(Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 8) ( Bk. Index )

Cecil Bishopp Estate Map - 1814

Introduction

The purpose in making this map is fairly obvious. Not only had the estate, belonging to Cecil Bishopp, never been surveyed accurately before, so far as can be determined, but the recent Inclosures and exchange of lands, had changed the face of the village and any extensive landowner would require clarity as to what he now owned. Nevertheless, it is a problem for historians that no map was made to show, in detail, how land in the extensive common field area south of the village, had been distributed before inclosure.

Unfortunately the original map is not kept at West Sussex Record Office, and their copy is none too clear in some parts, in particular the village centre. Reference numbers for various houses are difficult to read and locate accurately. But, in association with other sources, it is likely that very few errors have been made in the schedules and maps which follow this introduction.

There are several interesting features revealed by this survey. In the first place, although the Bishopp family of Parham were lords of the two main Angmering manors, this title was so far removed from its medieval origins, that they were in reality little more than principal landowners, with a major portion of the parish now owned by the Dukes of Norfolk, including New Place and Angmering Park. The Parham estate extended to under 1,400 acres, concentrated in the east at Ecclesden and Avenals, together with Lower Barpham on the downs. One field included was in fact an outlier of Poling parish, north of the village, about where the present school is sited, and it was not taken into Angmering parish for another sixty years.

As a result of the inclosure, Cecil Bishopp had taken over the entire West Common, stretching west from the church to Black Ditch. While, south of the village, his lands were now concentrated in a single large ‘allotment’. On the other hand Avenals had always been a separate block of land, and Ecclesden village had lost its common fields in the 18th century, as its lands were taken into one large farm.

Ecclesden was indeed a decayed village, having consisted of a thriving settlement surrounding Ecclesden Green. But by 1814, all that survived, apart from Ecclesden Manor and its cottages, which had never belonged to Bishopp, was the present farmhouse at Upper Ecclesden, and the farmhouse nearby at Upper Hangleton, together with two isolated cottages on the west side of Ecclesden Lane.  Soon afterwards those two cottages were also gone.

Nor did the Lord of the Manor own the majority of houses in Angmering parish, with less than half the 1811 census total of 106. His greatest  concentration was along the Street and at the Square or Green. Another concentration was north of the village, along the present A27, including a number of cottages built on ‘waste’ with perhaps one or two of these originating as squatters buildings. There are instances where permission to use the roadside waste for cottages was provided, in the centre of the village and some other roadside gardens have the characteristic strip of verge appearance. 

It is quite noticeable that none of his houses and cottages were situated in Arundel Road, with this perhaps a more salubrious corner of the village, apart from the Parish Cottages. Several of the owners of these and other houses and fields are named on the map, confirming how the inclosure had apportioned land.

Although the schedule provides details of field areas and cultivation, arable, pasture, wood, and furze, there is no division of the lands according to tenancy and farm. The reference numbers run from north to south, but with Barpham last of all. 

Schedules 1 and 2

Schedule 1

The entire Schedule of the Pechell Estate Fields and Houses

a - arable                p – pasture            w – wood               furze

Acres, rood and perches.  4 roods per acre    40 perches per rood. 
approx 2.5 acres to one hectare

Schedule 2

Schedule of the Pechell houses and cottages
and several houses in other ownership [in italics]

No – ref number
description in 1814 schedule
tithe number in 1839 tithe map
general location  in modern road names
name of house in recent usage
owner in 1839 tithe map

Maps 1 to 5

Map 1

South Angmering from Highdown footpath at
Portbank to the Lakes of Ecclesden
The layout of fields is modified from the 1839 Tithe Map and will not be exact

Map 2

North Angmering from Ecclesden Common to Highdown footpath at
Portbank
The layout of fields is modified from the 1839 Tithe Map and will not be exact

Map 3

Church Farm
from Old Place farm
to Black Ditch
The layout of fields is modified from the 1839 Tithe Map and will not be exact

Map 4

Hammerpot
from Angmering Park
to the A27
The layout of fields is modified from the 1839 Tithe Map and will not be exact

Map 5

Lower Barpham
north of Bargham
or Upper Barpham
The layout of fields is based on the 1839 Tithe Map and will not be exact

RWS 19.4.09

Information Source: WSRO Ad Mss 1980