England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Cocking St Catherine of Siena

The Parish

The parish of Cocking lies in western Sussex roughly 9 miles north of the city of Chichester. Cocking sits on the A286 road which runs north from Chichester, across the South Downs to Midhurst and Haslemere. Cocking is a small and compact village, a classic spring-line settlement at the base of the church escarpment of the Downs, which would have largely earned its income from having a range of land types within its bounds. The high Downs would have provided grazing for sheep whilst the lower grounds of the Weald would have been cultivated. Modern developments came and went from Cocking, a railway line following the A286 has since been closed and largely removed. Today Cocking is a base for exploration of the nearby South Downs Way National Trail which passes along the crest of the Downs to its south. Cocking is drained northwards by a small tributary of the River Rother which is joined near to Midhurst, the latter heads eastwards to reach the Arun and the English Channel through the port of Littlehampton, Cocking is sited at around 60 metres above the sea but land rises to the escarpment immediately to its south reaching 248 metres on Linch Down to the southwest. Wealden parish are of a mixed bag in terms of sizing but Cocking was as near the mid range as is possible, covering just under 2,300 acres it would have supported a population of around 450 parishioners. In Domesday times it was already a substantial holding of Earl Roger of Shrewsbury, its 5 mills being particular impressive and they were backed with 11 ploughs.

The Church

St Catherine's church was given its dedication by vote of the congregation in 2007, prior to that it had no known dedication. The church sits in a shaded dell to the east of the A286. Externally the church appears late-medieval but Pevsner investigates internally and reveals an 11th century origin with the un-moulded chancel arch typical of that Norman period immediately post-Conquest. The next period of change saw the roughcast 14th century western tower and southern arcade added to the two-chambered base, both are Perpendicular in style. The exterior of the remainder reveals much work in the 19th century from the 1860s and 1890s restorations. A rough-gravel area by the war memorial offers space for a single car outside the formidably walled churchyard, a wooden gateway granting entry. Dense coverage of trees within the churchyard make this a challenge for the photographer with many angles unavailable as a result.