Lavant News March 2020

LAVANT NEWS March 2020

FREE

Welcome back to Andrew

Berriman with an exclusive preview of his local history of the May family - see p32

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Contents Rector’s Letter

5

Memorial Hall

7

Lavant Players

9

Lavant WI

11

/ Let’s Walk

Lavant History Project

13

Lavant CE Primary School

15

Lavant Friendly Club

17

Lavant Parish Council

19

Sussex Wildlife Trust

23

Horticultural Society

25

Short Mat Bowls Club

29

Lavant Toddlers

31

The Mays of Raughmere - Part 1

32

Parish Registers / Lent Appeal

34

Church Services & Readings

35

Church Contacts

36

Local Contacts

37

Diary

38

We are pleased to welcome back a previously regular contributor to Lavant News. Andrew Berriman has offered us a short history of the May family at Raughmere. It may be short but, due to space constraints, we are having to break this up into 2 parts. The first is included this month and the remaining part will hopefully appear in the April edition.

It’s lovely to see all the spring flowers blooming, and there are plenty in this edition too. Thank goodness for the improving weather and the promise of warmth and sunshine to come.

The editorial team welcome any articles from all groups in the community for inclusion, but we do stress there is a deadline of the 5th of each month.

Don’t forget you can also find out the latest news from the pews and more at: https://www.lavantchurches.net/usefulinformation/lavant-news

The Lavant News Team

Editorial Team:

lavantnews@lavantchurches.net Elaine Mallett 776997 / Amanda Smith Distribution: lavantnewssubscriptions@lavantchurches.net Liz Ryder 527696 Advertising/Events: advertising@lavantchurches.net (Free or Paid) Damon Evison 07968 541590

07748 016301

DEADLINE FOR COPY - 5th OF EACH MONTH 3

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The Rector’s Letter Give thanks to all mothers Dear Friends Mothering Sunday falls on Sunday

that they could visit family as well as their mother church. It became something of a

22nd

feast day, a chance to eat some nice things

March. It has been celebrated on this, the

which were normally absent in the lean time

fourth Sunday in Lent for several hundred

of Lent.

years, so it is hardly a new invention.

However, over time it fell out of custom and

We commonly think of it as a day when we

by the Victorian era had all but died out. It

give thanks for our mothers. Children will

was the daughter of a vicar, Constance

give cards and sometimes little presents.

Penswick-Smith who set about revitalising

Many families will go out for Sunday lunch

Mothering Sunday. But she moved with the

that day to give mum a treat. In fact if you

times and through her efforts Mothering

were planning to book a table for lunch that

Sunday became set in

day and have not done so yet then you had

the calendar once

more, but this time with the emphasis on

better get a move on. Just about every pub

giving thanks for motherhood.

and restaurant will be fully booked that day.

I know from bitter experience of leaving it

I would guess that every church marks the

rather too late one year!

day in some way now. At Lavant then we give special attention to all ladies on that

Back in the sixteenth century though it had

day, be they mothers themselves or not, with

nothing to do with mothers at all. The word

every lady being given a posy of flowers at

‘mothering’ referred to the ‘mother church’ of

the end of the service.

the region. For us here that would mean Chichester Cathedral. On the fourth Sunday

Do join us this Mothering Sunday to give

of Lent people would go to their mother

thanks for motherhood—but don’t forget to

church for a special service. Perhaps that

book your table for Sunday lunch.

meant that all the parish priests got that

With every blessing,

Sunday off as a result!

David

It was known as ‘going-a– mothering’ Domestic servants might get the day off so

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Lavant Memorial Hall Testing, testing...

To finish up January, we had the usual Lavant Players production and it was nice to see some new people join the cast and to involve the children once more. It really went back to the “Music Hall” days and to achieve a near sold out situation, it must have been very rewarding for them. They were beset with several problems on their way through, but like good troopers managed to overcome. Our thanks are due to all of the organisations, that moved their bookings around a bit to allow the Players to devote the necessary time to reach a very good standard in performance. I have witnessed the tremendous effort they put in to get things right. Let us hope these joyful occasions continue for many years.

We still have a certain amount of Playgroup equipment, which is taking up space.

There are several trikes, a see saw and a slide and then 26 small chairs. If anyone knows where we might get a few pounds for these, we would be grateful. We also have a new pair of size 11 trainers at half retail price for sale for Hall Funds.

