History

Rottingdean: A short guide to Saint Margaret's Church and The Village 2001 Part 2

by Elvi Rhodes

Illustrated by Margaret Rhodes

Having walked through the lych gate, which was put up in 1897 to the memory of a former Vicar, you will be confronted by Rottingdean's beautiful Green, with its pond, and the elegant houses around it. The white house immediately opposite to the church is The Elms, where Rudyard Kipling lived from 1897 to 1902. In his teens he had visited his 'Beloved aunt Georgiana Burne-Jones, at Prospect House (later extended to North End House and now divided again in three houses) just across The Green. Georgiana Burne-Jones and Alice Kipling, Rudyard's mother, were sisters. It was in his Aunt's house that Kipling's son, John, was born, in 1897. Rudyard Kipling wrote some of his best works, including 'Stalky & Co', 'Kim' and several poems, among them 'Recessional', while living at The Elms.

It was a combination of circumstances which caused him to leave the village. Admirers would congregate outside the gates pf The Elms, hoping for a glimpse of the famous man as he worked in his study (to the right of the front door). He felt he had no privacy. But it was the unfortunate death of his small daughter, Josephine, which caused him, together with his wife, to decide in the end that they could no longer settle here.

In the wall which surrounds the garden of The Elms, about twenty feet beyond the little arched door in the wall, is the 'wishing stone'. It is a strange, gnome-like face, set among the flints and not easy to find. Village tradition says that if you stroke the nose with the forefinger of your right hand, make a wish, then turn around three times, your wish will be granted; but only if you wish when you really need to, and never for money. It is quite usual so see small children being lifted up to perform this ritual, and by no means unknown so see solitary adults hurriedly going through the motions.

Enid Bagnold, a famous author and playwright (The Chalk Garden, National Velvet) lived at North End House for many years. Angela Thirkell, grand-daughter of Sir Edward Burne-Jones and herself a best-selling novelist, lived in Rottingdean. There is a memorial to her in a corner of the churchyard to the right of the West door, and nearby, in the wall of the church, are memorials to Sir Edward and Lady Burne-Jones.

As has already been said, Rottingdean was essentially a farming village, not a fishing village even though is it on the coast. The books of Bob Copper, author and folk singer (especially 'early to Rise'; a jewel of a book) who together with his forebears was born and brought up in the village and lived close by, tell vividly of what it was like in the farming community here. Many things have changed since he recited his multiplication tables in the village school, painted the farm wagons, sang in the choir, or worked as a lather boy in the barber's shop, but the essential features are the same.

The narrow High Street still cuts through the floor of the valley from the coast, until it rises to the downs and eventually goes to Lewes, through what was once a lonely and rough track is now a road busy with traffic and lined, until long after it leaves the village, with houses. The pond on The Green is still here, though no longer what it once was, a place where thirsty animals refreshed themselves. It is home to several wildfowl and most people who live hereabouts will have witnessed the traffic held up while ducks waddle their way from the pond to enjoy a change of scene in the churchyard.

Visitors from all over the world come to Rottingdean, and to St Margaret's Church. Looking at random over ten day's entries in the Visitor's Book in the church, there were more than thirty entries from fifteen different countries. Throughout the book very few countries are not represented. Among our visitors we welcome many Americans. Presumably they like what they find since at one time a firm offer was made to buy St Margaret's, pull it down stone by stone, and re-erect it in Forest Lawns Memorial Park, Glendale, California. The offer was refused, but it was agreed that a replica of St Margaret's might be built there. It was named 'The Church of The Recessional' after Kipling's poem.

When you leave the churchyard and look across the Green, and of your visit is not in Summer, when the horse-chestnut obscures the view, you will see Rottingdean's famous windmill, at the top of the downs on Beacon Hill. The windmill is no longer commercially used, but is carefully looked after and at great cost by the Rottingdean Preservation Society.

Beacon Hill is one of the high points along the channel coast, where a fire might have been lit as a warning of enemies approaching by sea. In the late 16th century, when it seemed likely that the mighty Spanish Armada would sail up the English channel, the Vicar of that time, William Savage (whose tomb is in the churchyard), led his flock to the shore at Rottingdean Gap to pray for deliverance from the Spanish Armada. His prayers were obviously answered.

As you leave the churchyard, turn around and glance up the the inscription over this side of the lych gate:

ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE

A little beyond St Margaret's Cottage is The Grange. It was once the Vicarage, and it was here that Dr Hooker ran his private school. Later, Sir William Nicholson, the painter, lived here. Now, on the ground floor is the Library and on the first floor the Grange Art Gallery and Museum. This is the responsibility of The Rottingdean Preservation Society who have leased the building from Brighton & Hove Council.

