Page 15 - ‘A Blaker Family History’ The family history of Joseph Blaker (1916-2007; ‘Joe’)

© The Blaker Society
© The Blaker Society

Sadly, the churchyard of St. Peter’s is now neglected and unkempt.

Neglected Churchyard Area, St. Mary’s Church, Cowfold

Cuckfield
Reason for Interest
The earliest members of the Blaker lineage in which we have interest lived in, or
close to Cuckfield, and were baptised, married or were buried in Holy Trinity
Church, in the centre of the village, e.g.
• Richard Blaker (1502-1546) was buried the churchyard of
Holy Trinity church in May 1546
• Richard Blaker (1547-1623) was buried the churchyard of
Holy Trinity church in April 1623

Location
Cuckfield is a large village on the southern slopes of the Weald, some 55km south
of London and 21km north of Brighton.

Cuckfield O.S. Map, 1896

History
The origin of the name, Cuckfield (earlier spelled Kukefeld, Cucufeld, Cucufelda
and Cokefeld), is debated, but it is generally associated with the cuckoo, which is
the village emblem. The ‘field’ part of the name Cuckfield is of Saxon origin,
meaning ‘a clearing where forest trees were felled’.

During the Saxon period, the greater part of Cuckfield was covered in woodland,
almost impenetrable, with overgrown oak and ash trees and matted
undergrowth, with a few patches of rough heath and scrub. William de Warenne
st
(1 Earl of Surrey) built a hunting lodge and then a wooden chapel in a clearing
in the forest, where they established a small settlement, called ‘Kukefeld’. It is
wooden chapel was destroyed by fire. In 1202, an Adam de Cucufeld gave a gift
of land to the monks for the church of the Holy Trinity. The church took its
present structural form by about 1340, after a decade of rebuilding and
enlargement. The new stone church, with its solid square tower, must have
dominated the small medieval market town. The church has been renovated and
extended many times since then. The parish church of the Holy Trinity today

consists of a chancel, north and south chapels, and north vestry, nave of four
bays, north and south aisles, north and south porches, and a west tower with a
spire. The walls are of Sussex stone rubble and the roofs are covered with
Horsham slabs. The extensive churchyard has far-reaching southward views to
the South Downs, and many 17th- and 18th-century gravestones still survive. –
sadly none of Blaker origin have been found to date.
•

Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield: Old Postcard