ALDINGBOURNE
The parish contains 3,098 acres and measures 4 miles
from north to south with an average width of a little
over a mile. It is mostly good agricultural land lying between 25 and 50 ft. above sea-level, but rising to 120 ft.
on its northern edge. The church and village lie near
the centre of the western boundary, here formed by
the Aldingbourne Rife, which flows southwards past
Tote Copse, a circular mound with traces of a moat,
adjoining the site of the Bishop's Palace. (fn. 1) The boundary
follows the rife, crossing the railway, to the course of
the disused Arundel-Chichester Canal. Here it turns
south-east by Lidsey, to meet another small stream
which forms part of the eastern boundary of the parish
and of the rape.
The road from Chichester to Arundel crosses the
north part of the parish, skirting the grounds of Aldingbourne House, (fn. 2) formerly the seat of Lady Molyneux
Howard and later of Richard Hasler but now a county
sanatorium. From here a road leads south through
Norton to the church, passing Limmer Pond and sending a branch eastwards by Nyton to Westergate, which
is now the chief centre of population, houses having
been built along the road which runs south to Woodgate, Headhone, and Lidsey. From the latter Sack
Lane runs to Sack Barn, near the railway line to Bognor,
mentioned in 1612 as two closes 'commonly called the
bottome of the sacke'. (fn. 3) On the eastern edge of the
parish, and partly in Eastergate, is Fontwell Racecourse.
Aldingbourne was from early times one of the chief
seats of the Bishop of Chichester, who had there a
'palace' or manor-house and a large demesne farm of
some 500 acres of arable, cultivated on the three-field
system. (fn. 4) When Bishop Ranulf de Warham in 1220
laid down the minimum quantities of livestock to be
maintained on the episcopal estates Aldingbourne had
the largest number of beasts (44 oxen, 15 cows, and a
bull) and, for some reason, was the only one where
goats—120 she-goats and 6 he-goats—were kept. (fn. 5) The
experiment seems to have been abandoned, as a later
extent (undated) shows none, but the flock of sheep had
then gone up from 100 to 560. (fn. 6) The bishops frequently resided here: Robert de Stratford died here on
8 April 1362; (fn. 7) Robert Rede in 1414 (fn. 8) and Simon Sydenham in 1427 (fn. 9) made their wills here; Edward Story in
1502 bequeathed to his successors 'the bell hanging in
the belfry of my chapel of Aldingbourne'; (fn. 10) and Robert
Sherborne in 1536 left £10 towards building 'the new
tower', (fn. 11) probably like that, usually attributed to him,
at Cakeham in West Wittering (q.v.). Whether this
tower was completed is not known, but by 1606 the
place seems to have fallen into decay, as in that year the
Chapter confirmed a faculty granted by the Archbishop
to Bishop Lancelot Andrews to pull down ruinous
buildings at Aldingbourne. (fn. 12) Tradition asserted that
the parliamentary troops levelled the manor-house with
the ground; (fn. 13) but when the manor was sold in September 1648 the sale included the manor-house and
chapel. (fn. 14) There are, however, now no remains of the
building.
Nyton has a 17th-century façade, but the northwest wing shows 16th-century features inside, and
there are two staircases, of the early and late 17th century respectively. In the same neighbourhood are two
low thatched houses with 17th-century features, and
there are others at Lidsey. Here Lidsey House is an
early-17th-century building of rubble and brick, with
a fine central chimney-shaft of cross-plan with a pilaster
at each end. The site of Lindsey Chapel is unknown,
but worked stones probably from its fabric have been
found. Two carved heads now built into Bersted
Schoolroom are said to have come from here, but, if so,
they have been re-tooled. (fn. 15)
At Westergate, at the north-west corner of the road
from Bognor, is a mid-16th-century cottage, now
called 'The Tudors'. It faces east and the front is of
four bays, the southernmost of 18th-century flint work
the other three of original timber-framing with curved
braces below the wall-plate. Between the north and
second bays is an internal chimney-stack with a wide
fireplace, of which the oak lintel is cut to form a shallow
arch. The shaft above the thatched roof is of the local
rebated type. Cut on the fireplace on the southernmost
room is the date 1711.
