Vestry minutes, 1859-1899, 1910-1969

From 1859 to 1894 inclusive, the Vestry minutes contain the usual parish business, consisting of:- election of Churchwardens, waywardens, guardian and overseers, and constables; making the church, highway and poor rates; and occasionally examining and passing the ratebook and considering alterations to rate assessments. From 1895 the minutes include church matters only (except those for Jan. 1896, p. 106); from 1931 Vestries are held mostly on the same occasion as the annual Parochial Church Meeting.

Copies of the church accounts for 1932, 1935, 1936 have been inserted.

The volume also includes the following items:

Inside front cover: pages index to annual Vestry meetings, 1859-1876;

Fly-leaf:- memorandum concerning the safe-keeping of the original assessment book by Mr. W. Peachey of Church Farm, 1864;

p.1 lists of overseers and of waywardens, 1853-1859;

p.2 reference to painted tablets of the Commandments, March 1859;

pp.6-7 minutes relating to the impounding of stray cattle; and to church sittings and whether these should be by right of land-ownership or house occupancy, 1861;

p.13 complaint about the undue burden placed on the parish roads owing to Warminghurst traffic, March 1863;

p.33 memorandum concerning the payment for flints for roads, March 1870; photograph of The Rev. P. Blakiston, rector;

pp.34-36 minutes of discussions concerning church restoration, with printed appeal inserted, showing the church and list of subscribers; concerning the need for land to enlarge the churchyard and intention to apply to Sir Percy Burrell; decision to require the attendance of Mr Wheeler, of Tunbridge Wells, architect, April 1871; minutes of meetings of subscribers (inserted), May and July [nd];

p.37 minutes concerning the draining of the churchyard, May [1871];

pp.41-53 [discontinuous] minutes relating to the parish school, how expenses were to be met if the Warminghurst children were admitted to Ashington, insuring the school, schoolmaster's house, furniture and books, etc., March 1872 - March 1874;

pp.44-45 decision to raise a church rate throughout the entire district which for ecclesiastical purposes was now included in the parish of Ashington, Oct. 1872;

pp.45-48 minutes of discussions on the parish's liability for repairing the coker in the Warminghurst road; Dec. 1872- March 1873; and on repairing the church path, Dec. 1872;

pp.49-50 decision at a special vestry meeting to include two schools in the valuation list: Ashington School, and "the school commonly called Wiston School on Buncton Farm", Jan. 1874;

pp.54-56 minutes relating to a voluntary church rate and to the Rating Act (1874) for rating timber, underwood, and game, Feb. 1875;

p.55-58 minutes of discussions concerning the legal ownership of "scrapings" and "sidings", March 1875;

pp.58-66 discussions and resolutions concerning the legal right of a parishioner to a piece of land which he had enclosed, the ensuing legal action and its outcome, etc., March 1875 - March 1876;

p.69 photograph of the rector, Bishop W. Trower;

p.71 decision to appeal against a new assessment on the County rate, June 1878;

pp.71-72,169 matters concerning the Bishop Trower Memorial Fund: these consist of a printed paper (inserted), showing the subscription list for two stained glass windows, March 1879; and, following damage to them in the Second World War, their replacement in the North wall, paid for by the War Damage Commission, March 1951;

pp.78, 83 memoranda relating to the Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act 1869, Jan. 1883, March 1886;

p.95 minutes of a meeting called to consider the Local Government Board's proposal to amalgamate Thakeham Union with Petworth Union or to join Ashington to some other Union, Oct. 1891;

pp.96-98 minutes concerning the effect of legislation on the parish's control over the surveyor of the highways, Dec. 1891;

pp.102-103 minute relating to the Local Government Board and a loan raised by the parish in the past for a poor house in the Thakeham Union; decision to purchase a [O.S.] map of the parish, March 1894;

p.104 photograph of the rector, C.A. Heurtley;

p.106 minutes relating to the new basis for the County rate, Jan. 1896;

