Woodmancote

WOODMANCOTE is a parish, 2 miles south-east from Henfield station, on the Shoreham and Horsham line, 9 from Brighton, 13 from Horsham, 15 from Lewes, 5½ from Hassock's Gate station, a mile and a half from Henfield, and 4 miles from Hurstpierpoint, in the Western division of the county, Steyning union, Tipnoak hundred, rape of Bramber, Brighton county court district, Chichester diocese, Lewes archdeaconry and Shermanbury rural deanery. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The church is small, and has two aisles and a chancel, with a neat steeple; the chancel has been re-seated with open benches. The register dates from the year 1582. The living is a rectory, value £485 per annum, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, and held by the Rev. Richard Cox Hales, M.A., of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. A National school for boys and girls has recently been erected, with residence. J. L, W. Dennett, Esq., Sir Percy Burrell, Bart., M.P., Rev. John Goring, M.A. and Arthur Smith, Esq., are the chief landowners; the former is the lord of the manor. The soil is stiff clay. The principal crops are wheat, oats and beans. The population in 1861 was 331, and the area is 2,236 acres.
BLACKSTONE is a hamlet, one mile north from the church. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]