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Calloways Lane Restoration
Calloways Lane Restoration
Calloways Lane Restoration Project
Clearing Calloways Lane
Metal Detector and Other Finds
Tree Planting and Grass Seeding
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Calloways Lane Restoration Project
Location: West Sussex
Today, Calloways Lane is a public footpath which leads off of Cot Lane, (opposite St. Mary’s Church), and runs almost due south to the edge of Chidmere Pond. The modern footpath then skirts around the southern edge of Chidmere to link to the bottom of Chidham Lane, (this part formerly known as Gosmer Lane). It is believed that Calloways Lane once formed part of the main medieval track from the turnpike road, (A259), to Cobnor at the south of the Chidham peninsula.
The lane seems to have acquired the name ‘Calloways’ around the end of the 18th century and was probably named after Edward Calloway who lived in Chidham throughout the 18th century. Edward was born at Havant in 1709, the son of Thomas Calloway and Margaret Nye. He married Ann Ailing of Chidham in 1739 and had four children, all baptised at St. Mary’s Chidham. Elizabeth was born in 1740, but died a few days later. Ann was born in 1741, Martha in 1745 and Thomas in 1752. Both Edward and his wife Ann lived all of their married life in the parish and Thomas was buried in the Churchyard in 1781 and Ann in 1790.
Calloways Lane is clearly shown on Budgeon’s Map of Sussex in 1724, though it is not named. It similarly appears in an illustrated list of the land belonging to Richard Barwell Esq. dated 1785, but again the lane is not named. There are a number of other surviving maps of the parish and one dated 1819 clearly shows the lane marked as “Calloways Lane”. The name appears on all maps after this date. These early maps all show the lane skirting around Chidmere pond and the existence of Gosmer Lane, so by this time Calloways Lane is no longer the only route south across the peninsula. It seems likely that the lane gradually fell into disuse as the other roads improved.
Although the lane is now a narrow and rather overgrown footpath, the original width of the lane is clearly discernable by the surviving ditches either side of the track. The average width has been measured at 5 metres. The elm trees which once lined the western boundary have all died and undergrowth encroachment has gradually reduced the path to no more than 1 metre in width. The Calloways Lane Restoration Project will enable us to clear the lane of all undergrowth and dead trees, re-level the footpath surface, clear out the marl pit pond and plant new trees to replace the dead elms, in addition to continuing our research into the lane and Edward Calloway.
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