The major event in the Hall Diary for March, is a Race Night on 21st, which Hazel and I are doing as a joint Fund Raiser by the Harbour Rotary Club and the Hospice Support Group. It is mainly a fun evening with only light hearted betting and is usually a very sociable occasion. Please come.

Tony Bleach

Work is going on to bring some of the old electrics up to standard, which will use up some of our Funds and it has been decided that, as the Hot Water Boiler is now five years old and beginning to play up, that we should buy a new one. We also have had our annual PAT Test on electrical appliances and one or two have had to be discarded, so you can see we are always trying to improve our lovely Hall for your enjoyment.

200 Club Draw Results

1st

£52 Penny Yendell (65)

2nd £22 Vi Misselbrook (144)

Plans are being made, for a celebration in 2021 to mark the 100 years of the Hall. It was built as a Memorial to those who gave their lives in World War 1 and has certainly been well used over the years.

3rd £12 Keith Fancy (149)

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Units 1 & 2, Lavant, Chichester, PO18 0BW

01243 532630

www.a1autocarechichester.co.uk

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Lavant Players A Dream of a Show!

Those of us lucky enough to get the sought after tickets for the Lavant Players performance of A Million Dreams at the weekend, were in for a real treat - it was a dream of a show. The talented main cast of

of the three young soloists, Laila Fletcher,

13 adults and 8 children entertained us

George Wallis and Kieran Turnbull, who sang

royally for over 2 hours - they must have

their solos with confidence and verve.

been exhausted, but the audience left

Kieran sat at the front of the stage to sing

wanting more.

“Different” which created a lump in the throat, and this sad tone was counteracted

From the opening

by the bouncy fun of the children’s “Green

number “Bon

Eggs and Ham” number.

Voyage” performed with

Many of the cast sang

great precision and care, the audience was

solos. In addition there

taken on a journey through a variety of

was a supporting choir of 6

moods: the melancholy, the yearning, the

and a guitar group of 7.

comic, the joyful, the loving and the fun. I

Cynthia Blades had the

can’t possibly refer to every number or all

hairs tingling at the back of

the cast members, but I would like to pick

the neck with her beautiful

out a few:

“Impossible Dream”.

Jenny Quest’s French rendition of “Nicer in

Kathryn Wignall’s direction and hard work in

Nice” brought forth a fair few chuckles, while

rehearsal meant that every one of the cast

the husband and wife team of Eileen and

knew exactly what to do. It was a terrific

Andrew Ockwell singing “Who wants to be a

ensemble piece, the kind a community can

Millionnaire?”

create and many a professional group fail to

was polished and

achieve.

full of wry smiles.

Caroline

A special mention

Reynolds

needs to be made 9

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Lavant WI Emergency, emergency...

The President, Elaine Mallett, welcomed Karen Bates the Denman College Ambassador for West Sussex. Karen spoke about the College and was pleased that three members of Lavant WI had applied for the Lavant WI Bursary Scheme to attend a course there.

Janet Morley was the lucky member who’s name was drawn to attend the college in July.

Alec requested an aerial survey of the southern end of the Roman Road which runs from Silchester, near Basingstoke, to Chichester Northgate.

Alec wished to establish the alignment of the road where it passes Lavant village. Jerome found very little evidence until one day the side ditches of the road appeared in a newly ploughed field.

The 5 resolutions for the National AGM in the Albert Hall were detailed and our members voted to support the resolution on Modern Slavery.

The President also announced details of the literary festival at Fishbourne.

It was then possible to construct the route of the road and this alignment now appears on the Ordinance Survey maps of the Lavant area.

Due to the late cancellation of our planned speaker through illness, we had an emergency speaker, Jerome O’Hea, who gave a very interesting first-hand account of finding the track of the Roman Road which passes through West Lavant. In the 1960’s, Jerome and his wife Elizabeth studied Field Archaeology at Chichester College with Alec Down and were involved in a number of excavations in the city. Having learnt to fly, Jerome provided Alec Down with aerial photographs of many of the active archaeological sites.

Visitors are very welcome to our forthcoming meetings, 2pm at Lavant Memorial Hall: 17th March Speaker - Gwendolyn van Paaschen Subject - Denman’s Garden & John Brookes Foundation 21st April Speaker - Louise Peskett Subject - Pioneering Women of Sussex

Let’s Walk Halnaker Windmill...

