The map above is taken from a locally published booklet, "This and That in Chailey and Barcombe" by Edwin Matthias (1994) and shows Chailey's parish boundaries.

 

Chailey Parish today extends from Sheffield Park in the north, to Winterlands Farm, Chiltington, in the south.  Wivelsden Farm to the west and High House Farm to the east mark the other two compass point extremes.  The Parish boundaries touch on Plumpton, Newick, Wivelsfield and East Chiltington.  Within them, North Common, Chailey Village, South Street and South Common can all lay claim to being part of a generic "Chailey" and certainly, as far as The Reverend Jellicoe was concerned, any servicemen "connected with" the parish, warranted inclusion in his roll of honour which he published regularly in the parish magazine between October 1914 and July 1919.

 

Chailey during the Great War, like thousands of other towns and villages throughout Great Britain, was united behind the war effort.  Whether it was villagers collecting eggs, knitting garments for soldiers in the trenches or giving up time and energy in a hundred different ways, everybody wanted to do his or her bit.

 

Sussex 54 VAD, centred on Chailey, could not have operated as successfully as it did had it not been for the generosity of Joseph Wright (who loaned Hickwells) and Mrs Harcourt Rose (who loaned a large portion of Beechland House).  Individuals like Robert Campion Blencowe, his sister Miss Frances Isabel Blencowe, Mrs Bessemer and the indefatigable Miss Margaret Cotesworth, crop up time and time again when reading contemporary newspaper articles.  The landed gentry certainly brought both their influence and wealth to bear, but it was very much a team effort on everybody’s part.  After the horror of the trenches, the soldier patients who were lucky enough to be sent to Chailey, must have thought they had reached paradise.

Kelly’s 1915 Sussex directory has this to say about the village:

 

“Chailey is a village and parish, with a station called Newick and Chailey, on the East Grinstead and Lewes branch of the London, Brighton and South Coast railway, one and a half miles north-east from the village, six and a half miles from Lewes and 44 from London, on the road from Lewes to East Grinstead, and formerly gave its name to a union which is now included in the Lewes union, being in the Mid division of the county, hundred of Street, and in the petty sessional division and county court district of Lewes, rape and rural deanery of Uckfield, archdeaconry of Lewes and diocese of Chichester.

 

“The church of St Peter is of stone in the Early English style, and has a tower with spire containing a clock and six bells; the church was restored and reseated in 1878-9 at  cost of £4,100; there are seven stained windows and several mural tablets; the church will seat 230 persons; the churchyard contains two very fine yew trees.  The register dates from the year 1538.  The living is a rectory, net yearly value £300, with residence and six acres of glebe, in the gift of Robert Campion Blencowe esq and held since 1894 by the Rev Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe.

 

“The chapel of ease of St Mary the Virgin, erected in 1876, at a cost of £3,500, is of stone in the Early English style, and has a tower containing two bells; there are three stained windows and 200 sittings.

 

“The iron mission church of St John, on the South Common, was built in 1895 and there is another iron mission church at Sheffield Park Station, erected in 1908, and a Nonconformist mission hall at South Common.  A parish hall was erected in 1913. 

 

“Thompsett’s charity of £11 yearly, derived from a cottage and land left in 1770 by Thomas Thompsett of Chailey is for education.  The Heritage Craft Schools for Crippled Boys and Girls was founded in 1903 by Mrs C W Kimmins, who is the hon secretary.  The Chailey Isolation Hospital, which is under the control of The Chailey Rural District Council, was opened in 1903 and affords 28 beds.  There is a reading room at Chailey Green and another, the gift of Mrs Hallettt, of Reedens, at North Common.  A cattle market is held every alternate Wednesday in a field adjoining the King’s Head PH.

 

“Ades is the residence of Joseph Robert Wright esq; Bineham, of Robert Campion Blencowe esq; The Hooke, the property of R C Blencowe esq, is now occupied by Major James Towers Clark; Roeheath House is the residence of William Greaves Cotesworth esq JP.  There are five manors in this parish.  The trustees of the late Capt Sir John Shiffner bart are lords of the manor of Allington; the trustees of the late James Ingram esq of Ditchling Garden; the Rev Francis Sanderson Sclater BA of the manor of Warningore; William Wilson Grantham esq of Balneath manor. 

