SUPPLEMENT ΤΟ VOL. CII. PART I. Embellished with Views of the Churches at POLING and WEST HAMPNET, in Sussex. POLING, a small parish of nearly 900 statute acres, is situated in the county of Sussex, two miles and a half south-east of Arundel, and two miles from the sea-coast. It gives name to the Hundred of Poling, and belongs to the Rape of Arundel. The Vicarage is endowed with the whole of the tithes of the parish, except that part called the Commandery or Fair-place Farm, which pays a modus of 6s. 8d. to the Vicar. The Bishop nominates to Eton College, which presents. By the present incumbent, the Vicarage house was rebuilt in 1803, very suitably to the living; the glebe consists of two acres and a half of pasture. The ancient Church, built at the extremity of the south part of the parish, stood on the site of the present one, which is of small dimensions; and from its style of architecture, appears to have been erected about the latter end of the fifteenth century, except the south aile, which is the only part of the old Church now remaining. The tower, which is an interesting object amidst the surrounding scenery, is 10 feet 6 inches square; it is low, but of a solid and uniform structure, more so than most such buildings in this part of Sussex. It is attached at the west end of the nave, and contains three large bells, one of which has the letters B. E. cast on it. The nave is 30 feet long by 13 feet wide, and separated from the south aile by two pointed arches; the aile is 28 feet 6 inches long by 8 feet 6 inches wide. The church has lately been new, pewed, by a rate, and the aid of the Vicar and Curate (the Rev. Wm. Pearse). A new pulpit and desks have also been added; a new gallery has been built for the choir at the west end of the nave (the old gallery was erected about 100 years past, at the expense of 30 shillings,) and ample accommodation has been provided in free sittings for the poor. The Vicar has restored the east window in the chancel, and fitted it up with stainedglass, in which is placed an ably de-, signed ancient figure of St. Paul, of which there is a drawing in the Burrell MSS. in the British Museum. The two side windows in the chancel are fitted up in the like appropriate manner; at the back of the pulpit, a pointed arch has been placed, ornamented with crockets and a finial. A handsome altar-piece was erected in 1815; but unfortunately not in the most appropriate style. The ancient circular font of Caen stone, standing against the pillar between the nave and aile, is of sufficient dimensions for immersion, and still retains the lead cistern; the shaft is octagonal. The earliest date of the Register, which is in good preservation, is 1653. In 1285 Isabella Mortimer, relict of John Earl of Arundel, was privately married in the ancient church of Pol ing to Robert de Hastings; as she was nearly connected in blood to the King, her dower was escheated, but afterwards restored for a fine of 10007. Her initials in painted glass, surmounted by a coronet, are still in existence. The church has now, from its peculiar neatness and size, more the appearance of a private chapel than a parish church. The following inscriptions are on four slabs in the chancel. The first is under a half-length brass figure of the deceased, which is engraved in the 578 Topography of Poling, Sussex. History of the Rape of Arundel, by Hic jacet d'n's Walterus Davy, q'ndam vicari' eccl'e de Polpng, cui' a'i'e p'piciet' deu'. MS. Hic jacet Thomas Brodnax, generosus, hujus ecclesiæ Vicarius, obiit 17 die Aug. anno Do'mi 1679, ætatis suæ 36. Arms-Or, two chevrons Gules, on a chief of the Second, three cinquefoils Argent. Here lies interred ye body of Thomas Scriven, A.M. who was Vicar of this church near 15 years. He lived believed (sic), and died lamented, Octob. the 29, anno Dom. 1679. Robert Denham. [VOL. CII. 17- William Denny Martin Fairfax, M.A. 1800. John Dring. 1801. Richard Jordan, M.A. 1802. William Kinleside, M.A. He is Rector also of the adjoining parish of Angmering, which preferment he has held during the extended space of 57 years. This parish enjoyed for 99 years, from 1640 to 1739, a benefaction of 147. 10s. in pursuance of the will of Henry Hilton, esq. of Hilton Castle, Durham, commonly called Baron Hilton, as having been one of the seven Barons of that Palatinate. The Commandary or Fair Place, so called from a fair anciently there held (and which is still holden on old Midsummer Day), is situated on the eastern side of the parish, and was a small establishment of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, probably first endowed with 150 acres in the parish by one of the Fitz-Alans Earls of Arundel. A chapel, the wood panneled ceiling of which still remains, is now used as a farm-house, with additional rooms. This estate is exempt from tithes. John Tilly, of this parish, by will dated 1785, gave a rent charge of 31. from Brook