UPPER BEEDING
UPPER Beeding, which contained the medieval Sele
priory, straddles the river Adur c. 4 miles (6.4 km.)
from its mouth at Shoreham, (fn. 10) and is c. 3 miles
(4.8 km.) long by 2½ miles (4 km.) wide at its widest
point. In the Middle Ages, when the parish was
called Beeding or, more usually, Sele, (fn. 11) it included a
large detached portion c. 11 miles to the north in the
Weald near Horsham. The two areas were separate
for poor-law purposes by the 17th century. (fn. 12) In 1838
most of the Wealden portion was separated for
ecclesiastical purposes and made the parish of Lower
Beeding; its northern part, however, called Bewbush
tithing, remained part of Upper Beeding ecclesiastical parish until 1871. (fn. 13) Upper Beeding in 1881 comprised 3,895 a. excluding Bewbush. In 1883 a
detached part (79 a.) of Henfield that lay within the
parish was added to it. In 1933 a similar island
(3½ a.) of Steyning, called Spratt's Marsh, was added,
as was the entire civil parish of Edburton (1,094 a.)
to the east. In 1971 therefore Upper Beeding contained 5,071 a. (2,052 ha.). (fn. 14) The present article
excludes the histories of Lower Beeding, including
Bewbush, and Edburton, which are treated elsewhere.
The western boundary follows the modern course
of the Adur in the south and part of what was apparently the course of the medieval main channel of the
river further north. (fn. 15) The north-western portion of
the parish beyond the river comprises the former
tithing of King's Barns, the area later called King's
Barn. The northern boundary makes a salient to
include Hoe wood, formerly Old wood, which was
part of Stretham manor in Henfield. (fn. 16)
The relief and underlying geology of Upper Beeding are very varied. (fn. 17) Much of the southern part
lies on the Chalk of the South Downs, once largely
open sheep pasture, which also provided a site for
holding a muster of Lewes and Bramber rapes in
1625 and for a gibbet in the 1840s. (fn. 18) Since the 18th
century most of the downland has been turned over
to arable, while in the 20th very large excavations
have been made at cement works in the south-west.
Windmill Hill, 192 ft. high, which lies east of the
village, is separated from the rest of the Chalk by the
Henfield road. North of the Chalk, outcrops of sandstone provided sites of settlement at King's Barn,
Horton, Tottington, and Small Dole, while the
Gault clay outcrop between them was the site from
the 18th century of most of the relatively little woodland in the parish. (fn. 19) Further sites for settlement
were provided by the Valley Gravel outcrops along
the river, on which lie Upper Beeding church and
Beeding Court, the former manor house, with the
modern Upper Beeding village between them.
The river Adur has always been important, for its
effect on the landscape of the parish, as a means of
communication, and in providing employment.
Sometimes it was called the Beeding river or water, (fn. 20)
and on one occasion Horton river. (fn. 21) In the early
Middle Ages it formed a wide estuary between
Bramber castle, King's Barn, and Wyckham (in
Steyning) on the west and Upper Beeding church
and Horton Hall on the east; much sea shingle is
said once to have been visible at King's Barn, and in
the 11th century Steyning had a thriving port. (fn. 22) In
the Middle Ages salt was extracted from tidal
marshland within the parish. (fn. 23) Later, as in other
parishes of the Adur valley, land was gradually reclaimed. In 1349, for instance, a parcel of 6 a. of
meadow, evidently in the former estuary, was said to
be often flooded, and another parcel of land was
described in 1368 as having been consumed by the
sea. (fn. 24) Both common and several marsh was apparently mentioned in 1384, (fn. 25) and an embankment in
1535. (fn. 26) By the early 18th century there was a 'wall'
on the east bank for at least a mile north of Beeding
bridge; that it had been built fairly recently is suggested by the name 'the new brooks' given in 1733 to
land north of the church. (fn. 27) Under the 1807 Adur
navigation Act embankments were completed
throughout the parish, (fn. 28) and in the 19th and early
20th centuries the brookland provided excellent fattening pasture. (fn. 29) Extreme weather conditions, however, could lead to flooding well into the 20th
century. (fn. 30)
Upper Beeding from a map of 1733
There was a wagon ford across the river in the
north end of the parish in 1806, (fn. 31) and the river was
still fordable on foot at low tide opposite Beeding
Court in 1981. (fn. 32)
