Page 25 - ‘A Blaker Family History’ The family history of Joseph Blaker (1916-2007; ‘Joe’)

© The Blaker Society
© The Blaker Society

predominantly arable farm land and wheat, barley, peas, and vetch were grown
there. The higher downland for long provided sheep pasture, and the highest
slopes have remained grassland. Sompting was well known in the 19th century
for its orchards, and particularly its fig trees.

The church of St. Mary the Blessed Virgin is a Grade 1-listed Saxon and Norman
church. It is a flint building, with dressings of Caen stone and a slate roof. Its
most distinct feature is its unique tower – which is internationally famous. The
tower, at the west end, incorporates some reused Roman-era brickwork, and was
built in two parts; it assumed its current appearance by the end of the 11th
century. The tower is topped with a ‘Rhenish helm’—a four-sided gabled
pyramidal cap rising to a central mast, which is unique in England. The helm was
re-shingled in 1984, which offered the opportunity for a detailed study. Samples
of the timber frame were sent for radio carbon dating and tree-ring dating,
identifying the wood as 14th-century oak. It is likely that this wood was a
replacement of earlier work, because the original tower construction shows a
shape that is consistent with the ‘Rhenish helm’.

The church was originally built by the Saxons in c. 960, and was then adapted by
the Normans when William de Braose granted it to the Knights Templar in the
th
12 century. In the 1324, Pope Clement V passed the church to the Knights
Hospitaller. The beautiful churchyard contains many Blaker graves, including
those of John Blaker (1705-1761) and his wife., Elizabeth (1710-1783). The
headstones pictured on page 40 show the headstones of William Blaker (1785-
1861), his wife, Elizabeth (1790-1867) and daughter, Ellen (1824-1843). William
was a grandson of John Blaker (1705-1761).

Close to the church is the Sompting Abbotts building, designed by Philip Charles
Hardwick, and completed in 1856. It is now a preparatory school. However this
has been the site of one of Sompting's manor houses since Norman times, when
it was owned by the Abbot of Fécamp in Normandy, and later owned by the
Abbott of Syon Abbey in Middlesex .

St. Mary The Blessed Virgin, Sompting, West Sussex

Headstones for William, Elizabeth and Ellen Blaker, St. Mary’s Church, Sompting

4.4 Greater London

Lewisham
Reason for Interest
Location
History

Norwood
Reason for Interest
Location
History