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We must emphasis it a very small narrow road and
probably dates back to at least Roman times, but the roadway is marked
on a map in 1733. The property itself dates from the early 18th
Century. There was a blacksmiths workshop and small pond on the corner
of *** road and the high street in 1877 and probably before.
There is a book known to locals which was
published by the Beeding & Bramber local History society called
“Beeding history of a village”, this book states from
parish records that in 1841 the small house called Little **** on the
Westside of *** Road was close to a large roadside pond. It was then
documented as Noah’s Ark and was lived in by a farm labourer,
Thomas Patching, his wife & six children:
(1841 census)
- Thomas Patching age 40 (approximate DOB1801) -
Death 1847
- Wife Elizabeth Patching age
40
- Death 1842
Son John Patching age
15
-
Death 1906
Son James Patching age
12
- Death 1880
Son Charles Patching age
9
- Death 1896
Samuel Patching age
7
- Death – No
record
Eliza Patching age
5
- Death 1846 / 1848?
Mary Patching age
3 -
Death 1841
The children dying young could be as a result of
them getting some kind of disease as there were few medical treatments
around at the time and the fact Mr Thomas Patching was only a poor farm
worker.
Throughout the period of 1909-1913, many children were excluded from
school on account of ringworm. Other ailments found in the log book for
Upper Beeding Primary School include cases of nits, inflatable
paralysis, mumps, meningitis, impetigo, measles, whooping cough &
typhoid.
During the latter part of 1918 there was a
national epidemic of Influenza, the log bog shows the school was
affected by closing down for 2 weeks, There is no written evidence of
any of pupils of the school dying at the time but nationally the
mortality rate was very high, as the village was a small close
community back then it would have been probable to catch something
& without treatment could have proved fatal.
Unfortunately without the house deeds SPI has
found it very difficult to get any factual information on this actual
property, even after weeks of research……. but SPI will
continue searching……

Upper Beeding lies at the foot of the Downs on
the east bank of the River Adur on the line of ancient trading and
pilgrim routes. In Saxon times it was owned by the Kings of Wessex, but
after the Norman Conquest it became part of the Rape of Bramber, held
by William de Braose. The community was originally called Beeding, with
the civil parish changing to Upper Beeding in modern times
(date unknown).
The two earliest settlements of Upper Beeding were the High street
eastwards from the Adur River up to the village hall, and the south end
of Hyde Street between the junctions of new road and Manor road.
St. Peter’s Church is also known as “Sele Priory”,
which was its name when Benedictine monks lived here. There was a Saxon
Church (small parts of which survive), but the building was largely
reconstructed by the Normans, and again in 1307/1308. The Chapel of Our
Lady (Mary) was added in Victorian times. In later years one of the
windows was incorporated into Buncton Church, near Wiston and pieces of
Caen stone can be seen all round the village, incorporated into walls
and buildings. Pieces of carved stone can even be seen in the
churchyard wall. The old vicarage was replaced in 1792 by the present
building, which became a private house in 1960, still called Sele
Priory, while the former farmhouse of Church Farm became the vicarage.
In the early 13th Century the monks of Sele
Priory (St Peter's Church, Beeding) began a mission to the area of St
Leonard's Forest near Horsham. , and
established a small mission base,
naming it Lower . Despite being some 10 miles away,
Lower Beeding remained a part of (Upper) Beeding parish until
Victorian times
About 1840 landholding was dominated by a few
large estates, most of which were leased. The estates of the
Bridger’s, lords of Beeding and Horton, included two large farms,
Beeding Court, and Upper Horton, The Horton manor belonging to the
Burrell’s, and Tottington Manor included two farms belonging to
the Clitherows and the Blunts. Other large estates included Pond farm
and the Hyde in Upper Beeding village, but the only two which were
owner-occupied were the Penfolds' New House farm, and W. Gorringe's New
Horton in the north, a farm created between 1795 and 1813.
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