D3.2 No. 27 High Street.
Old Worthing Street originally contained several properties which were held by manors located outside the parish of Broadwater. No.27 High Street was erected on an ancient freehold piece of land held of the manor of Lancing and can be traced back to at least 1736 when the property had been inherited by Ingram and Elizabeth Lingoe (son and daughter of George Lingoe and Mary his wife, both deceased). Preliminary research suggests a possible link between the Lingoe’s property and that of Thomas Martin who is recorded in Worthing in the Hearth tax returns for 1664 and the Protestation returns of 1641.
In March 1737 Ingram Lingoe sold the property to Thomas Flood of Clapham, yeoman who retained it for several years before selling it to John Hickox of Worthing, fisherman in September 1760. It appears that Sarah, the wife of John Hickox, died on 22nd April 1763 aged 69 years and two years later in 1765 John Hickox married Phoebe Easton. Records show that by 1794 John Hickox had died and his widow Phoebe and son John Hickox were in the property. Phoebe died in 1800 and John Hickox held the property but was declared a bankrupt in 1812 after which William Copeland of Middlesex acquired the property.
‘All that messuage or tenement and premises called the Old House with the garden warehouse and buildings thereunto belonging situate on the west side of the High Street of Worthing, and lying and being adjoining on the south to a certain new house, some time since erected and built by John Hickox deceased and which said messuage or tenement garden buildings and premises intended to be released and conveyed are divided and inclosed on the north and south sides by an oak fence and on the west end or rear thereof by a brick wall and were formerly in the tenure or occupation of James Elphick, afterwards James Parsons, late of the said John Hickox deceased and now of Summerton Bennett, grocer as tenant thereof to the said William Copeland’.
The property is shown below on part of the 1852 OS map.
The boundaries of the property are shown outlined in green and the house in pink.
It is interesting to note that William Potter, a grocer and tallow chandler (born in Ifield, Sussex), founder of Potter, Bailey and Co., occupied No.27 High Street between circa 1838 and 1850 prior to moving to No. 9 High Street where he started his grocer’s shop.
The plan illustrated below is taken from a counterpart of a lease of October 1952 and shows how the property was divided into 27A and 27 High Street from circa 1949 until its demolition in late 1969 to make way for the Guildbourne Centre.
The building was demolished in December 1969 to make way for the proposed Guildbourne Centre.