Place:North Marden, Sussex, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

North Marden was a tiny village on the spur of the South Downs in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. In 1933 it merged with part of the adjacent parish of East Marden to become the parish of Marden. It is located 7.5 miles (12 km) northwest of Chichester on the B2141 road.

North Marden was one of the smallest, out-of-the-way parishes in Sussex. At the end of the 19th century the population was between 20 and 30 inhabitants. The parish is mentioned in the Taxatio records of Pope Nicholas IV (1291).

The plan of the Church of St Mary, which is approached through a farmyard, is simple but unusual in the chancel having an apsidal, or semi-circular termination. The elaborate Norman south doorway in Caen stone suggests a date of the middle of the 12th century. The three Norman windows in the apse have been restored, but the jambs and rere-arches are ancient along with the small Norman window at the west end. The Norman sandstone font was provided an octagonal stem base in the 14th century, and parts of the ancient flint walls were repaired in places with 18th-century brickwork. The single bell dates from 1829.

The parish is described in further detail in British History Online.

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.

• Marden GENUKI on North Marden
• British History Online. A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4, the Rape of Chichester, section on North Marden
• Maps of the local area are to be found on pages for Westbourne and Singleton Hundred and Chichester Rape.
• A further map taken from the Ordnance Survey England & Wales One-Inch to the Mile series of 1892-1908 provided online by the National Library of Scotland. This is very clear and shows many large buildings and estates existant at the turn of the 20th century. The link given centres in on Westhampnett, but it can be moved to fit many places in the immediate area.