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Gc 

942.2501 

Su8c 

v.9 

1295825 


mxt 


NEALOGY  COLLECTION 


ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1833  00724  4210 


>u8«j;  Slrtljaeolojsital  ^otfetp. 


SUSSEX 


&rcljaeologtcal  Collections, 


EKLATING    TO    THE 


HISTORY   AND   ANTIQUITIES   OF   THE   COUNTY. 


]'l  RI.TillKD    RY 


Cfje  Sussex  ^rcfjarologtcal  Sorirtii, 


VOL.  IX. 


LONDON: 
OIIN     RUSSELL    SMITH, 
3  6,    SO  HO    SQUARE. 

MDCCCLVII. 


London : 
P.  Pickton,  Peinter, 
Perry's  Place,  29,  Oxford  Street. 


1295825 

CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
Annual  Report         ............  ix 

List  of  Members xiii 

Rules  of  the  Society xx 

1.  Episcopal  Visitations  of  the  Benedictine  Nunnery  of  Easebourne.     By 

W.  H.  Blaauw,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A 1 

2.  Notices   of  the  Family  of  Miller  of  Burghill   and  Winkinghurst.      By 

Make  Antony  Lower,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A 33 

3.  The  Free  Chapels  of  Maresfield  and  Dudeney.     By  the  Rev.  Edward 

Turner 41 

4.  Extracts  from  the  MSS.  of  Samuel  Jeake.     Communicated  by  T.  W.  W. 

Smart,  Esq.,  M.D.    With  Notes,  by  W.  Durrant  Cooper,  F.S.A.  .        45 

5.  Injunctions   given   to   the  Prior   and  Convent  of  Boxgrave,   A.D.  1518. 

Communicated   by  the  Rev.  W.  Turner.      Translated   by  W.  H. 
Blaauw,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A 61 

6.  On  Rottingdean  Church  in  1855.     By  the  Rev.  Arthur  Hussey      .         .        67 

7.  Subsidy  Roll,  collection  within  the  Rape  of  Lewes,  A.D.  1621.     Commu- 

nicated by  W.  S.  Ellis,  Esq 71 

8.  On  the  Churches  of  Newhaven  and  Denton.     By  Mark  Antony  Lower, 

Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A 89 

9.  Commissioners  for  the  Collection  of  Subsidies  in  Sussex.     Communicated 

by  T.  Herbert  Noyes,  Esq.,  Jun 102 

10.  Fees  of  Officers  of  the  Crown  in  Sussex,  temp.  Eliz.     Communicated  by 

the  Rev.  Henry  Wellesley,  D.D.,  Principal  of  New  Inn  Hall, 
Oxford 107 

11.  On  a  British  Settlement   and  Walled  Tumulus   near  Pulborough.     By 

P.  J.  Martin,  Esq 109 

12.  On  a   Tumulus  at   Hove,  containing  an  Amber  Cup,  &c.     By  Barclay 

Phillips,  Esq 119 

13.  Richard  Kidder,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  and  the  Kidders  of  Maresfield. 

By  the  Rev.  Edward  Turner 125 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


14.  The  Chantry  of  Brambletye,  and  Sedition   in  Sussex,  A.v.  1579.     By  W 

Dttrrant  Cooper,  Esq.,  F.S.A 

15.  Bayham  Abbey.     By  the  Eev.  George  Miles  Cooper     . 

16.  Exteicts  from  the  Journal  of  Walter  Gale,    Schoolmaster  at  May  field 

1750.     By  R.  W.  Blencowe,  Esq 

17.  On  Buxted  Church.     By  the  Rev.  Henry  Rosehttrst  Hoare 

18.  Notes  respecting  Halnaker,  Boxgrove,  &c,  a.d.  1570.     By  Mark  Antony 

Lower,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A 

19.  Sadelescombe  and  Shipley,  the  Preceptories  of  the  Knights  Templars  in 

Sussex.     By  W.  H.  Blaauw,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A.       . 

20.  Bodiam  and  its  Lords.     By  Mark  Antony  Lower,  M.A.,  F.S.A.     . 

21.  On  an  Enamelled  Chalice   and  other  Reliques  found  at  Rusper  Priory 

1840.     By  Albert  Way,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A 

22.  Notices  of  the  Family  of  Newton.     By  T.  Herbert  Noyes,  Jun.,  Esq. 

23.  On  Echingham  Church.     By  William  Slater,  Esq. 

24.  Notes  and  Queries.     (See  Contents)  ...... 

Index     


139 
145 

182 
208 

223 

227 
275 

303 
312 
343 
361 
375 


ILLUSTRATION  S. 


Directions  to  Bindei 
Plate  of  Yainville  Church   . 
Newhaven  Church 
Newhaveu  Harbour  (anastat.) 
Bayham  Abbey  {lithograph) 
Bodiam  Castle,  Barbican,  &c 

—  Chapel  . 

—  Buttery  Arches 
Rusper  Chalice  {chronio-lithograph) 
Echinghaiu  Church,  View  from  N.E. 

Section,  from  East  to  West 
Chancel  Stalls,  and  Stairs  to  Tower 


to  face  page    92 

—  93 
99 

145 
297 
299 

—  300 
303 
343 
348 

—  351 


Woodcuts. 
Easebourne  Priory,  East  Front 
Church  and  Cloisters 
Exterior  of  Building 
Interior  of  Building  . 
Bell    .... 

I)udeney  Chapel 

Rottingdean  Church,  Carved  Bracket 
Lower  side  of  Bracket 

Newhaven  Church,  Ea9t  Window  of  Tower 
Inside  of  Belfry 

Tumulus  at  Pulborough,  Barrow  and  Foundation  of  Wall 
Sword 
Flint  Celt 
Mall  or  Pestle     . 
Water-worn  Boulder  . 
Pierced  Earthen  Bead 
Copper  Celt 
Stone  Hammer  Head 

Tumulus  at  Hove,  Amber  Cup 
A  Celt 
Whetstone 
Bronze  Dagger  . 


PAGE 

1 

27 
30 
31 
31 

43 

68 
68 

93 
94 

111 
117 
117 
117 
117 
117 
117 
117 

120 
120 
120 
120 


viil  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Woodcuts — continued.  page 

Buxted  Church,  Font 209 

Piscina        ............  211 

Rebus  of  Alchorne 212 

Church  Chest 214 

Bodiam,  Arms  of  Bodiam 277 

Monumental  Inscription     .........  280 

Armed  Knight   ...........  281 

Arms  and  Crest  of  Dalyngruge 286 

Arms  of  ditto 287 

Arms  of  Lewknor       ..........  292 

Shields  over  Gateway          .........  298 

Groined  Ceiling 298 

Coping  Stones     . 300 

Window  in  Tower 301 

Chalice  found  at  Rusper,  Angelic  Figure 307 

Newton  Family,  East  Mascalls  in  Lindfield 324 

Southover  Priory 336 

Arms  of  Newton 339 

Arms  of  Noyes 340 

Echingham,  Ground  Plan  of  Church 348 

Vane  with  Echingham  Arms 349 

Font 351 

Rye,  Pillory  and  Cucking  Stool 361 

Waldron,  Bronze  Celt 366 

Seqford,  Roman  Urn         . 368 

Local  Mintages,  Saxon  Coins,  &c •  369 

Lewes,  Escutcheons  for  Harness  of  Horses        .         .         .                 .         .         .  373 

Eingmer,  Gold  Ring  found  at 373 


REPORT. 