land, now called the School Brook, for teaching poor children. Part of Angmering Decoy, which has existed from time immemorial, lies in this parish. Many wild fowl are taken annually during the winter season. The late occupier, George Knight, *He was, says Granger, a man of rambling habits, of an unsettled mind, that was educated at King's College, Cambridge. During his residence there he became a papist, although he says, "his heart was never wholly converted to that communion.' After studying in Flanders, Artois, France, Spain, and Italy, he received orders from the Pope's substitute, and " was by the Pope sent into England to pervert souls; where he preached and laboured in that perverse way the space of a year and upwards, and is now at last recou ciled to the fair Church of Christ in England." In about 1640 he was presented by the interest of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the vicarage of Poling, “ a small obscure village by the sea-side, near to Arundel in Sussex." In the time of the civil war he went to Paris, where he railed against the Protestants. He afterwards returned to England, says Anthony Wood, to his old trade of Independency. He was living at Aylesbury 1670. Anthony Wood says of him, "that he was an impudent, fantastical man,—that he changed his mind with his cloths, and that for his jugles and tricks in matters of religion, he was esteemed a theological mouutebank." In 1662 his works were published, entitled "Experience, Historie, and Divinitie, divided into 5 books," in which are portraits of him; in one he appears like a dull and formal clergyman, in another with all the spirit of an euterprising missionary. His writings are a medley perfectly suitable to this character. PART 1.] West Hampnet Church, Sussex. attained the age of 91 years, 60 of which he was decoy man, and once caught 90 head of wild fowl in one day, a great many for so small a decoy. It is now the property of the Duke of Norfolk. About 100 yards south-east of this parish, in the year 1819, a Roman bath was discovered, measuring 18 ft. by 15 ft. together with a hypocaust and lyconium or sudatory, with very extensive foundations of entire cloaca, arched above, and paved with large tiles at the bottom. No perfect floor or Mosaic was discovered, but quantities of loose white and black tessaræ, fragments of plaster, plain, red, and yellow, with which the rooms had been covered. The buildings were traced to the extent of 300 feet. In the year 1816, an ancient British gold coin, supposed from the mint of Cunobeline, was dug up in the garden of the farm-house near to the church. On the obverse is no device; on the reverse, a representation of the rude figure of a horse. J. C. T-s. MR. URBAN, Southampton-street, July 9. I SEND herewith a diawing of West Hamptnet Church, made in one of my rambles in the neighbourhood of Chichester. The village is situated about a mile and a half from Chichester, on the road to Arundel; and the parish is bounded on the north by East Lavant, on the south by Oving, on the east by Boxgrove, and on the west by St. Peter's, Chichester. It contains about 1,760 acres of land, and is chiefly cultivated for wheat. The Church, which stands at the western extremity of the parish, is a small low building, consisting of a nave, chancel, and aile, with a diminutive square tower, the upper half of which is of wood, covered with shingles. The interior is neat; and the early style of Norman architecture is still apparent, although it has been much altered at different periods. The altar is plain, and the commandments are written on a marble slab. The font is octagon without ornament, a form usual in this part of the country. In the floor are several slabs of Sussex marble, most of the inscriptions of which are worn away; one, indented with the sacerdotal cross, has been 579 reared against the wall. In the chancel has been placed a beautiful tomb, which was lately discovered behind some pews and part of the readingdesk, and rescued from oblivion by the good taste of the present Vicar, the Rev. Mr. Green; the inscription is unfortunately gone. Attached to the opposite wall, is a very curious monument to the memory of Richard Sackville, Esq. and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Thetcher. It consists of a table tomb, with a canopy of Caen stone; and contains within the recess figures of the parties, each kneeling, at a kind of desk or altar, before a very large personification of the Trinity. The First Person is clothed in full drapery; while the Second, although nearly of the same stature, reclines naked on the knee of the Father: both their right hands are placed on an open book; their heads are broken off. The Holy Ghost is slightly indicated, proceeding from the mouth of the Father. At the base of the image remain these words: Danct's spiritus unus deus.' There are labels over each of the deceased; but the impressions are obliterated. Behind the esquire is one boy, and behind the lady one girl. In front of the tomb are three shields of arms: 1. Quarterly Or and Gules, a bend Vaire, Sackville. 