Oving

OVING, a parish, in the union of West Hampnett, hundred of Box and Stockbridge, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 2½ miles (E.) from Chichester; containing, with the tything of Colworth and the ville of Portfield, 790 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2946 acres, of which 194 are common or waste; it is intersected by the Arundel and Portsmouth canal. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 11. 10½.: patron, the Precentor in the Cathedral of Chichester: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £270. The church is built in the style of the thirteenth century, of flint, with stone quoins and dressings, and is in the shape of a cross, with a tower surmounted by a shingled spire at the west end. In 1839, it was thoroughly repaired and restored, and the churchyard newly laid out, and surrounded with a wall and iron-railing, by Miss Woods; and opposite to it that lady has erected two elegant buildings in the Tudor style, one intended for eight old persons, and the other containing two schoolrooms, with a residence for the master and mistress between them. There is also a parsonage-house, of corresponding character. In 1827, Mrs. Green bequeathed £2000 for the support of three widows.