It  is  now  more  than  ten  years  since  the  Sussex  Archaeological  Society  was 
formed,  and  the  Committee  cannot  but  congratulate  themselves  in  observing 
how  greatly  it  has  flourished,  and  how  much  the  interest  of  the  people  of 
Sussex  in  the  ancient  remains  and  the  history  of  the  county  has  increased 
during  that  period.  From  small  beginnings  the  Society  now  numbers  almost 
seven  hundred  members,  all  apparently  well  disposed  to  aid  in  carrying  out 
its  numerous  and  diversified  objects.  Without  entering  into  minute  parti- 
culars, the  Society  may  justly  boast  of  the  performance  of  what  was  at  the 
outset  merely  anticipation  and  promise.  Civil,  ecclesiastical,  and  even 
national  history  has  been  promoted ;  ancient  buildings  and  works  of  art  have 
been  carefully  examined  and  described;  the  genealogy  of  many  county 
families,  which  was  heretofore  obscure,  has  been  elucidated ;  manners,  cus- 

;  toms,  and  personal  biography,  have  been  investigated  and  put  upon  record  ; 
documents  once  neglected  have  been  brought  forward,  both  from  public  and 
private  sources ;    and,  in  short,  there  is  scarcely  any  branch  of  historical  and 

I  antiquarian  research  connected  with  the  county,  the  knowledge  of  which  has 

i  not  been  materially  advanced  by  the  labours  of  the  various  contributors  to 
these  Collections.  Tangible  proof  of  this  remark  is  furnished  by  the  nine 
volumes  now  before  the  public.  The  various  papers  of  which  these  are 
composed  have  of  course  been  produced  by  voluntary  and  unpaid  authorship ; 
and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  illustrations 

I  have  been  prepared  from  drawings  gratuitously  supplied  by  members  and 

I  friends  of  the  Society. 

With  such  substantial  evidence  of  progress  and  prosperity,  the  Committee 
cannot  but  review  the  first  decade  of  the  Society's  existence  with  satisfaction 
and  pleasure ;  but  they  would  be  guilty  of  a  great  omission  if  they  failed 
now — during  the  temporary  absence  from  office  of  their  able  Honorary 
Secretary,  to  record  to  what  a  very  great  extent  the  success  of  the  Sussex 
Archaeological  Society  has  been  achieved  by  his   untiring   zeal  and   varied 

b 


X  REPORT. 

accomplishments.  These  qualities,  combined  with  every  social  virtue,  have 
endeared  him  to  the  inhabitants  of  Sussex,  and,  however  reluctant  to  advert 
to  such  a  subject,  the  Committee  cannot  forbear  giving  some  expression  to 
the  heartfelt  sympathy  that  has  been  so  generally  excited  by  the  melancholy 
bereavement  which  he  has  recently  sustained. 

Although  the  Society's  labours  since  the  publication  of  the  last  volume 
have  been  chiefly  historical,  and  illustrative  of  things  previously  known ,  yet 
several  discoveries  of  an  interesting  character  have  marked  the  interval.  Some 
very  curious  objects  of  the  primaeval  period  have  been  found  in  a  barrow 
at  Hove,  near  Brighton ;  among  them  an  amber  cup  of  particular  rarity 
an  account  of  which  by  Mr.  Barclay  Phillips,  appears  in  this  volume.  At 
Nuthurst,  a  brass  of  a  former  rector,  Thomas  Frenshe,  a.d.  1486,  has  been 
brought  to  light.  On  the  site  of  Dureford  Abbey  a  great  number  of  encaustic 
tiles  have  been  found,  and  by  the  liberality  of  Mr.  Legge,  the  proprietor, 
specimens  of  them  have  been  been  added  to  the  Society's  Museum  at  Lewes 
Castle.  Among  minor  discoveries,  that  of  a  hoard  of  bronze  celts  at  Waldron, 
and  a  cemetery  on  the  East  Hill  at  Hastings,  may  be  mentioned ;  while  quite 
recently  the  remains  of  tile  pavements  and  a  hypocaust,  indicative  of  the  site 
of  a  Eoman  villa,  found  close  to  Danny  Park,  bid  fair,  on  further  investiga- 
tion, to  throw  light  upon  the  history  of  the  Eoman  occupation  of  this  part 
of  Britain. 

The  venerable  John  Britton,  whom  we  are  proud  to  have  numbered  among 
our  members,  continued  almost  to  the  very  close  of  his  long  and  useful 
archaeological  career  to  manifest  an  interest  in  our  operations,  as  was  evi- 
denced by  his  forwarding,  not  long  before  his  death,  some  drawings  and 
prints  for  the  Society's  acceptance. 

In  conclusion,  the  Committee  have  to  state  the  financial  position  of  the 

Society. 


Accounts  for  the  Yeak  1856. 


1856.            Receipts. 

£     s. 

d. 

Balance,  Jan.  1,  1856    . 

.     17    5 

6 

Dividends  on  Consols    . 

.       3  19 

8 

Books  sold    . 

9  14 

6 

Annual  Subscriptions    . 

.  253  17 

0 

Payments 


284  16    8 


.233     8     4 


Balance  in  Treasurer's  hands, 

Jan.  1,  1857      .         .         .  £51     8     4 


Payments.          £   s.  d. 

G-.  P.  Bacon          .         .         .       4  10  9 

Faussett  Collection  (Subscription)  2  2  0 
Binding  books       .         .         .630 

Bodiam  Meeting  .         .         .     21  11  6 

Newhaven  Meeting        .         .12  6 

Engraving,  &c.  .  .  .  44  12  0 
Parcels,    postage-stamps,    and 

sundries  .  .  .  .  9  16  1 
J.  Russell  Smith,  printing  and 

binding  Vol.  VIII.    .         .  142     8  0 

Brighton  Gazette  .         .         .12  6 


£233     8     4 


REPORT. 


XI 


Lewes  Castle  Account. 


1856.  Receipts. 

Balance,  Jan.  1,  1856    . 
Received  from  Visitors . 


Paid 


Balance,  Jan.  1,  1857    .         .  £  0  14     7 


£    s. 

24  13 
75  13 

d. 
0 
9 

Payments. 
Wages  of  Warder 
H.  A.  Thompson  . 
Messrs.  Parsons    . 
R.  W.  Lower 
Messrs.  Lambe 
Taxes,  coals,  and  sundries 
Rent     .... 

£    s. 

38  14 
7  3 
5  9 
0  9 
2     1 

13  14 
.     32     0 

d. 

2 
5 

lc 

100    6 

9 

2 

•A 
3 
3 
0 

.    99  12 

£99  12 

2 

Lewes,  Jane,  1857. 


NOTICES. 
The  reprint  of  Vol.  I.  at  10s.,  and  Vols.  IV.,  V.,  VI.,  VII.,  and  VIII.,  at 
7*.  each,  may  be  had,  on  application,  by  Members.     Vols.  II.  and  III.  are 
out  of  print. 

The  General  Annual  Meeting  for  1857,  will  be  held  on  August  6th,  at 
Bignor  and  Arundel. 


1S57. 


>us«ej;  ^vrijaeolocjical  ^ocietg* 


IJatrem. 

His  Grace  the 

Duke  of  Richmond, 

K.G. 

Lord  Lieutenant  and 

Custos  Rot. 


•}j3rcsiocnt. 

His  Grace  the 

Duke  op  Norfolk, 

Earl  Marshal. 


Ficr43rcsiticnts. 


The  Maequis  Camden,  K.G. 

Earl  Waldegrave. 

The  Earl  Delawarr. 

The  Earl  of  Egmont. 

The  Earl  of  Chichester. 

The  Earl  of  Sheffield. 

The  Earl  of  Burlington. 