Norton Grange, ¾ mile north-east of the church on
the east side of the road, is an Elizabethan house partly
altered. The main block facing west has cemented
flint walls; the ends are gabled. The windows are all
modernized, but one at the north end retains an original
moulded label. A central chimney-stack has a wide
south fireplace with an original moulded oak curb to the
raised hearth; above the tiled roof the shaft of thin
bricks is of cross-shaped plan. A moulded ceiling beam
with stops is seen in the south room; others are encased.
A back wing has some ancient timber-framing, enclosed by a modern addition north of it, but the
external walls are of later brickwork and the roof
slated: the ceilings have 17th-century beams. A barn
of five bays has weather-boarded walls and a thatched
roof. On the same road farther south are several
thatched cottages, one or two of which may be of the
17th century.
About 1620 the Bishop of Chichester agreed with
Henry and William Peckham and other tenants of the
demesne that the commons belonging to the demesne
should be inclosed and converted to tillage. Representatives of the copyholders were elected and the land was
allotted and inclosed, leaving ways and setting up
gates for access to each man's piece. (fn. 16) A further 400
acres of common at Westergate were inclosed in 1777. (fn. 17)
MANORS
The early history of Aldingbourne is
obscure, depending upon copies of Saxon
charters (fn. 18) which are certainly corrupt in
detail, though they probably embody facts. According
to these, Nothelm, King of the South Saxons, in 692
gave to Nothgithe his sister for the erection of a monas
tery and church 33 cassatos, of which 12 were in Lydesige [Lidsey] and Aldingbourne, and she transferred the
endowment to Bishop Wilfrid. It is not clear how this
can be reconciled with the fact that Caedwalla, King
of Wessex, in about 683 endowed the monastery of
Selsey with these two places, here called 6, instead of 12,
cassatos. (fn. 19) In 899 King Alfred in his will left 'the ham
at Ealdingburnan' to his nephew Ethelm; (fn. 20) but,
whatever the significance of this bequest, it is clear that
by the time of Edward the Confessor the manor of
ALDINGBOURNE was in the hands of the Bishop of
Selsey, (fn. 21) and it remained with his
successors the Bishops of Chichester without a break, except
during the Commonwealth, until
taken over by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners in the 19th century.
See of Chichester. Azure Our Lord enthroned with a sword issuing from His mouth proper.
In 1086 the manor was rated
at 36 hides; (fn. 22) of these, the local
priest held 1 hide, three clerks,
Robert, Hugh, and Alward, held
5 hides, 3 hides, and 1 hide respectively, which may represent
later prebendal estates, and there
were four knights, of whom
Herald and Murdac held 3 hides each, and Ansfrid and
Lovel 1 hide each. The bishop's temporalities in Aldingbourne in 1291 were valued at £48 1s. 2d. (fn. 23) The
demesne arable in about 1330 amounted to 382½ acres; (fn. 24)
this had increased by 1387 to 485 acres. (fn. 25) At this
latter date there was a windmill, worth 26s. 8d., and
reference to the mill is made in the custumal drawn up in
1257; (fn. 26) this may have been at Westergate, where one
existed at the beginning of the 19th century. (fn. 27) A watermill, doubtless on the site of the present mill, is mentioned in 1535, when the total yearly value of the
manor was £58 11s. 6d. (fn. 28)
Under the order made by Parliament for the sale of
bishops' lands the manor of Aldingbourne was sold in
September 1648 to William Kendall, a London merchant. (fn. 29) He died before July 1652, when his executors
disposed of the manor, (fn. 30) which was conveyed in 1653
by Denis Bond and Elizabeth his wife to Thomas
Player and others. (fn. 31) At the Restoration it returned to
the see.