2. Sackville; impaling, Gules, a cross moline Argent, on a chief of the Second three grasshoppers Vert, Thetcher; and 3. Thetcher. There is an engraving of this monument in Dallaway's History of the Rape of Chichester, p. 121. This Richard Sackville was a greatuncle of the first Earl of Dorset. He left issue an only daughter and heir, Anne, who was married to Henry Shelley, Esq. of Warminghurst in Sussex, and had issue (see Cartwright's Rape of Bramber, p. 254). A modern slab is thus inscribed: "Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Geo. Aug. Fred. Chichester, M.A. youngest son of the Right Hon. Lord Spencer and Lady Harriott Chichester, sometime Vicar of this parish, who departed this life the 8th of June, 1829, aged 28." The benefice is a vicarage, the impropriate tithes of which were given to the priory of Boxgrove, who paid their Vicar 71. 6s. 8d. at the time of the suppression, and that probably by composition in lieu of all tithes. They are now held by the Duke of Rich 580 Hallington, Northumberland.—St. Oswald's Chapel. [VOL. CII. mond, but the patronage has remained with the Crown. In Pope Nicholas's Valor, 1291, it is valued at 57.; in the Nona Roll at 81.; and in the King's book at 71. 78. 4d. It has five times received Queen Anne's Bounty, the sum of 2001. having been awarded to it by lot in the years 1767, 1792, 1811, 1812, and 1813. The large mansion, formerly called West Hampnet-place, the residence of the Richard Sackville above mentiontioned, is now used as a poor-house for this and several neighbouring parishes. A handsome vicarage has lately been built near the Church. a Some time ago, as a farmer of the name of Lawrance was ploughing in a field near the Church, he turned up massy gold ring, with a signet bearing the letters ... engraven on it, and containing the inscription in Gothic characters, "Qui orat p' aliis p' se laborat." The river Lavant flows in a beautiful clear stream through great part of the parish. The population at the four several periods of taking the census, has been in 1801, 400; in 1811, 444; 1821, 401; and in 1831, 449. The annual value of real property, as assessed in April 1815, was 25367. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, C. J. S. THE village of Hallington, in old writings Haledown, that is, Holy Hill, is situate near St. Oswald's, on the line of the Roman Wall, near to the 18th mile-stone. It is supposed to be the same place as Hefenfelth, i. e. Heaven Field, so called from a famous battle won there by King Oswald in 675. St. Oswald's Chapel stands on a highly bold situation above Chollerford Bridge. In a field near it sculls of men, and hilts of swords, have been frequently ploughed up. "There is a fame," says Leland, "that Oswald won the battle at Halydene a 2 myles est from St. Oswald's asche, and that Halyden is it that Bede caulith Hevenfeld. And men there aboute yet finde smaule wod crossis in the ground."* A small silver coin of St. Oswald was found, some years since, in repairing the chapel of St. Oswald; and there are many ancient charters in the church of Durham, with seals bearing St. Oswald's head, *Itin. vii. 61. and this inscription, CAPVT SANCTI OSWALDI REGIS. The origin of the sanctity of this place is briefly this :-Ceadwallo and Penda having ravaged the whole kingdom of Northumberland, Ethelburga and Paulinus fled into Kent, and the people seeing no end to the oppression they suffered, chose Eanfrid King of Bernicia, and Osric of Deira: they both renounced Christianity, and, as if in punishment of their apostacy, the terrible Ceadwallo attacked Osric, slew him, routed his army, and plundered his subjects. Eanfrid, dreading similar treatment, threw himself upon the mercy of the tyrant, who murdered him in his presence. At length, in 635, Oswald, Eanfrid's brother, rising from obscurity, with an army, small indeed, but composed of valiant men strong in the faith of Christ, generously resolved to oppose the usurper. He had studied the art of war in retirement; and now, having chosen a proper situation on the banks of Denisburne, entrenched himself, and under the banner of the holy cross waited with religious solemnity for the enemy. Ceadwallo, flushed with recent success, and confident in his numbers, rushed into the camp, but was himself slain with an arrow, and his army routed. The Northumbrian Saxons thought they saw the interference of Providence so plainly in this victory, that they called the field of battle Hefenfelth, i. e. Heaven Field; and the brethren of the church of Hex ham, for many years, annually resorted hither, on the day before St. Oswald's martyrdom, to make vigils for his soul and sing psalms, and offer the sacrifice of holy oblation for him in the morning. Which good custom growing more into notice, continues Bede, they have lately made the place more sacred and more honourable, by building a church at it; and that not without cause, for we do not find that there was any sign of Christianity, any church, or any altar, in the whole kingdom of Bernicia, before this new general erected this banner of the holy cross, when he was about to fight with a most barbarous enemy. By the tradition of some, this battle was fought at Bingfield, where + Engraved in Hutchinson's History of Durham, vol. II. p. 91. PART 1] Beaufront, Northumberland.