Lord  Viscount  Gage. 

The  Lord  Bishop  of  Chichester. 

The  Lord  Bishop  of  Oxford,  E.S.A. 

Lord  Talbot  de  Malahide,  F.S.A. 

Lord  Colchester. 

Lord  Abinger. 

Right  Hon.  Thomas  Erskine. 

Hon.  Henry  Brand,  M.P. 

The  Hon.  Robert  Curzon,  Jun. 

Hon.  Henry  Fitzroy,  M.P. 

Sir  John  P.  Boileau,  Bart.,  F.S.A. 

Sir  C.  M.  Burrell,  Bart.,  M.P. 

Sir  C.  M.  Lamb,  Bart. 

Sir  John  Villiees  Shelley,  Bart., M.P. 


Rear- Admiral  Sir  HENRYSHlFFNER,Bart. 
Sir  Thomas  Maryon  Wilson,  Bart. 
Sir  Henry  Ellis,  K.H.,  F.R.S.,Dir.S.A. 
The  Very  Rev.  the  Dean  of  Chichester. 
Rev.  Dr'HAWTREY,  Prov.  of  Eton,  F.S.A. 
The  Venerable  Archdeacon  Garbett. 
Rev.  John  Goring,  Wiston. 
Rev.  H.  Wellesley,  D.D.,  Principal  of 

New  Inn  Hall,  Oxford. 
John  M.  Cobbett,  Esq.,  M.P. 
John  George  Dodson,  Esq.,  M.P. 
W.  R.  Seymour  Fitzgerald,  Esq.,  M.P. 
F.  North,  Esq.,  M.P. 
P.  F.  Robertson,  Esq.,  M.P. 
Evelyn  Phil.  SHiRLEY,Esq.,F.S. A., M.P. 
A.  J.  Beresford  HoPE,E8q., F.S.A., M.P. 
C.  Hay  Frewen,  Esq. 
Augustus  Eliot  Fuller,  Esq.     [F.S.A. 
Rev.  J.  Collingwood   Bruce,   LL.D., 
Albert  Way,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Hon.  Sec.  of 

Archaeological  Institute. 


(JTommittce. 


Sir  Sibbald  D.  Scott,  Bart.,  F.S.A. 

J.  T.  Auckland,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

R.  W.  Blencowe,  Esq. 

Rev.  Heathcote  Campion. 

Rev.  Geo.  M.  Cooper. 

W.  Durrant  Cooper,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

Major-General  F.  Davies. 

Rev.  E.  Eedle. 


William  Figg,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

Rev.  Leveson  Vernon  Harcourt. 

W.  Harvey,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

John  Hoper,  Esq. 

Edward  Hussey,  Esq. 

Mark  Antony  Lower,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

Rev.M.ALOYSiusTiERNEY,F.R.S.,F.S.A. 

Rev.  W.  Turner. 


Crrasurcr. — Geo.  Molineux,  Esq.,  Old  Bank,  Levves. 

pjonoravg  Srcrctavg. — W.  H.  Blaauw,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Beechland,  Uokfit-ld. 

3Local  Secretaries. 


Rev.  G.  H.  Woods,  Chichester. 

Rev.  G.  A.  Claekson,  Araberley. 

Rev.  R.  Haddon  Greene,  Rogate. 

Mr.  J.  Phillips,  Worthing.     [Brighton. 

J.  H.  Pickford,  Esq.,  M.D.,  M.R.I.A., 

Rev.  T.  Medland,  Steyning. 

W.  Borrer,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Cowfold. 

Rev.  Carey  Boerer,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 

Rev.  T.  A.  Maberly,  Cuckfield. 

W.  Harvey,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Lewes. 


Rev.  C.  Gaunt,  Uckfield. 

Mr.  J.  M.  Richardson,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Henry  Simmons,  Esq.,  Seaford. 

Mr.  Barber,  Willingdon. 

Rev.  J.  Gould,  Burwash. 

Mr.  F.W.  Ticehurst,  Battle. 

W.  Beckwith,  Esq.,  Hawkhurst. 

T.  Ross,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  Hastings. 

Charles  Hicks,  Esq.,  Rye. 

Mr.  J.  Russell  Smith,  Soho  Sq., London, 


XIV 


SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


N.B. —  The  *  prefixed  denotes  Life  Compounders. 


Lord  Abinger. 

*Sir  Robert  Shafto  Adair,  Bart. 

Sir  J.  H.  Anson,  Bart.,  London. 

Mr.  diaries  Ade,  Alfriston. 

Rev.  H.  Allen,  Brighton. 

John  Alfree,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

T.  Arkcoll,  Esq.,  Friston. 

Eev.J.E.Ashby,B.A.,F.E.A.S.,Brighton. 

Miss  Atkjns,  Rustington. 

T.  Attree,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

W.W.  Attree,  Esq.,  Recorder  of  Hastings. 

Mrs.  Auckland,  Lewes. 

J.  T.  Auckland,  Esq.,  E.S.A.,  Lewes. 

John  Francis  Austen,  Esq.,  Chevening. 

Earl  of  Burlington,  Compton  Place. 

*Sir  John  P.  Boileau,  Bart.,  F.S.A. 

Sir  C.  M.  Burrell,Bt.,M.P.,  Knepp  Castle. 

Hon.  Henry  Brand,  M.P.,  Glynde. 

Rev.  R.  W.  Bacon,  Ewhurst. 

Mr.  Gr.  P.  Bacon,  Lewes. 

Eev.  —  Bacon,  Wiggenholt. 

Henry  Bailey,  Esq.,  Cade  Street. 

Rev.  Edward  Banister,  Chiddingfold. 

Mr.  Jos.  Bannister,  Hastings. 

E.  S.  Banks,  Esq.,  Rye. 

Mr.  John  Banks,  Hastings. 

Mr.  Barber,  Willingdon. 

Donald  Barclay,  Esq.,  Mayfield. 

Walter  G.  Barker,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

Rev.  Robert  Barton,  Hastings. 

W.  Batley,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Brighton. 

Edw.  Baugh,  Esq.,Lieut.  B.N.,Eastbourne. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Baxter,  Lewes. 

C.  Beard,  Esq.,  Rottingdean. 

Miss  Matilda  Beard,  Rottingdean. 

W.  Beckwith,  Esq.,  Hurst  Green. 

Eev.  Thomas  Bell,  Danehill. 

C.  Bellingham,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Miss  S.  Bellingham,  Rye.  [Lincoln. 

Francis  James  Bellingham,  Esq.,  Bourn, 

Kemp  Berry,  Esq.,  Beckley. 

Mr.  T.  Berry,  Lewes. 

Eev.  George  Bethune,  Worth  Rectory. 

Rev.  C.  Brooke  Bickiaell,  Ticehurst. 

Miss  Bishop,  Herstmonceux. 

*W.  H.  Blaauw,  Esq.,  Beechland. 

*Mrs.  Blaauw,  Beechland. 

*Miss  Blaauw,  Beechland. 

Eev.  Eob.  Blakiston,  Ashington  Eectory. 

Eev.  H.  Thomas  Blagden,  Wendover. 

Miss  Blake,  Brighton. 

John  Blaker,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Edgar  Blaker,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

W.  L.  Blaker,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

E.  W.  Blencowe,  Esq.,  The  Hooke. 

J.  G.  Blencowe,  Esq.,  The  Hooke. 


Col.  Lonsdale  Boldero,  Lower  Beeding. 

H.  Boldero,  Esq.,  Lower  Beeding. 

Edward  W.  Bonham,  Esq.,  Calais. 

