1 January 2011

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

THE sellout success of Chequer Meads Dick Whittington and his Amazing Cat was particularly appropriate given the connections between East Grinstead and the eponymous panto hero who turned again and became Lord Mayor of London.

The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington was founded in 1424 under the will of Richard Whittington who was four times Mayor of London and three times Master of the Mercers Company, and it was to the Mercers Company that Whittington entrusted the care of his several almshouses.

One Whittington College, which was originally in Highgate, was rebuilt in Felbridge in 1966, to provide a home for 56 elderly ladies and several married couples.
In addition to providing its residents with homes, the charity also gives them grants and allowances which are paid out annually from its funds.

The other connection between East Grinstead and Londons former mayor are the three Bow Bells milestones which fall within East Grinsteads parish boundary.
These are part of a series of Bow Bells milestones on the A22 between Hailsham and East Grinstead, and form one of the longest sequences of milestones in the country.

Others can be found on the A26 between Uckfield and Lewes, and between East Grinstead and Forest Row.

This particular type of milestone is known as a ‘rebus’ or puzzle milestone because of the visual reference to Bow Bells Church in the City of London from where most roads heading south were once measured.

The milestones feature a string of five bells of diminishing size below a buckle referring to the coat of arms of the Pelham family who once owned a great deal of land in Sussex.

The milestones were erected by the Turnpike Trusts which were formed in the 18th century to improve roads.

John de Pelham, along with Sir Roger La Warr, was instrumental in the capture of John II, King of France at the Battle of Poitiers (19 September 1356) which was fought against Edward, the Black Prince, son of Edward III.

In honour of their deeds, John de Pelham was knighted and given the buckle of a belt as a badge.

* Left to right above: Richard Whittington’s coat of arms, an engraved portrait of Whittington himself, and one of the Bow Bells mileposts, with one of the bells missing.