Summersdale Neighbourhood Character Appraisal - Summersdale — A tale of two farms

History
Summersdale — A tale of two farms

At his death in 1244 Bishop Ralph Neville gave ‘Hauedstoke and
Sumeresdale.... for ever to my church of Chichester and my successors,
Bishops of Chichester.’ He also gave his lands at ‘Graveling Wells’ (now
Graylingwell) to the church at Chichester. The Broyle lands were
subsequently divided into large and small farming units and leased out. The
Broyles and the parts which became Summersdale and Warren Farms were
parcelled together and belonged to the Church of England from the middle of
the 13”‘ Century until late in the 19th. The lands remained unmolested as
bishopric land throughout the Reformation and the suppression of
monasteries, throughout the grabbing of lands by unscrupulous lords under
Edward VI, and throughout the reign of Elizabeth I who seized land with little
excuse and took eight of the Bishop’s 13 manors; they also survived the
Civil War intact. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the lands
were leased, tenanted and managed by a succession of yeoman farmers at
both Summersdale and Old Broyle Farms; the latter including the 67 acres
that became Warren Farm in 1811.

Before 1900 the residential area known as Summersdale did not exist. The
only buildings north of the Roussillon Barracks were those on the
Summersdale and Warren Farms, each with a boundary on the Lavant Road.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners assumed ownership of both farms on the
death of Bishop Ashurst Turner, Bishop of Chichester, in 1870.

Summersdale Farmhouse (now Summersdale House) is the oldest habitable
property in the area, first appearing on the Tithe Map of 1846-7 when a Mr
M Hackett leased 129 acres from the Bishop, and his family lived in the
house. Its footprint on the Tithe Map is consistent with that of the house
today. The last tenant of the farm was unable to pay his way and after his
death in 1894, Mr Charles Stride bought the buildings and lands from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for £8,000. The land was bounded to the north
and east by Hackett’s Rew, the River Lavant, and Graylingwell, and to the
south and west by The Broadway and Lavant Road.

Mr Stride, a partner in a local firm of Auctioneers and Estate Agents, quickly
developed the southern portion as The Summersdale Estate based upon four
roads. The development was set out in hierarchical fashion off straight
streets with space between houses or groups, and ample gardens. Though
some houses were independent villas, standard semi-detached houses in
rows were common.

The Avenue was intended for doctors, solicitors, senior officers of the Army
and Navy and the like, with 13 large Edwardian Houses on its north side
completed by 1911. Highland Road was intended for Chichester

4

shopkeepers, while smaller but well-built houses on Summersdale Road and
The Broadway for working classes were completed by 1903. The roads and
layouts remain unchanged and now form a fundamental part of
Summersdale’s heritage as a truly historic suburb.

in early street directories the original four roads were listed collectively as
The Summersdale Estate rather than alphabetically. It was not until 1929
that these and other local roads were listed amid the rest of the Chichester
area, thereby acknowledging that the estate created by Charles Stride was
no longer remote from the City, but a suburb of it.

To the east of the Lavant Road the residential area on Stride’s land grew
organically in response to housing demand over the next half century.