Miss  F.  Bonham,  Chailey. 

W.  Borrer,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  Henfield. 

W.  Borrer,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Cowfold. 

John  Borrer,  Esq.,  Portslade. 

Nat.  Borrer,  Esq.,  Pakyns. 

Eev.  Carey  Borrer,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 

Charles  Bowdler,  Esq.,  Euncton. 

Eev.  F.  A.  Bowles,  Singleton. 

Eev.  W.  Bradford,  Storrington. 

*Edw.  Kynaston  Bridger,  Esq.,  London. 

Eev.  Alex.  H.  Bridges,  Horsham. 

Wastel  Brisco,  Esq.,  Bohemia,  Hastings. 

Mr.  James  Broad,  Lewes. 

Eev.  T.  Brockman,  Gore  Court,  Kent. 

*Thomas  Broadwood,  Esq.,  Holmbush. 

Eev.  J.  Broadwood,  Lyne,  Horsham. 

W.  H.  Brooke,  Esq. 

Rev.  Felix  Brown,  Stopham. 

John  Bruce,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  London. 

Rev.  J.  Collingwood  Bruce,  LL.D.,F.S.A., 

Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Eev.  J.  E.  Buckland,  D.D.,  Peasemarsh. 
Eev.  W.  Burnett,  Tangmere. 
Walter  W.  Burrell,  Esq.,West  Grinstead. 
Mrs.  Burrell,  Woodgaters,  Horsham. 
Mr.  Alderman  Cordy  Burrows,  Brighton. 
H.  M.  Burt,  Esq.,  London. 
Alfred  Burton,  Esq.,  St.  Leonard's. 
Dechnus  Burton,  Esq.,  London. 
Mr.  E.  Butcher,  Lewes. 
G.  Slade  Butler,  Esq.,  Eye. 
Mr.  W.  Button,  Lewes.  [Abbey. 

The   Marquis  Camden,   K.  G.,    Bayham 
The  Earl  of  Chichester,  Stanmer. 
The  Bishop  of  Chichester. 
*Lord  Colchester,  Kidbrook. 
Hon.  E.  Cavendish,  Compton  Place. 
*Hon.Eobert  Curzon,  Jun.,  Parham  Park. 
The  Very  Eev.  the  Dean  of  Chichester. 
Eev.  H.  Cotterell,  Bishop  of  Graham's 

Town. 
John  M.  Cobbett,  Esq.,  M.P.,  London. 
Mrs.  Walter  Campbell,  London. 
Wm.  Campion,  Esq.,  Danny. 
Eev.  Heathcote  Campion,  Westmeston. 
Eev.  J.  W.  Cand}',  Little  Hampton. 
Eev.  James  Carnegie,  Seaford. 
Mr.  A.  Carpenter,  Hastings. 
Samuel  Carter,  Esq.,  Eose  Green,  Battle. 
Henry  Catt,  Esq.,  Brighton. 
*W.  Catt,  Esq.,  Brighton. 
Eev.  C.  W.  Cass,  Arlington. 
Mr.  E.  Chatfleld,  Lewes. 


SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


XV 


Mr.  Alexander  Cheale,  Jun.,  Uckfield. 

Chichester  Library  Society. 

Chichester  Literary  Society  and  Mecha- 
nics' Institute. 

Thos.  Clark,  Esq.,  Stoke  House.Guildford. 
i  Eev.  G.  A.  Clarkson,  Amberley. 
|  Mr.  J.  Barber  Clifford,  Tunbridge  Wells. 
!  Robert  Clutton,  Esq.,  Reigate. 

Henry  Clutton,  Esq.,  Reigate. 

John  Colbatch,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Mr.  J.  Colbran,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Mrs.  Cole,  Herstnionceux. 

Robert  Cole,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  London. 

Carlos  Coleman,  Esq.,  Brede. 

Horace  Coleman,  Esq.,  Brede. 

J.  H.  Campion  Coles,  Esq.,  Eastbourne. 

Benjamin  Colls,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Rev.  J.  Constable,  Ringmer. 

Rev.  James  C.  Cook,  Brighton. 
'  Henry  Cook,  Esq.,  Broadwater. 

Rev.  Thomas  Cooke,  Brighton. 

Mr.  H.  E.  Scott  Coombs,  Rye. 

W.Durrant  Cooper,  Esq.,  F.S.  A. .London. 

Frederick  Cooper,  Esq.,  Arundel. 

Mrs.  W.  H.  Cooper,  Brighton. 

Rev.  G.  Miles  Cooper,  Wilmington. 

Joseph  Cooper,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Rev.  Tullie  Comthwaite,  Walthamstow. 

G.  R,  Corner,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  South wark. 

G.  C.  Courthope,  Esq.,  Wiligh. 

Rev.  T.  E.  Crallen,  Newick. 

Edward  S.  Creasv,  Esq.,  M.A.,  London. 

Rev.W.  F.  Crighton,  Purchace,  Ditchling. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Cripps,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Rev.  P.  G.  Crofts,  Mailing  House. 

James  Crosby,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  London. 

John  Crosbie,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

Mr.  Robert  Crosskey,  Lewes. 
!  Dr.  Cunningham,  Hailsham. 

Mr.  John  Cunningham,  Lewes. 

H.  Mascall  Curteis,  Esq.,  Windmill  Hill. 

Major  Edward  Curteis,  Leasham. 

Earl  Delawarr,  Buckhurst. 

Sir  W.  Domville,  Bait.,  Eastbourne. 

Lady  Domville. 

John  Geo.  Dodson,  Esq.,  M.P.,  London. 

Mr.  Edward  Dakins,  Pembury. 

George  D'Albiac,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Rev.  Joseph  Dale,  Bolney. 

Rev.  G.  F.  Daniell,  Aldingbourne. 

George  Darby  Esq.,  Jun.,  Warbleton. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Davey,  Chichester. 

Mr.  W.  Davey,  Lewes. 

Mr.  Joseph  Davey,  Lewes. 

Mr.  Thomas  Davey,  Southover. 

Mr.  Thomas  Davey,  Lewes. 

Mr.  H.  J.  David,  tunbridge  Wells. 

Warburton  Davies,  Esq.,  London. 

Major-General  F.  Davies,  Danehurst. 

Mrs.  F.  Davies,  Danehurst. 

Walter  Dawes,  Esq.,  Ewhurst. 


John  Day,  Esq.,  Newick. 

W.  Ansell  Day,  Esq.,  Hadlow  House. 

Miss  Dealtry,  Bolnore. 

Mr.  W.  Delves,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

E.S.  Dendy,  Esq.,  Rouge  Dragon, Arundel. 

W.  H.  Dennett,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

Rev.  R.  N.  Dennis,  East  Blatchington. 

Mrs.  Deverell,  Brighton. 

C.  Scrase  Dickens,  Esq.,  Coolhurst. 

Rev.  H.  Dicker,  Chideock,  Bridport. 

*C.W.  Dilke,  Esq.,  Sloane  Street,  London. 

*C.  Wentworth  Dilke,  Esq. 

W.  Dilke,  Esq.,  Chichester. 

Dr.  Dill,  Brighton. 

Henry  Dixon,  Esq.,  Frankham. 

Rev.  H.  Dixon,  Ferring  Vicarage. 

Mrs.  F.  Dixon,  Worthing. 

C.  Dorrien,  Esq.,  Sennicots. 

Rev.  Stair  Douglas,  Adsden  House. 

Mr.  John  Dowker,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Andrew  J.  Doyle,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Miss  D'Oyley,  London. 

Robt.  Dawtrey  Drewitt,  Esq.,  Peppering. 

