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Steyning in Sussex County England History and GeographySTEYNING, a borough, market town, and parish, in the hundred of STEYNING, rape of BRAMBER, county of SUSSEX, 24 miles (E. by N.) from Chichester, and 49½ (S. by W.) from London, containing 1324 inhabitants. The name is supposed to be derived from the Steyne-street, an ancient road which passed through this part of the county from Arundel to Dorking. Camden considers it to have been mentioned in Alfred's will by the name of Steyningham. It appears in the Saxon age to have been a place of considerable note; a church, or monastery, having been here built, wherein St. Cadman was buried; and in the Catalogue of Religious Houses, ascribed to Gervase of Canterbury, in the time of Richard I., mention is made of a Dean and Secular canons. It is more certain that King Edward the Confessor gave lands to the monastery of Feschamp in Normandy, which included this place; these being taken away by Earl Godwin, and restored by William the Conqueror, some Benedictine monks were sent from that house, who erected an Alien priory here, which was given to the monastery of Sion by Edward IV., and continued part of its possessions till the dissolution. Speed says, the conventual church was dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, and contained the sacred relics of St. Cuthman (Cadman), and Ethelwulph, father of Alfred the Great: here anciently was also a parochial church of St. Cuthman. Camden speaks of its market as well frequented in his time: the town afterwards became reduced, and is, in the Magna Britannia, a century later, mentioned as 'a mean, contemptible place, with hardly a building fit to put a horse in,' being said then to have contained not more than one hundred and fifty families; but since that period it has been considerably enlarged. It stands at the foot of a lofty hill near the river Adur, over which is a bridge, and consists of four streets, crossing each other. It is supplied with water by a celebrated spring, issuing from a mountain half a mile distant, its stream turning two mills belonging to the town. Great improvement in the buildings and general appearance of the town has been lately made, through the liberality of the Duke of Norfolk. Here were extensive barracks for infantry, which have been pulled down; and within one mile of the town, on the downs, is a racecourse, but races have not been held for the last fifty years. The land in the vicinity of the town is fertile, and the adjoining downs afford good pasturage for sheep. The chief traffic is in cattle, for which there is a monthly market: great numbers are also sold at the fairs. The market is on Wednesday: the fairs are June 9th, September 20th, and October 10th; at the Michaelmas fair more than three thousand head of Welch oxen alone have been disposed of, exclusively of other kinds, together with sheep, horses, hogs, wheat, seeds, &c. Steyning is a borough by prescription, under the authority of a constable, appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor. It sends two members to parliament: the right of election, which has been frequently contested, is in the inhabitant householders paying scot and lot, about eighty in number: the constable is the returning officer. The members were formerly elected in conjunction with Bramber, but at present each town is entitled to return two representative, although one part of Bramber is in the centre of Steyning. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chichester, rated in the king's books at £15, and in the patronage of Sir J. C. Honywood, Bart. The church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, consists of the nave only of a larger cruciform structure, presenting beautiful specimens of the Norman style of architecture. The interior is magnificently enriched: four diagonally ornamented circular arches, surmounted, or terminated, each with a small round-headed window, form the south side of the nave, have, for their beauty and variety, been copied in the repairs of Arundel Castle; the side aisles are much and disproportionably lower. At the east end, where the transept is intersected, are clusters of columns, and arches for supporting a central tower: a lofty Norman arch leads into the chancel. The present tower on the west, of more modern date, is of flint and rubble stone, laid checquer-wise, with angular buttresses. The free school was founded and endowed, in 1614, by William Holland, a native and alderman of Chichester, who bequeathed for that purpose to trustees a garden and messuage, called 'Brotherhood Hall,' then used as a school-house, together with his manor of Festoes, &c., to pay from the proceeds of the latter £20 yearly to a schoolmaster, for the instruction of children of persons dwelling within Steyning and its liberty; the master not to board more than six pay-scholars: the income is £81 10. per annum, and ten boys receive a classical education. Brotherhood Hall is still standing, and most likely received its name from having been the hall of some guild, or fraternity, prior to the dissolution. It consists of a centre, with a large arched entrance and two wings, the roofs split into five divisions and pointed, with large square windows of the time of Henry VIII. No children have been elected to this foundation for some years. A National school is supported by voluntary contributions. John Pell, the mathematician, was educated here. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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