East Lavington, formerly Woolavington, is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the District of Chichester in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. It is located six kilometres (4 miles) south of

Petworth Petworth is a 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, Heat ...

, west of the A285 road. West Lavington was formerly an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of Woolavington. The parish has a land area of 797 hectares (1968 acres). In the 2001 census 357 people lived in 87 households, of whom 129 were economically active. It includes the settlement of Upper Norwood. The parish is dominated by

Seaford College Seaford College is an independent Mixed-sex education, co-educational boarding school, boarding and day school at East Lavington, south of Petworth, West Sussex, England. Founded in 1884, it is a member of the Headmasters Conference, Headmaster ...

, a private school which owns . The main school building, previously Lavington Park country house, is a Grade II* listed building. St Peter's parish church, also Grade II* listed, has become the school chapel. In July 1553, John Fowler, a courtier of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

, was made Keeper of the Great Park of

or "Woolavington" in Sussex. Mary I appointed another courtier, William Goring, as keeper. An Elizabethan manor house was built by Giles Garton, at "Woolavington" in 1587. The old house at Lavington Park is long demolished, but the 1587 building contract described how the chimneys, windows, and corner quoins should be made "verie artyficiallie and conninglie". Maurice Howard, ''The Building of Elizabethan and Jacobean England'' (Yale, 2007), p. 108.

Notable people

Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public sp ...

is buried at East Lavington.

References

External links

Villages in West Sussex {{WestSussex-geo-stub