Midhurst (St. Denis)

MIDHURST (St. Denis), a borough, market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Easebourne, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 11½ miles (N. by E.) from Chichester, and 49¼ (S. W.) from London; containing 1536 inhabitants. This place, which was a town even prior to the Conquest, is agreeably situated upon a gentle eminence surrounded by hills, and on the banks of the river Rother; the streets are clean, and the houses generally well built: the inhabitants are remarkable for longevity. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held on April 6th, Whit-Tuesday, and October 29th. The Rother, or Arundel, navigation commences at the town. A bailiff is chosen annually at the court leet of the lord of the ancient borough, and the petty-sessions for the lower division of the rape of Chichester take place on alternate Thursdays at the Angel inn: the powers of the county debt-court of Midhurst, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration-districts of Midhurst and Farnham. Midhurst is a borough by prescription, and has sent members to parliament ever since the 4th of Edward II. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, it was provided that in future it should send only one representative, and the right of election was extended to the £10 householders of an enlarged district, comprising an area of 22,188 acres; the old borough contained only 650 acres: the bailiff is returning officer. The military order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had a commandery here, among the privileges of which was the jurisdiction in a certain district, now recognized as "The Liberty of St. John of Jerusalem," which still enjoys several exemptions, being independent both of the borough and manor.

The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £160; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Egmont. The church consists of a nave, chancel, and south aisle, in the later English style: the tower rises from between the south aisle and a small chapel, in which latter is a lofty altar-tomb composed of marble and alabaster. On the lower altar of the tomb are two recumbent figures of females in robes of state, the effigies of the two wives of Anthony Browne, first lord Montague; between them another altar rises, upon which is an effigy of that nobleman in the habit of the order of the Garter. There is a place of worship for Baptists. A free grammar school was founded in 1672, by Gilbert Hannam, of Midhurst, who granted a rent-charge of £20; and the late head master, Dr. Bayly, having made large additions to the schoolhouse, and, with aid from the old scholars, erected a detached schoolroom, it has now become a school of considerable importance. A national school is supported by subscription; and there are four almshouses, and several charitable donations for the poor. The union of Midhurst comprises 26 parishes or places, 24 of which are in the county of Sussex and 2 in that of Hants, the whole containing in the year 1841 a population of 13,320.

In the immediate vicinity is Cowdray Park, which contains about 800 acres, diversified with dells and knolls commanding pleasing views, and adorned with timber of luxuriant growth, especially a noble avenue, nearly a mile in length, of magnificent Spanish-chesnut trees, for dimensions and beauty scarcely to be exceeded in England. The mansion, which was chiefly built by the Earl of Southampton, occupied more than an acre of ground, and in form was a quadrangle, with the principal front towards the west; it was destroyed by fire, with its valuable contents, on the 24th of September, 1793, and now presents a splendid pile of ruins, in many places mantled with ivy, which gives it an exceedingly picturesque appearance. In 1547, King Edward was entertained here with great splendour. Close to the town of Midhurst, near the church, on the west bank of the Rother, rises a mound, on which was anciently a castle surrounded by moats: within its walls was a chapel, dedicated to St. Anne.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.