Place:Trotton, Sussex, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Since the local administration reorganization of 1974 the parish of Trotton has merged with the parish of Chithurst under the name "Trotton with Chithurst". Wikipedia provides statistics for population and area for the new parish. In the 2001 UK census the parish covered 7.7 square kilometres (3.0 sq mi) and had 129 households with a total population of 328. At the 2011 Census the population had only increased marginally to 329.

Trotton is on the A272 road 7 miles (11 km) west of Midhurst, while the village of Chithurst is about 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Trotton and has its own article here in WeRelate. The hamlet of Dumpford is located in the former parish of Trotton and has been redirected here.

As can be seen on the map on the Dumpford Hundred page, Trotton is a long parish almost broken in two by the projection of Chithurst from the east and Terwick from the west.

St. George's Church dates to around 1230, and was rebuilt in about 1400. It is located in the village of Trotton on the A272 road, which passes over the River Rother on a sandstone bridge which dates to about 1600.

Trotton has existed since the time of the Domesday Book (1086).

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).

"TROTTON, a parish, with a village, in Midhurst [registration] district, Sussex; 1 mile NE of Elsted [railway] station, and 3 W by N of Midhurst. Post town: Petersfield. Acres: 3,877. Real property: £3,451. Population: 452. Houses: 92.

"The manor was long held by the family of Camois, and belongs now to R. H. Nevell, Esq. [Trotton] Place is the residence of A. E. Knox, Esq. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Chichester. Value: £420. Patrons: T. Staunton and F. Inman, Esqs. The church was rebuilt in 1400. The [perpetual] curacy of Milland is a separate benefice. The poet Otway was a native."

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 Trotton
• British History Online. A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4, the Rape of Chichester, section on Trotton
• Maps of the local area are to be found on the page for Chichester Rape and on that for Midhurst Rural District.