LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICES.
Edward the Confessor's grant of
Steyning manor to Fécamp abbey apparently included full royal privileges, (fn. 71) explicitly described
in a possibly spurious charter of 1072 × 1078, (fn. 72)
which was confirmed in 1154-5 and later. (fn. 73) In
1279, (fn. 74) however, the prison which the abbot had
had in 1262-3 (fn. 75) and perhaps earlier (fn. 76) was ordered
to be demolished. In 1262-3 the abbot also had
gallows at Steyning, (fn. 77) and in 1274-5 he was reported
to be fining tenants in absentia. (fn. 78) A new prison was
built in the town by the abbess of Syon c. 1450, (fn. 79)
and was in use in 1476-7. (fn. 80) There was still apparently a prison in the town in 1556 after the
resumption of the lordship by the Crown. (fn. 81)
Until the early 14th century or later courts were
held for Steyning manor as a whole, (fn. 82) but the
manor was later divided, as described above, into
Steyning borough, for which there are court rolls
or draft court rolls for 1461-84, 1495-1500, 1548,
1550, 1572, and 1675-1786, (fn. 83) and Charlton manor,
for which there are court rolls or draft court rolls
for 1437, 1473-5, 1484-5, 1495-9, 1502-9, 1548,
1550, 1558-82, 1605, 1617, 1619, and 1750-1909. (fn. 84)
The borough had already existed in 1066, though
its ambiguous status as part of the manor was
indicated by the fact that the burgesses did villein
service at the lord's court. (fn. 85) It remained a manorial
borough. It was represented separately at the eyres
of 1248 and 1262-3, (fn. 86) but for a period after that it
was often considered to form a single borough
with Bramber, both at the eyre and for taxation
purposes. (fn. 87)
In the late 15th century a view of frankpledge
was held twice a year, and an adjournment of it
called the court of morrowspeech usually met a few
days or weeks afterwards to endorse its decisions.
The business of the two courts occasionally overlapped, but the view always apparently elected the
constable and bailiff and usually dealt with breaches
of the peace and of the assize of bread and of ale,
while the court of morrowspeech usually elected
the ale-taster, and on one occasion a clerk of
markets and fairs, and dealt with obstructions to
roads and streams. The court of morrowspeech
was last recorded in 1482. (fn. 88) Various ancient customs
of the borough are mentioned in the proceedings of
the court of morrowspeech, concerning especially
the regulation of nuisances, (fn. 89) and both the court
and the view also made by-laws about nuisances,
the sale of ale, and husbandry. On one occasion a
paid official was elected to oversee nuisances. (fn. 90) At
the same period a court baron, which dealt with
tenancies, was usually held once or twice a year,
sometimes on the same day as the view.
Between the late 15th century and the early 17th
the court baron of Charlton manor, dealing with
tenancies, was held up to four times a year. The
manor also enjoyed view of frankpledge, which
occurred about twice yearly and dealt with breaches
of the assize of bread and of ale and the maintenance
of the roads. A headborough and a beadle were
elected by either court, (fn. 91) and the view on one
occasion appointed two de facto surveyors of highways. (fn. 92) Just as there was no clear territorial division
between Steyning borough and Charlton manor, so
there was no clear demarcation of jurisdiction. In
1472 the burgesses in general were ordered by the
borough court of morrowspeech to repair the roads
of the borough. (fn. 93) About the same time Charlton
tithing was enjoined by the same court to repair
various streets, (fn. 94) but in 1508-9 a fine imposed by
the borough for the repair of Sheep Pen Street was
respited because of doubt in whose jurisdiction it
lay. (fn. 95)
By the early 18th century the borough and manor
courts had lost much of their importance. The court
baron of the borough met yearly between 1703 and
1723, (fn. 96) but apparently lapsed between 1730 and
1792. (fn. 97) For most of the period between 1705 and
1792 the borough view was held yearly. (fn. 98) The
borough officers continued to be appointed: a
constable, whose office was said in 1792 to descend
with a particular tenement, (fn. 99) a headborough, two
leather-searchers and sealers, and two ale-tasters. (fn. 1)
The leather-searchers and sealers and ale-tasters
continued to exercise their offices, at Bannister's
tanyard and the Chequer inn respectively. (fn. 2) Most
of the business of the view, however, was with
roads. The parish surveyors of highways were
frequently ordered to mend the roads in the town,
and were occasionally amerced for not doing so. (fn. 3)
The traditional boundaries of the borough were
still perambulated in the late 18th century. (fn. 4) The
court baron and the view were both said to be still
held annually c. 1832. (fn. 5) The last borough constable
was recorded in the mid 19th century. (fn. 6) During the
late 18th century courts baron of Charlton manor
were held about every other year, and between
1811 and 1846 five courts were held, after which
business was conducted out of court. (fn. 7) No view of
frankpledge is recorded at Charlton after 1619, but
the manor was still said to have leet jurisdiction
in 1675. (fn. 8)
None of the other manors in Steyning is known
to have had courts. (fn. 9) Other jurisdictions, however,
extended into the parish and even into the town,
namely those of King's Barns manor in Beeding, (fn. 10)
of which much land in the north-east of the parish
was held, and Bramber borough, burgages of which
