This article takes us on an imaginary stroll through the centre of Walberton in 1894. Many of the buildings are still with us. Those pictured are named in italics and listed buildings are underlined.
To
detour for a few moments from The Street itself, Church Lane leaves The Street by Magnolia Cottage and
leads, past the Dower House, to St Mary's Church. The Church
is recorded in Domesday and a plaque just inside lists the incumbents from the
11th century to the present day.
Just after the year of this imaginary stroll, the vicar conducted such a disastrous restoration of the inside of the church that it forced the Church of England to introduce strong controls in order to prevent similar damage in other churches.
On the way through the churchyard back to The Street, you will pass a yew tree that was already hundreds of years old when the church was built.
The remaining part of our 1894 walk along the east end of The Street would have
continued on the left with a line of trees and fields, until we reached a small group of
cottages of which the first was Smugglers Cottage
then divided into two. Next came the Old School built by Miss Packe of Avisford Park
for the 'better class of family' in the 1860s and already (as now) divided into two private houses.
Then after three more
cottages the road ends with the more successful and enduring of the two smithies,
known as The Forge. At the time of this stroll, the Forge was
worked by Mr Harry Harker and was part of the Avisford Park Estate. Twenty
years later, Mr Harker retired and the Forge was bought by John Robinson Atkins, who had
come down from Suffolk (via Chertsey) and had been working at what is now Fontwell
racecourse. He died in 1952, having seen cheap mass
production and the internal combustion engine slowly kill off the
business. However, he was renowned for the quality of his decorative
ironwork and many examples (mostly gates) still exist in the village, including
the strapwork bench on the Playing Field. His grandson Geoff continued to
use the forge until the 1960s and was the last working blacksmith in the
village.
On the south side of The Street, after the walled garden of Walberton House, was the
very grand Vicarage, which in 1891 housed the Revd W.H. lrvine,
his wife, five children, one niece, three boarding children and three servants -fourteen in all! As
well as the Vicarage it was also a private school (hence the boarders) at which, according to
the Census, the Vicar and two of his daughters taught.
After one more cottage there finally came the
last major landmark in Walberton, the Brewery
complex. This consisted of a large Brewhouse at the west end, a large Malthouse at the
east end together with stables and five dwellings between. The manager, W. Lovett, had the
largest while the Drayman, W. Murrell, had the smallest. No doubt today this smelly
factory, for it was no less, would have been regarded as a blot on the landscape; it is
not surprising that the owner, Michael Ellis, lived in peace at The Laurels at the other
end of the village!
Sources for this article include: 1891 Census - Walberton; Ordnance Survey Map, Walberton, 1876, 25" to a mile; 'Unknown to history and fame,' by Brenda Dixon; Kelly's Directory 1887, 1895, 1902, sundry deeds and wills.
Text by John Eyre, with minor amendments
Photography by Roger Putnam
Page prepared by Mike Roddham
Edited by Martin Bond
3rd April 2003