From Kelly’s Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867
CHIDDINGLY is an extensive parish and village, 10 miles east from Lewes, 7 south-east from Uckfield, 5 north from Hailsham, 3½ from Berwick railway station, and 51 by road from London, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Shiplake, West Firle union, county court district and archdeaconry of Lewes, rape and rural deanery of Pevensey, and Chichester diocese. The church (name unknown) is near the centre of the parish: it is an ancient structure, in the Decorated style of the 13th century, having a square stone tower with four pinnacles, from which, rising to an altitude of 128 feet, is a very elegant spire: in the tower are 6 good bells: there are several monuments in the church, one of a stately character, erected to the memory of Sir John Jefferay, Knt., Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the then Lord of Chiddingly Place, who died in 1578; it is 18 feet in height and 12 in breadth, raised on a pedestal of Sussex marble. The register begins in the year 1625. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £158, in the gift of the Countess De La Warr (Baroness Buckhurst), and held by the Rev. James Henry Vidal, M.A., of St. John’s College, Cambridge: Owen John Fuller Meyrick, Esq., who is a large landowner, receives the great tithes. Here is a National school, supported by voluntary subscriptions. Chiddingly Place, the chapel of which is now used as a barn, is a very ancient mansion. The Earl of Chichester, John Fell and John Day, Esqrs., Mr. David Guy and Mr. Reeves, are landowners. The area is 4,297 acres, and the population in 1861 was 992. PARK FARM is half a mile east; FRIGHTS, half a mile north; HALE GREEN, one mile north-east; COLE HARBOUR, a mile and a half north-west; WHITESMITH, one mile west; HILDERS and CHESSWELL, one mile north-east; MUDDLES GREEN, half a mile south; PEAK HILL, a mile and a half south-east; THUNDERS, a mile and a half south-east; BURGHILL, one mile south; BROAD OAK, a mile and a half south.
THE DICKER is a common, a mile and a half south, consisting of 1,000 acres, and containing 491 inhabitants, partly in the parishes of Chiddingly, Arlington and Hellingly. At the ‘Bat and Ball,’ on the Dicker, is held annually, on the 23rd July, a large sheep fair. There are several hop growers in this parish, and the earth on The Dicker is famous for bricks.
Parish Clerk, Trayton White, The Street.
POST OFFICE.- James Noakes, sub-postmaster. Letters received through Hurst Green arrive at 8 a.m.; box closes at 7 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Hailsham
INSURANCE AGENT.- Liverpool & London & Globe, James Noakes, The Street
National School, Trayton White, master; Mrs. Elizabeth Ann White, mistress
CARRIER TO LEWES.- James Westgate, from ‘Golden Cross,’ on the Lower Dicker
Brown Mr. Matthew, Elm cottage, Lower Dicker
Collins Mrs. Muddles green
Verrall Mr. Charles
Vidal Rev. Jas. Henry, M.A. Vicarage
Whichelo Mr. John Ayers, On the Dicker
COMMERCIAL.
Akehurst Geo. shopkeeper & whitesmith
Clapson George, butcher
Clark Edward, farmer, Lower Dicker frm
Deadman Edward, farmer, The Islands
Gibbs Samuel, farmer, Burghill
Gibbs Gideon, farmer & hop grower, Strood farm
Goldsmith James, Gun, & farmer
Guy David, farmer & hop grower, Chiddingly place
Guy John, brick maker, On the Dicker
Guy Silas, wheelwright, Muddles green
Guy Gaius, brick maker, On the Dicker
Hide Henry, farmer, Peak farm
Holman David, farmer, Peak hill
Hunt James, farm bailiff to Mr Richardson, Birch’s farm
Knight James, carpenter, On the Lower Dicker
Noakes James, grocer, draper, provision dealer & sub-postmaster, The Street
Page Peter, Bat & Ball
Pierce Thomas, shopkeeper, Muddles grn
Reeves Robert, miller, farmer & hop grower, Stream mill
Russell Charles, tailor & draper, The Street; & at East Hoathly
Simmonds Thomas, farmer, Nash Street farm
Smith Peter, farmer, Easterfield
Swanton Henry, farmer, Hilders farm
Swanton Robert, farmer & hop grower, Frith’s farm
Thatcher John, farmer & hop grower, Park farm
Thorpe Wm. farmer, On the Low. Dicker
Goldsmith John, Saix Bells, The Street
Wadman -, farmer, Green farm
Westgate James, Golden Cross, & farmer & carrier, On the Lower Dicker
White Benjamin, brick & tile maker & farmer, Lower Dicker brickyard
White James, blacksmith, On the Lower Dicker
White Richard, grocer & draper, On the Lower Dicker
Wickens Geo. miller, Lower Dicker mill