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Cuckfield Connections
A personal journey of discovery




Aug 6, 20221 min read
1907: Exemplary school pupil flogged and dismissed from Cuckfield School for smoking
Sussex Agricultural Express - Saturday 03 August 1907 EDUCATION IN EAST SUSSEX. COUNTY COMMITTEE MEETING AT LEWES. CUCKFIELD SCHOOL BOY...
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Jul 31, 20221 min read
Cuckfield Class poses outside the main building, all present and correct ... but what year was it?
As previously mentioned, Rosemary Powell was for many years a dedicated local historian - her legacy includes fascinating material about...
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Jul 28, 20222 min read
1610: Daring Robert's fatal fall
This is an extract of an account of a talk given to the Cuckfield Women’s Institute by Miss Marion Cooper daughter of the former vicar...
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Jul 11, 20222 min read
2003: Jewish refugee recalls his time at Macaulay House College
Frank A Gusdorf remembers Macaulay House College I was born in 1926, and came to England as a young Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany in...
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Jul 9, 20226 min read
1806-1892: The unlikely schoolmaster ... 5/5
Finding true love About two years [1844] after Mr Norris had quitted the National School he became the subject of some romantic gossip....
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Jul 8, 20224 min read
1806-1892: The unlikely schoolmaster ... 4/5
In the year 1833 an Horticultural Society was established in Cuckfield. Mr Norris at that period had not quitted his employment at Borde...
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Jul 7, 20224 min read
1806-1892: The unlikely schoolmaster ... 3/5
Let us now return to the subject of our memoir. At the period to which we have arrived the School became deprived of its master, and the...
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Jul 6, 20224 min read
1806-1892: The unlikely schoolmaster ... 2/5
Narrow escape During the time that he worked at this vocation [agriculture at Borde Hill] he had a narrow escape from receiving physical...
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Jul 5, 20223 min read
1806-1892: The unlikely schoolmaster ... 1/5
This is a fascinating story which appeared in the Mid Sussex Times in 1892. Thomas Norris was the schoolmaster at Cuckfield's Old Grammar...
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Jul 1, 20222 min read
1998: Dead posh mews cottage
How about a dead posh mews cottage for £160,000? A Grade II joiners warehouse down in a very attractive no through road in the...
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Jun 8, 20222 min read
1938: Shelters for Cuckfield School to be dug
Air Raid Precautions Committee Mr German presided over a meeting of this Committee on November 7th. Shelters for school-children...
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May 10, 20224 min read
1917: Cuckfield School hoists the Stars and Stripes in recognition of America joining the War
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 10 July 1917 CUCKFIELD SCHOOL AND INDEPENDENCE DAY. The Old School at Cuckfield, in more senses than one, has...
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Feb 22, 20222 min read
1898: Ugly house, poorly furnished to let
Candid Advertising To Let. August and September, Willies, near Cuckfield, Sussex; ugly house, lovely surroundings; poorly furnished;...
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Feb 14, 20221 min read
1907: Boys must salute the flag
To encourage patriotism among the boys, the headmaster of the Cuckfield (Sussex) National School intends to make the lads salute the...
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Sep 22, 20211 min read
1846: Treat for local school children at the vicarage
Brighton Gazette - Thursday 30 July 1846 Treat to the National School Children. — On Thursday last the Rev. T. A. Maberly, it being the...
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Sep 11, 20212 min read
1528: Cuckfield School shared Eton's curriculum
Research published in 2014 by Matthew Adams has established that Cuckfield's free grammar school in the 1520s shared its curriculum with...
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Sep 2, 20211 min read
1521: Cuckfield school is a leader in writing skills
Herbert Schultz in a book exploring the teaching of handwriting identifies several schools that lead the way with this including the...
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Jul 19, 20212 min read
1866: Commotion at Reading Room session
The first reading and music night for the season was held under the superintendence of the committee on Wednesday last [November 1866],...
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Jul 16, 20215 min read
1919: Mr Herrington's Queens Hall Lantern Lecture generates funds for French farmers
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 28 January 1919 ‘THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS’ What Does the Phrase Mean? LANTERN LECTURE AT CUCKFIELD Farmers...
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Jan 29, 20211 min read
1990: Blast from the past - Cuckfieldians photographed in the Old School Playground
Left to Right: Front Row: 1) Albert Avery 2) Reg Rapley 3) Cyril Carter 4) Bob Voller 5) Bob Knight 6) Keith Rapley 7) Jack Norris ...
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