Thomas Pryer, lifelong resident of Chichester, was interviewed by the West Sussex Gazette in 1936, when he was 91 years old. The ‘Gazette claimed he was their oldest reader, who remembered when the ‘papers first edition was published in 1853.
Pryer remembered seeing old cottages that stood opposite the Cathedral in West Street being demolished. He attended the Oliver Whitby (‘Bluecoat School’) in West Street. He recalled that for supper they were given beer in ‘tin mugs’ and that in the morning the same mugs – unwashed – were filled with milk for breakfast.
He claimed that in his youth he met the great Free Trade advocate, Richard Cobden, and also Henry Manning, who would later find fame as Cardinal Manning – the first Roman Catholic cardinal in England since The Reformation.
An old resident was interviewed by the West Sussex Gazette back in 1887. His name was not given but it was said his memories went back ’70 or 80 years,’ to the start of the nineteenth century. This man remembered that the first gas lighting in Chichester was at The Cross in 1863, which was working in time to celebrate the wedding of the Prince of Wales that took place in that year.
The old man remembered the fairs that were held annually at St. Pancras and that that attracted people from a wide area. He recalled : “Now, at this fair it was a rare place for young men to buy their whips. And it was great fun to hear them snap their whips when they were walking about the town with their sweethearts, for of course, they always brought those in, and bought them new ribbons for their caps and bonnets.”
He also remembered the Henty Brewery, which is his youth was known as Humphries Brewery.
The White Horse Inn at Northgate closed many years ago, but it is known to have dated back to the mid-seventeenth century.
Rose Ruffle, who was born in 1916, remembered working at the White Horse when she was fourteen. She worked long hours for little pay, just four shillings (20p) a week.
Mr and Mrs Price ran the pub and treated their staff with some disdain, as Rose recalled: “I was the servant, they were the owners and that was that, and I would be there washing the glasses and cleaning up. They had their fish and chips after closing, while I was cleaning. They didn’t let me join them. It was like that in those days.”
Rose’s father had died in the First World War, so she had to try and earn money to help her mother who was struggling on a meagre war pension.
A humble Chichester shoe-maker, who left school at 11, went on to become a poet of some renown, as well as becoming sexton and verger of Chichester Cathedral. Charles Crocker was born in Chichester in 1797 of poor parents. At the age of seven he was fortunate enough to win a place at the city’s Grey Coat Charity School (not to be confused with the more famous Blue Coat school). Here he learned “those religious principles which have rendered my condition more than commonly blest”. At the age of eleven, Crocker was apprenticed to a Chichester shoemaker and remained in that employment until he was 47, latterly at a premises in Little London.
John Thelwall
During these years, Crocker began to write poetry. He wrote of the landscape about him, including the trees and beauty spots he came to know and love so well. His two best received poems were ‘The British Oak’ and ‘Kingley Vale’. He found his inspiration in the poetry of Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper, and the Chichester poet, William Collins. Crocker was hugely influenced by a lecture given in Chichester by the polymath and political reformer, John Thelwall, on the life and work of John Milton. This one lecture, Crocker later claimed, inspired him to write verse more than any book he ever read.
A Chichester doctor, John Forbes, befriended Crocker, and encouraged him to publish some of his poems. Crocker’s collection, ‘Kingley Vale and other Poems’, appeared in 1830, to much acclaim. In one poem, ‘Labour and the Muse’, Crocker described how verse came to his mind as he worked –
How sweetly pass the solitary hours, When prison’d here with toil I sit and muse My fancy roving ‘mong poetic flowers, Delighted with their beauteous forms and hues.
John Forbes
Forbes went on to become Physician to the Queen’s Household and was knighted by Queen Victoria. It was perhaps through Forbes’ London connections that Crocker was introduced to Robert Southey, who declared that Crocker’s ‘The British Oak’, was “the finest, if not the finest [poem], in the English language”. Crocker was now earning a good living as a poet and in 1844 he finally gave up shoe-making.
Crocker did not leave his beloved Chichester for the bright lights of London, but actually rooted himself more deeply in the city and its history. He became both sexton and verger of Chichester Cathedral. In 1848 he published ‘Visit to Chichester Cathedral’, the first ever guide book to the cathedral. As he grew older, Crocker delighted in taking visitors around the cathedral and telling them of its history and showing them the shrines and ornaments of that ancient place of worship.
On 21st February 1861, during restoration works, the spire of Chichester Cathedral collapsed – crashing into the nave. The scene of destruction made a deep impression on Crocker, who believed the spire to be the crowing glory of ‘his’ cathedral – superior even to Salisbury’s. The Sussex antiquarian, Mark Anthony Lower, who visited Crocker shortly afterwards, found his friend distraught by the calamity that had overtaken his beloved cathedral. He did not recover from the shock and died six months later on 6th October. Crocker’s funeral was an impressive sight. The great and the good of the city followed the cortege in silent tribute. One friend noted, “the fall of Chichester spire killed but one man and that man was Charles Crocker”.
