From Kelly’s Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867
WILLINGDON is a parish, in the Eastern division of the county, union of Eastbourne, Lewes county court district and archdeaconry, rape and rural deanery of Pevensey, and diocese of Chichester. The village is pleasantly situated, one mile south-west from Polegate station, 62½ miles from London, and 2 north from Eastbourne: it is small, and sheltered on the west by the range of South Downs, which run south to the coast, from which it is distant 4 miles. The church, with part of the village, is situated upon a gentle rise, commanding views of the whole of Pevensey Bay. The church (name unknown) dates from the beginning of the thirteenth century, and is built of flint and Eastbourne rock, and consists of nave, aisle, chancel and tower, with shingled spire. The register dates from 1560. The living is a vicarage, endowed with one-third of the tithes, the gross value of which is about £150 per annum, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Chichester, and held by the Rev. Thomas Lowe, M.A., of Oriel College, Oxford. Here is a Parochial school, supported by voluntary contributions; also a reading-room for the labouring classes. The manor comprises the chief part of the parish: it formerly belonged to the Parker family, to whom monuments are found in the church: for the last century it has been held by the Thomas family, Frederick Freeman Thomas, Esq., J.P., being the present holder and principal landowner. The village gives name to the hundred. The area is 4,217A. 3R. 32P., and the population in 1861 was 709.
Parish Clerk, Walter Stevens.
POST OFFICE.- Miss Elizabeth Jane Leaver, receiver. Letters arrive from Hurst Green at 5.45 a.m.; dispatched at 7.45 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Eastbourne
INSURANCE AGENT.- Provincial, John Nicholls
Parochial Schools, John Nicholls, master; Mrs. Nicholls, mistress
Adams Alfred, esq.
Adams Mrs.
Brown George, esq.
Clapson Mr. John
Cooper Mr. William
Glasscock Mr. Thomas
Gray Mr. Robert
Harvey Rev Thomas Cowell [curate of Westham]
Lowe Rev. Thomas, M.A. [vicar]
Mure Misses, Buckingham lodge
Porter Robert, esq.
Thomas Frederick Freeman, esq. J.P. Ratton park
COMMERCIAL.
Adams George, corn merchant & woolstapler
Amos Freeman, beer retailer, Pevensey rd
Baker Henry, grocer & draper
Barber William, jun. land agent & valuer, superintendent registrar of births, deaths & marriages, & clerk to the Eastbourne & Hailsham unions
Carter Charles, farmer
Catt Edmund, relieving officer
Denman Wm. ironmonger & blacksmith
East Sussex Book Hawking Association (Thomas Martin, traveller)
Fears John, carpenter
Garness Charles, lodging house
Gaston William, bricklayer
Guy John, farmer, Park farm
Hall Henry, farmer & land agent
Head Samuel, baker
Lewis William, Red Lion
Manser James, farmer
Mewett Edward, farmer
Mewett George, farmer, Rippingtons
Mewett James, farmer
Miller James, boot & shoe maker
Mockett Matthias, miller & coal & corn merchant & farmer
Mockett Matthias, jun. foreign & british spirit merchant
Page Ann (Mrs.), draper
Paxton John, farmer, Chalk farm
Putland Walter, farmer
Read John, dairyman
Stevens Benjamin, farmer, Meachants
Stevens Daniel, mail cart contractor
Stevens Fanny (Miss), agent for the sale of brushes, mats &c. made by the blind
Vine William, butcher
Willingdon Reading Room (David Stevens, secretary)
Wood James, shopkeeper & beer retailer
Young Thos. Lodge inn, Pevensey road