Heritage Open Day: Newtimber church acknowledges its difficult legacy

It’s Ride + Stride day on September 13 but for those in Newtimber, West Sussex, the focus will be on a very different activity.

St John the Evangelist church in Newtimber dates back to the 13^th century but it was extensive restoration work that took place in the 19^th century that has highlighted connection to the exploitation of enslaved people in the Caribbean. The church recently discovered that Charles Gordon, a wealthy benefactor of Newtimber Church, owned three Jamaican plantations, worked by enslaved people.

The Gordon family’s restoration of the Newtimber church tower was largely funded by money received in compensation for the loss of their ‘property’ following the Slave Compensation Act in 1837. The act compensated owners of enslaved people to the tune of some £20 million - around £16.5bn in today's money. More than 40,000 awards to slave owners were issued; no compensation was given to the freed slaves.

We Know Your Name As part of its investigation, Newtimber church has researched the names of those enslaved people who worked the Gordon plantations and, on September 13, will recognise the exploitation of these people with a special memorial called We Know Your Name.

At 11am on September 13, Professor Alan Lester and University of Sussex researcher Mira Knox will give a talk about the church’s difficult history. This will be followed by an act of memorial which will include reading of many of the names of those enslaved people whose labour contributed to the Gordon family's wealth. In the accompanying exhibition, the names of the enslaved individuals will be displayed on calico banners hanging in the church tower.

One page of 'A Return of Slaves' in the Parish of Saint Anne in 1829. These are the names of some of the men, women and children enslaved by plantation owner Charles Gordon.

Rev Tim Harford said: “In fact, at this stage, we only know the names of some 200 enslaved people but we believe there were many more – perhaps as many as 400 – and we are carrying out continued research into this. This area is Professor Lester’s specialist field and he’s been able to discover even more connections with our colonial history.”

Records show that Charles Gordon received £8,178 thanks to the Slavery Compensation Act – more than £1.2 million in today’s money. He donated some £200 to build the Newtimber church tower from scratch.

Rev Harford added: “We first learned of Newtimber’s connection to slavery and colonialism when it was pointed out to us by the Fundraising Officer Katherine Prior who was working at the Diocese of Chichester at the time. We were aware of Newtimber’s links to colonialism but didn’t realise there were so many connections. Further research has shown that, in fact, Newtimber is a hub of colonial history in a rather unique way because in 1909 the Gordons sold their estate to a man called Sydney Earl Buxton and it was his grandfather, Thomas Fowell Buxton, who was William Wilberforce’s nominated successor in the abolition movement and a leading antislavery campaigner in the British Parliament.”

Professor Lester’s blog post Newtimber Church and the British Empire gives fascinating details about this period and is well worth reading. Local researcher Sheila Marshall, who took part in the project, says the Church was also substantially altered in the mid-1700s using funds provided by Nathanial Newnham, the owner of Newtimber Place. Much of Newnham’s wealth derived from his investments in the East India Company and The South Sea Company which was involved in the trafficking of enslaved Africans.

Professor Lester wrote: “Although many churches in Britain, and many idyllic rural spots, have a rich array of historic colonial connections, Newtimber’s church is possibly unique in being the locus of slavery and antislavery, rapacious colonial exploitation and attempts to ameliorate it. It represents almost the full suite of British colonial activities.”

For more information, do check out the story on the Diocese website event page and the Heritage Open Days website. St John the Evangelist church is one of thousands of institutions taking part in the Heritage Open Days scheme, England's largest community-led festival of history and culture.

Ride + Stride St John the Evangelist will be open all day on September 13 and is encouraging participants in Ride + Stride to include the church on their fundraising route. Ride + Stride plays a vital role in raising funds for places of worship and, nationally, raises more than £15 million every year. In the last year, the Sussex Historic Churches Trust has awarded nearly £100,000 in grants to help churches carry out essential repairs and restoration. Half the money raised during Ride + Stride goes to participants’ nominated place of worship while the other half goes to the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.