MIDHURST  , a

market town in the north-western parliamentary division of Sussex, England, 12 M . N. by E. of Chichester by the London, Brighton & South Coast railway; served also by the London & South Western railway . Pop . (19ox); 1674 . It is pleasantly situated on slightly rising ground near the river Rother . The church of St Mary Magdalen and St Denis is a large Perpendicular building . The town retains several picturesque old houses, and in the vicinity, by the river, are the ruins of the 16th century mansion of Cowdray, burnt down in 1793 . A grammar-school was founded at Midhurst in 1672 and attained some eminence . After being closed for many years it was re-opened in 1880 . In 1906 a magnificent sanatorium for consumptives was opened about 4 M. from Midhurst; it bears the name of King Edward VII., who laid its foundation stone and opened it . The name of Midhurst (Middeherst, Mudhurst) first occurs in the reign of Henry I. when Savaric Fitz-Cana held it of the honour of Arundel, then presumably in the king's hands . The charter of Henry I., although no longer extant, is quoted in later confirmation charters of Richard I., Henry III., Edward III. and Richard II .

Franco de

Bohun inherited Midhurst from his uncle Savaric Fitz-Savaric, and the De Bohuns held the lordship until 1499 when Sir David Owen obtained it through his marriage with the daughter of the last male heir . He sold it to Sir William Fitz-William, from whom it passed to Sir Anthony Browne and descended to the viscounts Montague . Midhurst is definitely called a borough in the reign of Edward I., but the borough-court and market were probably in existence much earlier . It was governed by a bailiff, elected annually, until the office lapsed, probably early in the 19th century . In an act of 1883 it is mentioned as one of the towns which had long ceased to be municipal . No charter of incorporation is known . Midhurst returned two members to parliament from 1300–1301 till 1832, and from that date one member until 1885 when it was disfranchised . In the reign of Henry VI. a market was held by the burgesses every Thursday, and a fair on Whit-Tuesday, by grant from Sir John Bohun . In 1888 the fair-days were the 6th of April, the 9th of May and the 29th of October . The market-day was Thursday . Pleasure-fairs are still held on the 6th of April and the 29th of October, but there is no market .