DIDLING
Didling is a small parish of 824 acres, 2 miles in
length with an average breadth of 2/3 mile, lying under
Didling Hill. The land falls abruptly from 700 ft. on
this hill to 260 ft. at the village, in the centre of the
parish, and to less than 150 ft. in the north. By West
Sussex Review Order (1933) the civil parish was added
to Treyford.
The village is on a road leading from Treyford to
Iping, the church lying above it to the south at the foot
of the Downs. A wooded tongue of land stretching
southward on to the Downs is part of Winden Wood,
and there are two small woods called Bushey Wood,
north of the village, and Didling Hanger, at the southeast.
The village is very small, consisting of a farmstead
and a few other smaller buildings north of the church.
Two small houses on the east side of the road to the
north are of the 17th century. The southern, 'Home
Mead', is now mostly of stone and flint rubble, but the
north side shows a little timber-framing in the upper
part. The west end, on a steep declivity above the
road, is of squared stone rubble and has 17th-century
brick angles to the upper story. A plain square chimneyshaft is of 17th-century bricks. The other, 'Hillside',
close north of it, has a north front of 17th-century
square framing with gabled dormers to the upper story
in the tiled roof. There is also a little framing at the
back. The west end towards the road is tile-hung. The
central chimney-stack is of rebated type. The fire-places
are reduced, but there are old open-timbered ceilings.
MANOR
The manor of DIDLING was a member of the manor of Trotton (fn. 1) (q.v.), and
descended with it to Sir Roger Lewkenor.
On his death in 1546 Didling manor was assigned to
his widow Elizabeth, (fn. 2) who married Richard Lewkenor. (fn. 3)
The manor passed to Katherine, daughter of Sir Roger
and Elizabeth, and her husband John Mill, of Greatham. Their grandson John Mill, and his wife Anne,
in 1616 joined with Constance Glemham (Katherine's
sister) (fn. 4) and her son Anthony Foster in conveying the
whole manor to trustees. (fn. 5) This
John Mill was created a baronet
in 1619. (fn. 6) He was M.P. for
Southampton 1624–6 and Sheriff
of Hants in 1627–8. As a
Royalist he petitioned to compound in 1648, but he died in
July of that year, and composition was not effected till after his
death. (fn. 7) His son John had died
before him and he was succeeded
by a young grandson, John
Mill. (fn. 8) John married, about 1660,
Margaret, daughter of Colonel
Henry Sandys, and after his death
in 1670, Margaret held the manor till her death in 1707. (fn. 9)
Her only son John had died about 1697, and her grandson Sir John in 1706, and she was succeeded at Didling
by her grandson Sir Richard Mill, bart. (fn. 10) He died at
Wolbeding in 1760 and was followed successively by
four sons. (fn. 11) The youngest, the Rev. Sir Charles Mill,
died in 1792, having sold Didling manor shortly before
his death to Lord Robert Spencer. (fn. 12) Before 1860
the manor had been purchased by Lord Leconfield, (fn. 13)
whose grandson is now lord of the manor.
Mill. Six pieces argent and sable with three sitting bears sable muzzled collared and ringed or.
PARISH CHURCH of ST. ANDREWS DIDLING
CHURCH
The church of ST. ANDREW
(fn. 14) consists of chancel and nave, both originally
of the 13th century, and a modern porch.
It is built of rubble, plastered, with ashlar dressings;
some modern repairs are in brick, the roofs are tiled.
In the east wall, which is of modern brickwork, are
refixed a pair of 13th-century lancet windows with
exterior rebates and pointed rear-arches; north of
them is a plain image-bracket. Two similar lancets in
the north wall have segmental rear-arches. In the
south wall, which appears to have been rebuilt in the
14th century, are two single-light windows with trefoil heads and segmental pointed rear-arches. There is
no chancel arch. The roof has two modern tie-beams;
there is plaster ceiling under the rafters and collars.
In the south wall of the nave is a square-headed
single-light window of perhaps the 16th century; west
of this is another single-light window of which the
jambs may be 14th-century, the roughly circular, but
asymmetrical, head is probably much later. In the
north wall is a doorway, the opening of which has
the form of a rectangle with rounded upper corners;
the head of it being a lintel, not an arch; it is of the
16th century. The west wall is in brick, the bricks
themselves being perhaps of the 17th century, but
possibly not in their original places; in this wall is a
modern single-light window with four-centred arch
head. There is a modern stone bell-cote on the wall.
The nave roof has two tie-beams; a third close to the
west wall, which perhaps formerly supported a timber
bell-cote, has been cut away; the rafters are ceiled in
plaster.
The porch (modern) is of wood on a brick base.
The font, perhaps 12th-century, is tub-shaped on
a round base. The benches are of pre-Reformation
date, but modern solid backs have been substituted for
the original open back rails; the altar rails and pulpit
incorporate much woodwork of the 17th century.
There is one bell, dated 1587. (fn. 15)
The registers are included with those of Treyford
(q.v.).
ADVOWSON
The church of Didling seems to
have been built by Alan de St. George
about 1220, at which time he endowed it with a croft beside the Midhurst road
containing 6 acres, and another 2 acres, to support a
resident chaplain who should serve the church and also
celebrate thrice weekly at the chapel of Dumpford (in
Trotton). He also gave to the Dean and Chapter of
Chichester, as patrons of the church and chapel, an
inclosed garden to build on and a strip of land for their
barn. (fn. 16) By another charter he granted a meadow to the
church and to Sir William, the vicar. (fn. 17) The rectory,
therefore, must from the first have been held by the
dean and chapter. In 1291 the benefice was among
those untaxed, because of their poverty; (fn. 18) and in 1340
the great tithes were valued at 40s. and the rector
(? vicar) was said to have glebe and small tithes and
offerings also worth 40s. (fn. 19) The dean and chapter were
still presenting to the vicarage in 1402, 1405, and
1411, (fn. 20) but already in 1356 Didling was referred to as
a chapel, (fn. 21) as it was again in 1481, (fn. 22) and in 1535. (fn. 23)
By this last date the benefice had in fact been united
to that of Treyford, (fn. 24) an arrangement which still
continues.
In 1647 the inhabitants of Didling and neighbouring
parishes petitioned the Committee for Compounding
to allow them the salary of a minister from the estates
of John Lewkenor, a delinquent who farmed the tithes
from the Dean and Chapter of Chichester. They
stated that the revenues of the vicarage were so small
that it was impossible to support a preacher from
them. (fn. 25)