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Rottingdean

Welcome to Roedean and Rottingdean
By Julia Phelan

Your editor for Roedean and Rottingdean is Julia Phelan. If you've got any queries about this area, or can add any information, photos or memories, please send My Brighton and Hove a message via the Comments form at the bottom of this page.

Rottingdean is the place I will always call home. My family moved here from the city when I was a small child as they wanted to be near the sea and to enjoy a better place for their young family. As luck would have it they chose this charming village and have stayed in the vicinity ever since.

Although I now live on the Isle of Wight, my childhood and teenage years were spent in this delightful place and it gave me the chance to enjoy the community spirit that only a village has to offer.

Smuggling and cricket
Rottingdean is an old smuggler's village. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, smuggling was a way of life on this coast. Overlooking the village is the Windmill which continued to grind corn until 1881 and is now preserved by the local Rottingdean Preservation Society. Legend has it that before the present windmill was built the ground on the top of Beacon Hill was used as a cricket pitch. In 1758, whilst playing cricket there a batsman hit the ball so hard that it rolled down the hill into the village. A fielder was sent to chase it and threw the ball too hard so that it missed the stumps and rolled down the other side of the hill! There were no boundaries in those days and the batsmen managed to achieve a total of 67 runs - a record that has never been bettered before or since.

The village green
The village green tends to act nowadays as the focus for the village. Village fetes are held here during the summer months and at the very heart of it is the Village Pond. The pond is now the home of various ducks, but at one time it was bustling with activity as nearby farms used to take their sheep to drink here. This part of the village also boasts Rudyard Kipling's House, which is to be seen across the pond.

St Margaret's Church
Opposite is St Margaret's Church. Little remains of the original Saxon building as it was rebuilt in the first around AD 1100 and again in AD 1200. In 1377 a party of pirates from France took over the village and many of the terrified villagers sought sanctuary here as the rest of the village was torched. Sadly, the pirates also went on to fire the church and many of the poor villagers were burnt alive inside. Evidence of this fire can be seen by the pinky/grey colouring of the interior stonework which was the result of the intense heat. Following its destruction it was rebuilt and has been periodically restored ever since, the last major restoration being during Victorian times. I was confirmed in this church and have many happy memories of "Church with Mother" and helping with the flower arrangements while I was a child. I particularly find comfort in the Garden of Rest as it is where both my Grandparents ashes are scattered.

Added to the site on 25-11-04
This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments:

Rottingdean and the St Margarets area was where my GGGGrandmother spent her elderly years with her daughter, Esther Lucy, and her husband, Edward Ridsdale, at the Dene Rottingdean. I too am doing family research and am deeply interested in this area.
By Richard Martin (Smiths Lake, NSW Australia) (04/06/2005)
Very interesting information. I used to live at Saltdean and often walked to Rottingdean with friends and my family in old days.
By Angela Treanor (09/11/2005)
Thanks for your great site - it helped to refresh my childhood memories... I schooled in Rottingdean in 1955/6, then emigrated to Perth, Australia. Have never been back, but am very keen to now!
By Mick Cater (18/05/2006)
Further to my previous post I have now established that my GGGG Grandmother, Ann Thacker, and her daughter, Esther Lucy Ridsdale nee Thacker, have distinct ties with St Margarets and Rottingdean. There is a Thacker family crypt there and with Esther Lucy's daughter Lucy marrying Stanley Baldwin which in turn links us to a Victorian fascination of 'A Circle of Sisters' which encompasses the Balwins, Kiplings, Burne-Jones and Poynters increases my desire to know more. Esther Lucy's husband, Edward Ridsdale, had stained glass windows designed by Sir Edward Burne Jones installed at St Margarets. What a wonderful heritage link that one day I or my children may one day visit.
By Richard Martin (Smiths Lake, NSW Australia) (06/07/2006)

Thank you for this feature of Rottingdean/Roedean. I now live in Yorkshire but lived in Hove for the first 23 years of my life. I remember spending many a day up by the windmill, by the pond, by the church and even in the old toy museum. Is that still there? I used to sit on a white rock sticking out of the ground near the windmill, between it and the cafe/pitch & putt building further down the hill. I used to love the windmill & the whole village so much and have so many fantastic memories of my days spent there. I even remember the drought of 1976 and the pond was totally dry! I rarely get to visit the city these days, but when I do and I pass that way I always look for my beloved windmill! Last time I passed - it had no sails and looked to be having some restoration done on it.  I hope it looks OK now!  Let's hope it continues to provide more memories and love for future generations. I love to tell my kids about the mill and the village and hopefully will bring them to see it one day!  Note: You will be pleased to know that the windmill now has its sails back.  Editorial Team.

