ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



The influence of Wesley was comparatively little felt in Sussex ; he him- 

 self never entered the county except for several short visits to Rye 303 and 

 Winchelsea, between 1773 and 1790; and Heath's description of Sussex 

 dissent 303 in 1874 holds good for the century preceding that date, and is 

 still to a certain extent true : 



Throughout Sussex the hyper-Calvinists are the most numerous body. Their churches 

 were no doubt founded to maintain the same creed as that once held by the greater number 

 of Baptist churches, a creed of which particular salvation was a distinctive point ; but while 

 the greater part of the denomination have become so affected by the modern evangelical 

 revival as to sink or almost lose sight of this doctrine, the Baptists of East Sussex, coming 

 under the influence of Huntingtonism, have continued more and more to magnify its im- 

 portance until, like Aaron's rod, it seems to have swallowed up everything else. 



Although William Huntington, 30 * 'the converted coal-heaver,' was a native 

 of the neighbouring county of Kent and obtained his most startling and almost 

 unparalleled success in London, his influence, as just noted, was very great in 

 Sussex, in which county he seems first to have preached at Petworth and 

 Horsham in 1776, some three years after his conversion at Sunbury ; and 

 when he died in July, 1813, his body was brought from Tunbridge Wells to 

 Lewes on a hearse drawn by six horses, followed by a procession of mourners 

 a mile in length, the most remarkable funeral this county can ever have 

 witnessed. 



While on the subject of dissent in Sussex it is worth noticing that John 

 Darby, founder of the sect of Plymouth Brethren, who since their start in 

 1845 have obtained a moderate footing in Sussex, was a member of a family 

 long settled at Markly in Warbleton, though he himself had practically no 

 connexion with the county. Nor should mention be omitted of the curious 

 local sect of ' Cokelers,' recently described by Viscount Tumour. 308 They 

 were founded in 1850 by John Sirgood, a London shoemaker, who settled at 

 Loxwood in Wisborough, and rapidly attracted a congregation by his remark- 

 able preaching. In spite of considerable opposition the Society of Independents, 

 or ' Cokelers ' as for some unknown reason they are usually called, increased, 

 branches being established at North Chapel, Warnham, Kirdford, Upper 

 Norwood, and Chichester before the death of their founder in 1885. Their 

 creed is pronouncedly Antinomian, and they are remarkable for not using the 

 Lord's Prayer and for rejecting (in theory rather than in practice) the use of 

 marriage, and also for their great business abilities, which have resulted in an 

 intelligent system of co-operative stores and the almost complete capture of 

 the local trade in the neighbourhood of Wisborough and Kirdford. 



The revival of the Church of England in our county during the nine- 

 teenth century, helped on by the influence of such men as Bishop Otter and 

 Archdeacon Hare (to name but two) and by the Oxford Movement, with the 

 passing of Henry Manning, rector of Woollavington, into the Roman Church, 

 and the anti-ritualistic reaction, are matters of too recent a date and too 

 nearly approaching the realm of controversy to be touched upon. Here we 

 are concerned only with the history of religious life within the county, and 

 whatever may be our personal views on dogmatic questions we must all, when 

 we trace this history through the past centuries, feel thankful that we have 

 at last reached an age when there is at least religious toleration for all. 



I0> Holloway, Hut. of Rye, 544-5. *" The Engfish Peasant, 199, 200. 



504 See ibid. 320-58. ' ** Nat. Rev. Sept. 1904. 



