CANTERBURY IN SUSSEX

BY KIM LESLIE

Some very curious boundaries across Sussex can be discovered in days gone by. Part of Hampshire was once in Sussex whilst Broadwater on the coast had a detached part of its parish miles away up near Horsham. Around Bognor, several parishes and their churches were quite outside the authority of the diocese of Chichester, coming under the diocese of Canterbury in Kent. Pagham, South Bersted, Tangmere and Slindon were completely exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishops of Chichester but subject to the faraway archbishops over in Canterbury. It all goes back to Bishop Wilfrid of Chichester who gifted these parishes to the archbishop in the 7th century. They were known as archbishops’ ‘peculiars’.

The map of 1724 shows the bounds of the Hundred of Aldweek (i.e. Aldwick; a hundred being an ancient civil administrative area), and the Deanery of Pagham (an area for church government) – both highlighted by modern colouring –extending from the sea coast to the edge of the Downs at Slindon, the total area representing the original archbishops’ peculiar.

See how Slindon is connected to the rest of the hundred and deanery by the narrowest finger of land dividing Eastergate and Aldingbourne. In this way this tiny slither of land brought together the archbishops’ territory. The road linking Pagham to Slindon is one of the oldest roads in the Bognor area, at least medieval in origin. Parts of the route still follow much of its ancient alignment along Chalcraft Lane, skirting what is now The Royal Oak (‘The Pink Pub’), across to North Bersted Street, then on northwards to Shripney and Slindon where the archbishops had a former palace on the site of what is now Slindon College. Imagine medieval archbishops of Canterbury with their stately retinues and luggage trains travelling this way on their official duties, such a far cry from today’s busy traffic roaring along these same roads. They frequently stayed at Slindon when visiting their Sussex properties, as did Archbishop Stephen Langton, famed for his leadership in the struggle against King John which led to Magna Carta in 1215. He died here in 1228 and is commemorated in Slindon church.

This historic connection with Canterbury explains why Pagham’s parish church was dedicated to the murdered Archbishop Thomas à Becket. Even today the archbishop is still patron of the living, as he is of South Bersted.

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ARUN & CHICHESTER (AIR) ENTHUSIASTS SOCIETY

AirACES www.airaces.org.uk

Patrons – Sqn Ldr Richard (Dick) Kharegat RAF (Retd) – ex Vulcan, Victor, B52 Pilot Wg Cdr Robert (Bob) Prothero MRAeS, MIMgt, RAF (Retd) – ex Victor Pilot Monday 27th February 2023 - 1900 for 1930 hrs

‘Formation Display Pilot’ presented by Mr Andy Evans, Team Leader, The Blades Aerobatic Team

Andy Evans will offer Air Aces members an exceptional insight into the life of a formation display pilot and the requirements and demands of the profession. As one of the most experienced display pilots in the world, with almost 2,700 hours in the Extra 300 alone, he has accumulated almost 8,500 flying hours. With all of this experience, Andy is also a Qualified Flying Instructor so well positioned to be mentoring and commanding the team when he took over as Team Leader in 2018, as well as managing the team’s flying itinerary.

Andy began his flying career in 1984 when he was awarded an RAF flying scholarship. He joined the RAF in 1985 as a member of Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron and following completion of officer training at Cranwell, Andy was selected to conduct his flying training in Texas, being awarded his wings in 1989. A former front-line Jaguar pilot, Andy flew on operations over the Balkans and spent three years as the Air Show Advisor to the Royal Saudi Air Force National Aerobatic Team. Andy is also a former Red Arrows pilot, flying with the Team between 1997 and 2000 and after his third year, he was the first Red Arrows pilot to stay on and become Team Manager, flying as Red 10.

AirACES is an aviation talk society, providing its members with regular talks, given by experts in many different fields related to the world of aviation. The talks are held at the Chichester Park Hotel, Westhampnett Road, Chichester 7pm for 7.30 start. Members £5, visitors £7 and under 16s FREE. Doors open at 6.45 no pre-booking, no reserved seating For further information about AirACES, please see www.airaces.org.uk, or call David Batcock on 01243 823007.

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