Church Hill, Midhurst

Church Hill is made up of a variety of properties. On the left is a typical small cottage (note the small door), while the middle larger portion of this terrace is Church Hill House, a beautiful Georgian fronted house now listed Grade II. It sold recently for £1.5M. Parts of these buildings are quite a bit older than the Georgian era. This area used to be the old market square so will have seen much of the history of Midhurst, and have developed accordingly over the years. Further down the hill, you can see two more small cottages, one of which has been used for filming TV programmes, and then the Parish Church.

Before the reformation there used to be two priests serving the church, the High Mass Priest provided by the Prioress of Easebourne, and the Morrow Priest who was housed at Church Hill House with a stipend of £6.13.4d pa. His job was to say mass daily for the laity. If this cleric was housed in such grand style, I can’t help wondering what kind of abode the High-Mass Priest had. During this period, a lamp was kept burning in the Church at all times.

Even on a dull day, the Virginia Creeper has a warm glowing look.


"I will gather and carefully make my friends
Of the men of the Sussex Weald;
They watch the stars from silent folds,
They stiffly plough the field.
By them and the God of the South Country
My poor soul shall be healed."

from "The South Country"
Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953).