Mr.  John  Dudeney,  Lewes.  [Wells. 

Robert  Duncan,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Tunbridge 

Mr.  W.  Dyer,  Little  Hampton. 

Earl  of  Egmont,  Cowdry.  [Eversley. 

Right  Hon.  Thomas  Erskine,  Fir  Grove, 

Sir  Henry  Ellis,  K.H.,  F.R.S.,  Dir.  S.A., 

London. 
Rev.  Arthur  Eden,  Ticehurst. 
Richard  Edmunds,  Esq.,  Worthing. 
T.  Dyer  Edwards,  Esq.,  Worthing. 
Rev.  E.  Eedle,  S.  Bersted. 
Major-General  Ellicombe,  Worthing. 
Robert  Elliott,  Esq.,  Chichester. 
Mr.  Robert  Elliott,  Tunbridge  Wells. 
Mr.  Alderman  Ellis,  Brighton. 
W.  Smith  Ellis,  Esq.,  Hurst-Pierpoint, 
Rev.  E.  B.  Ellman,  Berwick  Rectory. 
Frederick  Ellman,  Esq.,  Battle. 
Colonel  Elwood,  Clayton  Priory. 
Mrs.  Elwood,  Clayton  Priory. 
Mr.  H.  Miller  Emary,  Eastbourne. 
Mr.  W.  English,  Jun.,  Brighton. 
*Thomas  Evans,  Esq.,  Lyminster. 
J.Walter  K.Eyton,Esq.,F.S.A.,  St.John's 

Wood,  London. 
W.  R,  Seymour  Fitzgerald,  Esq.,  M.P. 
Hon.  Henry  Fitzroy,  M.P. 
Rev.  Septimus  Fairies,  Lurgershall. 
G.  Farncombe,  Esq  ,  Bishopston. 
Mr.  W.  Fames,  Cliffe. 
John  Peter  Fearon,Esq.,Ockenden  House. 
H.E.  Fenuell,  Esq.,  Worthing. 
George  Field,  Esq.,  Ashurst  Park. 
Jn. Field,  Esq.,  Dornden,Tunbridge\A  ells. 
W.  Figg,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Lewes. 
Rev.  James  Fisher,  Lewes. 
JohnFitzgerald,Esq.,CorsicaHall,Seaibrd. 

Rev.  W.  A.  Fitzhugh,  Street. 


XVI 


SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 


W.  H.  Fitzhugh,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

J.  B.  Fletcher,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

*John  Charles  Fletcher,  Esq.,  Dale  Park. 

Rev.  John  Foley,  Wadhurst. 

Rev.  H.  Foster,  Selmeston  Vicarage. 

A.W.  Franks,  Esq.,  F.S.  A.,  Brit.Museum. 

*HumphreyW.Freeland,Esq., Chichester. 

Frederick  P.  W.  Freeman,  Esq.,  London. 

Eev.  P.  Freeman,  Millport,  Greenock. 

G.  French,  Esq.,  Risden,  Hawkhurst. 

Charles  Hay  Frewen,  Esq.,  Coghurst. 

Thomas  Frewen,  Esq.,  Brickwall. 

Aug.  Elliott  Fuller,  Esq.,  Bose  Hill. 

Mr.  W.  F.  Fuller,  Worthing. 

W.  Furner,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Viscount  Gage,  Firle. 

The  Venerable  Archd.  Garbett,  Clayton. 

G.  Gatty,  Esq.,  Felbridge  Park. 

Rev.  C.  Gaunt,  Isfield  Rectory. 

F.  H.  Gell,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Inigo  Gell,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

George  Gent,  Esq.,  Wilmington. 

C.Gibbon,Esq.,RichmondHerald,Yapton. 

*G.  Carew  Gibson,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Sandgate 

Andrew  Gibbs,  Esq.,  Holt  Down.  [Lodge. 

Miss  Gillman,  Brighton. 

Rev.  William  Glaister,  Beckley. 

Burwood  Godlee,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Mrs.  Gordon,  Newtimber. 

W.  Gorham,  Esq.,  Tunbridge. 

Rev.  John  Goring,  Wiston  Park. 

Mrs.  H.  B.  Goi-ring,  Seaford. 

Mr.  W.  Gosling,  Heathfield. 
Mr.  C.  H.  Gough,  Holloway. 

Bev.  Joseph  Gould,  Burwash. 

James  Gow,  Esq.,  Fowlers  Park. 

J.  Graham,  Esq.,  Eastbourne. 

John  Graham,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Rev.  T.  Grantham,  Bramber. 

Mr.  Walter  L.  Granville,  Brighton. 

W.  G.  K.  Gratwicke,  Esq.,  Ham  House. 

Richard  Gravely,  Esq.,  Newick. 

Thomas  Gravely,  Esq.,  Cowfold. 

C.  Marshall  Griffith,  Esq.,  Steyning. 

Bev.  H.  Haddon  Greene,  Rogate. 

J.  Grimshaw,  Esq.,  Cowfold. 

Will.  Ginner,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

*A.  J.  Beresford  Hope,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Bedge- 
bury  Park. 

John  Hackney,  Esq.,  Islington. 

William  Hall,  Esq.,  Pimlico. 

W.  Hall,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

W.  Hall,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Bev.  G.  Halls,  Long  Bennington. 

John  Alexander  Hankey,  Esq.,  Balcombe. 

Mrs.  Hannington,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 

Bev.  Leveson  Vernon  Harcourt,  Newsells. 

Augustus  Hare,  Esq.,  Herstnionceux. 

Is.  Hargraves,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Rev.  J.  Harison,  Sutton  Place,  Seaford. 

Rev.  John  Harman,  Theobalds,  Herts. 


W.  Harris,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

W.  H.  Harrison,  Esq.,  Camberwell. 

F.  Hartwell,  Esq.,  London. 

William  Harvey,  Esq.,  F.S. A.,  Lewes. 

Bev.  John  Alton  Hatchard,  St.  Leonard's,  j 

Bev.  G.  B.  Haviland,  Warbleton. 

*Rev.  B.  Hawkins,  Laruberhurst. 

*  J.  Hey  wood  Hawkins,  Esq.,  Bignor  Park. 

*Bev.  Dr.  Hawtrey,  Prov.  of  Eton,  F.S. A. 

Bev.  J.  Burrell  Hayley,  Brightling. 

Bev.  J.  Burrell  Hayley,  Catsfield. 

H.  Scott  Hayward,  Esq.,  Folkington. 

W.  Alston  Head,  Esq.,  East  Grinstead. 

Mr.  J.  Head,  Lewes. 

B.  S.  Henning,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

James  Henry,  Esq.,  Blackdown. 

G.  F.  Henwood,  Esq. 

G.  Henty,  Esq.,  Chichester. 

Mrs.  Hepburn,  The  Hooke. 

Bev.  F.  Hepburn,  Chailey. 

*Jas.  Hepburn,  Esq.,  Turvill  Place. 

Jesse  Stonham  Hessell,  Esq.,  Bye. 

*Eev.  J.  W.  Hewett,  Bloxam. 

Charles  Hicks,  Esq.,  Bye. 

Mr.  Elgar  Hicks,  Bye.  [Hoathly. 

Charles  Hill,Esq.,F.*S.A.,The  Rocks,  West 

Edward  Hillman,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

John  Hillman,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Gordon  M.  Hills,  Esq.,  London. 

Eev.  H.  Hoare,  Framfield. 

Eev.  H.  E.  Hoare,  Frainfield. 

Eev.  W.  Hoare,  Oakfield,  Crawley. 