In 1086 there was woodland attached to the manor
which yielded three swine for pannage dues, (fn. 32) and this
was probably the nucleus of the PARK which was an
important feature of this manor. Both Henry I (1100–
23) (fn. 33) and Henry II (1180–4) (fn. 34) granted to the Bishop
of Chichester rights of free warren in Aldingbourne,
which were confirmed by later kings, (fn. 35) but the first
actual reference to the park appears to be in a letter
written in about 1225 by Simon de Seinliz, the
bishop's steward, to Bishop Ralph de Nevill asking him
to provide dogs to catch foxes in the park of Aldingbourne. (fn. 36) In the 13th century more than a mile of the
park paling was kept in repair by the bishop's tenants
throughout the diocese, at the rate of one perch of
20 ft. for each hide held. (fn. 37) The office of keeper, which
carried with it the privilege of sitting at the head of
the 'yoman borde' in the manor hall, (fn. 38) seems to have
been hereditary in the family of Parker in the 14th
century, (fn. 39) and its holder in 1387 received ½ bz. of
wheat and ½ bz. of barley weekly. (fn. 40) Most of the large
timber had been felled before the middle of the 17th
century and the whole was disparked about that time. (fn. 41)
LIDSEY
LIDSEY, as we have seen, was linked with Aldingbourne in the Saxon charters, and the manorial
over-lordship remained with the bishops. In 1229 a commission was appointed to define the bounds between
the bishop's estate of Lidsey and the Archbishop of
Canterbury's estate of Shripney. (fn. 42) Part of Lidsey constituted the hide in Aldingbourne held in 1086 by
Ansfrid, (fn. 43) who also held of the bishop 2 hides in Ferring, (fn. 44) from which place his descendants took their
name. About the end of the 13th century these 3 hides
were said to be held by the successors of Amfrid de
Ferryng, (fn. 45) and in 1310 more definitely by Nicholas de
Barenton. (fn. 46) This is explained by the fact that in 1279
John de Palyng, son of Simon de Ferryng and representative of Amfrid, (fn. 47) sold his West Sussex lands to
George de Barenton and Emma his wife. (fn. 48) In a rental
of 1379 Alice atte Setene appears as holding a hide
(glossed as, or corrected to, '32 acres') at Lidsey called
atte Setene, formerly of Nicholas Baryngton of Ferring,
called Hedehone. (fn. 49) This Alice was wife of Richard
atte Hurlonde in 1352, when Richard Laxman and
Joan conveyed to them 2 messuages and 62 acres of
land in Aldingbourne, (fn. 50) which is identified as the
manor of HEADHONE in a suit of 1363–5 brought
against Alice and her then husband John atte Setene. (fn. 51)
The suit, for ⅓ of the manor as dower, was brought by
Agnes widow of Nicholas Avenel, to whom Edmund
Crepyn and Mary his wife (who held the manor of
Headhone in her right) (fn. 52) demised a messuage and a
carucate of land in Aldingbourne in 1342. (fn. 53) An earlier
Nicholas Avenel and Maud his wife had in 1272
granted to Master Geoffrey de Gates a life interest in
3 virgates and 2/3 of 2 virgates in Westgates, Lidsey, and
Headhone, with reversion to the heirs of Maud. (fn. 54)
In 1398 Henry Blondel did homage to Bishop
Robert Rede for the estate of Hedehone and of Hills
(de montibus), (fn. 55) as did Richard Blundel in 1408 for
Hedhone alias Setene. (fn. 56) Headhone is next found in
1546 in the hands of John Smith, (fn. 57) in which family it
descended. A John Smith who died seised of the manor
in 1635 left it to his kinsman John, younger son of
William Smith of Stopham. (fn. 58) In 1706 Edward Smith
conveyed the manor to Nicholas Mayhew, (fn. 59) and by
1780 all manorial rights had apparently lapsed, Burrell
then describing it as 'a freehold manor farm of 100
acres'. (fn. 60)
In 1428 Agnes Tyxale held ¼ knight's fee of the
Bishop of Chichester in Lidsey, (fn. 61) but nothing is known
of her identity or that of her holding.
