The village is listed in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as
Eslindone, the name having the probable meaning in
Old English of 'sloping hill'. The Domesday Book records Slindon as having 35 households, putting it in the top 20% of settlements. St Mary's 12th-century parish church contains a memorial to
Stephen Langton (–1228), the
Archbishop of Canterbury who attended the signing of
Magna Carta and who died in Slindon. In the Middle Ages Slindon House (now Slindon College) was the site of one of the Archbishop's residences. In 1330, Thomas de Natindon, who was a legal representative of the Pope, was sent there to serve a writ on the archbishop. His party were not well received by the archbishop's servants who stripped and bound them, then threw cold water over them, apparently with the archbishop's consent. Natindon escaped revenge and was pursued over the hills to
Petworth where he was caught and held in prison for three days. The village war memorial was unveiled in 1921, with the names of 14 residents killed in World War I; a further three names were added after World War II. The writer
Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) grew up in the village. In the mid-18th century,
Slindon Cricket Club achieved fame through the excellence of its team which featured
Richard Newland (1713–1778). ==Amenities==