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Name | Aldingbourne |
Alt names | Aldingbourn | source: from redirect | | Westergate | source: large settlement in parish | | Lidsey | source: hamlet in parish | | Norton (Aldingbourne) | source: hamlet in parish | | Nyton | source: hamlet in parish | | Woodgate | source: hamlet in parish |
Type | Parish |
Coordinates | 50.839°N 0.69°W |
Located in | Sussex, England |
Also located in | West Sussex, England (1865 - ) |
See also | Chichester Rape, Sussex, England | rape in which it was located | | Box and Stockbridge Hundred, Sussex, England | hundred in which it was located | | Westhampnett Rural, Sussex, England | rural district of which it was part 1894-1933 | | Chichester Rural, Sussex, England | rural district of which it was part 1933-1974 | | Arun District, West Sussex, England | district municipality covering the area since 1974 |
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Aldingbourne is a mixed rural and residential civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is centred 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Bognor Regis and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Chichester.
The civil parish, named after the small village of Aldingbourne, includes the much larger settlement of Westergate, as well as smaller settlements Norton, Nyton, Woodgate and Lidsey. The parish extends to 3,060 acres (1,240 hectares or 4.84 sq mi). In the 2011 UK census the population was counted as 3,819.
The developed south and east of the parish is on fertile soil 7–15 metres above sea level, whereas north of the A27 road at the foot of the South Downs National Park the land reaches 37 metres in altitude. The neighbouring parish to the north, Eartham, climbs steeply to reach 223m above sea level on the wooded escarpment. Agriculture occupies most of the land use and is a major employer.
Aldingbourne started out in the Box and Stockbridge Hundred of the Chichester Rape, indicating that in early days Chichester was the closest town of importance. Even in the time of rural district administration (1894-1974) it was located in rural districts whose centries were to the west. Its growth and the improvement of roads in the 20th century meant that when the new large municipalities named "districts" were established in 1974, it was placed in the Arun District where the towns of Arundel and Bognor Regis were closer and easier to get to.
History
First documented in 683 AD as "Aldingburne", then 200 years later as "Ealdingburnan", the name describes a stream or bourne (now known as Aldingbourne Rife) belonging to Ealda, a Saxon settler. The place is described in the Domesday Book (1086) as having 69 households (28 villagers, 38 smallholders and three slaves), and a value to the lord of the manor of £18.
The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Mary, and in 1861 its parish had a population of 772. According to Sussex Notes and Queries, the history of the church building "is not clear". Different parts of the church date from both the twelfth and thirteenth century, with the chancel having been built in the thirteenth century. Later additions include a porch dating from the seventeenth century and an organ chamber that was "wholly modern" in 1944.
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.
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Categories: Sussex, England | Aldingbourne, Sussex, England | Box and Stockbridge Hundred, Sussex, England | Chichester Rape, Sussex, England | Westhampnett Rural, Sussex, England | Chichester Rural, Sussex, England | Chichester District, West Sussex, England | West Sussex, England
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