Lodsworth
Lodsworth is a small village and civil parish in Chichester District in West Sussex situated between Midhurst and Petworth, half a mile north of the A272. It lies within the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just to the north of the valley of the River Rother, and a tributary stream the River Lod runs close to the east end of the village.
In the 2001 census the parish covered 12.46 km² and had 282 households with a total population of 690. 298 residents were economically active. The parish is a long thin strip running north to south, from the slopes of Blackdown in the north to Gallows Hill on the border with Graffham south of the River Rother. It includes the hamlet of Lickfold, with a pub beside the River Lod and a triangular green where the road to the top of Bexley Hill meets the Lodsworth to Haslemere road. South of the village there are more houses, a pub and a small factory at Halfway Bridge on the A272.
It has a small Anglican church (St. Peters), a pub (The Hollist Arms) and a village hall.
St. Peters Well
The spring near St Peters church was a place of pilgrimage in the middle ages, especially for people with eye problems, and a source of revenue for the village.
The Manor House
Built by the Bishop of London who owned the Manor during the Medieval period the Manor House would, when built have been the finest building in the area. The present house is likely to have been the home of the Bishop's steward, who would have administered the manor. Manorial courts would have been held there and there was a basement dungeon to hold prisoners. The Manor was held as a "Liberty" by the Bishop, making it independent of the county justice system, so even the most serious crimes would have been tried there, and executions would have been carried out at Gallows Hill on the border with Graffham. Archaeological work during the autumn of 2002[1] revealed the fondations of a 7 metre extention to the east of the building, with 1 metre foundations resting on solid rock which may have supported a tower. It is likely that there was a great hall to the south of the building.
Transport and Industry
Agriculture and Forestry use most of the land area. There is arable cropping, dairying and other grazing livestock. There are large areas of chestnut coppice on Bexley Hill, cut in rotation to produce fence materials, and areas of oak and conifers.
There is a large timberyard and sawmill at Lodsbridge, south of Halfway Bridge and a small factory at the old watermill site at Halfway Bridge.
The first transport other than pack horses or horse carts was in 1795 when the Rother Navigation was built from Pulborough to Midhurst, allowing canal barges to reach the wharf at Lodsbridge. This was used mainly to bring chalk and coal in and to export timber.
See Also
- Martin Hepworth and A.E.Marshall, Lodsworth. The Story of an English Village.
- John Rickman, The Land of Lod.
- P.A.L.Vine, London's Lost Route to Midhurst. The Earl of Egremont's Navigation.
External links
- St Peter's Church
- Lodsworth Parish Council website
- Map of Lodsworth
- Midhurst Pages - Midhurst Town & Community
References
- ^ Chichester District Council, Heritage Annual Report 1998-2003 ISSN 1742-2663 p26.
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