In 1257 John Daundevill held 'I yardland' in Lidsey, (fn. 62) which was presumably identical with 'the land of
Ralph Pesson of Ludeseye' for which he had to maintain 1 perch of the Aldingbourne park paling, (fn. 63) —a
length corresponding to 1 hide of land. As Amfrid de
Ferryng was returned as responsible only for 2 perches
of paling, (fn. 64) it is possible that Daundevill was tenant of
his hide in Lidsey, where a Roger Daundevill still had
some property in 1325. (fn. 65) In 1398 William Cheyne
held land late of Daundevill in Lidsey, (fn. 66) and Thomas
Cheyne held there in 1478. (fn. 67)
The park paling list of 1257 shows that Geoffrey
Brown held ½ hide in some unnamed place, (fn. 68) which the
scutage lists of 1299 and 1310 show to have been Lidsey, where John Brown was holding in succession to
Robert Brown. (fn. 69) Edward Brown occurs in the subsidy
lists for Aldingbourne in 1327 and 1332. (fn. 70) The next
entry in the park paling list gives Robert de Ernesbeme
as tenant of a yardland (in Lidsey). His successors were
Geoffrey, Peter (1299), John (1310), (fn. 71) and in 1332
William son of Thomas de Ernesbeme, who in that
year sold a yardland in Aldingbourne to William le
Croucher of Lidsey. (fn. 72) This was presumably the messuage and 100 acres in Lidsey called Ellesbeame, held
of the bishop by Richard Gawen who died in 1607, (fn. 73)
and Allan his son, who died in 1633. (fn. 74)
Nothelm's benefaction to Selsey included 10 (in
Caedwalla's charter 6) (fn. 75)
cassatos 'aet Genstedegate'. (fn. 76)
Part of this, probably represented by one of the holdings of the three clerks in Domesday Book, seems to have
become the prebendal manor of WESTERGATE,
attached to the prebend of Gates in Chichester Cathedral. It was surveyed in 1649 by the Parliamentary
Commissioners, who leased it for one year to William
Cawley, the regicide, and then included 340 acres of
common and a few fields; among these Woodhouse
Closes had been the site of the manor-house but then
contained only a barn. (fn. 77) In 1653 the manor of Gates
alias Westergate was conveyed with that of Aldingbourne by Denis and Elizabeth Bond to Thomas
Player and others, (fn. 78) but was recovered at the Restoration by the prebendary and eventually came into the
hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
Land called Worth (Werda, Wurda) was given by
William de St. John and others to Boxgrove Priory, (fn. 79)
where its revenues were assigned to the kitchen. (fn. 80) It is
later always found associated with Nyton, (fn. 81) which the
priory farmed at 66s. 8d. in 1535. (fn. 82) After the suppression of the priory Robert Thornhill, a landspeculator, acquired on 16 August 1546 the farm of
Nyton and two fields of 'lez Worthe' in Aldingbourne, (fn. 83)
which he alienated next day to John More and Elizabeth his wife. (fn. 84) John More died in 1559 leaving this
property, defined as a messuage, 50 acres of land, and
6 acres of heath, to his son Nicholas, (fn. 85) who shortly
afterwards alienated to John Trunnell. (fn. 86) He died in
1584 and his son John in 1595, (fn. 87) when it passed to the
latter's nephew Richard, who was holding Nyton and
Worthe when he died in 1610. (fn. 88) His son Richard
Trunnell still held them in 1650, (fn. 89) but by about 1680
Nyton had passed into the hands of Thomas Peckham,
in whose family it descended. Mary, daughter of
John Peckham who died in 1782, married Charles
Hewitt Smith, and their son Charles took the name and
arms of Peckham. His son the Rev. Harry John
Peckham sold the estate in 1880. (fn. 90)
Among the bishop's tenants by knight service in 1478
was Robert Hartele who held in Lidsey. (fn. 91) It is possible
that this may refer to the estate of Norton, which was
held in the early 17th century by Thomas and Joseph
Hartley. (fn. 92)
CHURCH
The church of THE VIRGIN MARY
(fn. 93)
is built of rubble with ashlar dressings,
largely plastered, and is roofed with tile;
it consists of a chancel with south organ chamber, nave
flanked on the north by a tower and a vestry, south
aisle, and south porch. The oldest work recognizable,
probably part of the church mentioned in Domesday
Book, consists of the three westernmost arches of the
arcade formerly opening into a north aisle, since destroyed. The south arcade is of the late 12th century;
the vaulting inserted in the east bay of it (which is now
used as a side chapel), the chancel, the tower, and the
east part of the north arcade are of the 13th; the porch
appears to be of the 17th; the upper stage of the tower,
formerly wooden, was reconstructed in stone in the
19th, when the organ chamber, originally built to be
the squire's pew, was added; the vestry is still later.