As you approach Halnaker Windmill, you go through a wonderful walkway through deciduous trees which, in March, should be starting to bud. Hence we thought we would venture up there for our walk in March, led

by Robert Newman. We will start from the Village Green at 2pm on Sunday 15th March.

Any questions to Robert on 775059 please.

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The Lavant History Project Coals from Newcastle...

We may live next to the Estate and

part in the very first fox hunt in the

walk or even work there –the History

country. We know that he was here as

of Goodwood is something many of us

early as 1689, because records show

are familiar with, but how much do we

that he presented the Corporation of St

really know? January’s meeting was

Pancras

an excellent opportunity to refresh our

Goodwoode’.

with

a

‘fatte bucke from

knowledge or find out much much more.

The name Goodwood is thought to derive from ‘Godwin’s Wood’: Godwin, the father of King Harold the famous one who, with an eyeful of arrow/ On his horse, with his hawk in his hand. was killed at the battle of Hastings.

He managed to buy Goodwood House in 1697 and moved his young family in as early as 1701.

The Duke’s income came from a curious source, he was granted the The French connection continues as,

taxes levied on coal traded from

the 1st Duke was the delicately called

Newcastle.

‘natural’ son of King Charles II and

Century we rather shudder to think of

Louise

of

the exploitation required to pay for a

Portsmouth. Born in 1672, the child’s

King’s son’s amusement. However, his

de

Keroualle,

Duchess

first surname was Fitzroy and later

Perhaps in the 21st

(Continued on page 14)

Lennox. He visited this area to take 13

to have his own hunting lodge built –

(Continued from page 13)

Fox Hall can still be seen in Charlton. extravagant expenditure was still more

A commentary of the time records how

than even coals from Newcastle could

at Fox Hall, these votaries of Diana, (the

cover and when he died in 1723, his

Duke and his friends) feasted after the

estate was in debt.

chase and recounted the feats of the day.

The 2nd Duke, born in 1701 was even

Please feel free to join us

more

when we meet on the last Monday of

passionate about

hunting

and

became

Master

of

every month at the Lavant Room, St Mary’s Church @ 7:00pm EVERYONE is WELCOME

the

Contact point Louise Tucker

Hounds in 1729.

His

01243 528325

marriage

hmltucker68@gmail.com

settlement allowed him to buy the manors of Charlton and Singleton and

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Lavant CE Primary School Fitness, sport and dancing…

This school year has seen many children

this

across the school engage, compete and

thoroughly enjoying with one year 6

challenge

some

commenting, “I feel so relaxed and calm

We

now!”. It has been wonderful to see every

have been incredibly proud to see the

child in the school push themselves

determination our children have shown

during this time, and the impact on their

when learning a new skill, and have had

fitness is evident as their personal

some

challenges

themselves

with

wonderful sporting opportunities.

wonderful

successes

in

which

the

and

children

targets

have

have

been

been

competitions.

We kicked off the year with a ‘Tag Rugby’ festival where the children rotated round different

skills

and

drills,

which

culminated in a few friendly matches between schools.

As it turns out, our

team were incredibly fast, and worked wonderfully as a team - we won every

match!

We also had wonderful success at the Cross Country even held at Bishop Luffa School last week with one of our year 6

smashed.

girls coming 17th out of 160 girls and a

Rehearsals for ‘Dance House’ are also

year 5 boy coming 34th out of 222 boys. A

under way and the few sneak peaks I’ve

big muddy well done to all our runners!

had it’s looking like a fantastic routine the

As a school we are also continuing to

children are learning; colourful scarves

develop our daily ’15 minutes of fitness’

and Queen are sure to make a wonderful

and have, this term, introduced some

impact on the big stage!

stretching and mindfulness practices into

Mrs. Kern – PE Leader 15

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Lavant Friendly Club Oyez, Oyez, Oyez...

In November the club were entertained by

Two extra meetings

the Chichester Town Crier, Mr Richard

for the club have

Plowman. A very interesting evening during

been added on a

which he talked about town crying history,

trial basis: February

how it all began and how it has changed over

5th and March 4th

the years. There was a lot of laughter as six

at 2.00pm at the

members of the club had a go using a long

Memorial Hall, then continuing with our

script of what to say or call out.

evening meetings in April. Anybody is welcome, and a pick-up service is available

Out Christmas party was on December 6th

via Contact 88 at the usual places at 1.30pm

and everybody had a great time. Our large

for the afternoon meetings.

raffle this year was 49 prizes! Many thanks

to Mrs Bleach and her helpers, who made a

Betty Elleker, Secretary

lovely meal which was greatly appreciated.

