Links

Audio/video

Over the next two years a unique partnership between The Friends of the South Downs and four West Sussex Primary schools will result in the South Downs Living History Project, made possible by a £10,000 contribution by the Friends of the South Downs and a £48,700 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  Some oral histories are already available here.
 
There are many video and audio clips on the internet, on Midhurst and surrounding parishes.  During Lockdown 2 (November 2020) we asked Rev Derek Welsman to talk about Community:

Here are a few more, starting with a 1955 rail journey through the stations and countryside around Midhurst.

Here is an interview with John  Lt Cdr "Jock" Moffat RNVR, who came to Midhurst about 18 months after torpedoing the Bismarck and spent the rest of WWII as Officer In Charge of Flying at RNAS Cowdray Park. 

There is an aerial view of Midhurst shot by drone in July 2019, and a walk with a bit of history from November 2021

Gilbert Hambone's collection has some items going back 50 years!

Kevin's Rambles at Lodsworth
Kevin's Rambles through Midhurst

The Bald Explorer at St Paul's, Elstead
The Bald Explorer at The Shepherd's Church, Didling
The Bald Explorer exploring Midhurst
The Bald Explorer exploring Midhurst Common
The Bald Explorer exploring Stedham
The Bald Explorer taking a walk on the River Rother

Dave Ford's Walks in Sussex: Cocking
Dave Ford's Walks in Sussex: Midhurst to Petworth
Dave Ford's Walks in Sussex: Stedham, Trotton, Chithurst & Iping

You might also be interested in Gilbert Hambone's diary

Here is one of Hambone's clips, Down Your Way visits Adrian Hill in Laundry Cottages

Or this model of Midhurst Station:

And here is a site of music and song, covering the whole of the South Downs. 

 


South Downs Oral Histories



Derek at St Mary's, Easebourne



The Bald Explorer at the Shepherds' Church

Archives


Visit Midhurst

(Almost) everything you want to know about Midhurst can be found at "Visit Midhurst".


History

'Midhurst', in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4, the Rape of Chichester, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1953), pp. 74-80 https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol4/pp74-80

"The parish, containing 669 acres, lies in a bend of the River Rother, which forms its north and east boundaries, a tributary stream dividing it on the south-east from West Lavington. The western half is mostly common and woodland, the eastern is occupied by the town, which developed at the foot of the castle-crowned hill."  Read more on this fascinating website.


Literary connections

John Wyndham & H G Wells

A talk delivered by Christopher Priest in December 2000, in Midhurst. This West Sussex town is one which has strong associations with both writers, and although their working lives were many years apart John Wyndham and H.G. Wells have much in common, in their lives as well as in their writing. [This long article may be downloaded, but may not be uploaded or printed elsewhere.]


Midhurst Memoirs

Midhurst Society committee member Peter Sydenham was evacuated to Midhurst in WW2.  Although he later emigrated to Australia Midhurst continued to hold a fascination for him and he started to write about the town.  Not just his own memories, but everything about the place and its history. 

 


Images

There are hundreds - perhaps thousands - of images of Midhurst and surrounding area.  We will provide links here to some of the more unusual pages.

A good first stop is the Frith collection, which has personal memories as well as old photos:  https://www.francisfrith.com/midhurst/photos


June Lane (Frith Collection)

Images

David Johnston is a local artist who specialises in architecture, some faithful portraits, some imagined from the past.  Samples are reproduced here, with his consent, but you should also pay a visit to his website: http://www.davidjohnston.org.uk/

 


St Anne's Hill, Midhurst, by David Johnston



Barlavington Farm, by David Johnston



Lurgashill Mill, by David Johnston