The original site of the village seems to have been
between the church and Castle Town, along the
major route that led from the river crossing at King's
Barn to the summit of Beeding Hill. (fn. 33) It is likely
that the church was built where a settlement already
existed, and though there is no documentary evidence for houses nearby, apart from Sele priory and
its successor the rectory house, nevertheless house
foundations are said to have been traced to the southeast near the supposed line of the road. (fn. 34) Moreover,
that line is continued further south-eastwards by
Hyde Street, (fn. 35) where several 17th- or 18th-century
buildings survive, including Oak Cottage, Old Place,
the Old House, the biggest house in the street, and
Hobjoins, formerly Hobjohn's Farm. Building materials used there, as elsewhere in the parish, are flint,
brick, and timber, with roof coverings of tile, thatch,
or Horsham stone. South of Hyde Street beside the
road to Henfield is Valerie Manor, the former New
House, which is of flint and brick construction and
has a main north-south range with a short west
wing; surviving original woodwork is of high quality
and suggests an early 17th-century date, and there is
a date 1668 above a ground-floor fireplace.
The modern main street of the village (fn. 36) lies along
the causeway leading towards Bramber, which was
built only in the late 11th century, but which thereafter apparently attracted settlement away from its
earlier site in the parish, in the same way that it did
at Steyning. (fn. 37) There were buildings east of Beeding
bridge by the 13th century, when the street was
already called High Street. (fn. 38) One possibly 16thcentury building, of timber-framed construction
with arched braces, survives on the south side, and
there are three houses on the north side of the 17th
century or earlier. Several other buildings are 18thcentury; some are low and of flint, a few having datestones, not necessarily trustworthy, and there are
two grander houses: the Manor House, on the north
side, of five bays, since altered, and the red brick
Pond Farmhouse, on the south side, of three bays.
By the end of the 18th century the western half of the
street was fully built up on both sides with 12 or 15
houses. (fn. 39)
Beeding Court, the main manor house of the
parish, lies ¼ mile south of High Street, on a site
which strangely, until the valley road to Shoreham
was built in the early 19th century, was accessible by
land only from the east. (fn. 40) It may, however, have
been linked with a settlement further south for which
there is archaeological evidence from the 12th to the
14th century, (fn. 41) and which was possibly the place in
Burbeach hundred called Old Bridge: the name was
recorded apparently near Beeding Court in 1439, (fn. 42)
a field or furlong called Bridgeways south-east of
Beeding Court was named in 1842, (fn. 43) and representatives of taxpayers recorded there in 1296 occur in
1327 in Beeding vill, including the lady of Beeding
manor. (fn. 44)
The other main medieval settlements lay on the
west and east sides of the parish. King's Barns, an
Anglo-Saxon or earlier settlement west of the river
Adur, was still called a separate tithing c. 1840, (fn. 45) and
was linked more closely to Steyning parish than to
Upper Beeding: the lands belonging to the tenants
of King's Barns manor lay partly in Steyning, and
the home farm in 1822 had pasture rights on the
common fields and downs of Steyning, not Upper
Beeding. (fn. 46) The east part of the parish was divided
between the manors of Horton and Tottington,
which each lay north-south across it, separated by
the long strip of land which formed a detached part
of Henfield. (fn. 47) The name Horton, or 'dirty farm', (fn. 48)
presumably described the adjacent clay lands belonging to the manor. Horton was called a vill in the
mid 13th century, when the surname 'of Horton' was
common in the area, (fn. 49) was taxed separately in the
early 14th, (fn. 50) and was a separate tithing in 1488. (fn. 51) In
1558 reference was made to the poor of Beeding and
Horton, as if there were still two settlements. (fn. 52)
Horton Farmhouse, formerly Upper Horton Farm,
has a low timber-framed back range of the 17th century or earlier and a tall three-bayed front range
faced with beach pebbles with red brick dressings
and a mansard roof. (fn. 53) At Tottington, on the other
hand, there is no evidence of a hamlet, (fn. 54) all the tenements of the manor in the 17th century and later
lying outside the parish.