No minutes are recorded between 1900 and 1909 inclusive;

p.110 first minutes after the nine-year gap, March 1910;

p.120 minutes of special vestry meeting held to consider a marble tablet to be placed in the church as a war memorial, Nov.1919;

pp.123,167,187 decisions to increase insurances payments, Apr. 1922, Apr. 1949, March 1956;

From p.127 (Apr. 1926) reports of various elections to the Ruridecanal Conference, Diocesan Council, PCC etc.;

p.130 report of a general discussion on the proposed revised Prayer Book [the 1928 Prayer Book], Apr. 1927;

From p. 140 (Apr. 1932) reports of discussions on the parish quota;

pp.146,148 minutes concerning repairs to the church guttering, May, 1935, Apr. 1936;

p.149 local newspaper cuttings announcing the retirement of the rector, L.O. Frewer, Apr. 1936;

pp.152 - 210 [discontinuous] discussions concerning the heating and lighting of the church, Apr. 1937, March 1967;

p.153,154; references to renovation of the church doors and to a mahogany case for the Warminghurst communion plate; and to the new parish magazine [see also pp. 159, 160], Apr. 1938;

p.155 references to the gift of two candlesticks, a churchyard seat (memorials), a hymnboard, and a memorial tablet, Apr. 1939 [gifts to Warminghurst church also listed];

p.156 report on County Educations Committee's reorganisation of schools and consequent loss to the village school of all children over eleven, March 1940;

p.157 announcement that Warminghurst would henceforth have its own Parochial Church Council and deal with its own affairs, March 1940;

p.160 report relating to the trusteeship of the Scout Hut, Jan. 1943;

p.161 decision to collect for a new altar book which would be the 1928 Prayer Book, Apr. 1944;

p.161-168 minutes relating to war damage to the church, windows etc., Apr. 1944 - Apr. 1950;

p.162 reference to a Village Hall committee, Jan. 1945;

pp.163-168 discussions concerning a war memorial, Apr. 1946 - Apr. 1950;

pp.163, 165 discussions relating to the sequestration of the parish, Apr. 1946, Feb. 1948;

p.167-168 discussions concerning necessary church repairs and their cost; report of the dedication of a memorial stained glass window; consideration of the post-war Evangelise England Campaigns; report of ,1000 legacy from Mrs. Gore for the upkeep of the churchyard, Apr. 1949;

p.169 report of a gift for the re-lining of the font with lead, March 1951;

p.171-204 [discontinuous] decisions relating to the Gore Bequest [see p. 168 above], Apr. 1952 - Apr. 1965;

pp.171-212 [discontinuous] minutes relating to repairs to the roof, Apr. 1953 - March 1968;

p.177 discussion on festivities to mark the 700th anniversary of St. Richard of Chichester and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Apr. 1953;

pp.180-181 reports concerning Work on the church's exterior and plans for cleaning the interior, Feb. [1954];

pp.182,213 reports concerning a site for a new rectory, finally to be situated in Ashington after a search for a site that would be equally suitable for Ashington and Wiston, Feb [1954], March 1968;

p.185 list of objects given to the church during the year, including carpets for the vestry and the children's chapel, March 1955;

pp.187-188 reports on installation of a new sanitation system, additional school playground, and gifts of an oil painting of Bishop Trower and a carved chair for the Sanctuary, March 1956;

p.194 report of the gift of an altar cloth, Feb. 1959;

p.195 report on installation of a choir vestry, Feb. 1960;

p.197 reports on completion of work on the glass, new hassocks and choir vestry curtains, March 1961,

p.207 reports on various repairs, additions to furnishings, and on re-hanging the bells, March 1966;

p.210 report of a ,100 legacy from Miss James towards maintaining the fabric, March 1967;

p.216 report of a gift of flagstones by Chanctonbury Rural District Council, Apr. 1969