Tapsell Gate

At the Eastern entrance of Jevington Churchyard you will find an example of an unusual design of gate, known as a Tapsell Gate. It is said that the Tapsell Gate is peculiar to the Churchyards of Sussex but there have been one or two of a similar design recorded in other counties.

The gates are constructed from oak or some other hard wood and the central spindle, on which the gate balances, is often reinforced with iron. It will turn at the slightest touch and if swung full circle will come to rest closed, on the fixed stops of the gateposts. The Tapsell is less cumbersome than a five-bar gate, and requires half the radius of a conventional gate for opening and closing. It is a simple but most ingenious design.

Tapsell gates were obviously an excellent method of keeping livestock from the churchyard in earlier times, yet, when swung half open, bearers of a coffin could comfortably pass on either side of the gate without breaking step. It was also said to make a convenient surface on which to rest the coffin, if the bearers needed to pause before entering the churchyard.

By 1950 only six examples of these gates remained in Sussex: two in the West of the county and four in the East. Possibly there were others in general use when the design was first introduced over two hundred and fifty years ago. The earliest reference seems to be in the Churchwardens’ Accounts for the parish of Kingston by Lewes:  ‘ P’d for setting up ye tapsel gar 1s. 6d.’

It is thought that perhaps the clever carpenter who invented the design also gave it his name. Tapsell is a name found in various parish registers in Sussex. As with many names there are variations in the spelling due to illiteracy and the interpretation of pronunciation by the vicar and parish clerk. The members of one family in a Sussex parish appear as Tapsel, Tapsell, Tapsaille, Tapsayle, Topsil and Topsel.

The Sussex Tapsell family is recorded in accounts at West Tarring near Worthing in 1577 for casting bells. A father and son named Tapsel were well known Sussex bell-founders, with examples of their work in many local churches. 

One of their descendants was a carpenter, John Tapsell a widower, living at Mountfield near Battle in East Sussex. An entry in the Marriage Register for 1753 records his marriage to Sarah Hammond but there is no indication of his age. Could this John be the designer of the gate?  

Today there are still six examples of Tapsell gates remaining in the county. No two are exactly the same but each varies slightly in design. Those in West Sussex can be found at Coombes, situated  midway between Bramber and Lancing and at Pyecombe, a village famous for fine Sussex Shepherds’ Crooks, where members of a family named Tapsel lie buried. In East Sussex, Kingston near Lewes still retains a Tapsell gate and fine examples can be seen in the cluster of downland parish churches of East Dean, Friston and Jevington, near Eastbourne.

Until recently the Jevington gate was the only one to incorporate a stile but as this caused extra wear in the central pivot it was removed when undergoing repairs. 

Sir Peter Tapsell MP, whose family originates from Sussex heard of the gates and had an exact replica made of the Jevington gate, complete with the stile.  

In the year 2000, the Willingdon & Jevington Parish Council adopted the gate as their official logo.