We are very grateful to Tony Keating for his contribution to the site. There are several references to him which can be found if you type Keating into the search box. He has kindly provided additional information to his contribution which is published below and you should cross-refer this with the earlier entries Notes and… Continue reading Memories of a former resident 1946-60
Tag: Theme/Industrial Heritage
The Westgate Brewery (updated)
The following entry is made up of a number of articles about the Brewery assembled from different sources by Richard Brownfield. [Square bracketed numbers and symbols] refer to the footnotes at the end of this post. From time to time, we bring in a guest writer to add to the content of our website. We… Continue reading The Westgate Brewery (updated)
The Lavant River
In Sussex dialect a ‘Lavant´ is a winterbourne, which means it only flows during the winter. In C15th documents in the West Sussex Records Office it is also spelt as ‘Louente’ and ‘Lavent’. Most rivers start from a ‘spring’ and gather water from tributaries as they flow downhill.
History of The Tannery (61-65 Westgate)
Residents The Undershill family, who turned out to be tanners, are first recorded in the parish in 1526, when they acquire the share of a lease of 20 acres of land with a house. John Undershill is the earliest documented reference to tanning in St. Bartholomew’s when, in 1549, he witnesses the will of John Parker… Continue reading History of The Tannery (61-65 Westgate)
History of 39-59 Westgate
Known informally as the Tannery Cottages, nos. 39–59 Westgate form a neat row of 10 workman’s cottages. Originally occupied by tannery workers, these were bought – probably after 1871 – by the Henty family and used for their brewery employees. No information has yet been found of their construction date.
The other branch of the Shippam Family
In our article on nos. 27-39 Westgate, much space was given to the Shippam sausage and grocery business which occupied this site in the 19th century. This was not however the branch of the Shippam family of Shippam Pastes renown. That business was founded by a different member of the family but, confusingly with the… Continue reading The other branch of the Shippam Family
Westgate Timeline
43CE The Roman Second Legion land at Fishbourne and set up camp on the site which will become the palace of Togidubnus, vassal king of the Regni. Later they march inland under the command of Vespasian, probably along the track which was to become Westgate. They set up a winter camp on the flat plain… Continue reading Westgate Timeline
Hidden Westgate Histories 1: St Sepulchre Round Church
The former St Batholomew’s Church in Mount Lane off Westgate is not the first church to have appeared on this site. The suburbs extra muros of St Pancras to the east and of St Sepulchre to the west date back to Roman times, both housing 3rd century cemeteries within their parishes, with the main one… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories 1: St Sepulchre Round Church
The Brewery Field: Community Open Day, 20 August 2017
After 105 years absence, it was an emotional moment to see a brewery dray enter the Brewery Field that Sunday in August 2017, as two magnificent shire horses, Pride and Griffin, were driven in by John Medhurst, their driver for the past 28 years. Driver John Medhurst and Cllr Peter Jones, then Mayor of Chichester
Hidden Westgate Histories 2: The Shippam Stables
By an amazing coincidence, the very week that the dray horses came back to the Brewery Field, if only for an afternoon, a resident was clearing the vegetation back in her garden when she discovered several items hanging on the wall. The first one was this strange item: