Place:Boxgrove, Sussex, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Boxgrove is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, about five kilometres (3.5 miles) northeast of the city of Chichester. The village is just south of the A285 road which follows the line of the Roman road Stane Street.

The parish has an area of 1,169 hectares (2,890 acres or 4.51 sq mi). According to the 2001 UK census it had a population of 901 people living in 423 households. The 2011 UK census indicated a population of 957. Included in the parish are the hamlets of Crockerhill, Strettington and Halnaker.

Boxgrove Priory, a Benedictine monastery, was founded at Boxgrove by Robert de Haia (or de la Haye) early in the 12th century. The priory church remains as the Church of England parish church of St Mary and St Blaise, minus the original nave, and mostly dates from the 13th century.

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"BOXGROVE, a village, a parish, and a [registration] subdistrict in Westhampnett [registration] district, Sussex. The village stands 2 miles NNE of Drayton [railway] station, and 3½ NE by E of Chichester. The parish includes also the hamlets of Crocker-Hill and East Hampnett, the tythings of Halnaker and Strellington, and part of the hamlet of Seabeach; and has a post office under Chichester. Acres: 3,676. Real property: £5,249. Population: 666. Houses: 158.

"The property is divided among a few. The manor was given by Henry I. to Robert de Hay, passed to the Poynings, the Delawarrs, and the Morleys; and belongs now to the Duke of Richmond. Halnaker House, built by Sir Thomas West, Lord Delawarr, in the time of Henry VIII., is now a mass of ruin. Goodwood, the seat of the Duke of Richmond, is a great feature. A priory was founded at Boxgrove by Robert de Hay; made a cell to the Benedictine Abbey of Lessay, in Normandy; and allowed to retain its endowments at the suppression of alien monasteries. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester. Value: £687. Patron: the Duke of Richmond. The church consists of the chancel, aisles, transepts, and central tower of the ancient priory; is all rich early English, except the tower, which is Norman; and contains tombs of the Poynings, the Delawarrs, and the Morleys, also three others probably of Henry l.'s queen Adeliza and her two daughters. An endowed school has £56; almshouses, £115; and other charities £13."

Goodwood, mentioned by Wilson in his Gazetteer, is now a country house and estate covering 4,900 hectares (12,000 acres) in the neighbouring parish of Westhampnett. It is best known for its horse racing circuit, but is also the venue for many other sporting activities.

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 Boxgrove
• British History Online. A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4, the Rape of Chichester, section on Boxgrove
• Maps of the local area are to be found on pages for Box and Stockbridge Hundred and Chichester Rape.