Singleton, Sussex
| Singleton | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 Singleton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU877130 |
| Location: | 50°54’38"N, -0°45’11"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 480 (2011) |
| Post town: | Chichester |
| Postcode: | PO18 |
| Dialling code: | 01243 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Chichester |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Chichester |
Singleton is a village in Sussex, in the Rape of Chichester, the westernmost part of the county. It stands in the Lavant valley, five miles north of Chichester[1] on the A286 road to Midhurst.
The village name is derived from the Old English for a "burnt clearing". In turn it gives a name to the county's Westbourne and Singleton Hundred.
The civil parish has a land area of 3,959 acres. The 2001 census recorded 199 households with 476 people.
History
The name of Singleton appears as Silletone in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the name of the Hundred, which had with 237 households including the vilages of East Lavant, Mid Lavant, Binderton and Preston. In Singleton parish itself there were 167 households: 89 villagers, 58 smallholders and 20 slaves; with ploughing land, woodland, meadows, three mills and a church, it had a value to the lords of the manor of £121.[2]
In 1861, the population of the Anglican parish (Singleton with Charlton), was 556 and the area was 5,010 acres.[3]
Between 1880 and 1953 a railway served the village at Singleton station. The station complex is now a private dwelling.
Parish church
The parish church is the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a most unusual name for the Church of England. It has Anglo-Saxon nave walls and massive square tower. The aisles were added later. This was a 'hundredal' church, which is to say the central church of the Hundred of Singleton. The tower has three Saxon windows and a Saxon doorway leading into thin air high up in the nave, showing that there was once an upper room above the nave.[4] It is likely that the priests for the churches in the hundred would have lived in this room.
The Saxon tower arch was rebuilt in the twelfth or thirteenth century with a pointed arch. The pews are from the Tudor period.
The church is a Grade I listed building.[5]
About the village
Goodwood Country Park lies in the south of the parish: part of the Goodwood House estate.
The Weald and Downland Living Museum of Historic Buildings is situated on the edge of the village. Over 40 historic buildings from the south-eastern counties have been rescued from destruction, dismantled and reconstructed on the site. Since 2017 it has been the location of the BBC television series The Repair Shop.
There is an oil well in Singleton forest in the north of the parish,[6][7] one of 84 oil wells on list in Sussex, some dating back over 100 years.[8]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Singleton, Sussex) |
References
- ↑ AA Book of British Villages. Drive Publications Limited. 1980. p. 355. ISBN 9780340254875.
- ↑ Singleton, Sussex in the Domesday Book
- ↑ Information on Singleton, Sussex from GENUKI
- ↑ A History of the County of Sussex - Volume 4 pp 118–121: The Rape of Chichester (Victoria County History)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1354576: The Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Grade I listing)
- ↑ "Providence Resources plc Singleton Oil Well Brought on Stream". OilVoice. 27 December 2005. http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Providence_Resources_plc_Singleton_Oil_Well_Brought_on_Stream/aac0e114.aspx.
- ↑ Bone, David (2010). "Exploring West Sussex geology with David Bone". David Bone. http://www.westsussexgeology.co.uk/gw120916aaa.html.
- ↑ Hayhurst, Ruth (23 April 2014). "Energy Department lists 80+ oil and gas wells in Sussex". drillordrop. https://drillordrop.com/2014/04/23/energy-department-lists-80-oil-and-gas-wells-in-sussex/.
- A History of the County of Sussex - Volume 4 pp 118-121: Singleton (Victoria County History)