Pulborough

PULBOROUGH is an extensive parish and village, on the Arundel road, near the junction of the navigable rivers Arun and West Rother, in the Western division of the county, West Easwrith hundred, Arundel rape, Thakeham union, Petworth county court district, diocese and archdeaconry of Chichester, and rural deanery of Storrington, 46 miles from London, 9 north from Arundel, and 6 east from Petworth. The Mid-Sussex Railway passes through the parish, and has a station here. The village, situate at the south-west corner of the parish, forms a long street, containing a considerable population. The great Roman road from Regnum to Londinum passed through this parish in a direct line for the space of 3½ miles: in its vicinity numerous indications of Roman occupation have been found. The church of St. Mary is in the Early English style, situated on a hill of sandstone, and consists of a chancel, two aisles, and a tower at the west end with 5 bells and a clock: its interior is neat: the font is square and large, of Saxon origin: the chancel contains slabs, and a few ancient brasses, and numerous inscriptions to the memory of the Apsley, Coles, Legg, Spragg, Marriott, Cobb, and Tredcroft families: the church has been restored. The register dates from 1595. The living is a rectory, value £1,750 per annum, with residence and 160 acres of glebe land, in the gift of Lord Leconfield, and held by the Rev. William Sinclair, M.A., of St. Mary Hall, Oxford; the curates are the Rev. George Cavill, M.A., of Jesus College, Cambridge, and the Rev. Edward Henry Smart, B.A. of Jesus College, Oxford. The rectory house is well situated, and the pleasure-grounds which surround it contain some fine evergreens and exotics. Three spacious National school-rooms were erected in the years 1858-59: these schools are supported partly by subscription and partly by the proceeds of a bequest by the late rector, the Rev. John Austin. A market for corn is held here every Friday at the Swan inn; and for barley, which is considered the largest in West Sussex: and a fair on Easter Tuesday, for toys. pedlery, &c: a stock market is held every alternate Monday, Mere is a Dissenting chapel, denominated Independent Wesleyan. There are almshouses for four widow's of the parish (over sixty years of age), erected in 1861, at the expense of Mrs. Helen Anne Burrells: the inmates receive from the parish eighteen pence and one gallon of flour per week each. The soil is strong clay. A considerable portion of the parish is marsh or meadow land. There are two good commercial inns and posting houses, the "Swan," is an old established house, and the Railway inn, close to the station. The area is 6,398 acres, and the population in 1861 was 1,852.
NUTBOURNE is a manor and tithing of Pulborough, belonging to Lord Abergavenny. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]