Bibliography - Sompting, Adur District, West Sussex
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Parish of Sompting, by Thomas Walker Horsfield, published 1835 in The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex (vol. II, rape of Bramber, pp.204-205) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2397][Lib 3212] & The Keep [LIB/507380][Lib/500088] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

The Tomb of Richard Burré in Sompting Church, by Mark Antony Lower, published 1867 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 19, article, pp.180-184) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2104] & The Keep [LIB/500238] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Cokeham, by Mark Antony Lower, M.A., published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. I, pp.119-120, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3314] & The Keep [LIB/500159]   View Online

Sompting, by Mark Antony Lower, M.A., published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. II, pp.169-172, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3315] & The Keep [LIB/500158]   View Online

Ordnance Survey Book of Reference to the plan of the Parish of Sompting, published 1876 (article, London: H.M.S.O. & printed at George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode)

Sompting Church, by J. L. André, published 1898 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 41, article, pp.7-24) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2126] & The Keep [LIB/500259] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Hospitals: Sompting, or Cokeham, by William Page, F.S.A., published 1907 in The Victoria History of the County of Sussex (vol. 2: Ecclesiastical, Maritime, Social and Economic History, Population 1801-1901, Industries, Agriculture, Forestry, Architecture, Schools and Sport, p.106, London: Victoria County History, ISBN-10: 0712905863 & ISBN-13: 9780712905862) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2399][Lib 9097] & The Keep [LIB/500090][LIB/504899] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries   View Online

The Manor of 'Dentune', by Edward Sayers, published 1907 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 50, notes & queries, p.176) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2135] & The Keep [LIB/500268] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The "Circus" on Park Brow, Sompting, by H. T. Pullen-Burry, published 1924 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 65, article, pp.242-250) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2150] & The Keep [LIB/500283] & S.A.S. library

The Park Brow Platforms, by Herbert S. Toms, published 1924 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 65, notes & queries, pp.251-253) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2150] & The Keep [LIB/500283] & S.A.S. library

Two Anglo-Keltic Place-Names: Sunt, Sompting in Sussex, by R. E. Zachrisson, published January 1928 in Studia Neophilologica (vol. 1, no. 2, article, pp.109-113)

The Peverells: A Crusading Family, by Edward Shoosmith, published 1929 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. III no. 7, article, pp.457-462) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2307] & The Keep [LIB/500140]

Some Saxon Churches in Sussex, by W. Cyril Wallis, F.S.A. (Scot), published 1931 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. V no. 5, article, pp.345-351) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2310] & The Keep [LIB/500174]

A Type 'A' Beaker from Park Brow, Sompting, by E. Cecil Curwen, published May 1938 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VII no. 2, note, pp.58-59) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12536][Lib 8864][Lib 2206] & The Keep [LIB/500209] & S.A.S. library

A Bronze Cauldron from Sompting, by E. Cecil Curwen, M.A., M.B., F.S.A., published February 1948 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XII no. 1, article, pp.9-11) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8230] & The Keep [LIB/500214] & S.A.S. library

A Bronze Cauldron from Sompting, Sussex, by E. Cecil Curwen, published October 1948 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 28 issue 3-4, article, pp.157-163)   View Online

During the autumn of 1946 a hoard of bronzes was discovered during excavation for foundations in the bottom of a down-land valley in the parish of Sompting, near Worthing. The site is a point approximately 300 ft. north-east of Hill Barn and 1,500 ft. south-west of the south-west edge of Lancing Ring, and is on property belonging to Hill Barn Nurseries. The bronzes were unearthed by a mechanical excavator at a depth of about 5 ft. in a valley-bottom accumulation of brown clayey mould. How much of this material is natural hill-wash and how much the result of cultivation of the valley in ancient and modern times it would be difficult to say. The depth at which the bronzes were found suggests that some of the soil may have been ploughed down into the valley bottom at a later period.

