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THE PARISH CHURCH. |
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than the existing house, being near the corner of the churchyard and Church Street. The present house was built largely at the expense of Mary Lady Amherst, who was the patron of the living, and who spent considerable sums on religious objects. She charged the estate of Imberhorne with three separate rent charges amounting to £70 annually, for ever, towards the support of the church at Forest Row.
The church possesses as fine a peal of bells as there is in the South of England, and the tenor is one of the largest in the county. It measures 521/2-in. in diameter and weighs a ton and a quarter. Each bell, from the first to the sixth, is inscribed, " T Mears of London, fecit, 1813." The seventh has simply " T Mears fecit," and the eighth the fuller inscription, "East Grinstead, Thomas Mears, fecit 1813." The first complete peal of Grandsire Triples (5,040 changes) was rung on them on December 21st, 1843.
The last attempt to enforce the " Church Terrier" was made on August 11th, 1869. This was a document setting forth the liabilities of certain properties in regard to the upkeep of the churchyard wall and fences. The Vestry called on Mr. Capes "to repair the carriage gate leading into the churchyard at the east end by the beer-shop, as he was bound to do such repairs according to the Church Terrier in respect of his property called Brookhurst." The churchyard wall along Church Street gives good evidence of the effect of the old Terrier. It is built and repaired in about ten distinct sections, some of brick, some of stone, being at one time evidently maintained by people of very diverse tastes and means.
Appended is a copy of the "Terrier" as prepared in 1711:—
The Marks and Bounds of the Church Yard of East Grinstead in the County of Sussex to be made by the Inhabitants and Owners of Lands within the said Town and Parish as followeth on the table : —
1. The Church Gate on the South Side of the yard containing eight foot to be made by the Town. From the Church Gate towards tho East and so forward. |
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