter quarters, charged on the value of property. In the year ending 25th March 1831, Lindfield parish provided assistance to 196 individuals, of which some 37 resided in the workhouse. Most of those receiving assistance and living outside the workhouse were able-bodied men, reflecting the reality of being an agricultural labourer.

The outside relief was the biggest burden. In addition to weekly fixed allowances paid to the aged, widows and orphans, relief was also given ‘in kind’, such as flour, clothes and shoes, wood for fuel, cottage repairs, coffins, medical treatments and bedding. Doctor Richard Tuppen, who lived at Froyls, was the medical officer for the workhouse and parish poor, for which he was paid £25 per year. The total cost of relief and the workhouse amounted to around £1,500 per year, with the cost during the winter being almost double that of the summer quarters.

The Government had to respond to this situation and the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 was passed. It minimised the amount of outdoor relief and made confinement in the workhouse the central element of poor relief for both the able-bodied and the helpless poor as their last resort. To minimise the number of people seeking accommodation, workhouses were encouraged to be as unpleasant as possible. Married couples were separated and children taken from their parents. Outworking was generally not permitted and workhouses required the able-bodied to undertake basic labour on the premises.

The 1834 Act required parishes to combine together to form a Union to build workhouses and administer the poor relief. This resulted in the Cuckfield Union being established on 26th March 1835 and taking responsibility for the destitute of Lindfield parish and 14 other parishes in the area, from Ardingly to Albourne and Cowfold to Horsted Keynes. For the first ten years, existing parish workhouses were utilised. In 1845, a new workhouse, designed to accommodate 450 inmates, was built in Ardingly Lane, Cuckfield – it later became Cuckfield Hospital and is now apartments. The Lindfield inmates were duly transferred to Cuckfield, with the Cuckfield Union not only taking the inmates from Lindfield’s workhouse, but taking ownership of the Old Place property, in effect stealing it from the parish without giving any compensation and leaving Lindfield to repay the outstanding purchase loan debt. The Cuckfield Union subsequently sold Old Place to Mr Noyes of East Mascalls. In 1875, he sold it to Charles Eamer Kempe, the renowned Victorian stained glass artist. Thus the property that had been the workhouse became the start point for Kempe’s grand country house, Old Place as we see today.

Lindfield's volunteer fire brigade

1910

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

Today, with the aid of telecommunications, prompt response to an emergency such as a fire is taken for granted. Things were a little different up to the end of the 19th century, as individuals had to deal with fires themselves and hopefully with the help of neighbours. In 1899, the Lindfield Parish Council decided to form a volunteer fire brigade to provide fire cover for the parish.

For the next ten years, the brigade had only basic equipment transported on a cart. This was stored in a lean-to against the wall of the old National School Room, now part of Old School Court, off Lewes Road. The Parish Council agreed to a significant upgrade in October 1909 and a Merryweather Greenwich Gem horse-drawn steam fire pump was purchased at a total cost of £276-15s-0d, with two thirds coming from public subscription. While delivery was awaited, the council searched for a suitable building to house the new equipment.

Fortuitously, at the same time a search was being undertaken to find a village centre site for the proposed village hall. Walter Sturdy of Paxhill owned Pear Tree House, on the corner of Lewes Road, and donated part of its garden for the hall. This included the redundant former stables at the rear of the King Edward Hall site: this was offered by the Hall committee to the council for use as a fire station. Following an inspection in July 1910, the Council agreed to lease the building at an annual rent of £5-0s-0d.

The interior of the building was fitted out with match boarding to a height of seven feet with a shelf above; it is believed this remains in place. The doors were duly painted bright red, and Lindfield became the proud owner of a new fire station.

The eagerly awaited fire engine arrived in March 1910 and on 19th March the Merryweather trainer arrived to instruct the firemen, and the first public display of the fire engine and its capabilities was given to a large crowd on the Common the following day. They were amazed a jet of water could be thrown to a height of 140 feet.

In 1910, having a modern fire engine did not mean a speedy turnout. On receipt of a message, call-out boys had to find and alert the firemen. On their arrival at the fire station, the fire engine had to be manhandled outside and the coal fire boiler lit to produce steam to work the water pump. It could be drawn at a gallop by a pair of horses and if necessary, the fire lit and stoked on the move. The horses had to be fetched from the livery stable. At that time, G T Ward of the Bent Arms was the council’s horsing contractor.

The services of the fire brigade were not free, and the parish council kept them under regular review. In 1914, the call-out charge for the fire engine and hose cart outside the parish boundary was £3-3s-0d and £1-1s-0d respectively for the first three hours. A reduced hourly rate applied after that period. There was no charge if the fire was within the parish boundary. Regardless of the fire’s location, a charge applied for each fireman attending, this ranged from 5s-0d an hour for the officers to 3s0d for the men; additional time was at a lower rate. A £1-10s-0d engine cleaning charge was payable, with horse hire and coal also to be paid. From this it would appear that horses were hired for each call-out and not owned by the Council.

In April 1912, the brigade was called to a house fire at Chailey Heritage School, and the charge was £16-8s-6d, of which £9-12s-6d was paid to the firemen. The fire caused damage estimated between £500 and £1,000. A major house fire was an unusual occurrence, although chimney fires happened from time to time; if not extinguished, they could result in a serious fire.

Following the outbreak of the Great War, conscription was introduced in 1916, and three Lindfield firemen received their call-up papers. John Sharman, Captain of the Lindfield Fire Brigade, applied to the local tribunal for their exemption. Their jobs did not warrant exemption, but John Sharman suggested their voluntary fire service was of national interest. Asked how many and types of fires attended, the answer was about two hay rick fires a year. Unsurprisingly, exemption was refused, with one tribunal member commenting ‘that the most useless thing in a country district was a Fire Brigade’. Nevertheless, hayrick fires could be difficult to extinguish; a 40-ton stack at Oathall Farm took over 30 hours to extinguish.

Undoubtedly the brigade’s finest hour came in late October 1920 with a major fire at the Bent Hotel. The Mid Sussex Times reported: ‘so alarming did the situation become that the fire brigades at Lindfield, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath were summoned, and but for their persevering efforts the Hotel would undoubtedly have been burnt to the ground’. The roof and top floor bedrooms were extensively damaged. A report and photograph even made the national Sunday Pictorial newspaper.

By the 1930s, the horse-drawn steam pump was completely outdated and residents were putting pressure on the council to acquire a modern fire appliance. However, in 1934 the Lindfield Parish Council was stood down and replaced by Cuckfield Urban District Council. Fire cover for the parish was then provided by the Cuckfield Urban District Council from fire stations in South Road and New England Road, Haywards Heath. The Lindfield Fire Brigade was duly disbanded. In May 1934, the council sold the fire engine to the Wakehurst Estate for £32 10s 0d.

With the advent of World War II, additional wartime fire cover was required and the old fire station was pressed into service again as an auxiliary fire station. Electric lights and a heater were installed, and the building fitted out with sleeping quarters, so that the volunteer firemen could stay at the station overnight, the time when bombing was most likely to occur. A nameplate above the door humorously read ‘Ye Olde Lyndfielde Firemen’s Dugout’. The air raid warning siren for the village was mounted above the building. Lindfield AFS was equipped with a 1932 Chevrolet 30 cwt truck and two new trailer pumps. The fire station closed at the end of the war and is now the store for Lindfield Dramatic Club.

As an end note, until recent years a wall-mounted cabinet at Old Place contained fire hoses, standpipes and axes clearly stamped ‘Merryweather’. Could these have come from the old Lindfield Fire Brigade?

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

The Smith family and Lindfield

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

This article explores another of Lindfield’s black history connections.

The story begins with Francis Smith senior in Nevis, an island in the Eastern Caribbean, one of the two islands which today form the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. The islands were among the first in the Caribbean to be colonised by European settlers. English settlers arrived in Nevis in the 1620s, decimating the native population. By the 1640s, cane sugar became their main crop. Sugar and its by-product, rum, were profitable exports. The settlers at first worked with white indentured labourers from Britain but soon began to import enslaved Africans. By the late 1780s, the enslaved population was 8,420 while the whites numbered 1,510.

Among the white inhabitants were brothers Richard and Francis Smith. Richard managed sugar estates owned by the planter James Smith (the brothers may have been related to James). Francis Smith was a ship’s carpenter, building local craft and repairing vessels from England working the triangular slave trade route.

In 1789, Richard died and Francis became ill, prompting him to make his Will, and he died shortly afterwards. His possessions included two black boys, bequeathing one each to Francis and Jenny; children of Amelia Brodbelt, a free coloured woman (here the term ‘coloured’ is used to reflect its historic meaning). She was the daughter of an enslaved black woman and a white plantation owner and had been granted her freedom in 1765. The rest of his possessions were shared equally between her five children: Francis, Jenny, Amelia, Hetty and Christiana. Given the bequests and that her children had the surname Smith, Francis Smith was undoubtedly was their father. The offspring of a black mother and white father were known in the language of the time, as ‘mulattoes’. Although they weren’t married, Amelia Brodbelt was regarded as his surviving ‘spouse’.

Amelia inherited from her wider family a property on the edge of Charlestown. With business acumen she and her four daughters developed and ran some sort of hospitality and accommodation business, which initially perhaps included a brothel. The business increasingly prospered and, eventually renting properties that were occupied by the island’s Court, Council and Assembly, they became respected members of island society.

Turning to the Francis Smith born in 1787, the surviving son of Amelia Brodbelt and Francis Smith (the ship’s carpenter): little is known of this Francis’ early years in Nevis, but his working life may have started in London. Some prosperous, well-connected coloured people financed their sons’ work experience abroad. Amelia Brodbelt may well have wanted her son to become a ‘merchant of London’. However, by 1817, it is known he had settled in Haiti, working as a trader or merchant.

During his time in Haiti, Francis Smith met Josephine Villeneuve, who was to be his life partner and mother of his many children. She was clearly of African descent. Their first child was born in 1817, followed on 13th February 1819 by Francis Villeneuve Smith. His birth registration records his mother as a resident of Port-auPrince, Haiti and his father as a foreign merchant. From her signature she was an educated woman and perhaps from a well-to-do family.

As business opportunities in Haiti reduced, Francis Smith moved his family to London and in 1821 they were living at Brunswick Place, Shoreditch. After a couple of years, the family moved to ‘a more wholesome environment, settling in Lindfield’. Francis Smith purchased Townlands, opposite the parish church, and its farm from Captain Pilford R.N. Pilford was able to purchase and alter Townlands, following promotion after his success at the Battle of Trafalgar. In recognition, he renamed the house Nelson Hall. He sold due to money problems. The farmland today is the site of The Welkin development and part of Hickmans Lane Recreation Ground.

While Francis Smith turned to farming and was now regarded as an ‘Esquire’, Josephine was busy with their growing family, with William and Rosa being born in Lindfield and baptised in Lindfield Parish Church. At that time, it was quite common for parish registers to record people’s skin colour or foreign origin; the Lindfield register makes no such note, suggesting Francis Smith’s complexion must have been so light and his features so European that he passed as white.

Josephine now called herself Marie Josephine and as her skin colour portrayed her origin, she may not have been readily accepted into village society.

As an aside, Marie Josephine Villeneuve always claimed, but it was never proved, that her father was Pierre Charles Jean Baptiste Silvestre de Villeneuve, a French naval officer stationed in the Caribbean. Villeneuve commanded the French fleet defeated by Nelson at Trafalgar. How ironic if Villeneuve’s illegitimate daughter lived in a house with Trafalgar victory connections? Perhaps a fanciful thought.

The Smith family lived at Townlands for only a few years, leaving Lindfield for whatever reason and sailing to Australia in June 1828, before settling in Van Diemen’s Land, now called Tasmania.

Francis Smith bought two large tracts of partially developed land, and created an impressive cattle and sheep farming estate, he called ‘Campania’. To develop his property, a large workforce was required, and he employed convicts, both male and female. The estate house was impressive and well furnished. On a trip back to England in 1843 he lobbied government to end convict transportation.

However, everything was not well, as Marie Josephine was ostracised due to her colour, and, together with the children, suffered racial insults. In total she had 12 children but sadly six children died. Meanwhile, Francis, a domineering man, developed the farm and other business, and participated in local society, becoming a Justice of the Peace and leading citizen. He appears to have successfully hidden his mulattoe origins.

Francis Smith died on 8th September 1855 and was buried in a local cemetery in Richmond. Shortly afterwards, Marie Josephine Villeneuve and her three unmarried daughters returned to England, setting up home in London. She died in December 1893 while living with her son, Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith, at his grand residence in Kensington. The Sussex Express announced the death as the widow of Francis Smith ‘JP’, formerly of Lindfield.

The story continues with Francis Villeneuve Smith, one of the Smiths’ children who lived in Lindfield prior to growing up on his father’s estate in Tasmania; returning to England to further his education. In 1838, he began studying law at the Middle Temple, being called to the Bar in 1842. Returning to Tasmania, he was a successful barrister, becoming Solicitor General. In 1856, following election to the Tasmania House of Assembly, he served as Attorney General becoming Tasmania’s fourth Premier (1857-1860), a Supreme Court Judge (1860-70) and Chief Justice (1870-75). He received a Knighthood in 1862.

Francis, on 26th August 1851, married Sarah Giles born in the County of Mayo, Ireland, the only child of Reverend George Giles. Their marriage was blessed with two sons and two daughters. Interestingly, all were given Villeneuve as their second forename, which recognised his mother’s ancestry.

On retirement, he retired to England, purchasing a fine house in South Kensington and Heathside, Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, where he died on 17th January 1909, age 89. His widow died six months later.

Special thanks to Christine Eickelmann for permission to use her paper, ‘The Enigmatic Father of Tasmania’s fourth Premier’ published in the Tasmanian Historical Research Association’s journal, August 2021, as the base for this article.

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

Did you know about Lindfield's connection to Friar Tuck and John Bent's association with The Bent Arms?

By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

Did you know that Friar Tuck, of Robin Hood fame, was a priest at Lindfield Parish Church in the early 1400s?

The name Friar Tuck first appears as Frere Tuk in a Royal Writ issued for his arrest on 9th February 1417: it read ‘Commission to Thomas Camoys, Thomas Ponynges and John Pelham to arrest one assuming the name of Frere Tuk and other evildoers of his retinue who have committed divers murders, robberies, depredations, felonies, insurrections, trespasses, oppressions, extortions, offences and misprisions in the counties of Surrey and Sussex, and bring them before the King and Council’. A comprehensive list of crimes, giving the impression it was a ‘catch all’ warrant.

From the words ‘assuming the name of Frere Tuk’, it is reasonable to assume that the name was a nom de guerre. No connection was made with Robin Hood, as it would appear the Friar had not been subsumed into fables in the Robin Hood tradition at that time. The Robin Hood fables are set during the lives and reigns of Richard I and John, from the mid-1100s to early 1200s.

On 22nd May 1417, a further writ was issued commissioning ‘William Lasyngby and Robert Hull to enquire into the report that a certain person assuming the unusual name of Frere Tuk and other evildoers have entered parks, warrens and chases of divers lieges of the King in the counties of Surrey and Sussex at divers times, hunted therein and carried off deer, hares, rabbits, pheasants and partridges, burned the houses and lodges for the keeping of the parks, warrens and chases and threatened the keepers’. Regardless of other crimes, poaching on Royal land and that of his supporters was a serious offence in the 1400s. It is not clear whether this writ was clarification of the February 1417 writ or an additional indictment, probably the former.