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Lavant Parish Council Houses, roads, speed and rubbish!

At the time of going to press the Council is preparing to appear at the February SDNPA Planning Committee regarding the Eastmead development. As the proposed plan flies in the face of the Lavant Neighbourhood Plan affordable housing and parking policies, as well as creating an unsafe entry/exit to the A286, your Council will be objecting to the plans.

We will continue to press for a much better plan.

For the next few months we all will have to put up with the Pook Lane roadworks. You should all have been advised of these by Portsmouth Water. The Parish Council had no prior knowledge of these works but we will nonetheless monitor their impact on traffic around the village and raise any concerns that may arise directly with the water company and their contractors. You never know, the lengthy inconveniences may put some rat-running drivers off using Lavant permanently!

Fortunately Portsmouth Water has agreed to suspend the roadworks for the day of the Village Fete.

60mph, this is proposed to reduce to 40mph and will hopefully be implemented later in the summer. This will make this stretch of road much safer and provide another potential Speedwatch site!

Our Lavant Volunteer Task Force (LVTF) have been as busy as usual, despite the winter weather. Recently they were out litter picking near Binderton and out towards West Stoke, putting themselves at the mercy of the traffic, whilst collecting a massive and somewhat unbelievable 20 bags of rubbish, including some very undesirable items! If you don’t want it, don’t throw it out of your car please, or drop it whilst out walking, take it home with you. Help keep our village clean and tidy. The volunteers have much more useful things to do around the village!

If you want to join them, call Adrian on 527705 or Bob on 776997.

Our Speedwatch team continue to turn out at their various sites around the village and at differing times of day to record speeding drivers. They are all reported and each receive a letter from the Police. We have some repeat offenders where the Police action is escalated.

Our new Clerk, Dawn Salter, is settling in nicely now. Don’t forget if you want to talk WSCC has recently been consulting on a to her face-to-face you can see her in the permanent speed reduction on the main Committee Room at LMH on Tuesday road between the top of end of Chichester mornings 9.30am-12.30pm. Of course, you and the Lavant boundary, incorporating the can also call her on 784142 and email her at entries to Roman Fields, the Co-Op garage lavantparishcouncil@gmail.com too. site and Maddoxwood. Where it is currently 19

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Helen.oldvic@gmail.com www.theoldgranary.org

The Sussex Wildlife Trust Common Seal by Michael Blencowe Legend has it that it’s been visiting Lewes

second biggest wild mammal in this area

for years. There have been sightings from

(and

Southease all the way up to Barcombe. In

smallest; the Pygmy Shrew). As you’d

January, John glimpsed it vanishing into

imagine, on land this blubbery behemoth is

the murky waters of the River Ouse near

about as agile as Peter Ustinov trapped in a

Tesco. A few months later, Barry was on

sleeping bag but underwater they’re as

his way to work when he encountered the

balletic

creature hauled out on a pontoon by the

swimming at speeds of up to 25 mph as

Cuilfail cliffs. You’ll find 38 species of wild

they hunt fish, shellfish, squid and octopus.

mammal

It’s this quest for food that occasionally

living

in

or

around

Lewes.

Badgers, foxes, stoats, weasels, shrews,

50,000

as

times

heavier

Baryshnikov,

than

the

gracefully

leads seals into Sussex rivers such as the

rabbits, hares, moles, voles, dormice, bats,

Ouse and the Arun as they follow fish

rats, hedgehogs, mice and mink all form the

migrating upstream. Common Seals breed

mammalian fauna of a landlocked South

in Sussex, where there is a colony at

Downs town. Yet there’s one salty surprise

Chichester Harbour. It’s a sink or swim

on the list; the Common Seal, an animal

situation for seal pups born on the

that’s typically found in Britain’s coastal

sandbanks exposed during the low tides of

waters 12 kilometres away.

summer. Their aquatic life starts as the

And the seal’s certainly a surprise to any

next high tide rolls in and within hours of

Lewes residents who, while innocently

their birth they’re swimming in the Solent

strolling along the Ouse, encounter their

alongside their mother. Mother’s milk helps

local

the

them to double their birth weight in just a

legendary beast myself but have received

leviathan.

