Botolphs
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Botolphs, formerly known as Annington, is a tiny village in the
Horsham District Horsham is a local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in Horsham. The district borders those of Crawley, Mid Sussex, Mole Valley, Chichester, Arun and Adur, and the unitary authority of Brighton & Hove. The ...
of
West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
, England. It is in the Adur Valley southeast of
Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea. The smaller ...
on the road between
Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea. The smaller ...
and
Coombes Coombes is a hamlet and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. The village is in the Adur Valley northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea. Coombes Church is an 11th-century Church of England parish church that has lost its dedicatio ...
. Botolphs lies on the
South Downs Way The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...
long-distance footpath. At the 2011 Census the population of the village is included in the
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of Bramber.


Parish church

The ancient
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of St Botolph's is dated from 950 and large parts of the Saxon building remain, particularly in the chancel arch, and in the south wall of the nave. The tower was added in the mid-13th century, as was the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...
, replacing a Saxon
apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
. The church was dedicated to
Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...
in the earliest Norman records, and the community was then called Annington. It seems likely that an original dedication to
Saint Botolph Botolph of Thorney (also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; later known as Saint Botolph; died around 680) was an English abbot and saint. He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as vario ...
was considered obscure by the Norman invaders, and the church was therefore rededicated. This was a common practice. However, the original dedication lived on in community memory, and eventually prevailed. By the 13th century almost all references are to ''"St Botolph's Church"'' and the 14th century saw the last known recorded reference to ''"St Peter's Church"''.Hudson, 1980, pages 195–199 By a process of association the village acquired the name of Botolphs. The name Annington also survives, as a
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
between Botolphs and Bramber.


Population and economy

Botolphs is a
linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...
. There is only one surfaced road, the country lane between Steyning and Lancing. The neighbouring hamlet of Annington and village of Coombes are also both on this road. There are some dirt tracks leading to more remote homes, such as the house Tin Pots that dominates many postcard views of the village but is some distance from the road. Most residents live in houses along the surfaced road. Botolphs once had a sizeable population with the tidal
River Adur The Adur ( or ) is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river, which is long, was once navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large Saxon port, but by the 11th c ...
supporting both navigation and salt extraction. The decline of both industries (largely due to the silting of the river) led to a rapid contraction, and in 1534 the ecclesiastical parish of Botolphs was united with that of Bramber. The village population has remained fairly constant from then to the present day, at around 50 to 60 people. The community once had an independent civil parish council, but this followed the precedent of the ecclesiastical parish by being absorbed into Bramber. After the decline of the shipping and salt industries, the only real economy for the village for many years was farming. In the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries the Steyning Line railway supported the local economy with
platelayer A platelayer (British English), fettler (British English – UK, Australia, NZ) or trackman (American English) is a railway employee who inspects and maintains the permanent way of a railway, usually under the charge of a foreman called (in UK ...
's cottages built near the church. Today the major industry in the community is farming. There are also some light industrial units at the Annington Industrial Estate in the neighbouring hamlet. Most residents work outside the community, some commuting to London.


Manor

The manor was once held by members of the
Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...
family, a Sussex family of Norman origin, who probably inherited by marriage from the Merlots. In 1585 Lawrence Levett of Hollington died in possession of the manor of Botolphs, which he left to his sister Maria, wife of Thomas Eversfield. It remained with the Eversfield family for several centuries until it was bought by Charles Goring.Lower, 1870, page 68 The Saint Mary Magdalene leper hospital was located in neighbouring Bramber, in the area now known as Maudlyn (a corruption of Magdalene). The leprous inmates were not allowed to attend Bramber's fashionable castle church and were sent instead to observe the mass at Botolphs, where two leper squints were provided in the chancel walls. Inside Botolph's church the walls bear many plaques commemorating the local Penfold family, whose descendants emigrated to Australia and are now famous for wine production under the
Penfolds Penfolds is an Australian wine producer that was founded in Adelaide in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries, and is currently p ...
label.


References


Sources and further reading

* * * *


External links

* {{authority control Horsham District Villages in West Sussex