After c. 1800 there was much building in the
parish, the number of houses more than doubling in
the first half of the 19th century and then increasing
by more than half in the second. (fn. 55) In 1842 High
Street had c. 25 houses in its western half. (fn. 56) Various
buildings there are of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including two cement-rendered terraces, and
there are two contemporary terraces in Church Lane.
Further houses had also been built in or near Hyde
Street by 1896. Meanwhile in the 1880s and 1890s
an increasing number of parishioners, presumably
mostly newcomers, were listed as 'private residents'. (fn. 57) During the 1920s and 1930s the eastern end
of High Street was built up, and small detached
houses and bungalows were built in Church Lane
and between it and Hyde Lane, while east of Hyde
Street a few houses were built along Manor and
College roads. After the Second World War most of
the area between High Street, Hyde Lane, and the
church was filled with houses, including a council
estate south of the church built by 1957, while east
of Hyde Street building continued on a large scale
into the 1970s, including some council houses. There
was also building south of High Street by 1975. In
1981 there were over 200 council houses in Upper
Beeding. (fn. 58)
Outside the village some houses had been built at
Castle Town by 1808, (fn. 59) including one that survived
in 1981, of cobbles with red brick dressings. Scattered houses had appeared there by the 1870s, and in
1895 residents included a basket maker and a shopkeeper. (fn. 60) The two long terraces of brick houses
called Dacre Gardens on the east side of the Shoreham road were built as company housing for employees of the cement works between 1896 and
1909. (fn. 61) Detached houses and bungalows were built
east of Castle Town on the south side of the Henfield
road during the 20th century. Twentieth-century
houses and bungalows were also built south-east of
Horton Hall on the Henfield road and south of the
village on the Shoreham road.
Small Dole on the Henfield border was mentioned
as a road destination c. 1530. (fn. 62) In 1808 a group of
cottages stood west of the road facing 'Dole green'
on the east; (fn. 63) one apparently early 19th-century
building survived there in 1984. A wheelwright and
a blacksmith lived at Small Dole in 1874. (fn. 64) Some
more buildings were built before 1896 when there
was a post office there. In the mid 20th century
many houses were built to the north across the
stream, partly in Upper Beeding and partly in Henfield. By c. 1979 the population of the hamlet was
said to be nearly 400, (fn. 65) but residents felt closer links
with Henfield than with Upper Beeding. (fn. 66)
Meanwhile, west of the river, the proximity of
Steyning railway station had encouraged the development for building of land south and south-west
of King's Barn Farm after c. 1900. Some houses had
been built immediately east of the railway by 1909.
By 1932 there were houses along most of King's
Barn Lane besides some to the south, while other
roads had been laid out but not built on. By 1939
Castle Way, most of Roman Road, and the north
part of King's Stone Avenue had been built up, and
by 1957 the entire area between King's Barn Lane,
King's Stone Avenue, and the railway. That area
looked much more to Steyning than to Upper Beeding, and in 1980 its transfer to Steyning parish was
being considered. (fn. 67)
In 1086 the 110 tenants of Beeding manor and the
78 tenants of what were later to be King's Barns and
Bidlington manors evidently included many living
outside the area that became the parish. At the same
date 10 tenants were recorded at Tottington manor
and 3 at an unnamed sub-manor of it. (fn. 68) In 1327
thirty-six people were assessed to the subsidy in
Beeding tithing, and 13 or possibly 15 at Horton.
The parallel totals of those paying the poll tax in
1378 were 66 and 23, and of those paying the 1524
subsidy 27 and 10. (fn. 69) Fifty-two houses were listed in
Beeding tithing in 1664 and 14 in Horton. (fn. 70) The
total of 71 adult males who took the protestation in
1642 presumably excludes inhabitants of Lower
Beeding, (fn. 71) who, however, are likely to have been included in the high figure of 206 communicants
recorded in 1676. (fn. 72) In 1775 the population of Upper
Beeding alone was computed by the curate at c.
