Visited 10th July 2016
The parish of St John the Evangelist, Newtimber, is a strip of land ~5.5 km long and ~0.75 km long running north from the South Downs It is and always has been very lightly populated. In Newtimber itself there is Newtimber Place, the vicarage and a couple of largish houses. Otherwise the only other population centre is the Farm and Hamlet of Saddlescombe. For much of the parish's history the bulk of the population lived at Saddlescombe.
Three generations of Goddards were baptised in the parish church: William Goddard (1759-1813); Thomas Goddard (1787-1817); Frederick Goddard (1813-1891). With the parish population being so small, there was rarely more than five "events" per year and the local cleric was probably a curate and mistakes were made. In 1808 the register which had been in use since 1733 was filled, but no new register was purchased. Events between 1809 and 1813 seem to have been reconstructed by the new Vicar in 1813 (see blog post "A bit of a mess - the Baptism of Frederick Goddard"). I also believe that the baptism entered under the name of Susannah Goddard in 1787 was actually that of Thomas Goddard (see blog post "Was Susannah Goddard really Thomas?")
"Vision of Britain" entry for Newtimber
Victoria County History, Sussex, Newtimber
The church dates back to the 13th century but has been so much modified by the Victorians that few mediaeval features are visible. Nevertheless the church is heritage-listed.
Heritage listing for St John the Evangelist Church, Newtimber
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| Newtimber, the path to the church. | Typical Newtimber residence. |
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| St John the Evangelist Church, Newtimber. | Windows in a flint-faced wall, Newtimber St John. |
Originally a semi-independent manorial holding of Newtimber Place, Saddlescombe evolved into a large farm with attached hamlet. In the 19th century the bulk of the population of Newtimber parish lived here (including Goddards). This is probably where most of the Newtimber Goddards lived.
The day we were there was cold, damp and foggy, so views were restricted.
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| The grain barn at Saddlescombe | The farmhouse at Saddlescombe |
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| The equipment store, Saddlescombe | The hamlet at Saddlescombe |
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| Panorama of Saddlescombe Farm | |
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