By Chrissie Burton (22/10/2006)

I was born and brought up in south west London but while I was growing up, I spent most of my summer and Christmas holidays in Saltdean and Rottingdean staying with my godparents, Simone and Charles Gwyther. A tree has been planted on the village green to remember Charles Gwyther who was very instrumental in winning Rottingdean the Best Kept Village award (see the plaques on the front of the old Toy Museum) for, I believe, three years in a row in the 1970s. My parents' (Georgie and Roy) ashes are also in St Margarets's Garden of Remeberance, as are my godfather's. My godmother, Simone, has recently passed away and will, no doubt, be soon resting there with them. I will always be popping down to Rottingdean from time to time to see my Mum and Dad, but with these visits I notice the things that have gone from when I used to stay there: the book-shop by the White Horse, the Newsagent opposite the Black Horse and the small sweet shop by the Plough. But thankfully there are the constants that will stay: the Windmill, the Old Place Club (now known as the Rottingdean Club), the Black Horse, the village green and the Druid's face in Rudyard Kipling's wall! I hold one more connection with Rottingdean as I was christened in Our Lady Of Lourdes church behind the Toy Museum.

By Cole Burden (15/11/2006)

Does anyone know anything about a Robert Dennis Chantrell who retired to Rose Cottage in Rottingdean in about 1860. He was a retired architect. I would be obliged for any local information.

By Peter Chantrell (04/12/2006)

Hello Peter, I am not sure what you are wanting...? I do know that Robert Dennis Chantrell was an architect. He was born in England and at one point went over to Europe to do some work on Gothic churches in Belgium. I understand he was born in Southampton. His daughter, Marion Felicity Dennis Chantrell, is my great-grandmother who married Frank Lisle and came to New Zealand in the late 1880s. She was an artist, composed music and played the piano. How are you connected to Robert Dennis Chantrell?

By Marianne Klaricich (20/06/2007)

Hello Marianne, Thank you for your information. I am trying to find out more about my own great grandfather who was Robert Leopold Chantrell, and would have been borne about 1830, probably in London. I do not think he was connected to Robert Dennis, at least, not closely. I have hit a very difficult wall. Sorry for the delay, I have been out of action!

By Peter Chantrell (25/11/2007)

I am just starting to research my family name/tree and noticed the messages about Robert Dennis Chantrell. As I have only just begun looking, I was wondering if Peter Chantrell has any information or advice as I am looking for any regarding Harry Chantrell born 1910 in West Gorton. Son of Benjamin Chantrell and Susanna Chantrell nee Collins. Any information would be great, thanks. By the way my father is also Peter Chantrell.

By Karl Chantrell (19/01/2008)

My father was called Ronald Chantrell, the son of Benjamin Chantrell and Gladys Chantrell (nee Day). My grandfather was the son of Benjamin and Susanna. We have recently been in contact with the wife of Harry Chantrell who lives in Chorlton. Do you have any other information relating to the Chantrell family?

By Lorraine Gorman (nee Chantrell) (15/02/2008)

Does anyone know the name of the sweetshop that used to be opposite or near Sally Lunn's Tea Rooms (Margo's Mews 75-77) in the 1920s. And the name of the lady who ran the sweetshop who, if you spent a halfpenny she let you go through the kitchen and see the magnificent views from the Downs and a view of the sea. Thank you.

By Richard Linford (17/02/2008)

Hello Karl and Lorraine. I think this site possibly is not the right place for this family history. Perhaps you could contact me by email at peter.chantrell@virgin.net. Like to hear from you.

By Peter Chantrell (02/03/2008)

I have recently bought Mill Cottage in the High Street, Rottingdean, and am looking into its history. If anyone can help (personal memories as well as historic), I would be very grateful. Thanks.

By Neil Austin (24/03/2008)

I'm from The Paranormal Investigation Group of East Sussex (the P.I.G.S) and we are currently researching ghost stories and/or old legends in Rottingdean.  If anyone has any information, however small, please contact me or our website http://www.the-pigs.co.uk/. We are especially interested to hear about the 'Black Horse' and 'The Plough' pubs and the Olde Cottage Tearooms. Thank you very much.

By Lauren Setters (27/04/2008)

Hi I am Tim from the Paranormal Investigation Group Sussex (P.I.G.S) i would like to add that Lauren on the above post is also from this group although it seems has decided to re-name us piges, which is some what better than when she refered to us as (paranormal investigation society sussex) ha ha ha, Lauren please try to get it right It's the P.I.G.S (paranormal Investigation Group Sussex)(and yes we are made up from a core of ex police officers)

By RED (14/09/2008)

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