Grimm's drawing of 1791 (fn. 94) shows a lancet triplet
in the east wall of the chancel, there is now a modern
three-light window in the Decorated style. In the south
wall is a single lancet window of the 13th century; west
of this is a modern pointed arch of two orders opening
into the organ chamber. Grimm's drawing here shows
a square-headed two-light window, and, west of it, a lancet, apparently a low side window. In the south wall
is a piscina with plain pointed arch and single drain,
west of this are double sedilia having arches of one
moulded order and a hood-mould with carved heads
as stops; a corbel with nail-head moulding supports the
common springing of the two arches; the jambs have
nookshafts with moulded caps and square abacus. In
the north wall are three lancet windows, modern, reproducing work of the 13th century. There is no chancel arch; and the chancel roof, of trussed rafters with a
single tie-beam, is modern.
The organ chamber (wholly modern) has a two
light window in the east wall and a three-light window
and a doorway in the south.
Parish Church of St Mary Aldingbourne
The floor of the nave originally rose towards the
east, as may be seen from the differing levels of the bases
of the south arcade. This is of five bays of varying
widths; the piers are cylindrical with scallopped caps
and water-holding bases, the responds have the form of
half-piers. The arches are pointed, of two orders, the
inner chamfered the outer square, there is a hoodmould of roll section on both sides. The easternmost
arch of the former north arcade gave access to the
tower, it was pointed, of two orders; it is now blocked
and a modern doorway, with square-headed trefoil
head, is inserted in the blocking. The next arch, also
blocked, seems to have been of the same design; both
these were of the 13th century. The three western
arches, of the 12th, were semicircular and of one order;
the westernmost has been partially unblocked to provide access to a modern vestry, and has crude painting (fn. 95)
on its plastered soffit; the piers of this arcade are no
longer visible, but evidently were oblong in plan. Inserted in the north wall of the nave are two modern
windows, each of two ogee trefoil-headed lights. In
the west wall is a doorway having a plain pointed arch
of one order and a hood-mould with grotesque heads
as stops and a depressed rear-arch, of the 13th century
or later; the ironwork of the hinges of this door is
ancient. Over this is a window like those in the north
wall, modern. The roof resembles that of the chancel,
but is ancient.
The lowest stage of the tower has modern diagonal
buttresses at both north corners; in the east wall is a
modern doorway with a plain pointed arch of one order,
in the north wall is a lancet window of the 13th century.
In the west wall was formerly a pointed arch of two
orders opening into the aisle, and in the blocking is a
lancet window, originally 13th-century but repaired.
Small modern piers to support the bell-frame occupy
all four corners. The second stage has a square-headed
window, perhaps of the 13th century, on each of
the east and north sides, and a small round window of
doubtful date on the west. The uppermost is entirely
modern, replacing the wooden bell-chamber and
shingled pyramidal cap shown in Grimm's drawing. It
has two-light square-headed windows like those of the
nave on each of the east, north, and west sides.
At the east end of the south aisle is a small buttress of
one stage with sloping offset and a Mass dial, and there
is a like buttress one bay west; these were probably
added when the bay was vaulted. In the east wall was
a small lancet window with concentric splay, now
blocked by the organ chamber, and in the south wall of
the eastern bay is a modern three-light window. Into
this bay which, like the rest of the aisle, was originally
of the late 12th century, there was inserted in the 13th
a single bay of vaulting, slender shafts being built
against the easternmost pier of the arcade and the aisle
wall opposite to carry the arch which forms the west
limit of the vaulting. This arch is of one order, square
in section, and originally semicircular; it has pushed
both its abutments perceptibly out of plumb and is now
elliptical. Its shafts have caps with stiff foliage and
square abaci; the vault has groin ribs and wall ribs,
both moulded; some of the ashlar here is partly of
chalk, partly of freestone of a different colour, deliberately disposed in contrast.