I’ve

never

seen

few weeks. The name ‘common’ is a bit of a

plenty of excited tweets, emails and mobile

misnomer. In British waters you’re three

phone photos from amazed observers who

times more likely to see their larger, Roman-

can’t believe what they’ve seen. Throughout

nosed relative the Grey Seal. The patterns

history, sailors (without the benefit of

on each seal’s fur are as individual as

smartphones and a Twitter account) have

fingerprints. Keep an eye out when you’re

confused seals for mermaids and sea

next walking by along a Sussex riverbank

serpents and, as Sussex mammals go, this

and see if a seal is giving the river its

seal is a real monster.

approval.

Common Seals can weigh up to 150 kg;

www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk

twice the weight of a Fallow Deer, the 23

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It’s official!- Spring starts on March 20th How cheering to see the daffodils and

Feed borders with a general-purpose

other bulbs in flower after the grey

fertiliser especially around roses, shrubs

months of winter. The clocks change to

and hedges and prune out any wind-

BST on the 29th of this month and plants

damaged branches on trees and shrubs,

(and weeds) will really start to grow with

Check tender new shoots for aphids and

the extra daylight and hopefully some

remove before infestations take hold.

warmth.

Take down bubble insulation in the

February’s LHS meeting was the ever popular

Annual

Buffet

Supper.

greenhouse once temperatures start to

The

rise and to let in more light. Open

evening was enjoyed by all those who

greenhouse vents on sunny days to

attended.

prevent humidity building up.

Our meeting on March 11th at 7.30 is a

Get plant supports in place as plants

talk by West Dean Gardens new Head

come into growth.

gardener Tom Brown and is entitled “100

Seeds

Great Plants for your Garden”. He is

of

Tomatoes,

Chillies,

Sweet

peppers and Aubergines can all be

going to share with us his recent book.

started off indoors this month and onion

Tom’s talk is preceded by our Spring

and shallot sets can be planted out.

Flower Competition details of which can

Mow the lawn on dry days if this has not

be found in your programme and also on

already been done and last but not least,

the website Lavanthortsoc.org.uk

keep feeding the birds as the breeding

There are plenty of jobs to be getting on

season gets underway.

with this month:

We are always pleased to welcome

Weeds will be appearing thick and fast

visitors and new members . Please see

and so best to hoe them off whilst they

the website for details of our programme

are small.

for the year.

Deadhead flowering bulbs but leave the leaves to die back naturally to feed the bulbs for next years flowers. A liquid feed

Happy gardening!

will help too.

Linda Hughes.

Finish pruning bush and climbing roses if not already completed.

25

Morning & Afternoon sessions now available Monday to Friday To arrange a visit, please call 01243 811 423 www.westdeanpreschool.co.uk 26

An Exhibition of Vintage Christening Gowns St Mary’s Church Easter Monday We would like to include those used

by Lavant families.

There will also be pre-1960 TOYS and items of lace and embroidery.

Please look in your cupboards to see if you have anything which you would be prepared to lend for this special day.

Friends of Lavant Churches Sue Jackson Tel: 01243 527725

THE RESULT OF THE CHRISTMAS APPEAL Many thanks indeed to everyone who was able to support the

Christmas Appeal.

Through your generosity, ÂŁ787.48 was donated to each of the charities: The Four Streets Project and HEART. Both of these work with the homeless people of Chichester . They give through

practical

support

providing food everyday as well as

helping these vulnerable people access other support services.

Thank you, the money you gave will make a real difference to the work of these small charities in reaching out to local people in need of support.

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The Four Streets Project

28

Short Mat Bowls Mixed results...

After a good start to the season our Red team, in Countywide Div 2 of the league has struggled, finding it difficult to get much success in the games we have played. We made the long trip to the other side of Crawley to play Downsman and came away empty handed after losing by 55-23 for no points. We did little better in our home game against Fittleworth, struggling to a 19-19 draw on Peter Whale’s mat but losing 31-19 on Peter Winter’s.

The return match away at Fittleworth was a much closer affair with both mats losing on the last end for no points, when if the games had finished one end earlier we would have had 6 points. Such is the way of these things! Despite the poor results we still lie 3rd in the league table.

Meanwhile our Blue team, in SW1 have had no more success, managing only 2 points from 3 home games. They lost 44-31 to Crablands, 41-32 to Arundel Swallows and 40-37 to Arundel Mullets, but won on one mat for their 2 points. They are at present bottom of the league but have

games in hand on all the teams above them.

