Steyning's shocking past

She's just brought out a revised edition of her book Steyning Scandals: Secrets Of A Sussex Market Town 1547-1947.

As she says, don't turn the page if you can't cope with adultery, assault, black magic, butchery, drunkenness, imprisonment, libel, smuggling and references of sexuality of every variety.

Janet has worked on Steyning history for three decades now, and out of respect for the more recent past, she hasn't gone beyond 1947: "I wouldn't want to include myself or anyone I know!"

But that still leaves huge scope. Steyning has certainly had its share of misdemeanours of all colours.

It might seem faintly amusing now, but pity the poor chap, for instance, who was hanged for having sexual congress with the mare of Steyning. Yes, that's right. Mare, not mayor. Apparently people queued up to look through the stable door as he divested himself of his "hose" and had his way.

"This was in 1610 and it was thought to be so awful that he was hanged. I have looked up other cases that had happened involving horses and cows, and where (the prisoners) didn't die in jail, they were usually hanged."

Better remembered is William Cowerson, the last but one smuggler to be shot in Sussex.

"He was a Steyning man. He died in Worthing on February 22 1832. There was a big smuggling run going on. He was a stonemason and he was 31. He had been working on West Tarring Church which would have been quite a good look-out post. There were several hundred people involved, and there were about 300 tubs of spirits being unloaded.

"This was somewhere in the area where Worthing pier is now. The coastguards had called the preventative officers and there was a fight."

Cowerson '“ who was there to protect the smugglers with a pole - managed to break a certain Lieutenant Henderson's arm, but with his other Henderson shot him dead.

One of the local newspapers referred to Cowerson as Cowardson, which didn't go down awfully well. In fact, it wasn't long before Cowerson had become something of a local hero.

Some of the brandy, it seems, got through. The late Mr Cowerson was given a fine gravestone '“ rather better perhaps than that granted to Steyning's infamous horse lover'¦

Steyning Scandals: Secrets Of A Sussex Market Town 1547-1947 is published by S B Publications, 14 Bishopstone Road, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 2UB. Tel: 01323 893498. Fax: 01323 893860. Email: [email protected]. Also available via Janet on [email protected].