The identity of Frere Tuk remained unknown and thus he escaped arrest. He next appeared in a writ of 12th November 1429, which stated ‘Robert Stafford, late of Lyndefeld in the County of Sussex, Chaplain, or Robert Stafford of Lyndefeld, Chaplain, alias ‘Frere Tuk’, for not appearing before the King to answer Richard Wakehurst touching pleas of trespass; or before Henry V to answer that King touching divers trespasses whereof he the said Robert Stafford was indicted’. It is to be assumed that a ‘hue and cry’ was raised and Robert Stafford went on the run as an outlaw.

There is no known record of Robert Stafford being arrested nor standing trial or of his death. Similarly, where he lived in Lindfield before going on the run is not known. In any event, the property most likely disappeared centuries ago. Looking at surviving houses from the 1400s, a possible contender could be Church Cottage.

His crimes and escape from arrest became a legend and passed into folklore, as poaching from the rich would have been admired by the poor, who had suffered grievously for committing such crimes.

Frere Tuk’s name next appears around 1475 in the first surviving Robin Hood play, Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham, with the words: ‘Be holde wele Frere Tuke Howe he dothe his bowe pluke’

It was at this time that Maid Marian also entered the Robin Hood fable. Nevertheless, it is possible that they were characters in earlier oral tales that were not recorded in writing. From this point to today Friar Tuck regularly appears in Robin Hood stories and songs. Academic studies consider Friar Tuck to be one of a few members, if not the only one, of Robin Hood’s band of outlaws that can be traced to a real person. Interestingly, in c.1590 a reference to Friar Tuck is also made in Shakespeare’s ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’, when the third outlaw exclaims: ‘By the Bare Scalp of Robin Hood’s fat friar’.
This fellow were a King for our wild faction. Hence Robert Stafford, a Lindfield Priest, most likely a Chantry Priest, obtained immortality as Friar Tuck.

Did you know John Bent gave his name to the Bent Arms?

The Inn dating from the 17th century was originally called The White Lion, until being bought in about 1827 by John Bent. He changed the name of the Inn to reflect his ownership. At the time of the purchase, he was a local property and landowner who lived at Oat Hall, a large house that he had built between Lindfield and Haywards Heath.

Born on 27th March 1776, John Bent grew up in Devon. His mother’s family were tradesmen at Ashburton. In 1818, he became the Member of Parliament for Sligo, Ireland, until 1820, when for the next six years he represented the Totnes, Devon, constituency. According to History of Parliament, ‘He certainly had money, was known in the City and invested substantially in landed property in the Lindfield and Cuckfield area of Sussex, but no evidence has been found to corroborate an assertion of 1823 that he was “a West India Planter”’.

Whilst he may not have been a planter, the 1817 Slaves Register of the Slave Compensation Commission, a government body set up to pay compensation to slave owners, consequent upon the abolition of slavery, lists John Bent as the Proprietor of Plantation Vrouw Anna in British Guiana. He had sold this plantation and mortgaged it back to the new owner, putting in a claim for £14,000 compensation for slaves on the plantation. He did not receive the payment as they were part of the new owner’s property and mortgage security. Clearly John Bent was involved in the West Indies as he was described as being ‘a Commissioner in Demerara’ when being put forward for the Sligo seat in Parliament.

John Bent was also involved in an Irish Mining Company scandal in 1825 and 1826. The Arigna Iron and Coal Mining Company was established in 1825 as a joint stock company, to exploit iron, coal and other minerals in and around Arigna in the counties of Roscommon and Leitrim, Ireland. At the time it was considered beneficial to introduce English capital into Ireland.

The scandal concerned the alleged fraudulent appropriation of shareholders’ money by Bent and other directors of the company. A Parliamentary Select Committee investigated the scandal and cleared him of fraudulent activity but he was censored for imprudence. The other directors were found to have acted fraudulently. Following on from what might be described as a ‘colourful’ business life, on settling in Lindfield and investing in property in the area John Bent lived an uneventful life until his death in October 1848, aged 73.

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

Lindfield vicarages

By Richard Bryant, John Mills and Janet Bishop

At the beginning of September, the Rev Dr Stephen Nichols takes up his duties as the vicar of All Saints church. He and his family will make their home at The Vicarage, situated behind Bower House, beside the lane and footpath leading from the High Street to Hickmans Lane. The house’s history will be explored later in the article, but first, where have the clergy resided in centuries past?