In the County KO Cup our A team, after their win against our B team, drew Arundel at home in the second round and won a close game 44-39 to go on to an away game against Bognor. Our B team had a trip to Norfolk at Littlehampton in the Plate competition with no success, losing 70-28 at a difficult venue.

We have also played a number of friendly matches, with a close win at home to Norfolk 54-53, a more comfortable win 73-40 at home to Aldingbourne, home and away wins against Wisborough Green 77 -53 and 34-23 and a 63-40 win against Midhurst. We need to transfer some of the friendly form into league results!

We continue with our regular rollups on a Thursday evening from 79 and would welcome anyone who would like to try their hand at the game.

Muriel Winter

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At St. Nicholas Church Monday Mornings, 8.30am-11.30am Paying-in, Pensions, Parcels, Recorded Deliveries You can do it all‌. Use it or lose it!

Squires Plumbing & Heating

THAT’S HANDY HARRY

01243 778252 / 07773 871488

Painting & Decorating

Registered by

General Household Maintenance & Repairs

Gas Safe & Institute of Plumbers

Gardening, Fencing & Hedge Trimming

59 Springfield Close, Lavant

Tel: Dave 01243 779955 Free Estimates

LFP IRONING SERVICE

Independent Hairdressing

Let us lighten the load for you.

Professional Hairdresser

We offer the complete ironing service at

30 Years Experience

competitive rates.

Please call Tracy

Tel: 01243 531138 Mob: 07773 009241

01243 537623 or 07534 870272

EAST ASHLING NURSERIES

Alterations / Repairs

Geraniums, Fuchsias, Hanging Baskets,

Dressmaking / Special Occasion

Shrubs, Herbaceous & Clematis

& Christening Wear

Lye Lane, East Ashling 01243 575523

Call Vicky: 01243 779932

B & G Motors

Sonja Lane

Vehicle Repairs & Servicing

Quality Hairdressing

Unit 18 Eastmead Industrial Estate

In your Own Home

Midhurst Road, Lavant

25years Experience

01243 528135

Please contact me on 01243 267327

David Doyle Gardening Services

THIS SPACE COULD BE JUST WHAT YOU NEED!

Local reliable RHS trained gardener

Contact advertising@lavantchurches.net for more information

Tel: 07821 187827 or 01243 784060 Email: wicklow999@hotmail.com

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St. Nic’s Toddler Group eek - Jelly fish!

Children (and their Mums!) recently helped to decorate the Christmas tree at St Nic’s, and have recently had great fun making jelly fish! Come and join them, see our advert below.

31

The Mays of Raughmere - Part 1 (of 2)

by Andrew Berriman I’ve always resisted the attempt to unravel the complicated ancestry of the Mays. There always seemed to be just too many of them. Every generation of Mays was so fecund, with so many children. Just look at their numerous copper coffin plates, now on the vestry wall in the nave of St. Nicholas. Even if there had been fewer Mays, I would still have fought shy of undertaking family history. It is fraught with danger, potential pitfalls, cul de sacs. Even when accurately carried out, it remains really hard to make it anything more than a dull catalogue of names and dates, more almanac than proper History, with little flesh to put on individual bones. The reader quickly loses interest. However, my task with the Mays turns out to be somewhat easier than I first thought; they were actually only a prominent family in Lavant for less than a century, the direct male inheritance only lasting from 1591 to 1672. So it’s really only four generations of Mays to unravel. Many of them led significant lives, both on the local and national stage. I wholly reject the bizarre view expressed by H.H.Curtis in his rather curious, undated ‘Little Book of Lavant’, that ‘Of the Mays no one individual can be singled out as occupying a distinguished position in Church or State’. Church maybe, but in State affairs, that is simply untrue.

Various medical issues, and the recent wet weather, have left me housebound this winter, so I’m keen to tackle the Mays. Another reason is that I’m intending to revisit the fifty or more ‘Lavant Then’ articles which I wrote for ‘Lavant News’ from 2011 to 2016. I am preparing them for publication in book form this summer, with the working title, ‘In Search of Lavant’. So

I decided that I did need to get my head round the May family jigsaw, to get it right. The dread of any historian is to state something in print, which later turns out to be incorrect. As C.P.Scott once wrote, ‘Facts are sacred, comment is free’. This article will not appear in the book, however, as I wrote ‘Lavant Then’ articles about Jane Henshawe (née May), Hugh May, and Dame Mary May, and these three will receive full treatment therein.

