The day Southwick’s oldest house was reopened to the public following major restoration work

In 1973, half the cottage’s west wing was demolished but it was eventually rebuilt thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a bequest from one of the society’s founding members, Mrs E. N. Roney.

Nigel Divers, secretary of the Southwick Society, said at the time: "It’s been a long road and it’s nice to see things reach the end of that phase. A lot of people have put a lot of faith in this project for 30 years, so it’s really good to see it open."

East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton officially opened the west wing of Manor Cottage and entertainment for the reopening was provided by the Mythago morris dancers from Ashurst.

"It went very well," said Mr Divers. "I think people enjoyed Mythago. It was something different and it certainly got us noticed. We were knee-deep in people all day and we had a lot of compliments about Manor Cottage."

There was a lot of optimism about the future and, of course, Manor Cottage is still a popular heritage centre to this day. The cottage is a timber-framed, open-hall house with wattle and daub walls, built for a wealthy yeoman farmer in about 1450. In about 1600, the cottage was modernised, with the insertion of a Tudor inglenook fireplace oven and chimney, new rooms, flint and brick walls and an extension. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, it was home to well-to-do farmers and then, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it became home to farm labourers. It was last occupied in 1966.

The cottage hosted a special Roman Day the following Saturday, showing off finds from a dig at Eastbrook Primary School’s site in Manor Hall Road, Southwick. A model of the Southwick Roman villa, which stood on the site of the Methodist church went on display, along with a selection of the Southwick Society’s Roman artefacts.

Mr Divers said it was an exciting day, celebrating one of the earliest, largest and most grand villas in Sussex, dating from the first century AD. The society was glad to welcome the archaeologist Giles Standing to the cottage and pleased that the school had allowed the objects to be shown.

The major excavation was done more than 85 years ago and, sadly, many of the finds had been dispersed and disappeared but the society managed to rescue some and a selection was on view with the model of the villa. The society is always keen to see interesting objects people have found in their gardens and can help to identify them.