Loxwood, West Sussex

An old tile-hung cottage in Loxwood

Loxwood is a small, attractive village in the Low weald, near the Surrey border, on the route of the Wey and Arun Junction Canal. The canal was a major waterway linking London to the south coast. It opened in 1816 and brought prosperity to the Loxwood area until it eventually closed in 1871. Sections of the canal have been restored, and visitors may walk along the old canal towpath.

History

The village comes from the Celtic 'lox', for a winding stream, and the Saxon 'weald', meaning a forested area.

The earliest written record of Loxwood comes from 1248 but it was not until the early 15th century that the village had its own place of worship. Until that time the villagers had to walk to nearby Alfold, but in 1404 the Bishop of Chichester granted the villagers the right to build a chapel of ease.

This chapel was not meant to have its own burial ground but it seems as if the villagers ignored that stipulation from the start and buried their dead locally. That first chapel took the form of an oratory and was built on high ground above the river, near Loxwood Manor.

A new, larger chapel was built in 1448 and the earlier building was converted for use as a church house, or residence for the priest. It is now known as Church Cottage.

One of the oldest buildings in Loxwood is Spy Farm, built around 1530. Another 16th-century building is - appropriately - Old Cottage.

Loxwood was for some years the home of the Society of Dependents, or Cokelers, a small Christian sect founded by John Sirgood. The name 'Cockelers' refers to the fact that members of the sect drank cocoa instead of alcohol.

The church of St. John the Baptist dates to about 1900, and is built on the site of a 15th-century chapel and retains eight medieval pews from the original building.