Blacks guide to
It is noted from this guide written in 1861, “Park and village population stands at 55, the latter a cluster of cottages on the outskirts of the Hon Mr.Curzons noble domain 1861”
.
Is possible that the village had not been completely removed as had all thought to be the case
Parham. Year 1594, note this burial, Widow Duke on the common being excommunicated was laid in the churchyard on November 4th...
Update Parham research.
During the 1960s the Ha Ha that can be seen today in front of Parham house was constructed, during the excavating work a lot of pottery was discovered, it covered many periods from some late iron age pottery to Roman and through to Medieval and late 19th century ware.
At present this pottery is stored at Parham, we plan over the coming winter months to examine this pottery, and then it is possible that it will give some information about periods of occupation in the area of the village. The site of the Ha Ha is within only a few hundred meters of the site of the village.
It is interesting that it was the late Con Ainsworh a local archaeologist, who undertook a watching brief of the building of the Ha Ha, and it is his name that appears on labels on the collection of pottery in store at Parham.
The other interesting bit of information is that he was given a very early map of the estate ,this it is understood marked the positions of the village, this map was not returned and has since been lost, but a line of investigation may reveal where it is !.
More to come.!
The name of Parham is derived from the residence of its first bearers either in the parish of that name in the
In
Visit journal on line for more information about Parham village. Village life.
Parish records, notes.
Registers seldom start as early as 1538.in Sussex Parham shares this earliest date with Birdham, Easebourne, Rudgwick, Stedham and Yapton.What the records show are that Parham was not such a poor village at the time of these early registers.
Sir Robert Palmer obtained the estate from Henry V111 in 1540 at the dissolution of the monasteries (
Though Robert lost his head through supporting Lady Jane Gray, his son Thomas consolidated the holding and built the great Elizabethan mansion there in 1577.
The village was at this point a thriving community, there being several gentlemen living there, some may have been friends of the family others were, prosperous tradesmen.
Some of the trades listed in these early records of the village, a miller, saddler, a tailor a smith, baker.
Between 1558 and 1599 it was recorded that there were some 318 baptisms, this being an average of about five per year over the 65 years, giving a population of around 150.
There were Epidemics and illness, and it affected all families, in 1557 not only George Shelley the rector died, but within a space of around fifty days Richard Shory lost his three daughters, Katherin, Annis and Jone.In 1583 a Jane Chancroft died of the plague.
This next extract from the records is interesting as it comes part way in explaining the true location of the village.
In 1575, a poor woman coming into the streets gave birth to a son who was christened Rychard. Did someone give her shelter?.
The village street was then close to the church but was later cleared away in the second half of the 18th century, as being to close to the big house.
Another child was born in Mr Palmers barn, in 1583 Thomas Hall, a beggar child was buried in the churchyard.
There are many other interesting facts from the records, one being that a Richard Tupper was aged 105 years of age when he died in 1597, and the very strange remark at “Thos Weeks burial” in 1594 that he was a “natural child”( bourn out of wedlock) but “died a Christian with great sorrow for his sin”. It was not his fault!
How long people lived in Parham is impossible to know with any accuracy. By looking at the baptisms and corresponding burials, it is clear that six out of ten children survived, some to die later before reaching the age of 21 years. Childbirth was a great risk at this time, and it does not appear from the records that families were large.
What is interesting is that in the present churchyard there are no early graves visible, so was the grave yard at some point made smaller, thus what you now see are only the later family members of the great house buried there, just as the village was removed , thus the graves also of its inhabitants were removed.!
Given that the population of the village was at some points up to around 150 inhabitants, then there would have been a substantial number of burials in the church yard.
What is coming clear from the research is that the lost
With resistivity it should be possible to locate the street, if this work does indeed find the village street, and then it should be possible to locate the dwellings of the inhabitants.
At the time of the Domesday survey (1086) the manor contained 600 acres of arable and sixteen families-probably less than 100 souls. What remained of the village, scattered about the church, was pulled down in 1778-9.Now there are 279 acres of woodland,320 acres of park,360 of downland, 295 acres of arable.
The Abbot of Westminster’s premises are described in a document of 1356/7 as consisting of a thatched hall with a chamber and kitchen, and a grange. There is some evidence that the stone walls of this or a subsequent building are incorporated in the east side of the one built in 1577.
The Abbots usually leased their houses to tenants, retaining certain manorial dues, and it this to which there are references to the Palmers possessing between 1540 and 1577.
 | The plan of the house shows the 1350s build.(outlined in black
Parham House.
Country house constructed in 1577 incorporating part of earlier fortified house. The main front of the house is E-shaped. It is constructed of stone rubble and ashlar with a Horsham slab roof. Additions were carried out in 1870.
This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.
It is interesting that this house may at some point been a fortified manor house, or even a Palace, lot more reserach is needed.
There is no map or plan in the Parham archives that shows the position
of the lost village. It is because we have no information about its
whereabouts that we asked if the Worthing Archaeological Society could
do some geophysical work on the site, possibly followed up by
excavation. The only early map we have is an estate map drawn up
between 1750 and 1779 which shows only the odd barn and hovel, and the
stables that were demolished in 1779.
The documentary evidence we have is restricted to a note made by a
descendant of Sir Cecil Bysshopp, 7th Baronet, who stated that he
pulled down what remained of the village, the old stables which lay to
the south-east of the house, and planned the quadrangle of offices and
stables to the north. He died in September 1779. The assumption is
that the village was already in decay by then and that the villagers
had decamped earlier over a period of time.
The estate map is framed and hanging on a wall between the entrance
hall and the shop at Parham House.
Landscape park, pleasance and gardens to Parham. The park was first documented in 1628 and was partly landscaped circa 1778-9 with a lake to the south of the house and plantations and perimeter tree planting.
| Post Medieval Deer Park 1628 |
| Post Medieval Garden Terrace 1767 to 1799 |
| Post Medieval Orangery 1767 to 1799 |
| Post Medieval Orchard 1767 to 1799 |
| Post Medieval Parterre 1767 to 1799 |
| Post Medieval Statue 1767 to 1799 |
| Post Medieval Walled Garden 1767 to 1799 |
| Post Medieval Lake 1778 to 1779 |
| Post Medieval Landscape Park 1778 to 1779 |
| Post Medieval Lawn 1778 to 1779 |
| Post Medieval Plantation 1778 to 1779 |
| Post Medieval Pleasance 1778 to 1779 |
| Post Medieval Wood 1778 to 1779 |
Parham .
A short history.
The property, originally owned by the Monastery of
Then in 1922
Mr and Mrs Pearson spent more than 40 years carefully restoring Parham and filling it with a sensitively chosen collection of beautiful furniture, paintings and textiles, also acquiring items originally in the house. The range of portraits is especially notable. There are many rugs and carpets and a particularly important collection of early needlework.
What they created at Parham is a rare survival of mid 20th-Century connoMr and Mrs Pearson were also responsible for the form of the gardens seen at Parham today. The four-acre walled garden includes a Wendy House and an apple orchard. Its large mixed borders and greenhouses are principally devoted to the growing of flowers and plants for the house. Mrs Pearson began the tradition of making arrangements to harmonise with the colours in the rooms. The 18th century Pleasure Grounds extend to seven acres and include a lake, many specimen trees and spring bulbs, swings and a brick and turf maze.
Parham house and gardens are surrounded by some 875 acres of working agricultural and forestry land. This includes 300 acres of ancient park in which fallow deer roam - descendants of the original herd first mentioned in 1628.
Now owned by a Charitable Trust, the house, gardens and park are administered by a Council of Management charged with their care and with the duty of continuing to open Parham to the public.