Three other windows in the south wall of this aisle
resemble those in the north wall of the nave, in the west
wall is a single lancet, these are all modern. The south
doorway has a semicircular arch of two moulded
orders and a hood-mould; the jambs have attached
shafts; this is of the late 12th century. On the west
jamb is a Mass dial; over the door is a one-light window
of doubtful date, now blocked. The aisle roof west
of the vaulted bay consists of four ridges running north
and south, now modern and having trussed rafters, but
reproducing the ancient arrangement. (fn. 96)
The porch shows signs of 17th-century brickwork
under roughcasting; it has a door in the east wall and a
three-light window in the south, both modern in 16thcentury style.
The vestry (modern) occupies the western end of the
site of the former north aisle, and has one three-light
window on the north side.
The altar table is made of the remains of old altar
rails supporting the pre-Reformation slab; the font has
a square bowl resting on four slender and one thick
shaft, without capitals, and has shallow arcading cut on
its sides; it is of the 12th century. At the west end of
the aisle are the Royal Arms of William III, and on the
north wall of the nave those, apparently, of George III
before 1800, but not easily legible. There are traces of
wall paintings on the walls of both nave and aisle, both
pre-Reformation figures and post-Reformation blackletter texts from Scripture.
The communion plate includes a large silver cup
with engraved ornamentation and a paten cover, both
of 1568, and another paten with hall marks for 1679–80. (fn. 97)
There are three bells by Thomas Wakefield, 1615. (fn. 98)
The registers begin in 1558.
ADVOWSON
There was a church at Aldingbourne in 1086, (fn. 99) which formed part
of one of the richest prebends of the
cathedral until 1227, when it was assigned by the
Chapter, with the consent of Bishop Ralph Neville, to
the Dean of Chichester, (fn. 100) who held it with reservation
of the vicar's endowment. The Dean held it until 1840,
when the patronage was transferred to the Bishop of
Chichester. (fn. 101) The vicarage was worth £10 in 1291, (fn. 102)
and £10 5s. 6d. clear in 1535. (fn. 103)
The rectory and great tithes were farmed by the
Dean, and during the Commonwealth were in the
hands of the Gunters of Racton under a lease for three
lives granted in 1618. (fn. 104)
In 1535 tithes 'in the parish of Lydsey' were farmed
by the Dean to William Royse at £4 16s. 8d., (fn. 105) and
other tithes from Lidsey belonged to the Chancellor of
Chichester. (fn. 106) There was a chapel at Lidsey in 1282,
when it was settled that all oblations there belonged to
the mother church of Aldingbourne, (fn. 107) and services were
still held there as late as March 1544, when Robert
Lylyott left 'to the chapell of Lydsey xijs. to have a
Torch every Sonday and Hey Day' for a year after his
death. (fn. 108) It does not figure in the records of the suppression of chantries, and Sir John Miles made his will
on 1 September 1551 as 'curate of the chappell of
Lydsey, annexed to the parish church of Aldingbourne'. (fn. 109)
It had, however, gone out of use by 1583, when 'the
old chapel of Lydsey with one acre of land' was among
the miscellaneous properties granted to Theophilus
Adams. (fn. 110)
CHARITIES
Church Acre. The origin of this
charity is unknown, but from about the
year 1862 the rent received in respect
of the land belonging to the charity has been applied by
the churchwardens to church expenses.
Walter William Kelly by will dated 10 June 1921
gave £1,000 to the vicar and churchwardens of Aldingbourne to be applied by them, in their absolute discretion for the advancement of Christ's religion in the
parish according to the teaching of the Church of
England. The annual income of the charity amounts
to £35.