Another corner of Midhurst .....

Wool Lane, Midhurst, has some interesting old cottages with jetties and beautifully patterned tile hanging. The tile hanging is typical of this area. A jetty is the projecting part of a timber framed building, the upper story projecting over the street. It served the purpose of providing more floor space, as well as preventing water pouring down the face of the building. And certainly if people were emptying chamber pots from bedroom windows, it gave passers-by the chance of shelter! In Midhurst, there are still quite a few cottages of this style and period, probably 15th-16th century.

The cottage nearest the camera is part of Wool Cottages and was once owned by the benevolent vicar of Midhurst, Rev. Frank Tatchell. From photographs, there is very little change in the appearance of the cottage in the last 100 years. In 1918 Rev. Tatchell started a girls’ club here, bequeathing it to his secretary in 1934. Among his other good deeds in the town – he provided, at his own cost, bicycles or boots for people who had to travel distances into town for work, and he let his own house on Midhurst Common at a low (or sometimes no) rent for young people for their honeymoons or for young couples who had not yet found a place to live. He sounds a thoroughly good man, and it’s somehow fitting to think of his cottage still thriving and useful today.