-Errington Family. 581 there is a chapel, formerly under Hexham Church; but others assert, that it happened in the grounds of Cockley, below the church and cross of St. Oswald, and between Erringburn and the Wall. But whether it was at Hallington, Cockley, or Bingfield, Erringburn must be the same brook which Bede calls Denisesburn. Hallington before the Dissolution belonged to the Church of Hexham. At present it partly belongs to John Turner Ramsay, esq. and Maria his wife, as devisees of the late Wm. Fermor, esq. nephew and coheir of the late John Errington, esq. of Beaufront; and partly to Christopher Soulsby, esq. of Hallington Mesnes, otherwise Hallyden-Mains; a neat modern structure of white freestone, in the parish of Hallington. Before it is a grass area extending to the banks of a deep glen, wherein is a small stream, which falls a little below into the river Erring-burn. In 1769, it was the seat of Ralph Soulsby, esq. the eldest brother of Christopher Reed, esq. of Chipchase, and brother-in-law to Wm. Fenwick, of Bywell, esq. A mile and half east of Hallington is a hill, called the Mote Law, having a square entrenchment upon it, in the middle of which is a hearth-stone, for kindling alarm-fires upon. Both it and the village of Hallington are in view on the left hand, from the 18th milestone on the Military Road. Not far S. W. from St. Oswald's Chapel is a curious hill, called Hanging Shaws, with several gradations of artificial terraces on its sides. Nearly opposite to Hexham, on the north margin of the river Tyne, but a little farther eastward, on the brow of a hill, is Beaufront (i. e. Bellus locus.) Its situation is generally admired, having both sun and shade, and delightful vale and river prospects. From the south side of the Tyne, it exhibits a long and handsome front, surrounded with fine pleasure-grounds; and from its walks are seen towns, towers, hamlets, and the winding stream of the Tyne, sometimes hidden under its banks, and at others boldly crossing the meadows in broad and silver-looking reaches. Beaufront was lately the property and residence of John Errington, esq. who was popularly called "The chief of Beaufront." He was of the ancient house of the Erringtons of Errington, by Erring-burn, on the north side of the Roman Wall, from whence the name. Wm. de Errington was high Sheriff of Northumberland 47 Edward 11. Sir Thomas de Errington was one of the conservators of the Borders 12 Henry VI. Sir Gilbert de Errington, knight, was of the party of Edward IV. against the House of Lancaster, by whom, and Sir John Manners, of Etall, at the head of 400 men, Queen Margaret was hindered from landing with her company at Bambrough, and forced to take shelter at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Nicholas de Errington died in the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, possessed of Errington, &c. In 1567 the principal seat of the Erringtons was at Cockley Tower, a strong old fortress, at present in ruins, though the dungeons and rooms in its turrets are nearly perfect, and traces of painting are still observable on the plaster of its walls. In 1567 Beaufront was the seat of David Carnaby, esq. In 1628, we find in the list of grand jurors, that Beaufront was the residence of Henry Errington, esq. from whom it lineally descended to its late owner John Errington, esq. who died at his seat of Beaufront, June 28, 1827, aged 89. On his death a moiety of his estates in Northumberland descended to his nephew the late Wm. Fermor of Baker-street, Portman-square, and of Tusmore, co. Oxford, esq. as one of the heirs at law of Mr. Errington. The relationship between the Erringtons and Fermors, was a marriage between Wm. Fermor, esq. of Tusmore and Somerton, co. Oxford, esq. (who was born 1737 and died in 1806), and Frances dau. of John Errington of Beaufront, esq. which Frances died in 1787, leaving her eldest son, the late Wm. Fermor, esq. her heir-at-law. Mr. Fermor died at Hethe House, co. Northumberland, Nov. 27, 1828, aged 57, and by his will devised this property to his adopted daughter Maria Whitehead, and her husband John Turner Ramsay, esq. and their children. N.R.S. Mr. URBAN, Winchester, April 2. HAVING had for some time in my possession one of the antimonial cups * See pedigrees of the Fermor family in Gent. Mag. 1827, i. pp. 114, 580. |