11 Nov 2006
Transcribed by Stacey Gardner
Amberley is a parish, on the river Arun, with a station 1 mile south from the village on the L.B.&S.C. railway, about 55 miles from London & 5 north from Arundel, in the south-western division of the county, West Easwrith hundred, Arundel petty sessional division, county court district and rape, Thakeham union, rural deanery of Storrington (1st division), archdeaconry and diocese of Chichester. The church of St Michael, a building of flint & rough stone, with cut stone quoins, is a very fine specimen of the Norman & Early English periods, and has a tower containing 5 bells; in the church is a brass with effigy, to John Wantele, ob. 29th January, 1424; in 1904 a new organ was provided at a cost of £200, and carved oak choir stalls and altar rails were placed in the chancel by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who also rebuilt the vicarage at a cost of £1,100; there are 330 sittings. A little postern on the east side of the castle gives admission to the churchyard. The register dates from the year 1560. The living is a vicarage, with that of Houghton annexed, joint net yearly value £250, with residence and about 140 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Bishop of Chichester, and held since 1902 by the Rev. George Frederick Carr M.A., LL.D. of Trinity College, Dublin. The Catholic school chapel, dedicated to St Edmund, and erected in 1877, at the expense of the Duke of Norfolk E.M., K.G. is served by a resident priest, and has sittings for 120. Here is a Congregational chapel, built in 1867, and seating 120 people. The church land of 6 acres has been sold and the proceeds, amounting to £550, have been invested in 2 ½ % Consols, and the dividends are applied to church purposes. The remains of the old castle of Amberley occupy an elevated position on the east side of the navigable river Arun. The 2 large mullioned windows in Bishop Sherborne’s state chambers are now the most conspicuous features of the castle, which is tenanted by a farmer, who protects the ruins from further decay; in 1872 it passed into the hands of Lord Zouche, and in 1893 was acquired by the Duke of Norfolk. There is a recreation room which is used for reading, games & other purposes. St Edmund’s Recreation Club, at Houghton Bridge, the gift of the Duke of Norfolk, is for working men & lads; there are reading and games rooms and a lending library of 150 volumes; it is managed by the resident Catholic priest. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor. The principal land owners are Lord Zouche, the Duke of Norfolk K.G. and Charles John Fletcher esq. of Daleoark. The soil is heavy mould, chalk & peat; subsoil, clay & chalk. The chief crops are wheat, oats & barley. The area is 1,940 acres of land and 20 of tidal water; rateable value £5,106; the population in 1901 was 560 in the civil & 722 in the ecclesiastical parish.
Sexton – Henry Dinnage
Post, M. O. & T. Office – Seymour Ruff, sub-postmaster. Letters through Arundel arrive at 7.45am & 12.30pm; dispatched at 9.25am & 6.35pm; Sundays, 9.45am
Wall letter box, near Churchyard, cleared at 9.55am & 6.30pm; Sundays 9.55am
Post Office, Houghton Bridge – Mrs Jennie Gosden, sub-postmistress. Letters received through Arundel at 7.20am & 12.20pm; Sundays, 10.50am The nearest money order & telegraph office is at Amberley, 1 mile distant.
Public Elementary Schools
Amberley (mixed & infants), built in 1874, for 159 children; average attendance, 78; Arthur Martin, master
Houghton Bridge (Catholic) (mixed), built in 1877, at the cost of the Duke of Norfolk, for 120 children; average attendance, 55; Dominican Sisters, teachers
Railway Station, Hugh James Holland, station master
Carrier to Arundel – William Baker, tues & fri returning the same day
Private Residents
Bazely Mrs
Carr Rev. George Frederick M.A., LL.D. The Vicarage
Jones Rev. Francis Joseph (Congragational), The Manse
Morgan Dudley, Meadow Cottage
Pepper Frank Montague
Pepper Thomas Cunningham, The Quarry
Pepper Thomas John, Highdown
Robinson George, Rose Cottage
Shaw Winter
Smith Arthur, The Hawthorns
Stott Edward A.R.A.
Wallace Rev. John Edmund M.A. (R.C.), Houghton Bridge
Commercial
Allen Pryce, carpenter
Allen William, carpenter
Ayling Robert, beer retailer
Baker William, carrier
Bowley William, Black Horse P.H.
Carn Henry (Mrs), grocer
Cooter Walter Sidney, baker
Dinnage Ann (Mrs), apartments, Hope Cottage
Dinnage David, thatcher
Duke Walter, Houghton Bridge Inn
Foot & Archdeacon, physicians & surgeons; attend on Sundays
Gosden Jennie (Mrs), grocer, post office Houghton Bridge
Green George, blacksmith
Greenfield James & Sons, grocers, provision dealers, & drapers
Harwood Henry & John, farmers
Herrington Ann (Mrs), beer retailer
Humphrey Daniel, farmer
Knight James, coal dealer
Lee & Spear, physicians & surgeons; call Tuesdays, 2 to 3pm
Lee George, farmer
Martin Arthur, school master & assistant overseer
Mills James Canaan, millwright
Moggridge William, assessor of taxes
Moulding Jesse, beer retailer
Pepper & Son, brick makers, lime burners, cement & builder’s material merchants
Philby Robert, cowkeeper
Randall Arthur, insurance agent
Recreation Room (Pryce Allen, sec.)
Ruff Frederick, farmer
Ruff Michael, carpenter
Ruff Seymour, stationer & post office
Ruff William, farmer
St Edmund’s Recreation Club (F. Stacey, sec.), Houghton Bridge
Shaw Winter, artist
Standon Albert, boot & shoe maker
Stott Edward A.R.A. artist
Stratton Frederick, artist
11 Nov 2006 | Transcribed by Stacey Gardner |
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