| EAST WORLDHAM |
| St Mary's church is the focal point of
East Worldham with its so called remains of "Philappa Chaucer", who was
the wife of Geoffrey Chaucer the poet. I say so called remains, as even
though Chaurcers son was once Lord of the Manor, the effigy was found
under the floor of the church during Victorian times, and it is said
that there is a wheel badge on her statue but on closer examination this
has been disputed and what is said to be the four spokes of the wheel it
is shown that two of them are folds in the cloth. Several experts have
said that the clothing is from the late 13th or early 14th century and
that it could be any one of several ladies of the manor. Could the effigy be that of Margery de Venuz in the list above? She is the only female of the 13th and 14th centuries mentioned prominently in the VCH for the manor of East Worldham Who knows if this will ever be ascertained. For further details on the figure see http://astoft.co.uk/eastworldham.htm The village is high above the heathlands of North Hampshire and Surrey and these can be seen like a patchwork quilt from the top of the hill at East Worldham and this used to be hop country and traces of this can still be found. East Worldham has a twin in West Worldham which is a short way to the south and once there were schools in both but as time progressed and people moved out looking for work these closed, but the Three Horseshoes pub is still on the main road and is now the focal point of the village!
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