Portfield was formed into an ecclesiastical parish January 17, 1871, out of Oving parish; it adjoins Chichester, and is in the south-western division of the county, Chichester petty sessional division and county court district, union of Chichester, rural deanery of Boxgrove and archdeaconry and diocese of Chichester; by the Act 56 & 57 Vic. C. 132 (1893), for the extension of the boundaries of the city of Chichester, the major portion of the inhabitants of this place were included therein. That part within the city boundary has been added to the new civil parish of Chichester, formed November 25, 1895, by an Order of the West Sussex County Council. The church of All Saints, erected in 1871, is of stone, in the Early English style, and has a turret containing 1 bell; the stained east window is a memorial to the Rev. G. H. Langdon, formerly vicar of Oving; the church will seat 253 persons. The register dates from the year 1871. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £295, with residence in the gift of the Bishop of Chichester, and held since 1903 by the Rev. William George Irvine M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford. There are no manorial rights, the land being all freehold. The principal landowner is the Duke of Richmond & Gordon K.G., G.C.V.O., C.B. The soil is gravel; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley & cereals. The area is 450 acres; the population in 1901 was 1,614
Parish Clerk - Stephen Arthur
Wall Letter Box, cleared at 10.30am & 7.50pm; Sundays 12.55pm
The nearest money order office is in Oving Road, Chichester & Chichester head post office is the nearest for telegraph
Public Elementary School (infants), for 165 children; average attendance, 110; Miss Margaret Chaloner, mistress. The elder children from this parish attend Chichester Central schools.
Private Residents
Churchman Mrs., Chatham House
Downer Mrs., Drayton Manor
Irvine Rev. William George M.A. (vicar), Vicarage
Percival Surg-Lieut-Col. Joseph Mumford M.R.C.S.Eng., The Gugh
Commercial
Downer George Richard & Arthur Allen, farmers, Drayton Manor
Palmer George, gamekeeper to Mrs Paget
19 Sep 2006 | Transcribed by Stacey Gardner |