Slindon is a mostly rural village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, containing a developed

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

amid woodland. Much of Slindon's woodland belongs to the National Trust on the southern edge of the escarpment of the South Downs National Park. Slindon is centred north-east of Chichester.

History

The village is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Eslindone", the name having the probable meaning in

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

of "sloping hill". The Domesday Book records Slindon as having 35 households, putting it in the top 20% of settlements. St Mary's 12th-century parish church contains a memorial to Stephen Langton (c1150–1228), the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

who attended the signing of

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

. In the Middle Ages Slindon House (now Slindon College) was the site of one of the Archbishop's residences. In 1330 Thomas de Natindon, who was a legal representative of the Pope, was sent there to serve a writ on the archbishop. His party were not well received by the archbishop's servants who stripped and bound them, then threw cold water over them, apparently with the archbishop's consent. Natindon escaped revenge and was pursued over the hills to

Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex ...

where he was caught and held in prison for three days. The village war memorial was unveiled in 1921, with the names of 14 residents killed in World War I; a further three names were added after World War II. The writer Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) lived in the village. In the mid-18th century, Slindon Cricket Club achieved fame through the excellence of its team which featured Richard Newland (1713–1778). SLINDON FORGE

Amenities

In May 2012, the process began of renovating and converting the old village forge into a shop, cafe and information centre; this opened on 16 October 2012. The village has been called the "

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

capital of Britain", and an annual display of pumpkins attracts tourists to the village. A short walk from the village is Nore Folly (aka Slindon Folly), a structure built during the 18th Century by the Newburgh family, whose seat was at Slindon. The Folly resembles a gateway but leads to nowhere.

Former amenities

Slindon post office closed in 2008. The Newburgh Arms closed in 2001.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

{{authority control Villages in West Sussex Arun District