370. (fn. 73) From 459 in 1801 it rose to 614 by 1841,
growth being especially rapid in the 1820s. The total
remained between 500 and 625 until 1901, after
which it rose rapidly. In the first decade of the new
century the population increased by nearly half, and
between 1931 and 1951 it nearly doubled, from 1,103
to 2,175, though part of the latter increase was due to
the extension of the boundary in 1933. There was a
further rapid rise from 2,396 in 1961 to 3,903 in
1971. In 1981 the population was 4,385. (fn. 74)
The chief road through the parish in past centuries was that forming part of the great east-west
route through southern England from Canterbury
to Southampton, which ran along the crest of the
South Downs from the east towards the river Adur. (fn. 75)
It seems originally to have crossed the river by two
routes. One crossing was apparently between
Botolphs and a point south of Beeding Court, the
existence of a bridge or causeway, though there is no
archaeological evidence to confirm it, being implied
by the place name Old Bridge, used both as an
alternative name for Botolphs itself and to describe
apparently a lost settlement on the east side of the
river. (fn. 76) The second route apparently followed Hyde
Street, which is partly a hollow-way, and passed the
church to cross the river towards King's Barn, on
the way to Steyning. (fn. 77) A bridge called New bridge
formed the crossing point in 1724 and 1806, (fn. 78) and
was presumably the same as the old wooden bridge
which was there in 1905. (fn. 79) It was replaced soon
afterwards by an iron bridge which in 1951 was
called the White bridge. (fn. 80) Both river crossings mentioned were evidently eclipsed by the new bridge
and causeway at Bramber built in the late 11th
century.
Two other important roads passed through the
parish in the Middle Ages. One was the road between Steyning and Shoreham, which crossed
Bramber bridge, ascended Beeding Hill, and continued southwards past New Erringham in Old
Shoreham parish. (fn. 81) The other led northwards
through the west part of the parish to link Bramber
castle with Knepp castle in Shipley by way of King's
Barn and of Greenfields and Nash Farm in Steyning. (fn. 82) In 1803 part of it was called Vauxhall Lane, (fn. 83)
though the reason for the name is not clear. The
road eastwards along the foot of the downs between
Horton and Edburton may also have existed in the
Middle Ages, and was used by Richard Pococke to
approach the village in 1754. (fn. 84) What is apparently an
old track on the north side of Windmill Hill east of
the village connected that road with Upper Beeding
church and the river crossing towards King's Barn,
and an alternative route lay over Windmill Hill. (fn. 85)
The road from Horton northwards to Henfield and
Cowfold existed by 1560. (fn. 86)
Both the ancient road along the crest of the downs
and its branch to Shoreham continued to be used by
travellers in the 18th century since they were drier
than alternative lower-lying routes. (fn. 87) Upper Beeding's position as a traffic node is indicated in the early
18th century by the many references to 'travellers'
in the parish registers. (fn. 88) Other downland routes of
importance during the same period were that from
Horton to Shoreham (fn. 89) and that from Beeding Hill to
Portslade; the latter may have been used in Roman
times, (fn. 90) was the future Charles II's escape route to
Brighton in 1651, (fn. 91) and in the 18th century served
as an alternative approach to that rapidly growing
resort. (fn. 92) The road from Steyning to the top of
Beeding Hill was turnpiked after 1764. (fn. 93) Under an
Act of 1807, however, a new turnpike road was built
along the Adur valley from Upper Beeding to Old
Shoreham, the carriage road over Beeding Hill being
closed and the road from Horton to Shoreham also
being stopped up; the occupier of Beeding Court was
exempted from paying tolls. (fn. 94) The tollhouse in
Upper Beeding built at that date was removed before 1974 to the Open Air Museum at Singleton near
Chichester. (fn. 95) The Steyning, Upper Beeding, and
Shoreham road was disturnpiked in 1885. (fn. 96)
Post-medieval arrangements for the upkeep of
Beeding bridge are discussed elsewhere. (fn. 97)
In 1922 the village was connected by frequent
motor buses with Brighton, Shoreham, Petworth,
Worthing, and Portsmouth. (fn. 98) In 1976 there were
frequent bus services to the first two of those places,
and also to Steyning, Storrington, and Henfield. (fn. 99) A
bypass road for Steyning, Bramber, and Upper
Beeding, partly following the line of the closed railway, was opened in 1981, (fn. 1) joining the Beeding-
Shoreham road at a roundabout.
