Eartham is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

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 authority ...

in the District of Chichester in

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 ar ...

, England located north east of

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

east of the A285 road. There is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church dedicated to St Margaret and a public house, The George, formerly The George and Dragon. The adjoining Manor Farm is the centre of a large farming enterprise. Nearby is Eartham House designed by Sir

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

which has been used since the 1920s as a private preparatory (junior) school,

Great Ballard School Great Ballard School is a co-educational independent school for children aged 2½ to 16 years. It was founded in 1924 and set up at its current location in Eartham, near Chichester, West Sussex, England, in 1961. The headmaster is Matthew King. ...

. Eartham Wood to the north is an area of open access woodland, mostly

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

trees through which the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

Stane Street runs. The route here today is followed only by bridleways and footpaths, and within Eartham Wood is part of the

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Sus ...

long-distance path. The parish has a land area of 836 hectares (2066 acres). In the 2001 census 104 people lived in 42 households, of whom 48 were economically active. At the 2011 Census the population including the hamlet of

Upwaltham Upwaltham is a scattered settlement and civil parish in the South Downs, in the District of Chichester of West Sussex, England. It surrounds a parish church, which is about south-southwest of Petworth on the A285 road. The parish is about lon ...

was 111.

Eartham House

Eartham House was established by Thomas Hayley in 1743. Following his death the house became home to his son the poet

William Hayley William Hayley (9 November 174512 November 1820) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of his friend William Cowper. Biography Born at Chichester, he was sent to Eton College, Eton in 1757, and to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 176 ...

from 1774 to 1800. It was enlarged before he sold it to MP and statesman

William Huskisson William Huskisson (11 March 177015 September 1830) was a British statesman, financier, and Member of Parliament for several constituencies, including Liverpool. He is commonly known as the world's first widely reported railway passenger casu ...

. The church contains a memorial to Hayley's son Thomas by his friend sculptor

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

. The present building was designed by Sir

following the purchase of the house by William Bird in 1905. The house is now occupied by Great Ballard School a co-educational

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for children aged 2 to 13 years. It was founded in 1924 and moved to Eartham in 1961. The school caters for both day and boarding pupils.

Notable residents

Richard Nyren Richard Nyren (1734 – 1797) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the heyday of the Hambledon Club. A genuine all-rounder and the earliest known left-hander of note, Nyren was the captain of Hampshire when ...

the famous Hambledon

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and landlord of the Bat & Ball Inn was born in Eartham c.1734.

References

External links

Eartham Wood
Villages in West Sussex {{WestSussex-geo-stub