In medieval time, the Dean and Canons of the College of Canons, St. Michaels, South Malling held the parish and manors in Lindfield on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Dean was required to reside in Lindfield for 90 days a year and the Canons for 40 days. It has been suggested that four of the oldest surviving houses in the village were built by the Canons in the 14th and early 15th century. It is reputed that Bower House, built circa 1330, was the Dean’s residence, but evidence to support this assertion is lacking. Similarly, evidence that the Canons resided at Thatched Cottage and Clock House is difficult to find, consequently it is not possible to positively identify their residences. There is little doubt, however, that Church Cottage was the clergy’s dwelling in medieval times and is referred to in old records over the years as the Parsonage.

In the 1530s and 1540s, Henry VIII was on the throne and seeking a divorce, which led to the English Reformation, establishment of the Church of England and the dissolution of religious houses. In March 1545, an order for the dissolution of the College of Canons was issued and all their possessions, land and tithes were taken by the Crown before passing into lay ownership. Only a fraction of the tithes were given to the church. Tithe income was intended to fund the church. Lindfield parish became poor, unable to provide dwellings for incumbents, and the clergy had to fund housing from their own resources.

Rev Francis Killingbeck is recorded in 1580 as living at ‘Tyes’, where Martins and Abbots now stand. He appears to have preferred to buy his own house rather than pay rent to Church Cottage’s new owners. This marked the end of the use of Church Cottage.

During the next couple of centuries, the clergy lived at various properties in the village. Notable among these was Rev Humphrey Everynden, who, in the 1620s, built his ‘parsonage’, on the upper High Street, that carries his name today. Rev Henry Barwick also lived at Everyndens in the 1790s, before having to downsize to either 111 or 113 High Street.

Following his arrival, Rev Francis Sewell in 1841 leased Pear Tree House, junction of Lewes Road and High Street, until 1849 when he accepted a living in Lancashire, moving away from Lindfield for seven years. For Sewell’s return to Lindfield, he planned a grand mansion as his vicarage to be financed by a complex funding arrangement to which he would contribute £1,500 towards the £3,000 cost, the intention being that on receipt of the balance from parishioners and other subscribers, the property would be transferred into the ownership of the church for the benefit of future vicars. He returned in 1856 on completion of his mansion which he named The Welkin, meaning Vault of Heaven. On his death in 1862 insufficient money had been subscribed, no doubt due to being very grand in substantial grounds with two long drives. Ownership of The Welkin remained in Sewell’s estate before being sold. The church continued to remain without its own vicarage for future incumbents.

In contrast, Sewell’s replacement, Rev Frederick Mills, had to rent Townlands until circumstances required him to vacate the house. Unable to fund alternative accommodation, he and his family became homeless and had to ‘squat’ in the abandoned National School room on the Common until evicted. A parishioner took pity on him and provided a home.

Moving on from this low point, Miss A H Davis of Walstead Place bequeathed a £3,000 trust fund to the church for the sole purpose of providing a vicarage. This came to fruition in July 1902 with the completion of a vicarage house: Glebe House on Denmans Lane (shown on the previous page). It was built by Messrs Anscombe and Hedgecock to a design by Walter Millard of Grays Inn, London, on a two-acre site given by William Sturdy of Paxhill. The impressive house comprised an inner hall, three sitting rooms, a drawing room, six bedrooms and a dressing room, plus servants’ accommodation. Stone from the Paxhill quarry was used in the construction.

The first minister to reside at the new vicarage was Rev Edward d’Auvergne. On his retirement, Rev Arthur Mead took up residence for a short while. The high cost of living in and maintaining this large house was quickly realised, a parishioner commented: “It would take a rich man to continue living in the house”. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) decided it was no longer suitable accommodation for the clergy and in 1917 leased it to tenants to supplement the parish stipend; it was later sold. Rev Mead moved to Church Cottage, initially leased before being purchased in 1926 by the Church Council, from Walter Tower of Old Place. Thus reuniting Church Cottage with the church for the first time since medieval times. The cottage ceased being the vicarage in 1933 when the newly arrived Rev Sidney Swann and his wife Lady Theodosia Bagot wanted a house of their own and bought Bower House. At that time, it was two cottages which he reconverted to one house and extensively renovated.

