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Journals and Periodicals |
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Some journals and other regular publications such as directories specifically concern Sussex whilst others range more widely. Some may be seen essentially as primary sources, because of the contemporary information they contain. Others are essentially historical ones, though ‘historical’ in this context may be only a few decades after the event.
i. Sussex
The principal journal on history and archaeology in Sussex is Sussex Archaeological Collections (SAC), published almost every year since 1848, two years after the foundation of its parent, the Sussex Archaeological Society. The meaning of ‘archaeology’ has become more specialised and at one time SAC seemed to concentrate on excavations rather than history and other local studies. Most recent volumes, however, are more balanced. Articles about churches were numerous in the early years, which coincided with the era of restorations and a revived interest in architecture and ecclesiology. Not all are of lasting value, depending on the author’s depth of knowledge, but even a poor article may reveal information incidentally, e g the date of a restoration. Such cases blur the distinction between the journal as a primary source, providing information about current events from first hand knowledge, and as a historical record.
Definitely to be seen as a primary source is the Chichester Diocesan Kalendar. Published annually, the main purpose was to provide a list of clergy and parishes, but from its establishment in the mid-1870s until 1892 it included a section on news from the parishes. Inevitably random in nature, there are important reports about building work and fittings, though bedevilled by disconcerting misreadings of names. After 1892, such items appeared in the Chichester Diocesan Gazette, which was published monthly until soon after the start of World War II. Early numbers share many characteristics of the Kalendar, including the misreadings. Non-architectural matters predominated, though in the 1930s Bishop George Bell took over the editorship and provided more coverage of building matters and other improvements.
Directories emerged in something like their developed form in the late C18. They provided details of prominent residents and tradesmen, listed by place. The best known series, Kelly’s appears in the 1840s and covered both London (known also as the Post Office Directory) and other counties; early editions that included Sussex also covered adjacent counties. They appeared on average every three or four years and from 1860 there was a separate directory for Sussex. The last such appeared in 1938, though directories for individual towns and districts continued until the early 1970s, when fuller telephone directories and Yellow Pages made them redundant, and that for London struggled on until 1991, after which the company went out of business. Their value for present purposes lies in the listings of local architects, builders and craftsmen, though they give only bare particulars and are not always reliable – for example, Kelly lists M B Teulon in Crowborough two years after he died. Sometimes a particular name will disappear for a year or two, after which it is again listed, often with no change. Some C19 editions also have notes on towns and villages, occasionally including the church.
Local newspapers are a frustrating source. There were quite a few in existence by the early C19, but they only became widespread outside towns in the 1850s and 1860s. Many were short-lived or changed their titles frequently. There are several hundred covering Sussex for the period before 1900, as the catalogue of the British Library, Colindale shows. The problem is that they are unindexed and the areas they cover are often not easily apparent. With a project of this size, it is realistically only possible to search such newspapers when both the date to within a year and the location are known. The results of such searches make it all too apparent what a wealth of information remains to be found.
In the earlier C19 Poll Books, listing all eligible voters and indicating how they had voted at Parliamentary elections (there was of course no secret ballot), were printed. The franchise was based on property holdings and varied from place to place, but most architects and surveyors, like many builders, were men of substance and thus appear. Those for individual boroughs, notably Lewes, give complete addresses and occupations. There are gaps in what has survived, but both Record Offices hold a selection.
Two periodicals emerged after 1920, Sussex Notes and Queries (SNQ) and the Sussex County Magazine (SCM). SCM, a commercial monthly publication, which ended in 1956, had articles of historical and contemporary relevance. Quite a few were on churches and the quality varies. SNQ, published quarterly by the Sussex Archaeological Society, included short reports, reviews and articles, which largely disappeared from SAC, and news about the Society. The short articles on churches with plans by W H Godfrey have been mentioned; they continued during World War II, though presumably written earlier. Since SNQ was discontinued in 1970, the Society’s newsletter, currently called Sussex Past and Present, has provided the same kind of information, though it contains fewer articles.
ii. General
The earliest periodical, the Gentleman’s Magazine appeared in 1731 and continued with remarkably little change until shortly before publication ceased in 1907. It was a miscellany with a bias towards topography and the antiquarian, with brief notes and articles, including some about churches. Most engravings are crude by comparison with other depictions of the same period, but may show a church from a different angle. As regards Sussex, churches in the vicinity of Brighton are particularly well covered in the early C19, no doubt contributed by the many visitors. Frequently fanciful and short on detail, including names, some articles are useful, if for reasons not intended by their authors. The Gentleman’s Magazine Library assembled articles about particular counties in book form. The volume for Sussex and Surrey dates from 1900.
In the C19 newly founded or expanding societies established periodicals, which mostly continue to the present. These include the British Archaeological Association and the Society of Antiquaries. Their journals cover the country, but include important articles about Sussex. There were several later C19 commercial antiquarian magazines, like the Reliquary and Antiquary, which were eclectic in content and short lived. Among the articles in them are some about Sussex, including churches and those consulted are listed in the bibliography or under each church.
Other periodicals were aimed at the building trades and the emerging professions of architect, engineer and surveyor. First was The Builder, which appeared as a weekly in 1843 and, as Building, still exists. It contains a wealth of information about church building and restoration, but was initially chaotically organised, as the printers inserted brief news items, including obituaries, in any spare column inch. However, by the 1860s there was a column dedicated to church building and restoration. Also useful, where they have survived in the bound volumes in the BAL or the London Library, are the separately numbered pages of advertisements in each number. These include notices seeking tenders, many naming the architect, and lists of tenders submitted. In an age when advertising by architects was increasingly frowned upon, these were the only way in which an architect could draw attention to his name and whereabouts.
The Builder was a success and competitors appeared. Building News started in the mid-1850s with a similar format and The Architect followed in 1874. Many reports about churches in the three journals have a recognisably common source, but each has some that appeared in none of the others. A fourth, The British Architect, also first appeared in 1874 – it later merged with The Builder. Its value for Sussex church architecture is less, as its subsidiary title The Northern Engineer makes clear – it was published in Manchester and concentrated increasingly on technical issues. By the late 1880s reports on churches had all but disappeared. The Architects’ Journal first appeared in 1895 and its title varied, depending on how far the current editor was interested in architecture as an art as opposed to building as a science, before settling in the 1920s on that by which it still goes. It printed fairly detailed obituaries until the 1940s, later than the others.
There are also the journals of specialist societies. Some cover specific periods such as the Victorian Society or the Twentieth Century Society. Others concern narrower subjects; notable ones include the Church Monuments Society, the Monumental Brass Society and the Society of Master Glass Painters (now called Journal of Stained Glass).
By the mid-C19, improved transport meant that many London-based architects practised throughout the country. The eminent ones have been mentioned, but others are only names, of whom little more is known than the dates when they were in practice, as shown in the London Directories. Of these, the main one was Kelly’s Post Office Directory, which lasted from the 1840s until after 1970 and, unlike its provincial equivalents, was published annually.
Directories and professional journals are in effect primary sources, but Church Building and Restoration (Parliamentary Papers 125) (1876) is less straightforward. It was based on questionnaires completed in parishes to allow a Parliamentary committee to establish how much had been spent on church building and restoration. Much of the information sought was 20 or 30 years old and the terms of the enquiry excluded many private donations, so returns are often under-estimates. It is, however, often the only indication of the amount spent and in some cases where there was no major private donor, the total can be confirmed elsewhere.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 13 May 2013 )
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