After 1581 the Mays owned the manor of Mid Lavant or Rawmere. It was originally owned by Shulbrede Priory, then came into Royal hands after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1557 Queen Mary Tudor sold it to John Wiseman of Essex for £789. At this stage the manor was land

1 Raughmere - 1728

only, with no building on it.

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Richard May (? /1588) In 1581 Richard May bought the manor from John Wiseman. The Mays came from Wadhurst in Kent. They were one of the many successful, upwardly mobile Tudor families who became wealthy through commerce, law and service to the Crown. So they were part of that historical phenomenon now called ‘the rise of the gentry’ in C16th Elizabethan England. The Mays bought much land in Kent and Sussex. That’s what brought them to Lavant, on the lookout for a property on which to build a fine manor house. Richard May was a Merchant Tailor in London, and a later Master of his Guild. He started building his house at Raughmere, but

before it was completed he died in 1588, the year of the Spanish Armada.

John May (1576/1630) So it was his fourth son, John, who finished the house. It was very Elizabethan, with Tudor bricks, tall chimneys, surrounded by gardens, orchards and barns. A detailed plan of it still exists, dating from 1728 (see opposite); it shows the Tudor barn, top left, which has since been converted to residential accommodation (see below). John and his wife Elizabeth had eleven children who survived childbirth, and five of them are discussed below. Before we leave this generation of Mays, mention should be made of John’s elder brother, Richard’s third son. This was Humphrey (1573/1630), who later became Sir Humphrey May, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a Privy Councillor, and Master of the Rolls in 1629. Maybe a template for a later public servant of that forename!

***** We hope this has whetted your appetite. To be continued...come back to Lavant News in April for the remainder of this fascinating history, which will detail more about Thomas May, and finally John and Lady Mary May. 33

parish registers

DEATHS Brenda Clarke died on 15th December 2019 aged 82 years.

Funeral Service in St Mary’s church on 13th January 2020 followed by burial in Chichester Cemetery.

LENT APPEAL This year’s Lent Appeal is for Mary’s Meals. The charity has a simple aim: to give a nourishing meal to every child in their school each day in the poorest regions of the world.

The Charity’s low cost approach means that the average cost of feeding a child one good meal every school day for a whole year is only £15.90. This is because the volunteers, mainly mothers and grandmothers, cook the food in the schools for the children from locally sourced produce. It means 93 pence in every pound goes directly on charitable activities Funds are particularly needed for their project in Turkana, Northern Kenya.

Turkana is the largest and poorest county in Kenya. In this area of Turkana Mary’s Meals has been supporting nursery aged children to receive daily meals but the children in primary school go hungry. Only 50% of children are enrolled in school because of their terrible hunger.

In addition, the National Press has recently shown photographs of “Biblical” super swarms of locusts devouring African crops in their path from Yemen, Ethiopia and Northern Kenya making the situation even more desperate.

There are Mary’s Meals Lent Boxes available in each Church and it would be wonderful if we could support this work. If you could add a coin or two each time you have a meal then you would quickly save enough to feed a school child once a day for a year or more.

Filled boxed can be brought along to any church service or dropped off at the Rectory. We aim to have them all collected by the end of April. If you wold prefer to make a one-off donation then please use one of the gift aid envelopes available in each church and mark your envelope “Lent Appeal”. Thank you for your support.

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1st Sunday of Lent

8am Said Eucharist, St Mary’s; Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

10am Let’s Celebrate, St Nicholas’

Romans 5:12-19

Sunday 8th March

Matthew 4:1-11

2nd Sunday of Lent

8am Said Eucharist, St Nicholas’; 10am Sung Eucharist, St Mary’s Genesis 12:1-4

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sunday 15th March

John 3:1-17

3rd Sunday of Lent

8am Said Eucharist, St Mary’s; 10am Sung Eucharist, St Nicholas’ Exodus 17:1-7

Romans 5:1-11

John 4:5-42

6pm Evensong, St Mary’s Joshua 1:1-9

Sunday 22nd March

Ephesians 6:10-20

Mothering Sunday

8am Said Eucharist, St Nicholas’; 10am Sung Eucharist, St Mary’s Exodus 2:1-10

Sunday 29th March

Colossians 3:12-17

John 19:25-27

5th Sunday of Lent

8am Said Eucharist, St Nicholas’; 10am Sung Eucharist, St Mary’s

Every Wednesday, Said Eucharist, 10am St Mary’s 35

church services and readings for March

Sunday 1st March

Parish of St Mary with St Nicholas, Lavant www.lavantchurches.net Rector: The Rev’d. Dr. David Jarratt BSc BA PhD The Rectory, Pook Lane, East Lavant PO18 0AH rector@lavantchurches.net