Upon Rev Swann’s retirement, the PCC again faced having to acquire a suitable house for the new incumbent Rev Richard Daunton-Fear. In 1937, the Church Council bought the Mission Hall from the County Towns Mission following their move to Chaloner Road. The plan was to demolish the hall and build a new vicarage on the site. Due to problems in agreeing a suitable design and lack of money, the scheme was abandoned in August 1938 and the property sold to Miss Maud Savill.

Shortly afterwards, Little Townlands was acquired as the new vicarage and remains so to this day. The land on which the vicarage stands was just a field, belonging to Townlands, until the 1880s. Plans were drawn up for a cottage, stable and coach house to be constructed at the bottom, southern end, of the paddock. When built in 1888, the buildings had been realigned and moved towards the northern end. They are described in the 1910 property survey, commissioned by David Lloyd George for proposed tax purposes, as ‘brick and tile, 3 stall stable with loft, 4 horse coach house and a 4 roomed adjoining cottage’. The coachman initially occupied the cottage and later the head gardener at Townlands.

The property was purchased by Mr and Mrs Arthur Hooper (previously of Nash House, High Street) during the late 1920s, to create a ‘holiday home’. In February 1930, Cuckfield Rural District Council gave permission to alter and make additions to Little Townlands. These involved considerably altering the two-storey square cottage, at the back of today’s vicarage, altering the one-storey stable, adding a one-storey glazed passage along the north side of the stables and adding a new front section to create the property as seen today.

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

History of Lindfield fair

By Richard Bryant and John Mills

Each summer a fair arrives on Lindfield Common, reflecting a tradition that has featured in village life for centuries. In medieval times, Lindfield was a thriving small town. In 1343, to maintain its importance and prosperity, the Canons of South Malling, the Lords of the Manor, applied to Edward III for permission to hold fairs and a market. The King granted a Royal Charter allowing a market to be held every Thursday and two annual eight-day fairs to be held on 1st May, the Feast Day of Saint Philip and St James, and 25th July, the Feast Day of St James the Great. A charter for an eight-day fair was a significant privilege, as they were usually for three or five days.

The first Lindfield Fairs were held in 1344, the Spring Fair probably for sheep and cattle, with lambs featuring at the Summer Fair. The charter required them to be held ‘at the town’. Little is known of the fairs in medieval time but fairs across the country were similar events with records showing the trading of animals, the opportunity to buy a wide range of goods not available in the market or local shops. Itinerant traders travelled from fair to fair; less welcome were the rogue traders, pick-pockets and other ne’er-do-wells that such events attracted. Fairs also gave locals the chance to make merry with entertainment provided by travelling minstrels.

The Lindfield Fairs continued through the centuries but little information is known until the arrival of local newspapers in the early 1800s; by this time their duration was shorter and the July fair had moved to 5th August. Also, another fair was held in early April for the sale of tegs - two-year-old sheep - its origins are not known. The traditional ‘charter’ May Fair for sheep and cattle continued until the early 1850s, when it merged with the Summer Fair on the Common. The April Sheep Fair continued on the High Street; the wider roadway section below the Red Lion Inn being the traditional location of fairs since medieval times.

Click to enlarge

The Sussex Advertiser in April 1828 reported, ‘The Lindfield Teg Fair was most amply supplied with stock and buyers. This Fair has of late years attained a degree of celebrity superior to any in the County; and this assertion will be borne out by the fact that more sheep have been penned and have fetched greater prices than any Fair in the County.’ Similarly, in 1882 the Mid Sussex Times commented that the April Sheep Fair ‘was somewhat numerously attended by cattle dealers and agriculturalists. The High Street presented quite an old-time picturesque appearance, so far as the cattle etc. were concerned’ but the confectionery stalls were limited ‘and confined to the north end of the town.’ Nevertheless, the fair was in decline, partly due to the opening of cattle markets.