In March 2014, a blue plaque to Charles Crocker was placed on Kim’s Bookshop in South Street, Chichester, where the poet died in 1861.
It is said there is no war worse than a civil war, with communities and even families being divided against each other.
In December 1642, civil war came to Chichester. As King Charles I sought to wrest control of his kingdom from a rebellious parliament, armed conflict broke out across the country.
Chichester was a city divided, with prominent citizens taking up the cause of king and parliament respectively. One of the city’s MPs, William Cawley, well known in Chichester for establishing almshouses for the poor, was a stern critic of the king. Henry Chitty was another parliament man and Captain of the Trained Band of Chichester – a seventeenth century version of the Home Guard. Ranged against them were Sir William Morley, who lived in the Cathedral Close, and Sir Edward Ford, the High Sheriff of Sussex, who had only recently being elevated to his position by King Charles.
An uneasy truce between the two factions broke out into armed conflict and lead to the city being besieged and under bombardment for several weeks. Sir Edward Ford, who lived at Uppark, raised the county militia, in an effort to dislodge the parliamentary forces in Chichester. Although he was initially successful, his victory was short lived, as a superior force under General William Waller laid siege to the city.
The story of those frantic days in December 1642 forms the basis of the 6th Chichester Heritage Trail. For more information click here
We speak with Chairman Colin Hicks about the Business Improvement District
Newsletter readers may remember Chichester’s BID received a boost just before last Christmas. A ballot among city centre retailers and other business resulted in a clear majority in favour of BID continuing its work to improve the city centre for everyone. On this hopeful foundation BID’s management board has been taking stock of its contribution to Chichester life.
The Chichester BID – some background
Business Improvement Districts, or more simply BIDs, are partnerships between all the organisations and individuals who want lively and successful city and town centres. They started in Canada over 40 years ago, came to Britain in 2004 and began at Chichester in 2012. This is because BIDs are regarded as making a positive difference, injecting management and money to build a hopeful future. BIDs are funded by a levy on those paying non-domestic rates. They must be agreed by a ballot of local businesses and are renewed every five years. That’s why there was a ballot in Chichester last autumn: the first five years – BID 1 – had expired. The numbers involved are perhaps surprising: in the Chichester BID area (within the City Walls) are over 700 businesses: about half are retail (shops) and a fifth offer food or drink; the rest provide commercial and inter-business services.
What has Chichester’s BID achieved?
Most obviously, the Christmas lights! The 2016 switch-on attracted our largest crowd ever. Less obvious are the many behind-the-scene activities to increase the city centre’s viability. For example, installing new digital ‘footflow’ counters to monitor ‘people movement’ – knowing whether numbers are rising or falling is important. The BID also promotes Chichester and its events and attractions by regional advertising to encourage visitors. When they arrive we help them get orientated. Have you noticed the many map boards in car parks? They are there because of BID. And have you noticed the leaflet-style street maps in purpose-designed dispensers around the city centre? BID printed 150,000. It’s a small thing, but a free street map can be really helpful to visitors. A last example of behind-the-scenes efforts is improving the city centre’s security – it’s called Chichester Businesses Against Crime (ChiBAC) and has been quietly successful.
One of Chichester BID’s initiatives is to use flags to enliven the street-scene (Photo: Chichester BID)
Chichester’s city centre is changing
It will not have escaped your notice that pedestrian streets everywhere are changing. Shopping is migrating to the Internet which now accounts for some 17% of UK retail spending. So there are fewer shoppers on the nation’s high streets, Chichester included. But those still coming seek other opportunities whilst in town: coffee, a meal, visit an exhibition; take a stroll around the park. This is a shopping experience you cannot get on the Internet: knowledgeable personal service often from an independent retailer, the chance to try on clothes, an impulse buy at the farmers’ market.
Keep those tills ringing!
Chichester has plenty to offer residents’ and visitors’ changing habits and tastes. In retail jargon this city is a ‘multiple shopping destination’ but it’s also a town with a successful University and College; and it’s alive with arts, culture and heritage of national importance. Over the next five years 2017-22 the BID 2 team will continue to maintain partnerships with local government and others like the Chamber of Commerce and Visit Chichester. The BID’s task is straightforward: to increase the city centre’s viability and keep those tills ringing!
(This article appears in the June 2017 Society Newsletter – join the Society to receive this Newsletter and enjoy other benefits)
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Thomas Pryer, lifelong resident of Chichester, was interviewed by the West Sussex Gazette in 1936, when he was 91 years old. The ‘Gazette claimed he was their oldest reader, who remembered when the ‘papers first edition was published in 1853.
An old resident was interviewed by the West Sussex Gazette back in 1887. His name was not given but it was said his memories went back ’70 or 80 years,’ to the start of the nineteenth century. This man remembered that the first gas lighting in Chichester was at The Cross in 1863, which was working in time to celebrate the wedding of the Prince of Wales that took place in that year.
