Chiddingfold
From Free net encyclopedia
Chiddingfold is a village in Surrey, in the United Kingdom, and lies on the busy A283 between Milford and Petworth. A church (St Mary's), 14th century pub (The Crown), forge, pond, shops and cottages lie on three sides of a large village green. There was also a brick works.
Chiddingfold was once famous for its glass making - during the reign of Elizabeth I, there were no fewer than eleven glass works on the green. It was used in some of the finest buildings in the land, including St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, and St George's Chapel, Windsor.
Today the village is best known for its torchlit procession, bonfire and fireworks display on a weekend close to November 5 (Guy Fawkes Day). The bonfire takes weeks to build and is generally as big as a house. In November 2005 some local youths burned down the bonfire 2 weeks before the day and it had to be hastily rebuilt.
Rock group The Stranglers - then called The Guildford Stranglers - were based in Chiddingfold for a while during the early seventies and frequented 'The Crown'.