Mr.  T.  Hollamby,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Eev.  T.  A.  Holland,  Poynings. 

Miss  Hollist,  Midhurst. 

Henry  Holman,  Esq.,  East  Hoathly. 

George  Hoper,  Esq.,  Thornhill. 

John  Hoper,  Esq.,  Shernianbury. 

Eev.  H.  Hoper,  Portslade. 

Eichard  Hoper,  Esq.,  London. 

T.  Horton,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

James  Howell,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Hugh  Hughes,  Esq.,  Woodgate. 

Capt.  Hull,  E.N.,  St.  Leonard's. 

Mrs.  Hunt,  Shernianbury  Park. 

Bernard  Husey-Hunt,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

J.  H.  Hurdis,  Esq.,  Southampton. 

Mrs.  Hui'dis,  Southampton. 

Bob.  Henry  Hurst,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Horsham. 

Edward  Hussey,  Esq.,  Scotney  Castle. 

*Eev.  Arthur  Hussey,  Eottingdean. 

E.  C.  Hussey,  Esq.,  F.S.  A.,  London. 

Bev.  C.  E.  Hutchinson,  Firle. 

Eev.  C.  Hutchinson,  West  Dean. 

Eev.  Thomas  Hutchison,  Ditchling. 

C.  Eodney  Huxley,  Esq.,  Groombridge 

Mr.  C.  Hyde,  Worthing.  [Park. 

Mr.  Singer  Hyde,  Worthing. 

Mrs.  Ingram,  Ashcombe. 

Hugh  Ingram,  Esq.,  Steyning. 

Miss  Jackson,  Brighton. 


SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


XV 11 


Mr.  II.  Jeffrey,  Jun.,  Lewes. 

Mr.  W.  Jenner,  Brighton. 

W.  Jollands,  Esq.,  Buxhalls. 

Rev.  J.  Jollands. 

Edw.  Johnson,  Esq.,  Chichester.   [House. 

Rev.  E.  Luttman    Johnson,    Binderton 

Rev.  E.  H.  Johnson. 

John  Jones,  Esq.,  Fletching.  [dale. 

Rev.  Henry  Jones,  Mottram-in-Longden- 

Rev.  J.  E.  Judson,  Lindfield. 

Mr.  Robert  Jull,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

W.  Polhill  Kell,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Mortimer  Kelson,  Esq.,  Folkington. 

Mrs.  Philip  Kemp,  Folkington  Place. 

Mrs.  King,  Coates. 

Henry  King,  Esq.,  Mayfield. 

Rev.  Moss  King,  Long  Critchill. 

Thomas  King,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Rev.  H.  M.  Kirby,  Mayfield. 

Rev.  Reginald  Kirby,  Hadlow  Down. 

W.  Kirkpatrick,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Joseph  Knight,  Esq.,  East  Lavant. 

John  Laing,  Esq.,  C.E.,  Hastings. 

Sir  Charles  M.  Lamb,  Bart.,  Beauport. 

Mr.  Richard  Lambe,  Lewes.  [ton. 

Henry  Lane,  Esq.,2d  LifeGuards,Middlc- 

G.  H.  Lang,  Esq.,  Westminster. 

T.  P.  Langham,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

G.  T.  Langridge,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Rev.  II.  Latham,  Fittleworth. 

T.  F.  J.  Lauga,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

William  Law,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

James  Lawrence,  Esq.,  Battle. 

Charles  Lawrence,  Esq.,  Battle. 

J.  Wise  Lawson,  Esq.,  Camberwell. 

Rev.  W.  Lees,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

H.  E.  Legge,  Esq.,  Lavant. 

Rev.  H.  Legge,  Lavant. 

Lewes  Library  Society. 

*Thomas  Lewin,  Esq.,  Ifield. 

Rev.  John  Ley,  Waldron  Rectory. 

Mr.  J.  Lindridge,  Hastings. 

Rev.  James  Liptrott,  Findon. 

Lieut.-Col.  G.  K.  Carr  Lloyd,  Lancing. 

Miss  Emma  Tylney  Long,Albourne  Place. 

Stephen  Lowdell,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

M.  A.  Lower,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Lewes. 

Mr.  R.  W.  Lower,  Lewes. 

J.  O.  Luxford,  Esq.,  Higham. 

Rev.  G.  Luxford,  Felpham. 

John  Lucas,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Hon.  Francis  G.  Molineux,  Earl's  Court. 

Lady  Miller,  Froyle  Park. 

Mrs.  Mabbot,  Southover,  Lewes. 

Rev.  T.  A.  Maberly,  Cuckfield. 

Rev.  J.  Ommaney  M'Carogher,  Nuthurst. 

Jolm  Macrae,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Lieut.-Col.  McQueen,  Chailey. 

Mrs.  McQueen,  Chailey. 

F.  Manning,  Esq.,  Leamington. 

Rev.  C.  R.  Manning,  Diss. 

J.  H.  Markland,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  Bath. 


P.  J.  Martin,  Esq.,  Pulborough. 

Mr.  Thomas  Martin,  Cliffe,  Lewes. 

Philip  Martineau,  Esq.,  Fair  light  Lodge, 

Mr.  W.  Hayley  Mason,  Chichester. 

James  Masquerier,  Est}.,  Brighton. 

Joseph  Mayer,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Liverpool. 

Henry  Maynard,  Esq.,  Oakfield  Lodge. 

Mrs.  Mayo,  Plumpton. 

Rev.  T.  Medland,  Steyning. 

Miss  Melvil,  Henfield  Lodge. 

Robert  Mercer,  Esq.,  Seddlescombc. 

Francis  Mewburn,  Esq.,  Darlington. 

Rev.  W.  Michell,  Brighton. 

Rev.  I.  N.  Micklethwaite,  Iridgc. 

R.  G.  Minty,  Esq.,  Petersfield. 

William  Townley  Mitford.Esq.,  Pitts  Hill. 

George  Molineux,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

W.  Courtenay  Morland,  Esq., Court  Lodge. 

Mrs.  Monk,  Lewes. 

Henry  Moon,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Brighton. 

Rev. E.Moore,  Weston,  Spalding,  Lincolus. 

Frederick  Morgan,  Esq.,  Henfield. 

Mrs.  Mostyn,  Brighton. 

W.  Munday,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

Rev.  I.  K.  Munn,  Ashburnham. 

The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  E.M. 

Rev.  Charles  W.  A.  Napier,  Wiston. 

H.  F.  Napper,  Esq.,  Guildford. 

John  Gough  Nichols,Esq.,F.S. A., London. 

Rev.  W.  L.  Nichols,  Bath. 

Mrs.  Nicholson,  Lewes. 

Charles  Noakes,  Esq.,  Framfield. 

Mr.  J.  Noakes,  Chiddingly. 

William  Noakes,  Esq.,  Ticehurst. 

Capt.  Noble,  Forest  Lodge,  Maresfiekl. 

Frederick  North,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Hastings. 

Rev.  W.  Nourse,  Clapham. 

T.  H.  Noyes,  Esq.,  East  Mascalls. 

T.  Herbert  Noyes,  Esq.,  Jun.,32,Dover  St. 

*The  Bishop  of  Oxford,  F.S.A. 

P.  0'Callaghan,Esq.,St.Leonard's-on-Sea. 

Rev.  John  Olive,  Hellingly. 

George  Olliver,  Esq.,Kingston,Worthing. 

Mrs.  W.  Olliver,  Courtlands. 

Rev. Augustus  Orlebar,  Farndish,  co.Bedf. 

*E.  L.  Ormerod,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Brighton. 

