Publications
Church Surveys of Chichester Archdeaconry 1602, 1610 & 1636, edited by Dr Andrew Foster and Joan Barham, published 2018 (vol. 98, xlix + 218 pp, Sussex Record Society, ISBN-13: 9780854450800) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/509706]
Abstract:This volume provides transcriptions of church surveys conducted within the Archdeaconry of Chichester in the early seventeenth century, covering most of what is now deemed to be West Sussex. The first survey was commissioned by Archbishop John Whitgift in 1602 and was part of a national campaign. The survey of 1610 was a result of the primary visitation of Bishop Samuel Harsnett, while that of 1636 was under the auspices of Bishop Richard Montagu, but almost certainly connected with the Metropolitical Visitation of Archbishop William Laud of 1635. These surveys provide valuable evidence of the struggle by clergy, churchwardens and lay patrons to maintain the basic fabric of their churches and chapels, while also ensuring that the buildings were fit places for worship according to the standards being set for the times. The material may be usefully compared with the results of similar surveys conducted in 1686 and 1724, also published by the Sussex Record Society (Volume 78).