10

Samuel Thacker [10] was a surveyor and architect who lived at Norton House [view], the large house next to the church and facing the pond (the property may have been connected with the family of his wife, Elizabeth Norton). Samuel's sister, Esther, was the wife of Edward Ridsdale (grave [1]) and matriarch of the Ridsdale clan,  who lived across the Green at the Dene [view]: their widowed mother lived with Samuel for many years, until her death in her early 90's. Samuel Thacker designed Rottingdean School, which was on a site to the left of Falmer Road [view] outside the village centre but has since been demolished; he also designed the church lychgate, completed in 1897, to commemorate the service of the Reverend Arthur Thomas (grave [20]).