Place:Pulborough, Sussex, England

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is 42 miles (68 km) southwest of London. It is at the junction of the north-south A29 and the east-west A283 roads.

The village is near the confluence of the River Arun and the River Rother, on the Stane Street Roman road from London to Chichester. It looks southwards over the broad flood plain of the tidal Arun to a backdrop of the South Downs. It is on the northern boundary of the newly-established South Downs National Park.

The parish covers an area of 5,183 acres (2,098 hectares or 8.10 sq mi). In the 2001 UK census there were 4,685 people living in 1,976 households. At the 2011 UK Census the population of the small parish of Bignor (less than 100 people) was included and the total population was 5,206.

Historically, Pulborough was a fording place over the River Arun used by the Romans, who had a "mansio" (an official stopping place on a Roman road) across the river at Hardham, one day's march from Chichester on the London road. The Saxons bridged the River Arun here and at nearby Stopham, north of its confluence with the River Rother. It became an important watering and overnight halt for cattle drovers providing easy access to water.

The twelfth-century parish church is dedicated to St Mary.

Transport connections afforded by the River Arun, its navigation, and later by the LBSCR (London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) Arun Valley Line brought Pulborough into the industrial age. In the 20th century good road connections permitted the development of manufacturing industry, notably heavy engineering in London Road (now closed). The village is served by Pulborough railway station.

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 Pulborough
• British History Online. A History of the County of Sussex does not cover the West Easwrith Hundred.
• Maps of the local area are to be found on the page for Arundel Rape and on that for Thakeham Rural District.