SUSSEX LOCAL
16 History
Burglary at Findon School 184 years ago By Valerie Martin In years gone by Findon was the unfortunate victim of an infestation of beggars and experts at poaching and promiscuous foraging. Often these renegades from society were better fed and happier than many hard-working villagers carrying out their occupations as agricultural labourers. Many beggars procured donkeys to carry their belongings, cooking utensils and sometimes even a tent with which they would encamp on one or other of the many strips of waste land at the roadside in the countryside. They were a great nuisance and would put their foot in the doorway of a private house, and by threats obtain their needs. One winter’s morning 184 years ago, the Gun Inn narrowly missed being burgled. I know the actual date and it was Sunday the 11th January, 1835 when an unpleasant robbery was committed right in the centre of Findon. It happened while the Morning Service at St. John the Baptist was being conducted at the church some distance away. I suspect that the thief deduced that the villagers would be absent from their dwellings at this time on a Sabbath.
Rear view of the school in 1912
He next lingered on the left hand side of the road at the school where the establishment at this time catered for thirty-one boys and fifty-six girls. It was here that the raider proceeded to enter by an insecure window and being undisturbed he rummaged around making a thorough search of the School House.
An obviously dubious character was first noticed persistently knocking at the back entrance of the private property at the foot of School Hill now known as the Village House Hotel. When the knocking was not answered, he was observed suspiciously bending down and having the audacity to peer through the keyhole. Finally he placed his ear to the door to listen if he could hear any movement within. Something seems to have deterred the snooper because he suddenly purposefully walked up School Hill and skirted the premises of the Gun Inn (perhaps the inn showed too much sign of activity to be trespassed).
School Hill in the early 1900s.
He stole watches and slipped them into his pocket and also parcelled up items of clothing belonging to the Master and Mistress of the school. As silently as he had come, he then left with his booty. Unfortunately for him, he was spotted departing with his questionably large packages of goods.
The Village House in 1939 - a private residence
The intruder promptly made off in all haste to the top of School Hill and over Long Furlong heading westwards. Whether this particular beggar had a donkey is now not known as the details of the story are lost in the mists of time. But it IS known that he was hotly pursued by some of the angry villagers. After a desperate chase he was finally apprehended and taken into custody at nearby Arundel.