SINGLETON
This is a large parish of 4,063 acres, about 2½ miles
from east to west and 3½ miles from north to south,
divided by a valley running at about the 200-ft. level
between much higher ground. In this valley (fn. 1) lie the
settlements of West Dean, Singleton, Charlton, and
East Dean, linked by road. The considerable village
of Singleton lies at the point where another valley,
carrying the road (and railway) to Midhurst, comes in
from the north. One mile south of the village is Rook's,
or St. Roche's, Hill with the Trundle, a Neolithic and
Early Iron Age camp, (fn. 2) on the edge of the parish, where
a height of 677 ft. is reached. About the same distance
to the north-east, on Heyshott Down, a height of
760 ft. is attained, and all this northern third of the
parish is heavily wooded, constituting the Forests of
Singleton and Charlton. (fn. 3) The hamlet of Charlton, ½
mile east of Singleton, is famous in sporting annals for
its Hunt; (fn. 4) and on the downland to the south of it is the
even more famous Goodwood Racecourse.
An architectural relic of the Charlton Hunt is Fox
Hall, the lodge built by the Duke of Richmond in
1730. Externally the chief feature is the chimneystack on the north side with a moulded cornice, above
which the square shaft is flanked by consoles; inside,
the first-floor bedroom retains its panelling and fine
fireplace. Otherwise the houses here and in Singleton
village are unpretentious buildings, mainly of the 17th
century, with typical chimney-stacks and, in some
instances, thatched roofs. One tiny cottage, north of
the church and east of the main road, with flint-faced
mud walls and thatched roof, may be medieval, as there
are freestone dressings to one jamb of the doorway and
to one angle.
MANORS
In the time of Edward the Confessor
the manor of SINGLETON, which then
included East and West Dean, was held
by Earl Godwin; it was then assessed at 97½ hides and
was worth £89. In 1086 it was one of the manors
retained in his own hands by Earl Roger, and its assessment had been reduced by 47 hides. The clerks of the
church (see below) held 3¼ hides, a certain William 1
hide, Geoffrey 2 hides, Pagen 1 hide, and a monk of
St. Evroul 1 hide. There were 2 mills, and 9 haws in
Chichester were attached to the manor. The value of
the earl's estate was estimated at £93, but he was
raising £120 from it; the estates of the 'knights' were
worth £14, and that of the church £8. (fn. 5)
Singleton descended with the honor of Arundel
and in 1566 was among the manors conveyed by Henry,
Earl of Arundel, to his daughter Jane and her husband
John, Lord Lumley, (fn. 6) who died seised of it in 1610. (fn. 7)
It continued in his family until 1730, when the Earl
of Scarborough sold it to the Duke of Richmond, (fn. 8)
with whose descendants it has remained.
CHARLTON
CHARLTON, also, was part of the honor of
Arundel. Lands there were assigned in dower to Isabel
de Mortimer, widow of John, Earl of Arundel, in
1272, (fn. 9) and it continues to figure in the estates of the
earls, the free chace there being mentioned in 1344. (fn. 10)
The manor was conveyed to Lord Lumley in 1566
with that of Singleton and descended with it to the
Dukes of Richmond.
There seems to have been a subinfendation of part
of the manor of Charlton, as in 1428 William Courte
was holding a ¼ knight's fee, formerly held by Walter
de Charleton, here. (fn. 11) John Court 'of Charlton' died
in 1553, (fn. 12) and in 1640 John Court and Katherine his
wife sold the manor of Charlton and its lands to Sir
William Forde and Sir Edward Banister. (fn. 13) They were
presumably acting for Richard, Viscount Lumley, as
he leased the manor with Singleton to Mr. Lewknor
in 1646, and in his will of 1662 says that he bought
the manor from John Court and his wife. (fn. 14) It was sold
with Singleton in 1730 to the Duke of Richmond.
CHURCH
The church of ST. JOHN EVANGELIST
(fn. 15) stands south of the village; it is
built of flint rubble, part plastered, with
freestone dressings and some modern brick patching,
and is roofed with tile. It consists of chancel with south
organ chamber, nave, aisles with north porch and
south vestry, and western tower. The tower and probably the upper part of the nave walls are of preConquest date; the chancel was reconstructed and a
south aisle added in the 13th century; this aisle was
reconstructed and a north aisle and porch were added
in the 15th; the organ chamber and vestry are
modern.