Guide to the Church of St. Mary, Sompting, edited by Walter H. Godfrey, published 1951 (Sussex Churches No. 16, pamphlet, Sompting Parochial Church Council) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4940] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries

Sompting is one of the more distinguished of our Sussex churches, and Mr. Godfrey's new Guide supplies a long-felt need: a description of the church which is both authoritative, sensibly illustrated and reasonably complete. One is struck by its masterly command of language no less than by the clarity of its deductions. The booklet starts with an historical introduction and then proceeds to a detailed description of the architectural features area by area: a logical plan but having the drawback on the spot of compelling frequent visits to the outside and back, yet probably more sensible than conducting one twice through time, inside and then again outside the building. The Saxon tower and carvings are probably Sompting's chief glory, but the "South Transept", attributed to the Templars is scarcely less interesting. With regard to the carvings, the fragments of frieze should be described as "below" (rather than "over") recesses behind the altar, and it was disappointing to see the line block of part of this frieze printed upside down perpetuating its present position over a recess in the north wall. With regard to the Templars' Chapel, there is a blocked square-headed door-arch seen in the outside face of the east wall of the sacristy which needs explaining. The booklet contains six well-chosen photographs and a standard plan of the building; and it also has lists of fittings and memorials, and of the vicars, as far as they are known, since 1180.

Sompting Guide 1955, Official Guide to Sompting Parish Council. 2nd Ed, by L. Elgar Pike, published 1955 (Croydon: Home Publishing Co.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Sussex Church Plans CII: St. Mary Sompting, by W. H. G. [W. H. Godfrey], published November 1956 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XIV nos. 11 & 12, article, pp.194-196) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8232][Lib 2213] & The Keep [LIB/500216] & S.A.S. library

Sompting Church and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, by F. W. S. [F. W. Steer], published May 1965 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVI no. 5, note, pp.167-168) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8234] & The Keep [LIB/500218] & S.A.S. library

Sompting Parish Church, published 1967 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4939]

Kelly's Directory of Worthing with Lancing, Ferring and Sompting, published 1969 (article, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd.)

Kelly's Directory of Worthing and neighbourhood, published 1972 (article, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd.)

Excavations 1971: Chapel of St. John, Sompting Church, by Susan M. Constable, published March 1972 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 5, article, p.3) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Kelly's Directory of Worthing with Lancing, Ferring and Sompting, published 1973 (article, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd.)

Sompting Abbotts School: A short history 1921-1974, published 1974 (12 pp., Sompting Abbotts School) accessible at: British Library

Spectroscopy and a Roman Cremation from Sompting, Sussex, by C. J. Ainsworth and H. B. A. Ratcliffe-Densham, published November 1974 in Britannia (vol. 5, article, pp.310-316)   View Online

Various forms of spectroscopic analysis are used for the study of human artifacts. Three methods are compared in this note on a large Roman cremation.
The 'Marquis of Granby' Inn (TQ 1612 0521) stands at the foot of the southern slope of the South Downs, in the village of Sompting, to the east of Worthing, in Sussex (FIG. I ). The local soil consists of some 3 ft. of brown earth on chalk. In the course of recent extensions to the inn part of the slope immediately to the north was levelled. A broken urn and 11 associated vessels lay on the buried chalk surface, beneath the extensions, together with a coin of Geta.

Lancing and Sompting from Early Postcards, by Pip Barker, published 1979 (Nostalgia Publications)

Sompting Parish Church, a brief guide, by Stanley P Excell, published 1979 (pamphlet, Friends of Sompting Church) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 11822] & West Sussex Libraries

Worthing, Sompting and Lancing, published 1980 (pamphlet, The Victorian Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7447]

The geology and hydrogeology of the Lower Greensand of the Sompting Borehole, West Sussex, by B. Young and R. A. Monkhouse, published 1980 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 91 issue 4, article, pp.307-313)   View Online

The Sompting Borehole provided the first cored sequences of Lower Greensand sediments beneath the South Downs. The lithologies present closely resemble those at outcrop to the north but the succession is markedly thinner due to the contemporary influence of a westerly extension of the Paris-Plage ridge structure. Hydrogeological studies show that the Lower Greensand here is a potential aquifer. Radiocarbon determinations reveal a surprisingly young age for the groundwater and a significant tritium content indicates the presence of appreciable quantities of recent water.

Utopia Reconsidered. Edmond Holmes, Harriet Johnson and the School at Sompting, by M. H. Hyndman, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, article, pp.351-357) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library

Parish of Sompting, by A. P. Baggs, C. R. J. Currie, C. R. Elrington, S. M. Keeling, A. M. Rowland and edited by T. P. Huson, published 1 January 1980 in A History of the County of Sussex (vol. 6, part 1: Southern part of the Rape of Bramber, pp.53-64, London: Victoria County History, ISBN-10: 0197227538 & ISBN-13: 9780197227534) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7542][Lib 7543] & The Keep [LIB/500085] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries   View Online

Monumental Inscriptions at Sompting Parish Church, by Phyl & Stanley Excell, published March 1980 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 4 no. 3, article, pp.84-85) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8672] & The Keep [LIB/501256] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

Trelawny - Fraud, Fiction or Fact?, by Phyl & Stanley Excell, published June 1981 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 4 no. 8, article, pp.248-252) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8672] & The Keep [LIB/501256] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

A hundred years ago on the 13th of August 1881 Edward John Trelawny died at this home in West Street, Sompting, only a few months short of the age of 89. His arrival in the Sussex village some eleven years earlier had been typical of the strange character he had displayed all his life.

Sompting Church Tower, by Fred Aldsworth, published 1985 in S.A.S. Newsletter (vol. 46, article, p.443) accessible at: S.A.S. library

The Tower and 'Rhenish Helm' Spire of St. Mary's Church, Sompting, by Frederick G. Aldsworth and R. Harris, published 1988 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 126, article, pp.105-144) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10371] & The Keep [LIB/500303] & S.A.S. library

Religious Survey 1851 - Steyning district, edited by John A. Vickers, published August 1990 in The Religious Census of Sussex 1851 (Sussex Record Society, vol. 75, pp.107-117, ISBN-10: 085445036X & ISBN-13: 9780854450367) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10578][Lib 13824] & The Keep [LIB/500452][LIB/507827] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Steyning district incl. Shoreham, Hove, Preston, Patcham, West Blatchington, Hangleton, Portslade, Southwick, Kingston-by-Sea, Sompting, Coombs, Buttolphs, Upper Beeding, Edburton, Poynings, Woodmancote, Henfield, Ashurst & Shermanbury

Lancing and Sompting, by Philip Fry, published 1995 (128 pp., Sutton Publishing, ISBN-10: 0750909404 & ISBN-13: 9780750909402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15042] & West Sussex Libraries

Parish Profile no. 11: Sompting, by Reg Towner, published December 1997 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 12 no. 8, article, p.282) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14879] & The Keep [LIB/508815] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

Sompting - 18c. Schools, edited by John Caffyn, published 1998 in Sussex Schools in the 18th Century (Sussex Record Society, vol. 81, pp.241-242, ISBN-10: 0854450424 & ISBN-13: 9780854450428) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13825][Lib 13828] & The Keep [LIB/500458][Lib/507864] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Lord Byron's Jackal: The Life of Edward John Trelawny, by David Crane, published 6 July 1998 (400 pp., HarperCollins, ISBN-10: 0002556316 & ISBN-13: 9780002556316) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

David Crane seeks to answer Joseph Severn's famous question and investigates the life and phenomenon of Edward John Trelawny (1792-1881) - writer, adventurer, romantic and friend to Shelley and Byron - who died at Sompting, aged 88. Trelawny's is a story inextricably linked with Byron, and with the Greek War of Independence - a war which provided both Romantic Europe and Edward Trelawny with their most extravagant challenge.
There has been no general biography of Trelawny for nearly twenty years, no history of the philhellene role in the Greek war of Independence for even longer.
Reminiscent of Patrick French's Younghusband, Lord Byron's Jackal is not a life of Trelawny in the conventional sense. It is biography and travel writing of the highest calibre; it is an evocation of landscape and an exploration of the ways we can see and recover the past.

A Little School on the Downs: The Story of pioneer educationalisy Harriet Finlay Johnson, headmistress at Sompting School, West Sussex, 1897-1910, by Mary Bowmaker, published 1 December 2002 (136 pp., Woodfield Publishing, ISBN-10: 1903953308 & ISBN-13: 9781903953303) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

In the early years of the 20th century, the village school at Sompting (on the South Downs just north of Worthing) became the focus of national and international interest due to the modern ideas of its headmistress, Harriet Finlay Johnson, whose liberal approach to teaching challenged the authoritarian methods commonly in use at the time.
Having taken up her post as headmistress at Sompting school in 1897, Harriet introduced such items as nature rambles, educational visits, library mornings, lessons out of doors, cookery, handicraft, art and drama into the curriculum, and allowed her pupils a degree of freedom and autonomy that was unheard of in other Victorian schools.
The results were so remarkable that educationalists from far and wide were soon making their way to Sussex to see Harriet's school for themselves. Many of them liked what they saw, and Harriet's ideas were subsequently put into practice by other teachers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In time they would become integral to almost every school curriculum.
But then, in 1909, just as it seemed she had the world of education at her feet, Harriet's glittering career came to a premature end when she announced her intention to marry 20-year-old George Weller, a former pupil 17 years her junior.
Despite the fact that there was nothing improper about their relationship and that Harriet and her husband would remain happily married until George's death in 1952, the scandal was too much for the authorities at the time and Harriet was forced to leave the job she loved so much. She would never enter a classroom again.
However, this was not the end of her story, because she now had time to write a book expounding the ideas she had formulated during her 12 years as a teaching practitioner. The book, entitled The Dramatic Method of Teaching, attracted a great deal of attention in educational circles and influenced the thinking of teachers as far away as the USA and Japan. Harriet's small place in history was assured.
Mary Bowmaker has gathered a wealth of information from a variety of sources, including interviews with former pupils and surviving members of Harriet's family, to tell the whole story of Harriet's short but highly influential career for the first time.
It is a fascinating and entertaining insight into the character of an extraordinary woman who, in twelve short years, managed to make a little school on the downs the focus of international interest and acclaim - a truly remarkable feat.

Limited Liability - Arthur Pullen-Burry, by Eileen Colwell, published 2005 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

This booklet is a fascinating exploration into the life and work in the village of Sompting of Arthur Pullen-Burry (Market Gardener, Inventor and Entrepreneur).

The Lynch Gate at St Mary's Church, Sompting 'Monument to the Glorious Dead', by Eileen Colwell, published September 2007 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 17 no. 7, article, pp.318-319) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/508991] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

The Lych Gate at St Mary's Church, Sompting, "Monument to the Glorious Dead", by Eileen Colwell, published 2008 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

The building of the War Memorial and information on the men inscribed.

Education in Sompting Part I, by Eileen Colwell, published 2009 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

This booklet covers the early years of education up to 1872.

Education in Sompting Part II, by Eileen Colwell, published 2009 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

This booklet covers the period from the new school built in 1872.

Education in Sompting Part III, by Eileen Colwell, published 2009 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

This booklet covers the Harriet Johnson era.

Education in Sompting Part IV, by Eileen Colwell, published 2010 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

This booklet covers the period 1911 until the end of the Loose Lane school in 1973.

The Air Raid Shelter at the National School, Sompting, by Eileen Colwell, published 2013 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

Information and plans of this surviving air raid shelter.

The Ball Tree Inn, by Eileen Colwell, published 2013 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18766] & Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

The history of the Ball Tree, now demolished.

Lancelot Barrington Crofts Tristram 1882-1914, by Eileen Colwell, published 2014 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

How well do you know our villages?, by Eileen Colwell, published 2015 (booklet, Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders History Group) accessible at: Lancing & Sompting Pastfinders Local History Group & West Sussex Libraries

A photographic quiz with answer sheet.

The Church in Sompting, published (no date) (pamphlet, St Mary's Sompting) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13599]

Sompting Church, by Frederick Harrison, published (no date) (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5014] & West Sussex Libraries

The Story of Sompting Parish Church, by P. T. Jones, published (no date) (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10213][Lib 9236][Lib 4936]

Sompting Parish Register, published (no date) by the Sussex Family History Group and Parish Register Transcription Society (Ref: SXW85, CD-ROM)

Baptisms 1546-1901, Banns 1754-1901, Marriages 1558-1900 and Burials 1558-1888 with some gaps. Indexed Transcription. Includes 21 photographs. Vol.85.

Arun Valley and Worthing Out - Monumental Inscriptions, published (no date) by Sussex Family History Group (Ref: C007, CD-ROM)

Amberley, Binstead, Buncton, Burpham, Clapham, Eartham, Ferring, Findon, Goring, Greatham, Houghton (CE and RC), Lyminster, Madehurst, Parham, Patching, Poling, Rustington, Slindon (CE and RC), Sompting, Thakeham, Tortington, Walberton and Washington