Clayton with Keymer, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex

Parish History
Clayton with Keymer is an Ancient Parish in the county of Sussex. Other places in the parish include: St John's Common, Keymer, Burgess Hill, and Kymere..

CLAYTON (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Cuckfield, hundred of Buttinghill, rape ofLewes, E. division of Sussex, 2¼ miles (S. S. E.) from Hurst-Pierrepoint; containing 747 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from London to Brighton, by wayof Cuckfield, and intersected by the London and Brighton railway, which proceeds for about a mile and a quarter under Clayton Hill, through a tunnel that commences near the church. The area consists of 2353acres, whereof 201 are common or waste. The southern portion of the parish is fine down, and the northern comprises some rich arable, pasture, and woodland; the scenery is pleasing, and the views from Clayton Hill are extensive. Fairs are held on St. John's Common, for cattle and sheep, on the 6th of July, and the 26th of September. The living is a rectory, with that of Keymer annexed, valued in the king's books at £21. 0. 10.,and in the patronage of Brasenose College, Oxford: the incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £400, and the glebe comprises 25 acres; certain impropriate tithes have been commuted for £39. The church is of the early English style, with some Norman details, among which is a fine arch separating the chancel from the nave; it was repaired in 1838. The Roman road from Portus Adriani passed over Clayton Hill to St. John's Common; and on opening a barrow near Clayton windmill, in 1805, the remains of a camp-kitchen were found,in which was a vessel of embaked clay, containing bones of various animals. In the rectory grounds, some years since, a Roman bath was discovered by the plough, with a beautiful tessellated pavement; celts and various Druidical relics have been found near Layton Mill, and numerous fossils in the chalk-pits.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 624-626. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50881 Date accessed: 09 May 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
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Poor Law Unions
Cuckfield Poor Law Union, Sussex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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