The PARISH CHURCH of ST.JOHN the EVANGELIST, SINGLETON
The chancel has at each eastern corner a diagonal
buttress in two stages with sloping offsets; these and the
east window, of three cinquefoil-headed lights with
Perpendicular tracery, are insertions of the 15th century
in walls of the 13th. Close to the east end of the south
wall on the outside are the remains of a 13th-century
lancet window, formerly farther west, but refixed here
when the organ chamber was added; this was originally a low side window. (fn. 16) On each side of the chancel
is a window of three cinquefoil-headed lights, without
tracery, under a four-centred arch, of the 16th century.
A modern arch of two orders, the inner resting on
shafts attached to square responds, opens into the organ
chamber on the south side. The chancel arch is of two
orders with hollow chamfers resting on semicircular
responds with moulded caps and bases; the profile of
the former suggests a late copy, probably 15th-century,
of work of the 13th. In the south wall is a piscina with
pointed arched head, and in the north a small squareheaded aumbry, both probably 15th-century. The roof
is ancient, having a moulded tie-beam, moulded wallplates, and plain trussed rafters. Against the north wall
is a table tomb with flat canopy, panelled soffit, and
cresting of four-leaved flowers; against the south is
another table tomb without canopy; both have panelled fronts and the casements of lost brasses in
their reredoses, and both are of the 15th or 16th
century.
The modern organ chamber has a diagonal buttress
of two stages to the south-east, in the east wall is a twolight window in Perpendicular style, a similar window
in the south wall incorporates some ancient tracery,
evidently that of a former east window of the aisle,
shown in the drawing of 1804 in the Sharpe collection.
The west arch is of two orders dying away into square
responds.
In the east wall of the nave over the chancel arch
is a small window of two square-headed lights without tracery containing some stained glass, apparently
ancient; the stonework may be a 15th-century reconstruction of a pre-Conquest window. In the northeast corner of the nave is a rood-loft stair of the 15th
century having plain anse de panier doorways above and
below and a small window with pointed arched head
to the north-east.
The north arcade is of three bays, each arch is of two
orders with hollow chamfers; the two piers are cylindrical and the responds have the form of half-piers; the
base moulds are of a 15th-century form; the caps, however, though probably coeval, are a rather inaccurate
copy of those in the opposite arcade. (fn. 17) The south
arcade resembles the north, but, while all the bases are
of the 15th century, the caps of both responds and that
of the western pier as well as, probably, some of the
stones of the piers themselves are of the 13th. Evidently
there formerly was on this side, if not also on the north,
an arcade of the 13th century which was reconstructed
with the arches at higher level in the 15th, and the old
caps were reused, except one, perhaps broken in
handling. The tower arch is of one order, square and
resting on square responds with plain imposts; the
responds are pre-Conquest, the arch, now pointed, a
reconstruction, perhaps of the 15th century. High up
in the west wall of the nave is a pre-Conquest doorway
having straight-lined arch and jambs of square section
without imposts, probably, like that at Bosham, to give
access to the space above a flat ceiling. The present
roof is ancient, and has four tie-beams braced to wallpieces, king-posts, a collar purlin, and trussed rafters.
The nave and aisle roofs are continuous.
The north aisle has diagonal buttresses in two stages
at both corners; in the east wall is a window of two
lights, and in the north one of three lights east, and one
of two lights west, of the porch; these are all of the 15th
century and have cinquefoil heads to the lights and
normal Perpendicular tracery; the outer exterior arch
of the three-light window has been rebuilt in brick. In
the middle bay is the north door, having a pointed arch
the mouldings of which are continued on the jambs,
the rear-arch is segmental pointed. Over the door on
the outside face is IHS carved in black-letter on stone,
apparently medieval. The door hinges are ancient.
West of the south doorway is a small doorway, now
blocked and visible on the inside only, having anse de
panier head, formerly leading to a newel staircase, now
destroyed, giving access to an upper story of the porch.
The lean-to roof has tie-beams braced to wall-pieces,
principals, and a purlin. This work is all of the 15th
century.
The south aisle had formerly a diagonal buttress at
the east corner, now rebuilt square at the junction with
the organ chamber; in the south wall are two buttresses
partly incorporated in the modern vestry wall, and a
diagonal buttress at the south-west corner; these
resemble those of the north aisle, as do the windows.
The doorway probably once corresponded, but now
has a plain pointed arch made up in plaster; there is a
similar roof.
The north porch (15th-century) has buttresses much
patched with brick east and west of the doorway,
which consists of a pointed arch of two orders, moulded,
the outer continued on the jambs, the inner resting on
semi-octagonal responds with imposts. West of this
in the outer wall is a contemporary holy-water stoup,
and in the east wall is a single-light trefoil-headed
window. The former upper story of the porch has
disappeared, if, indeed, it ever existed, and the present
roof is ceiled in plaster.
