West Sussex Unwrapped II: Month 3 – 185 years of Eastergate school

As of 2021, Eastergate school has been almost ceaselessly teaching for more than 185 years. It has served the parish, and also the surrounding localities, by educating numerous generations of West Sussex families. As you will have seen in the film footage below, the school underwent a huge transformation in 1970; turning from a traditional…

West Sussex Unwrapped Week 10: Chichester

We have reached the final week (for now...) of Sussex Unwrapped! It is the turn of Chichester this week, and we thought it would be a great idea to run through the centuries to sum up the history of Chichester as a a market town and cathedral city. Let's see what has changed shall we?…

Little Pretty Housewife – Add Mss 2330

By Imogen Russell, Searchroom Assistant Alice, one of our Social media fairies, posted images of this document at the beginning of lockdown. Click here for the original post on Facebook. I managed to gain copies before beginning to work from home, allowing me to write about the subject of this week's blog post - The…

The Women of Bishop Otter College and the University of Chichester

The University of Chichester (previously known as Bishop Otter College) has a rich history of female leaders - starting with Sarah Trevor, the college's first female principal in 1873, to Professor Jane Longmore, the University’s present day Vice-Chancellor. Sarah Trevor (1873-1895) became principal when the Bishop Otter College reopened as one of the country's first…

Record of the Month

West Preston Manor School, Rustington - South Africa scrapbooks (WPM 1/5/2-5) West Preston Manor School in Rustington was opened in September 1933 by Miss Dorothy Boykett, who remained as headmistress until the school closed in July 1979. There were 15 pupils to start with, aged from about 6 to 12 and including four small boys,…

Chichester – Parking of Cars in the Highway, 1936 (WDC/CL28/1)

Chosen by Matt Dell, member of staff Although our oldest record here at West Sussex Record Office dates to 780AD, you would be mistaken in thinking that only historic records live under our roof. In addition to the collections of religious records, military records, estate papers and more, we are also home to the Records Management Service, which manages the County…