lay in the eastern angle between Church Street and
High Street. (fn. 11)
The former town hall, so called c. 1841, (fn. 12) in High
Street (fn. 13) was mentioned in connexion with borough
government in 1655, (fn. 14) but may also have been the
meeting-place of the medieval borough courts. The
borough court leet met there at the end of the 18th
century, (fn. 15) and elections were held there in 1708
and later. (fn. 16) Its alternative names, Sessions House (fn. 17)
and Market House, (fn. 18) indicate that quarter sessions
were held and market tolls collected there. The
present building is 18th-century and comprises
three bays end on to the street. (fn. 19) In the early 19th
century it housed the stocks and the lock-up, and
was also used as a temporary police station for the
county constabulary (fn. 20) until the provision of a
permanent building c. 1860. (fn. 21) After the disfranchisement of the borough in 1832 and the lapse of
the borough courts the building ceased to be used
for public business. Before 1840, apparently, the
clock from the clock-tower at Michelgrove in
Clapham was presented to the town by the duke of
Norfolk. (fn. 22) In 1848-9 a new clock-turret was constructed over the town hall by public subscription, (fn. 23)
and thereafter the clock and turret were parish
property, though the building continued to belong
to the lord of the borough. (fn. 24) The borough mace
and constable's staff, kept in a case in the church
in 1976, were made in 1685. (fn. 25)
There were 'guardians of the works and ornaments of the church in 1417, (fn. 26) and churchwardens,
apparently always two in number, are recorded
from 1519. (fn. 27) In the 16th and 17th centuries yearly
terms of office were usual, but afterwards, especially from the late 18th century, much longer
terms were common. (fn. 28) During the early 16th
century the churchwardens employed several
methods to raise funds, including the holding of
church ales and of a performance called the 'king's
play'. (fn. 29)
Two surveyors of highways were elected between
1610 and 1670 and between 1837 and 1844. (fn. 30) There
were also surveyors in the 18th century. (fn. 31) In 1619
it was agreed that one surveyor should always be
the borough constable, and that policy was followed
later. (fn. 32) Between 1646 and 1650 two inhabitants of
the town, who were perhaps the surveyors, were
twice ordered by quarter sessions to repair the
highways, on the first occasion by levying a rate. (fn. 33)
There were two collectors for the poor in the
parish in 1578 (fn. 34) and frequently after 1594, and two
overseers from 1611 until 1662. Thereafter until
the early 19th century there were four, of whom
two were described in 1678 and 1679 as chosen by
the justices. Only two of the four were active. In
the early 19th century there were often more than
four, sometimes as many as twelve. (fn. 35)
The various methods of poor relief used between
the 17th and 19th centuries included disbursements
to individuals in money or in kind (usually clothing), (fn. 36) the provision of medical care, (fn. 37) and apprenticing. (fn. 38) Apprentices were evidently assigned by
lot or in rotation, (fn. 39) and in the 18th century could be
refused on payment of £10. (fn. 40) Only about a quarter
of the 91 masters recorded between the 17th and
19th centuries had trades more specialized than
those of husbandman, housewife, or mariner. More
than a quarter lived outside the parish, many of
them in Brighton. (fn. 41) In 1729 the parish officers
borrowed £100 to buy a workhouse, (fn. 42) which seems
usually to have been farmed thereafter by the year
on a per capita basis. (fn. 43) In 1758 the farm agreed was
£140, the parish promising to maintain certain
incapacitated paupers and to pay 2s. a week for
each pauper child over the age of nine. (fn. 44) In 1829
the master was to receive 3s. 6d. a head a week,
with a minimum of £227 10s. a year, the parish
providing wheat if required at an agreed price. (fn. 45)
An agreement of 1734 provided for the poor of
Beeding parish to be housed in the Steyning workhouse during the next seven years; each parish was
to provide its own clothing and medical care, but
the poor were to be employed at the common
expense, those who went out to work being allowed
to keep a sixth of their earnings. (fn. 46)
Between 1772 and 1841 weekly doles were
apparently the other chief method of relief. (fn. 47) A
parish pest-house south of the town was burnt down
in 1856 and was not rebuilt. (fn. 48) Whole or partial rent
subsidies were common at the same period, (fn. 49) and
at least one parishioner was given assistance towards
emigrating in 1830. (fn. 50) Parish work for the outside
poor was also provided: weaving and spinning in
the 1770s and 1780s, the cloth or thread being sold
for the benefit of the parish, (fn. 51) and flint-digging in
the 1820s and 1830s. (fn. 52) In 1803 143 persons were
receiving permanent relief, about an eighth of the
population, and the proportion had increased
greatly by 1813. (fn. 53)
When Steyning union was created in 1835 the
town workhouse was set aside for children only,
the other paupers going elsewhere, but the attempt
to enforce that segregation caused a serious riot in
the town as a result of which four parishioners
were sent to prison. (fn. 54) The building ceased to be
used as a workhouse soon afterwards and was sold
in 1837. (fn. 55) In 1894, when Steyning union was
divided, the parish became part of Steyning West
rural district, (fn. 56) and in 1933 it was transferred to
Chanctonbury rural district. (fn. 57) In 1974 it became
part of Horsham district.