The river too served as a means of communication. In 1540 Upper Beeding may have been an entrepôt for the transport of Horsham stone from
the Weald to be used at West Tarring church. (fn. 2) A
bargeman of Beeding was mentioned in 1758, (fn. 3) and
in 1775 seven or eight parishioners were said to earn
their living by barging. (fn. 4) Nine barges were listed in
the parish in 1803, (fn. 5) a bargemaster and 8 bargemen
were recorded in 1851, (fn. 6) and there was still a boat
owner in 1895. (fn. 7) In 1842 a malthouse and a coal pen
lay north of Beeding bridge and a coalshed, stables,
and a wharf south of the bridge. (fn. 8) The wharf survived in 1875 (fn. 9) and a coal dealer was recorded in the
parish in the previous year. (fn. 10) Already by 1814 the
river had been used to distribute lime from kilns on
the site of the modern cement works. (fn. 11) In the early
20th century clay for the cement works was barged
downstream from Horton, providing the only toll
income then enjoyed by the Adur navigation
trustees. (fn. 12)
The Horsham-Shoreham railway, opened in
1861, passed through the north-west corner of the
parish, which was served by its stations at Steyning
and Bramber. It was closed in 1966, except for its
southern section from Shoreham which continued
to be used to transport cement from the cement
works. (fn. 13)
An unlicensed alehouse in Beeding parish,
probably in Upper Beeding, was mentioned in
1647, (fn. 14) an inn in 1686, (fn. 15) and innkeepers in 1706 and
1715. (fn. 16) The King's Head existed by 1788, meetings
of the Burbeach hundred court being held there
between that date and 1811. (fn. 17) In the 1820s and later
it was also the place for holding the vestry. (fn. 18) The
Fox and Hounds at Small Dole was mentioned in
1845, the Rising Sun, formerly the Star, in 1851,
and the Bridge inn in 1913. (fn. 19) All four inns survived
in 1981.
A lending library was provided by private donation at the Sunday school founded in 1831, but is
not heard of after 1833. (fn. 20) J. R. Bloxam, vicar 1862-
91, organized various cultural activities in the village, often at the school: lectures, for instance on
astronomy, penny readings from 1874, and concerts
in the 1880s. (fn. 21) The village hall in High Street for
Upper Beeding and Bramber was built in 1930,
when a Bramber and Beeding village club met
there. (fn. 22) The recreation ground north of High Street
was opened c. 1950. (fn. 23) A village hall at Small Dole
founded c. 1911 (fn. 24) was later closed; c. 1980 the
former Baptist chapel there was converted into
another. (fn. 25) A horticultural society flourished at Small
Dole in 1959, (fn. 26) and various societies and clubs at
both Small Dole and Upper Beeding in 1981, when
the cement works also provided many social and
sporting facilities for its employees. (fn. 27)
Upper Beeding's nearness to Steyning brought it
public services earlier than most villages. A thriceweekly post existed in 1799 and was restarted in
1810. (fn. 28) Gas lighting had been installed by c. 1888. (fn. 29)
The Steyning and District Waterworks Co. sank a
well on the downs south-east of the village c. 1898
and built a reservoir nearby; it was empowered from
the first to supply the village, and certainly did so by
1928. (fn. 30) At Small Dole, however, water for most
houses in 1916 had to be brought from some distance. (fn. 31) The Steyning Electric Light Co. was
authorized to supply Upper Beeding with electricity
in 1921. (fn. 32)
Fourteen inhabitants of Beeding parish had the
county franchise in 1705. (fn. 33) In 1779, however, there
were said to be no resident gentry in Upper Beeding
except the Backshell family of New House, the
modern Valerie Manor. (fn. 34) The chief landowners of
the parish remained absentees a century later. (fn. 35) In
1651 the future Charles II passed through Upper
Beeding in his flight to France, but did not stop
although New House was offered to him for the
purpose. (fn. 36)