"In 1913 A Catholic family
bought a house and two acres of land at the south end of Ditchling Common... Their object
was to own home and land and to produce for their own consumption such food as could be
produced at home ... and to make such things as could be made at home...
This was primarily a religious change because it was the affirmation that certain things
were good and right and in harmony with man's nature and destiny..."These passages come from the opening paragraphs of a Memorandum produced by the
Guild in 1922. The family was that of Eric and Mary Gill and their three
daughters who had moved from Sopers in Ditchling village to Hopkins Crank on the
Common. They had been received into the Church earlier in the year.
Gill, then aged 31, had already established a reputation as a master of
lettering in stone and was in process of making another as a sculptor. He was
accompanied by Joseph Cribb.
Within six months of moving to the Crank, Eric Gill was commissioned to
carve the Stations of the Cross for Westminster Cathedral, a work that took four years to
complete and set the seal on his fame.
In 1919 additional land was purchased and the building of a chapel,
workshops and three cottages was begun. Some disused Army huts were obtained
from Southwick, the first one being opened on 29th August. Since the central
object of the fellowship was the personal sanctification of lives and works , the hours
were told by God's clock, the Little Office of Our Lady and the Rosary being recited
daily.
In 1921 the chapel was completed. The community continued to
increase and in 1921 they formed themselves into the Guild. |
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By February 1922 there were 41
Catholics living and working there, of whom nine were Dominican Tertiaries.The Guild's
founder members and those who succeeded them include men whose skills have made them
widely known as practitioners of the first rank in the working of stone, wood and metal of
all kinds, in weaving, vestment-making and painting. Work of the highest order
has been done for unnumbered churches here and abroad. The chapel
at Folders Lane included work by David Jones, a crucifix hewn from an oak plank by Eric
Gill who also carved the piscine, figures of St. Dominic and St, Thomas Aquinas by Joseph
Cribb, a communion paten by Dunstan Pruden and vestments by Valentine
Kilbride. George Maxwell made the candle sticks.
Sunday Mass was first said on 1st March, 1959, when the chapel became a semi-public
oratory.
In 1982 the last of the early members - Valentine Kilbride - dies.
The Guild continued to be held in high esteem both locally and further
afield. Mass was still said once a month n the chapel. The spirit
of the Guild affected all those who attended the service and the social gatherings which
followed.
In the October storm of 1987 the chapel suffered structural damage and
was declared unsafe.
After several unsuccessful attempts to obtain planning permission, the
Guild finally closed in June 1989 and a great period of Catholic history came to a close. |