The parish clerk in 1640 received wages. (fn. 58) One
notable occupant of the office died in 1793 after
more than 60 years' service. (fn. 59)
By c. 1800 the parish had come to take over a
number of functions appropriate to the borough.
Regular payments were made to a town crier, who
cried royal proclamations and the times of vestry
meetings, and for the maintenance of the town
fire-engine and clock. Those payments moreover
were made by the overseers, not the churchwardens,
a clear division between the expenditure of the two
sets of officers not always being made at that time. (fn. 60)
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries vestry
meetings were held either in the vestry room or in
the various inns of the town, apparently by rotation. (fn. 61)
During the Middle Ages and later such public
services of the town as existed were the responsibility of the borough. In the late 15th century there
seem to have been at least three watchmen. (fn. 62) In the
18th century the borough was still responsible for
the upkeep of the town's two wells, (fn. 63) which provided an almost constant supply of water, (fn. 64) Singwell
at the east end, (fn. 65) called Sewyngwell in 1498 (fn. 66) and
probably identical with St. Mary's well mentioned
in 1749, and Britain's well at the west end. (fn. 67) At the
same period the borough oversaw the paving of the
main streets of the town, (fn. 68) and provided rails to
keep carts off the footway along some streets. (fn. 69) In
the early 19th century there was a town fire-engine
which was kept in the town hall. (fn. 70) It seems likely
to have been the responsibility of the borough
originally, but by that date the officer who attended
it was being paid by the parish. (fn. 71)
The town's two wells had had pumps attached
by the late 19th century. (fn. 72) After 1897 the Steyning
and District Waterworks Co. supplied water from
a well in Upper Beeding. (fn. 73) In 1928 the company
also served Bramber, Upper Beeding, and other
near-by parishes. (fn. 74) An additional reservoir was
constructed at the foot of Chanctonbury Hill c.
1960. (fn. 75) The town fire-engine, which had been
taken over by the parish council, (fn. 76) and which in the
early 20th century was drawn by horses from the
White Horse inn, (fn. 77) was later replaced by a motor
fire-engine, (fn. 78) which from 1936 was housed in the
Chequer inn yard. (fn. 79) In 1961 a new fire-station was
built by the county council at the north-west end
of High Street. (fn. 80)
The Steyning Gas Co. was formed in 1859 (fn. 81) and
constructed the gas-works at the north-west end
of the town. By 1861 the vestry had adopted the
Lighting and Watching Act, 1833, for the urban
area of the parish, (fn. 82) and in 1894 the company
supplied 100 consumers and 42 public lamps. (fn. 83) Its
area of supply in the town was extended in 1899, (fn. 84)
and in 1935 the company was authorized to supply
six neighbouring parishes. (fn. 85) The gas-works ceased
production in 1958, (fn. 86) but the site was used for
storing gas until 1971. (fn. 87) The Steyning and District
Electric Lighting, Heat, and Power Supply Co.
began to supply electricity in 1914. (fn. 88) In 1921 its
successor the Steyning Electric Light Co. was
authorized to supply Steyning, Bramber, and
Upper Beeding parishes and to build a generating
station near High Street. (fn. 89) The area of supply was
extended to include several neighbouring parishes
in 1930. (fn. 90) The generating station ceased production
before 1948. (fn. 91)
A thrice-weekly postal service from London was
begun in 1675. (fn. 92) A postmaster was mentioned in
1768, (fn. 93) and in 1791 there was a cottage called the
post office. (fn. 94) A daily post from London began in
1800. (fn. 95)
A district nursing association founded in 1917
was taken over by the county council in 1948. (fn. 96) A
health centre was opened in 1973. (fn. 97)