The Art Gallery has regular exhibitions of individual or group of artists, as well as showing the work of schools and colleges. the Museum concentrates on displays with a local flavour. Some of these displays change on a regular basis, but others, such as The Kipling Study at The Elms and the farming connection in the Bob Cooper room, are permanent features.

This enterprise is managed on an entirely voluntary basis within the charitable status of the Society. the Grange is open daily and admission is free. It is will worth a visit.

Turn left at The Grange into Whiteway Lane. Facing you is the Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Lourdes, built in 1958 with local flints, by local craftsmen. Our Lady of Lourdes and St Margaret's Church work well together on many different things ranging from, on occasions, joint services to events such as the Harvest Supper. The clergy of different denominations both in Rottingdean and Saltdean meet regularly together. A few yards further up the land is the Whiteway Centre. This was built on land given by the Church to the village and is in constant use for a wide variety of community activities. Beyond the Whiteway Centre is St Margaret's Church of England Primary School.

The agreement to have a school was drawn up in 1859 by the Rt Hon William, Earl of Abergavenny, who was Lord of the Manor of Rottingdean (and whose descendants still are). He gave the land to the Vicar and Churchwardens of that time, and to their successors, "to be used for a school for the education of children and adults, or of children only É for education in the Principles of the Established Church". The Deed goes on to say "The school." It is perhaps because this is the case that, as a member of staff recently remarked, the proximity of the church and the school is much more than just physical and that it does from strength to strength.

In 1986 arsonists burnt down a sizeable part of the school. These areas were rebuilt and re-opened in 1988 with the addition of a new library which was funded by the church, by parents and by villagers.

Turn back and walk down the High Street, with its beautiful brick pavements and its mixture of old and modern shops and cottages.

The shop 'Tallboys' was once the Custom House, though the inhabitants of 'Smugglers Village' were understandably not keen on Customs and Excise. In fact, perhaps even beneath your feet, there are underground passages which go the length of the High Street to the North of The Green. used in their time for the nefarious activities of the smugglers and giving rise to various stories of strange, ghostly noises in some of the dwellings.

Of the four public houses between the sea and the church, the Black Horse with the date 1513 on the outside wall, is by far the oldest.

If you have not, while walking around the village, already come across the Kipling Garden, now is the time to retrace your steps. You will find the entrance in the North-West corner of The Green, almost opposite to North End House. the Garden was at one time art of The Green and was later incorporated to the garden of The Elms. The owners sought t develop the land, but the plan to build houses on this beautiful site was thwarted by the opposition of the Rottingdean Preservation Society, the residents of Rottingdean and Brighton Council. This gave the opportunity for the Society to purchase the land with the help of a bequest and then to restore the gardens. The seats, and many of the ornaments in the Garden, have been given by Rottingdean people, or by some who loved to visit here, now and in the past, or as memorials. Do not leave Rottingdean without visiting the Kipling Garden. At any time of the year it is a haven of beauty and peace.

Across The Green, to the South of Edward Burne-Jone's former house is St Martha's Convent, first started by a group of Sisters whose mother house is at Perigeux, in the Dordogne. A few yards beyond the convent is Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School which caters for pupils not only in Rottingdean but in the surrounding area. Towards the bottom of the High Street the beautiful Georgian building opposite to Barclays Bank has for many years housed the well-known St Aubyn's Preparatory School which now among its pupils has boarders as well as day-pupils and girls as well as boys.

If you can summon enough energy, now climb to the top of Beacon Hill. It's a short walk, through steep. There are two routes; one is the footpath between 'Hillside' and 'Court House', to the North of The Green; the other is via Nevill Road, which leads off the High Street. Either way is worth the climb because one can look down on the village, view the cottages, the churches, The Green, and the way it all lies in its hollow (which is what the word 'dean' means). It will not require much imagination to visualise how it was a long time ago, but that is not the whole of the story.

Though much has been said and written of the fascinating history of Rottingdean and of St Margaret's Church, it would be quite wrong to think that everything happened in the past.

The village and its churches, though built in the past and gaining from it, are alive and well as they reach the twenty-first century. The community spirit is exceptionally strong. An instance of this is the Rottingdean Fair, which takes place every August on The Green (and has for more than a hundred years), when every group and association, church and lay alike, as well as many individuals, take an active part by working and playing together to raise money for local and other charities. 'Fair Day' is something special in Rottingdean.

One does not have to be in Rottingdean long to realise that the goodwill and community spirit which perhaps caused the first church to be built here still survives.

Please come again, as many do, and in the meantime, please pray for Rottingdean. Give thanks for all that it offers and pray for its churches, it schools, its clergy, and its people.