Mr.  W.  Osborn,  Arundel. 

Archdeacon  W.  Bruere  Otter,  Cowfold. 

*Frederic  Ouvry,  Esq.,  Tr.S.A.,  London. 

Henry  Travers  Owen,  Esq.,  Franklands, 

Lindfield. 
Sir  Woodbine  Parish,  Kt.,  St.  Leonard's. 
Rev.  Edwd.  Heneage  Paget,  St. Leonard's. 
Henry  Padwick,  Esq.,  Horsham. 
Colonel  Paine,  Patcham. 
Miss  Paine,  Brighton. 
Cornelius  Paine,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Surbiton. 
W.  D.  Paine,  Esq.,  Reigate. 
T.  Papillon,  Esq.,  Crowhurst  Park. 
Rev.  Charles  Parker,  Bodiain. 
Edward  Parkinson,  Esq.,  Brighton. 
Rev.  M.  Parrington,  Chichester. 


XV111 


SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


Rev.  Edward  Parry,  Battle. 

Mr.  J.  L.  Parsons,  Lewes. 

Mr.  C.  Parsons,  Lewes. 

Henry  Paxton,  Esq.,  Westdean. 

W.  Pearless,  Esq.,  East  Grinstead. 

Henry  Penfold,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Miss  E.  Penfold,  Annington. 

Rev.  H.  Petley,  Guestling. 

Barclay  Phillips,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

John  Phillips,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

Mr.  John  Phillips,  Worthing. 

Richd.  Philpot,  Esq.,  Offham.  [Brigliton. 

J.  H.  Pickford,  Esq.,  M.D.,  M.R.I.A.. 

Rev.  R.  W.  Pierpoint,  Eastbourne. 

Rev.  Francis  Allen  Piggott,  Worthing. 

Miss  Pilkington,  Shopwick. 

Rev.  C.  Pilkington,  Chichester. 

Maniton  Pipon,  Esq.,  Deerswood. 

*Rev.  T.  Pitman,  Eastbourne. 

John  Henry  Plowes,  Esq.,  London. 

Rev.  W.  Plucknett,  Horsted  Keynes. 

E.  Polhill,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Mrs.  Postlethwaite,  Harting. 

Rev.  T.  Baden  Powell,  Newick. 

Rev.  William  Powell,  Newick. 

James  D.  Powell,  Esq.,  Newick. 

Cbarles  Powell,  Esq.,  Speldhurst. 

Rev.  Richmond  Powell,  South  Stoke. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Power,  Isle  of  Wight. 

Mr.  Joseph  Poxon,  Brenchley. 

Rev.  John  Pratt,  Seddlescombe. 

William  Press,  Esq.,  Heathfield. 

C.  L.  Prince,  Esq.,  Jun.,  "Uckheld. 

The  Duke  of  Richmond,  E.G. 

Patrick  E.Robertson,Esq.,M.P.,Hastings. 

R.  G.  Raper,  Esq.,  Chichester. 

Rev.  William  Read,  Worthing. 

Rev.  H.  Reeks,  Angmering. 

Henry  Reeves,  Esq.,  Hailsham. 

E.  Richardson,  Esq.,  London.     [Reigate. 

G.  Gibson   Richardson,  Esq.,  Garlands, 

Mr.  J.  M.  Richardson,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

*Samuel  Richards,  Esq.,  Shalimar,  Acton. 

John  Rickman,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Lewes. 

Rev.  R.  Ridsdale,  Tillington. 

Rev.  Albert  James  Roberts,  Wadhurst. 

*Rev.  Divie  Robertson,  Seeding. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Robins,  Brighton. 

Rev.  Daniel  Rock,  D.D.,  London. 

James  Rock,  Jun.,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

R.  Rodger,  Esq.,  Langton. 

John  W.  Roper,  Esq.,  Bayham. 

Rev.  T.  Rooper,  Wick  Hill,  Brighton. 

G.  Roots,  Esq.,  London. 

T.  Ross,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  Hastings. 

Mr.  E.  Roswell,  Lewes. 

Henry  Rudyard,  Esq.,  Eehingham  Lodge. 

Rev.  John  Rush,  Eehingham. 

Mr.  Albion  Russell,  Lewes. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Russell,  Lewes. 

The  Earl  of  Sheffield.  [nard's. 

Hon.  Dowager  Lady  St.  John,  St,  Leo- 


Dowager  Lady  Staidey  of  Alderley. 

Sir  Sibbald  D.  Scott,  Bt.,  F.S.A.,  London. 

*Sir  John  Villiers  Shelley,  Bart.,  M.P.J 
Marcsfield  Park. 

Rear-Adm.  Sir  Hen.  Shiffner,Bt.,CoombeJ 

Evelyn  Philip  Shirley,  Esq.,  F.S.  A.,  M.P.,^ 
Eatington  House,  Warwickshire. 

Rev.  G.  St.  Quintin. 

A.  Sampson,  Esq.,  Lewes. 

Thomas  Sanctuary,  Esq.,  Horsham. 

Major  Saudham,  Washington. 

P.  T.  Sanger,  Esq.,  Alfriston. 

Rev.  H.  Rule  Sarel,  Balcombe. 

T.  D.  Scott,  Esq.,  Peckham  Grove. 

Montagu  D.  Scott,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Rev.  Thomas  Scott,  Itchingfield. 

G.  Scrivens,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

Brewster  T.  Seabrook,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

J.  J.  Seaman,  Esq.,  Chichester. 

Rev.  E.  J.  Selwyn,  Blackheath. 

Warden  Sergison,  Esq.,  Cuckfield  Park.    | 

Wilmot  Seton,  Esq.,  Whitehall. 

Capt.  Settle,  R.S.A.,  Southover. 

W.Drew  Lucas  Shadwell,  Esq.,Fairlight.  j 

Charles  Shard,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

John  Sharp,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Hercules  Sharpe,  Esq.,  Oaklands,  Seddles- 

Rev.  John  Sharpe,  Castle  Eaton,   [combe.  I 

Francis  Sheriff,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

T.  D.  Sheppard,  Esq.,  Folkington. 

Rev.  G.  Croxton  Shiffner,  Hamsey. 

Horace  Simes,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

J.  T.  Simes,  Esq.,  Brighton. 
Henry  Simmons,  Esq.,  Seaford. 

T.  Fox  Simpson,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Rev.  H.  W.  Simpson,  Bexhill. 

J.  H.  Slater,  Esq.,  Newick  Park. 

Miss  Slater,  Newick  Park. 

Williain  Slater,  Esq.,  London. 

H.  L.  Smale,  Esq.,  Ashurst  Lodge. 

Charles  Smith,  Esq.,  Rye. 

Samuel  Smith,  Esq.,  Charmen  Dean. 

W.  Forster  Smithe,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Arthur  Smith,  Esq.,  Pax  Hill  Park. 

Francis  Smith,  Esq.,  Salt  Hill. 

Frederick  Smith,  Esq.,  Lamberhurst. 

Rev.  Gavin  Smith,  LL.D.,  Rottingdean. 

Rev.  Henry  Smith,  Densworsh. 

Thomas  Smith,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Mr.  J.  Russell  Smith,  London. 

Mr.  John  Smith,  Lewes. 

Lewis  Smythe,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Lewes. 

Matthew  Snooke,  Esq.,  Chichester. 

Rev.  Joseph  Sortain,  Brighton. 

Mr.  S.  Southerden,  Hailsham. 

Rev.  E.  Southwood,  Newhaven. 

Mr.  J.  S.  Spratley,  Brigliton. 