 

“The principal landowners are the trustees of the late Capt Sir John Shiffner bart, R C Blencowe esq, Henry T G Blaauw esq, W G Cotesworth esq, Henry W Bessemer esq and Marcus [sic] Rainier Roberston esq.

 

“The soil is strong clay, adapted for making bricks (blue and red) and all sorts of brown pottery ware.  The chief crops are wheat, oats, peas and roots.  This parish is extensive, containing 5,920 acres of land, inclusive of 561 acres waste, and 19 of water; rateable value £9,387; the population in 1911 was 1,580.”

 

Kelly’s then lists a fraction of Chailey’s residents, categorising them as ‘Private Residents’ and ‘Commercial’.

 

Private Residents

 

Mrs Allen, Church House

Bessemer Henry W, Burchetts & City Carlton Club EC & Royal Thames Yacht Club W London

Miss Bird, Little Warren

Mrs Blencowe, Bineham

Blencowe, John Ingham JP, Cinder Farm

Blencowe, Robert Campion, Bineham

Miss Brooker, South Common

Misses Bullen, Highfield, North Common

Caunter Frederick, Hillcrest, North Common

Major Clark, James Towers, The Hooke 

Misses Coleman, The Hollies, North Common

Mrs Constien, Home Villa, Lower Station Road

Most Rev. Copleston, Reginald Stephen  DD (late Bishop of Calcutta) Damerel 

Cotesworth, William Greaves  JP, Roeheath House 

Mrs Crosley, Sennock Up Station Road

Gasston, Owen P, Westlands, North Common

Miss Glandfield, Sunnie Crofte, South Common

Green, William Barham, Warrenwood 

Grounds, David, Milnthorpe, North Common

Mrs Hallett, W  H, Reedens 

Mrs Hughes, Holly grove 

Mrs Ingledon, Chailey End  

Ingledon, R,  Listowels 

Rev Jellicoe, Thomas Harry Lee, rector Rectory 

Mrs Kimmins, C  W, The Old Heritage, North Common

Mrs Loates, Bevingdean 

MacCulloch, J  T, The Redhouse, North Common

Mason, Reginald M, Clump Cottage, North Common

Rev Matravers, Herbert Henry  MA, curate, North Common

Monnington, Walter, North Common

Norman, Richard, South Common

Norman, Wallace Wm, South Common

Orton, William Stewart MRCS Eng, LRCP Lond, physician & surgeon, Pines 

Robertson, Marcus [sic] Rainer [sic], Brookhouse 

Rogers, William, Pound house 

Lady Shiffner, Bevernbridge house, South Common

Stephen, George Henry CMG,  Oaklea Warren 

Misses Van Weede, The Elms, Chailey Green

West, Charles Herbert, Patterdale 

Capt Wright, Archibald, Ades 

Wright, Joseph Robert, Ades & Royal Societies Club, St James's Street, London SW

 

Commercial

 

Of the 95 individuals listed by Kelly’s, no fewer than 35 have their occupations noted as ‘farmer’ or ‘dairy farmer’.  Add to that, five farm bailiffs or foremen, market gardeners and fruit growers and a true picture of life in Edwardian Chailey quickly emerges.

 

Attrell, Edwin Stephen, fruit grower, Warren villa, North Common

Attrell, Stephen, market gardener                                 

Baldock, Edwin, farm bailiff to Mr Harry Gearing, Church House farm

Beard, Charles, blacksmith, South Common

Beard, Thomas, farmer, Leighwood farm                    

Beard, William Henry, grocer                                         

Best, Sidney, Five Bells inn                           

Bristow, Henry, farmer, Rose cottage, North Common

Budgen, Jesse, farmer, Neal's place                            

Chandler, James, coal miner, station                           

Chatfield, Alfred, market gardener, North Common

Clarke, George, farmer, Pig's easter, South Common

Mrs Cook, Sarah Fanny, sub postmistress                  

Cook, Harold, farmer, Great Homewood farm, South Common

Copper, Thomas, King's Head PH, North Common

Miss Cornwell, Annie, tailor                                            

Miss Cornwell, Lily, tailor                                                

Cotesworth,Charles Hext                                                                                                                                                               

Cottingham, George, farmer, South St          

Cottington, Charles, farmer, Frog's moor, North Common

Mrs Cox, Jesse, furnished apartments (without board), Hamlyns, Scaynes Hill

Cruse, William, farmer, South St 

Mrs Davies, Marion, matron, Chailey Rural District Isolation Hospital

Day, William George, apartments, Pines     

Divall, Thomas, bricklayer, North Common

Dow, William Alexander MD; BS Durh; DPHRCPS, Eng Medical Supt, Chailey Rural District Isolation Hospital