The tower (pre-Conquest) has a large buttress
against the middle of the south wall, probably added
in the 15th century; it is of four stages with sloping offsets. On the north and south faces of the tower is a onelight window with round head and double splay: these
are pre-Conquest, but have been subsequently widened.
In the west wall there is a similar window, placed
somewhat higher; in the second stage there is, on the
north side only, a coeval window of two round-headed
lights separated by a thick mullion (not a baluster
shaft): (fn. 18) in the uppermost stage there is in the east
wall a one-light window with square-framed trefoil
head, perhaps modern, and a one-light window with
round head, apparently pre-Conquest, in the north.
The tower walls are finished with rough battlements.
The vestry (modern) is built against the place of the
ancient south doorway, and has a two-light window to
the south, and a single-light to the west, in late Perpendicular style.
The font is octagonal, perhaps 15th-century; in the
chancel is some oak panelling, part 17th-century, part
a renewal; and some of the benches are of about the
15th century.
There are two bells, one uninscribed, the other dated
1572. (fn. 19)
The communion plate (fn. 20) includes a large plain
silver cup of 1707, and a paten of 1683; these were
given to the church, apparently, by the rector, George
Henry Woods, whose initials they bear, with the
respective dates 1840 and 1839.
The registers begin at 1558.
ADVOWSON
Singleton appears to have been,
like Easebourne (q.v.), a hundredal
church; that is to say, an early 'missionary centre' with a number of subordinate chapels—
East and West Dean, Binderton, Didling, Dumpford,
and Chilgrove (fn. 21) —of which the first four became
parochial churches. In 1086 the church was said to
possess the unusually large endowment of 3¼ hides,
worth £8 but actually yielding £10 to 'the clerks' who
held it. (fn. 22) These clerks may have been the members of
a local collegiate establishment, but they may have been
the college of secular priests at Arundel, of which Earl
Roger apparently gave the patronage to the Norman
abbey of Séez. The church of Arundel certainly held
the 'prebend' of Singleton in the time of Henry I. (fn. 23)
In 1150 William, Earl of Chichester, and Queen Aeliz
his wife gave to the cathedral of Chichester 'the prebend which William Archdeacon of London held in
West Dean and East Dean', (fn. 24) and this was confirmed
to the canons as 'the prebend of Singleton' by Hilary,
Bishop of Chichester. (fn. 25) Richard I extorted 100 marks
from the canons for a confirmation of the grant in
1190, (fn. 26) they having been deprived of it by Henry II. (fn. 27)
Under an agreement made during the bishopric of
Simon de Welles (1204–7) the advowson of Singleton
was assigned to the Earl of Sussex (or Arundel), various
tithes being assigned to the dean and chapter, who were
to pay 60s. yearly to the rector. (fn. 28) From this time the
advowson followed the descent of the manor until
January 1768, when, on the cession of Henry Peckham
rector of Singleton, the benefice, being insufficient for
the support of a rector (it was valued at only £6 9s. 7d.
in 1535 (fn. 29) ), was united to the vicarage of West Dean. (fn. 30)
The Duke of Richmond, as patron of Singleton, was to
have one turn in three and the dean and chapter two.
This arrangement persisted until 1849, when the two
benefices were again separated, (fn. 31) the Duke of Richmond
retaining the advowson of Singleton; since, the bishop
and dean and chapter of Chichester have been
associated with the duke as patrons. (fn. 32)
Within the Trundle on Rook's Hill can still be
traced the foundations of a little chapel of St. Roche,
a rectangle 14 by 11 ft., of which considerable ruins
were standing in 1723. (fn. 33) This is first recorded in 1570
as 'the late chappell of St. Rooks'. (fn. 34) In 1635 the
churchwardens of Singleton reported that the rector
had 'a little house which by report of ancient men was
bilt in former times for a Mass Priest to live in and to
say Mass at a Chappel standing upon Rooks Hill'; it
stood just north of the churchyard and east of the road
to the church. (fn. 35) Of the history of the chapel nothing
is known.
In 1532 Peter Mawtalye made bequests to the
Brotherhoods of Blessed Mary and of St. Katherine of
Singleton. (fn. 36)
CHARITIES
Ann Butler by her will dated 11
March 1874 bequeathed £100 to the
churchwardens of this parish, the
income to be given to the aged poor of the parish.
The sum of only £17 17s. 5d. was received in respect of the bequest, and the annual income amounts
to 9s.
Henry Smith (Longstock Estate). The share applicable in this parish of the charity of Henry Smith
is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 13 March 1906. The scheme provides that the
income shall be applied in making payments under
various heads for the benefit of the poor of the parish.
The income amounts to £30 approximately and is
administered by four trustees appointed by the parish
council of Singleton.