01243 527313

church contacts

Churchwardens: churchwardens@lavantchurches.net Cynthia Blades, 3 East View Close, Lavant PO18 0DN

01243 527705

Ben Smith, 61 Springfield Close, Lavant PO18 0AZ

07887 777085

P.C.C. Chairman:

The Rector

P.C.C. Secretary: PCCSecretary@lavantchurches.net Sheila Sims, 4 St Mary’s Close, Lavant PO18 0DL P.C.C. Treasurer:

James Pickford

Harpers, Lower Road, Lavant PO18 0AQ Electoral Roll Officer:

527696

Bill Proudfoot

49 Worcester Road, Chichester PO19 5DZ Organist & Choirmaster:

789447

Richard Ryder

28 Ferndale Road, Chichester PO19 6QJ Gift Aid Recorder:

527894

776181

Luke Haydn

lukeh.instrumentalist@gmail.com

07985 789765

Parish Safeguarding Officer: Elizabeth Woodford

527489

Junior Church:

Frances Talbot

07526 779696

Toddler Group:

Barbara Treverton

779160

Church Flowers (incl. weddings):

Elizabeth Woodford 527489

Grave Concern (St Mary’s Churchyard Gardening Team):

Richard Boyce

527273

Church Booking Secretary: Sue Jackson bookings-secretary@lavantchurches.net

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527725

Local Groups and Other Useful Numbers Lavant Road Surgery: www.lavantsurgery.co.uk

527264

Summersdale Pharmacy:

380185

Lavant C.E. Primary School Headteacher: Mr Adrian King 527382 Friends of Lavant School Co-Chair: Claire Griffiths

07789 170706

Lavant Craft Group:

Coral Jackson

574242

Lavant Cricket Club

contact via web-site (see below)

Lavant Football Club:

David Kent

780178

Lavant Friendly Club:

Betty Elleker

839065

Lavant Guitar Club:

Den Hardy

07890 580349

Lavant History Project:

Caroline Reynolds

771641

Lavant Memorial Hall Bookings:

Jennie Lindfield

07395 106376

Lavant Parish Council Chairman:

James Pickford

789447

Lavant Parish Council Clerk:

Dawn Salter

784142

Lavant Players:

Jenny Quest

527803

Lavant Valley Allotment Association Chairman: John Slipper 528990 Lavant Volunteer Task Force:

Adrian Blades

527705

Lavant Women’s Institute President: Elaine Mallett

776997

Royal British Legion Chairman:

Geoff Cresswell

527966

Short Mat Bowls Club:

Muriel Winter

528224

St Wilfrid’s Hospice Support Group Chairman: Nina Johns 538750

Tea & Chat:

Cynthia Blades

Web-sites for Local Organisations www.lavantchurches.net www.lavantcricketclub.org.uk www.lavantfc.co.uk www.lavanthortsoc.org.uk

www.lavantmemorialhall.org.uk www.lavantparishcouncil.co.uk www.lavantplayers.net www.lavant.w-sussex.sch.uk (Lavant Primary School)

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527705

local contacts

Lavant Horticultural Society Chairman: Mike Kingsford 527414

February 29

Pancake Party @ St. Nics (p28)

diary

March 7

Friends Of Lavant School Jumble Sale (p21)

7

Mothers’ Day Crafts, Eco and Fairtrade Table - Brunch Café @ St Nic’s (p4 and p16)

15

Let’s Walk to Halnaker Windmill (p11)

21

Race Night @ LMH (p7)

22

Mothering Sunday

April 10

Good Friday

12

Easter Sunday

13

Easter Monday

13

Vintage Christening Gowns & 1960s Toys @ St Mary’s (p27)

Future Dates for your Diary 20

June

Lavant Village Fete

24

October

Chichester Lions’ Club, Model Railway Exhibition

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ADVERTISING SPACE AVAILBILITY Contact advertising@lavantchurches.net for more information

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