Durrant, John Hounsome, butcher, Chailey Green

Emery, Michael, chimney sweeper, South St               

Funnell, Alfred, shopkeeper, North Common

Gasston, William, gamekeeper to Joseph Robert Wright esq

Gee, John R, farmer, Bevern Bridge, South Common

Goodsell, Joseph, Sergean, County Police Station, South St

Hall, Thomas, shopkeeper, Sheffield Park

Hicks, Robert Percival, shopkeeper, Post office, South Common

Hobden, James, hauling contractor, North Common

Homewood, Thomas, dairy farmer, South St

Ireland, Ernest, grocer, North Common

Mrs Kember, Martha, cowkeeper, Plumtrees

Kenward, George, shopkeeper, North Common

King, Alfred, Swan Inn, South Common

King, Jesse, carpenter, wheelwright, builder, decorator, undertaker & blacksmith, Chailey Green

King, William, farmer, Pouchland farm, South Common

Knight, George, farmer, Wivelsden & Holford farms, North Common

Knight, Jesse, farmer, Leylands 

Knight, John, farmer, Townrings, Breen's & Hole farms, North Common

Knight, William, farmer, Pouchland farm, North Common

Langridge, George, farm foreman to Mr George Woods, Broomfield, South Common

Langridge, James, motor carrier to Brighton & Lewes, Reedens nursery

Lindfield, Daniel, farmer, New house

Lindfield, Jabrez, farmer, Hoodscroft

Longhurst, John, carpenter, North Common

Lovell, Bertram, farmer, North Common

Mariner, William, farmer, Bates' land, North Common

Miss Marshall, E F, matron, Hickwells Convalescent Home

Martin, George, shopkeeper, South St

Martin, George, farmer, Shelley's & Tutts Farms, South Common

Martin, Frank, farmer, Wapsbourne

Martin, John Richard, baker, South Common

Mitchell, Charles, estate foreman to Henry W Bessemer esq

Mitchell, Charles, farmer, Mastels farm

Morse, William Edwin, farmer, Woolgar's, South Common

Munby, J Cecil MRCVS, veterinary surgeon

Mrs Norman, Emily, farmer, South Common

Mrs Oden, A E , farmer, Wildfields, North Common

Pettit, William J, farmer, Middleton farm

Philpott, Arthur, farmer, assistant overseer, clerk to the parish council & collector of income tax for the united parishes of Chailey & Newick, Bush, North Common

Rice Bros, saddlers, Chailey Green

Rogers, Henry, shopkeeper, Post office, Chailey Green

Sandford, Mark, land, house, insurance & general agent, Martin

Simmons, Edward, jobbing gardener, Grassington, North Common

Skinner, Charles, sub postmaster, Sheffield Park Station

Smith, David, farmer, Little Cinder

Smith, James, head gardener to Mrs Blencowe

Stephens, John, traction & threshing machine proprietor, Hunts Cottage

Still, Walter, farmer, North Common

Ticehurst, Thomas G, farm bailiff to Mrs Kimmins, North Common

Tidy, Alfred, farmer, Coxes farm

Tidy & Son, corn merchants, Chailey & Newick station

Tingley, Moses, shoe maker, North Common

Turner, John, sec Chailey Cricket Club & Chailey Green Reading Room

Turner, Albert, timber merchants, Sheffield Park Station

Walden, George, farm bailiff to Henry W Bessemer esq, Frick farm

Walder, Isaac, market gardener, Heath view, North Common

Walls, Henry K, surveyor to the Chailey Rural District Council & insurance agent, Oakleigh, North Common

Washer, Alfred, farmer, Lodge farm

Washer, Thomas, farmer, Warrs farm

Weller, William, beer retailer, South st

White, William, boot maker, South st

Miss Willett, Mary, dress maker, North Common

Mrs Wood, Hannah, farmer, Woodbrook, South Common

Wood, Wallace, farmer, Teagues farm, Scaynes Hill

Wood & Son, coal merchants, depot Railway Station

Woods, George, farmer, Broomfield, South Common