Poling is a village and civil parish in the Arun

Arun

Arun is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district.-History:...

 District of West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Arundel

Arundel

Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...

 on a minor road south of the A27

A27 road

The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk...

.

The parish has a land area of 320.19 hectares (791 acre). The 2001 Census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

 recorded 173 people lived in 75 households, of whom 96 were economically active.

The small village has two Grade I Listed buildings: the Church of England parish church

Church of England parish church

A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 of Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

, (in whose churchyard the cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er Colin Cowdrey

Colin Cowdrey

Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...

 is buried), and some remains of St John's Priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 (founded by the Knights Hospitaller

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

s) beside the main road. Many of the cottages are Grade II listed.

History

Poling is in the Rape of Bramber

Rape of Bramber

The Rape of Bramber is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. Bramber is a former barony, originally based around the castle of Bramber and its village, overlooking the river Adur.-History:...

, one of the traditional sub-divisions of Sussex and a former Norman barony.

In the Anglo-Saxon era Poling, like most coastal villages, had outlying areas of land in the Weald of Sussex used for summer grazing and timber production. Thus Poling gave its name to Pallingham north of Stopham

Stopham

Stopham is a hamlet and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located two kilometres west of Pulborough on the A283 road....

 and Pallinghurst west of Rudgwick

Rudgwick

Rudgwick is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England located six miles west of Horsham on the north side of the A281 road. The border between Surrey and Sussex runs through the northern part of the village....

. Poling also had land north of Petworth

Petworth

Petworth is a small town and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 east-west road from Heathfield to Winchester and the A283 Milford to Shoreham-by-Sea road. Some twelve miles to the south west of Petworth along the A285 road...

, then known as "Palinga Schittas", mentioned in a charter of AD 953. in connection with the pannage

Pannage

Pannage is the practice of turning out domestic pigs in a wood or forest, in order that they may feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests...

 of pigs to feed on acorns.

Parish church

St. Nicholas' parish church is on the south-east edge of the village next to Manor Farm and is reached by a footpath from Poling Street, next to the Old Vicarage.

Burials in St. Nicholas' churchyard include the Kent

Kent County Cricket Club

Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...

 and MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er and cricket administrator Colin Cowdrey (1932–2000) and the explorer, botanist, artist and colonial administrator Sir Harry Johnston

Harry Johnston

Sir Henry "Harry" Hamilton Johnston, GCMG, KCB , was a British explorer, botanist, linguist and colonial administrator, one of the key players in the "Scramble for Africa" that occurred at the end of the 19th century....

 (1858–1927). Johnston is also commemorated by a wall plaque in the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 carved by the Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

 sculptor and typeface designer Eric Gill

Eric Gill

Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...

, who lived at Ditchling

Ditchling

Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling....

, East Sussex. The main typeface used on the plaque seems to be Gill's Perpetua

Perpetua (typeface)

Perpetua is a typeface that was designed by English sculptor and typeface designer Eric Gill .Though not designed in the historical period of transitional type , Perpetua can be classified with transitional typefaces because of characteristics such as high stroke...

, which he designed in 1925 but did not release until 1929. The lower-case typeface used for the Latin quote below is not presently recognised.