What to See in England
By Gordon Home

Presented by

Public Domain Books

Midhurst

AND THE HOME OF RICHARD COBDEN

=How to get there.=–Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Railway. =Nearest Station.=–Midhurst. =Distance from London.=–64-1/2 miles. =Average Time.=–Varies between 2 to 3-1/4 hours.

                     1st        2nd       3rd
=Fares.=–Single  10s.  2d.   6s. 6d.   5s. 0-1/2d.
          Return  17s. 10d.  11s. 3d.  10s. 0d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"The Angel,” “Spread Eagle,"
  “New Inn,” etc.
=Alternative Route.=–Train from Victoria and London Bridge.
  London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.

Though only a small town, Midhurst is a place of some antiquity, and was of some size prior to the Conquest. It is situated in Mid-Sussex on the Rother, and on a site close by it, now marked only by a mound, was the castle of the Bohuns, a powerful Norman family, who were lords of the manor here. In 1547, King Edward VI. was entertained with great splendour here. It is curious to note that the custom of ringing the curfew bell is still maintained at Midhurst.

The town is picturesque, and contains many old houses and buildings of interest, notably those in West Street and Wool Lane, near the church, and the Grammar School at the further end of the town, where Sir Charles Lyell and Richard Cobden were educated. Cobden was born at Durnford, close to Midhurst. Durnford House, built for him by the nation, is still standing, and at Cocking Causeway is a monument to his memory.

In Cowdray Park, within easy walking distance, are the ruins of the magnificent Tudor mansion, Cowdray House, destroyed by fire in 1793. There was an old tradition, “The Curse of Cowdray,” that the building should perish by fire and water, and this was curiously fulfilled, for the house was burnt and the last Lord Montague drowned almost on the same day.

A custodian who shows visitors over Cowdray House has a cottage here. Over what remains of the entrance gateway are the arms of Sir Anthony Browne, the favourite of King Henry VIII.; and on the porch are the initials of the Earl of Southampton.

West Lavington Church, beautifully situated on a height two miles south of Midhurst, has in its churchyard the grave of Richard Cobden, the political reformer, and originator of Free Trade. Cardinal Manning was rector here at one period.

[Illustration: F. Coze, Midhurst. COBDEN’S PEW IN HEYSHOTT CHURCH.

The pew is immediately beneath the pulpit, in which a small brass plate may be noticed. Here Cobden regularly worshipped.]

Continue...

Preface  •  Ham House and Petersham  •  Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle)  •  Harrow  •  Holwood House, Keston  •  Chigwell, Essex  •  Waltham Abbey and Cross  •  Downe  •  Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts  •  Epping Forest  •  Hampton Court  •  Rye House, Broxbourne  •  Hatfield House, Herts  •  Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta  •  The Oldest Brass in England  •  St. Albans  •  Stoke Poges Church, Bucks  •  Windsor  •  Jordans and William Penn  •  Knole House and Sevenoaks  •  Greenstead Church  •  Chalfont St. Giles  •  Westerham  •  Guildford, Surrey  •  Gad’s Hill  •  Ightham Mote, Kent  •  Penshurst  •  St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion  •  Rochester Cathedral  •  Tunbridge Wells  •  The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey  •  Eversley  •  Farnham, Surrey  •  Hindhead, Surrey  •  Shottermill  •  Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex  •  Chawton the Home of Jane Austen  •  Selborne  •  Elstow  •  Lewes, Sussex  •  Bodiam Castle, Sussex  •  Colchester, Essex  •  Layer Marney  •  Battle Abbey  •  Cambridge  •  Arundel Castle  •  Olney, Bucks  •  Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great  •  Canterbury and Its Cathedral  •  Reculvers  •  Oxford  •  Midhurst  •  Pevensey Castle  •  Savernake Forest  •  Ely Cathedral  •  St. Ives, Huntingdonshire  •  Winchelsea and Rye  •  Blenheim Palace  •  Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland  •  Peterborough  •  Southampton  •  Helmingham Hall  •  Stonehenge, Wiltshire  •  Netley Abbey  •  Salisbury and Its Cathedral  •  Sandwich, Kent  •  New Forest, Hampshire  •  Osborne House  •  Carisbrooke Castle  •  Lutterworth  •  Compton Wynyates  •  Kenilworth Castle  •  Belvoir Castle  •  Bath  •  Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers  •  Warwick  •  Gloucester and Its Cathedral  •  Norfolk Broads  •  Norwich Cathedral  •  Lichfield  •  Sherborne and Its Abbey Church  •  Newark  •  Wells and Its Cathedral  •  Stratford-On-Avon  •  Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk  •  Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire  •  Corfe Castle  •  Lincoln and Its Cathedral  •  Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson  •  Glastonbury Abbey  •  Walsingham, Norfolk  •  Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset  •  Newstead Abbey  •  The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances  •  Tintern Abbey  •  Chesterfield, Derbyshire  •  Dukeries  •  Haddon Hall, Derbyshire  •  The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor  •  Raglan Castle  •  Dovedale  •  Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire  •  Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop  •  Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire  •  Ludlow and Its Castle  •  Shrewsbury  •  Buxton and the Peak District  •  Tewkesbury  •  Exeter and Its Cathedral  •  Market Drayton, Salop  •  Chester  •  Exmoor  •  Knutsford  •  Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset  •  Cleeve Abbey, Somerset  •  Hawarden  •  York Minster  •  Coxwold, Yorkshire  •  Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey  •  Knaresborough, Dripping Well  •  Fountains Abbey  •  Ripon Cathedral  •  Dartmoor  •  Haworth  •  Rievaulx Abbey  •  Brixham, Devon  •  Conway Castle  •  The Doone Valley, Exmoor  •  Llandovery, South Wales  •  Dartmouth, Devon  •  Richmond, Yorkshire  •  Tintagel  •  Whitby  •  Carnarvon Castle  •  Plymouth  •  Durham and Its Cathedral  •  Raby Castle, Durham  •  Snowdon  •  Harlech Castle  •  Grasmere and Rydal Mount  •  The Lake District  •  St. Davids Cathedral  •  Furness Abbey, Lancashire  •  Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow  •  The Isle of Man  •  Brantwood  •  Fowey  •  Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall  •  The Lake District  •  Keswick  •  Alnwick Castle  •  Lanercost Priory, Cumberland  •  Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.]  •  St. Ives, Cornwall  •  Bamborough Castle, Northumberland

[Buy at Amazon]
What to see in England;: A guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty or literary association,
By Gordon Home
At Amazon