1894, June 8, Friday a b c d
Hole and I walked to the Railway Station and then on to West Tarring, about 1½ miles. A very fine flint church with tower and spire. We met Mrs Springett in the church which was restored about 40 years ago. It has the tower portion of a very ancient screen with sharp iron spikes atop, some ancient “misereres” and some excellent mosaic pictures above the pillars and arches of the nave which were put up by Mr. Bayley (of St Augustine’s, Canterbury) former Rector at a cost of £2000 odd. This village contains the remains of Thomas a Becket’s palace, well restored and used as the Village School. Hole had a class this afternoon at his house. I walked into the town and spent an hour or two in a Reading room over Foyster’s Library. In a Sussex paper I saw an account of the sudden death in Brighton last Wednesday of Rev. J. C. Cross, MA, JCD Curate of Ewhurst(?) Sussex, formerly of Sussex Square, Brighton. Hole and I were talking about him only last night when he “looked him up” in Crockford. I only knew of him. Hole knew him and had visited him at his beautifully furnished house in Sussex Square, where he had a good school about 20 years ago. He was a great friend of Marshall’s. It was singular, to say the least, that I should have been making inquiries about him last night and read of his death this afternoon.
The Venerable Archdeacon Mount, of Chichester preached a good written sermon this evening and said just what Hole would have liked to say about the ill feeling which had been exhibited by some parishioners and others about the church improvements which had been so successfully and admirably carried out. He is an extremely pleasant man. The collections in church during the week have reached over £30.
The programme of special services and preachers in connection with the re-opening of Christ Church is pasted into the diary here. Refer to the scanned images b, c listed beside the date above.
