Place:Kingston by Sea, Sussex, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Kingston by Sea, also known as Kingston Buci, Kingston Bucii or simply Kingston, is a small area in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. Although it is now part of a continuous urban area, its origins lay in an ancient village and parish church between Southwick to the east, Shoreham by Sea to the west and the mouth of the River Adur to the south. St Julian's Church survives, and its parish perpetuates the ancient "Kingston Buci" name.

History

the text in this section is based on part of an article in Wikipedia

The manor (originally called "Kingston by Shoreham", later "Kingston Bowsey"), in the Rape of Bramber, was held by the de Buci family at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, and for several centuries afterwards, before descending through other families until the 20th century, when most of its land was sold for development. The manor house was first described in the 14th century, but it was rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries. The present structure was built in the mid-18th century, but has been significantly altered since. It was sold for use as a school in the 1940s, and now houses Shoreham College, an independent school. It is a Grade II listed building.

Between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, several stages of residential development caused Kingston by Sea to merge with Shoreham by Sea and Southwick. This was encouraged by the opening of the railway line between Brighton and Shoreham-by-Sea in 1840, and the development of Shoreham Harbour around the mouth of the River Adur. A lighthouse was built on the sea front in 1846, aligned with the harbour entrance. At 43 ft (13 m) high, its light is visible 10mi (19 km) out to sea.

The population of the parish rose from 46 in 1841 to more than 5,000 in 1951, and the area became almost completely urbanised—although areas of open land remain on the edge of the South Downs and around the St Julian's Church and the neighbouring Shoreham College.

Research Tips

• The West Sussex Record Office is located in Chichester. Because it holds the records of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, which covers the whole of Sussex, it has church records relating to both parts of Sussex.
• An on-line catalogue for some of the collections held by the West Sussex Record Office is available under the Access to Archives (A2A) project (a nationwide facility housed at The National Archives, Kew).
• West Sussex Past - database of 2 million records from West Sussex heritage organizations.
• The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies' Sussex Collection (PDF). This is a 9-page PDF naming the files relating to Sussex in their collection-a possible first step in a course of research.
• The National Library of Scotland has a website which provides maps taken from the Ordnance Survey England & Wales One-Inch to the Mile series of 1892-1908 as well as equivalent maps for Scotland itself. The immediate presentation is a "help" screen and a place selection screen prompting the entry of a location down to town, village or parish level. These screens can be removed by a click of the "X". The map is very clear and shows parish and county boundaries and many large buildings and estates that existed at the turn of the 20th century. Magnification can be adjusted and an "overlay feature" allows inspection of the area today along with that of 1900. The specific map from the series can be viewed as a whole ("View this map") and this allows the inspection of the map legend (found in the left hand bottom corner. Becoming familiar with the various facilities of these maps is well worth the trouble.

• GENUKI on Kingston by Sea
• British History Online. A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6, Part 1, Bramber Rape: Southern Part, section on Kingston by Sea