The 1895 Clarke’s Directory noted ‘Two Fairs are held at Lindfield; one on 1st April for sheep and another on 8th August for lambs and cattle. That of 1st April seems doomed to die a natural death ere many more years pass, but the August Fair maintains its reputation as the largest in Sussex, whose flock masters and agriculturalists attend in great numbers’.

The April Fair limped on with increasing objections to its High Street location until 1901, when Cuckfield Rural District Council ordered the fair to be held on the Common. Subsequently the Sussex Express reported that this move ‘sounded the Fairs’ death knell’ and the last April Fair was held in 1903.

Turning to the Summer Fair in 1856, there were 28,000 lambs and sheep, together with nearly 800 cattle penned plus horses. The pens were located on uneven ground at the top of the Common furthest from the village, with the pleasure ground in the middle of the Common and the lower section reserved for the horse dealers. George Durrant, the Fair Manager, provided the wattles for the pens, which were stored in the wattle house opposite the Pond and in Denmans Lane. The animals were driven to Lindfield on foot, with journeys taking many days.

The pleasure fair featured penny rides on hand-driven roundabouts, swings, shows, a circus, various games and ‘Cheap Jack’ stalls such as Doctor Butler’s Pills to cure all ailments. It was reported: ‘The ground exhibited the usual quantity of victualling and liquor booths’ and the large size of the Tiger Inn’s tent was particularly noted. Drinking was a popular feature of the fairs, no doubt from their inception.

The layout of the fair changed in 1867 with the lambs, sheep and cattle moved to leveller ground lower down the Common, allowing more space for the pens and better grazing. The introduction of the August Bank Holiday made the 5th August date inconvenient and permission was sought to change to 8th August. This was granted ‘By Order of the Home Secretary,’ for 1889 and future fairs. Formal authority was necessary as it was deemed a charter fair.

During the next couple of decades the number of animals penned for sale gradually reduced but the pleasure fair grew larger. It is described in 1896 as having roundabouts, swings, coconuts shies, shooting galleries, wild beast shows, dog and monkey circus, a boxing women’s show, a men-only show that just conformed to the law, photographic studio offering ‘3 for a shilling’, try your weight machines, various games, many stalls and several steam organs.

The opening of the new cricket ground on the Common in 1907 resulted in the fair’s layout changing again. By this time, the sheep numbers grew smaller but it still ‘brings together one of the largest gatherings of landlords, farmers and dealers that takes place in the county and the amount of business transacted is considerable’.

The 1914 fair continued as usual despite the Great War commencing a few days earlier. It was visited by representatives of the Army Remount Department, looking to buy horses for the war. As soon as their presence was known to the gypsies, ‘they whipped up their horses, some of which were quietly grazing around the caravans and started them running in all directions. For the remainder of the day these horses were not to be seen’. The Army, however, succeeded in buying a few horses ‘which made their owners quite rich’. Gypsies with their caravans were a traditional sight at all the fairs. The pleasure part of the fair was suspended in 1915 for the duration of the war, but the sheep sales continued until 1916 and then ended permanently. The coming of peace saw the re-introduction of a small one-day pleasure fair and in the following years it grew in size and popularity.

The 1933 event, held over five days and run by Thomas Smith of Shoreham, featured dodgem cars, a miniature circus complete with clowns and performing ponies, tents displaying curious reptiles, Yorkshire’s fattiest lady weighing 40 stone, and the smallest lady in the world at 22½ inches. In the Adults Only tent, men viewed ‘Madam Lola and Hells Angels (dazzling Parisian beauties) in various poses’. There were the ever-popular rides, together with fortune tellers, shooting galleries, hoopla and similar games. No doubt to the annoyance of nearby residents, organ music played continuously.

Following suspension during WWII, the large pleasure fair continued for many years before a gradual decline to the much smaller visiting fair seen today.

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

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.

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