C.  Spurrell,  Esq.,  Dartford. 

E.  Stanford,  Esq.,  Slaugham. 

Rev.  E.  Stansfield,  Mells,  Frome. 

Mrs.  Stansfield. 

Rev.  A.  Stead,  Ovingdean. 


SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 


XIX 


W.  Stedman,  Esq.,  Jun.,  Horsham. 

N.  E.  Stevens,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Major  G.  Stevenson,  Tongues  Wood. 

J.  P.  Stillwell,  Esq.,  Battle. 

Thomas  Stone,  Esq.,  Newhaven. 

Miss  Stone,  Herstmonceux. 

Rev.  John  Streatfeild,  Uckfield. 

Rev.  R.  S.  Sutton,  Rype. 

Miss  Syms,  Lindfield. 

Lord  Talbot  de  Malahide. 

Hon.  Mrs.  Thomas,  West  Wiekham. 

Rev.  J.  O.  W.  Tasker,  Bath. 

W.  Tanner,  Esq.,  Patcham. 

Rev.  Ralph  R.  Tatham,  Dallington. 

John  Terry,  Esq.,  Brighton. 

Freeman  Thomas,  E<q.,  Ratton. 

W.  Brodrick  Thomas,  Esq. 

Rev.  Arthur  Thomas,  Rottingdean. 

Rev.  R.  Thomson,  Mid  Lavant. 

W.  Thomson,  Esq.,  Sydenham. 

Thomas  Thurston,  Esq.,  Ashford. 

Frederick  Ticelrarst,  Esq.,  Hastings. 

Mr.  F.  W.  Ticehurst,  Battle. 

W.  J.Tilley,  Esq.,  the  Franchise,Burwash. 

Rev.  M.  Aloysiufl  Tierney,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A. 

Miss  Tourle,  Lurgershall. 

*J.  J.  Tonrle,  Esq.,  London. 

Mr.  George  Towner,  Cliffe. 

Rev.  George  A.  Trevor,  Withyam. 

Richard  Trew,  Esq.,  Steyning. 

W.  Foard  Tribe,  Esq.,  Worthing. 

Rev.  T.  Trocke,  Brighton. 

R.  Trotter,  Fsq.,  Twyford  Lodge. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Tuflhell,  Edburton. 

Rev.  E.Turner,  Maresfield. 

Rev.  Thomas  R.  Turner,  Nutley. 

Rev.  W.  Turner,  Boxgrove. 

J.  Singer  Turner,  Esq.,  Chinton,  Seaford. 

Nicholas  Tyacke,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Chichester. 

Mrs.  Edmund  Yallance,  Brighton. 

Rev.  E.  Venables,  Bonchurch. 

Emeric  Essex  Vidal,  Esq.,  Hailsham. 

Rev.  F.  Vincent,  Slinfold. 

Rev.  T.  S.  Vogan,  Walberton. 

Earl  Waldegrave.  [Place. 

Lady  Victoria  Long  Wellesley,  Albourne 

Hon.  and  Rev.  Reginald  Sackville  West, 

Withyam. 
Dowager  Lady  Webster,  Battle. 
Sir  T.  Maryon  Wilson,  Bart.,  Searles. 
Mr.  Joseph  Waghorn,  Buxted. 
G.  H.  M.  Wagner,  Esq.,  St.  Leonard's. 
John  Henry  Wagner,  Esq.,  Seddlescombe. 


•W.  S.  Watford,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  London. 

*W.  II.  Wall,  Esq.,  Pembury. 

Rev.  W.  Wallinger,  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Michael  Wallis,  Esq.,  Mayfield. 

William  Wansey,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Bognor. 

Rev.  W.  Watkins,  Chichester. 

Robert  Watts,  Esq.,  Battle. 

James  Watts,  Esq.,  Battle. 

*Albert   Way,    Esq.,    F.S.A.,   Wonham 

Manor. 
G.  Bish  Webb,  Esq.,  London. 
Frederick  Webster,  Esq.,  Battle  Abbey. 
Mrs.  Weekes,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 
*Richard  Weekes,  Esq.,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 
George  Weekes,  Esq.,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 
Harrison  Wen-,  Esq.,  Peckham. 
Rev.  Joseph  Weld,  Tenterden. 
Rev.  H.  Wellesley,  D.D.,  Principal  of  New 

Inn  Hall,  Oxford. 
G.  F.  West,  Esq.,  Pinner. 
Rev.  Richard  Wetherell,  Hawkhurst. 
Mr.  Henry  Whitley,  Tunbridge  Wells. 
Rev.  W.  Wheeler. 

E.  Webster  Whistler,  Esq.,  Bembridge. 
Richard  Whitbourn,  Esq.,  Godahning. 
Rev.  Benjamin  Whitelock,  Groombridge. 
T.  Whitfield,  Esq.,  Lewes. 
George  Whitfield,  Esq.,  Lewes. 
Rev.  Spencer  D.  Wdde,  Fletching. 
Rev.  W.  Downes  Willis,  Elsted. 
Henry  Bower  Wilson,  Esq.,  Tun.  Wells. 
J.  Hewetson  Wilson,  Esq.,  Worth. 
R.  Wollaston,  Esq.,  Eeigate. 
II.  Wood,  Esq.,  Ovingdean. 
George  Wood,  Esq.,  Lewes. 
Henry  Wood,  Esq.,  Tunbridge  Wells. 
John  Wood,  Esq.,  Hickstead  Place. 
Rev.  G.  H.  Woods,  Shopwyke  House. 
Joseph  Woods,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Lewes. 
Mrs.  Woodward,  Hellingly. 
Miss  P.  Woodward,  Uckfield. 
C.  A.  Woolley,  Esq.,  Lewes. 
Mrs.  Woollgar,  Lewes. 
Rev.  J.  C.  Wrench,  D.C.L.,  Salehurst. 
Thomas  Wright,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Brompton. 
Rev.  John  J.  P.  Wyatt,  Hawley,  Bagshot. 
♦Hugh  Peufold  Wyatt,  Esq.,  Cissbury. 
Rev.  Henry  Wynch,  Tunbridge  Wells. 
Thomas  Young,  Esq.,  Camberwell. 
Rev.  James  Young,  Heathfield. 
Edmund  Y'oung,  Esq.,  Steyning. 
Rev.  Julian  Young,  Fairlight. 
William  Blackman  Yroung,Esq., Hastings. 


I&cmorarg  fHcmfccrs, 


R.  Breton,  Esq.,  Pevensey. 

M.  Charma,  President  des  Antiquaires  de 
Normandie,  Caen. 

Hugh  Welch  Diamond,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Hono- 
rary Photographer,  Wandsworth. 


Mr.  Thomas  Huson,  Lewes. 

M.  l'Abbe  Cochet,  Dieppe.  [Rent. 

Charles  Roach  Smith,Esq.,F.S.A.,Strood, 

Rev.  F.  Spurred,  Faulkbourn. 

Mr.  Thomas  Wells,  Hurst-Pierpoint. 


XX  SUSSEX    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY, 


Exiles, 

1    That  the  Society  shall  avoid  all  topics  of  religious  or  political  controversy,  and 
shall  remain  independent,  though  willing  to  co-operate  with  similar  Societies  by  friendly! | 
communication. 

2.  That  the  Society  shall  consist  of  Members  and  Honorary  Members. 

3.  That  candidates  for  admission  be  proposed  and  seconded  by  two  Members  of  the' j 
Society,  and  elected  at  any  Meeting  of  the  Committee,  or  at  a  General  Meeting.     One 
black  ball  in  five  to  exclude. 

4.  That  the  Annual  Subscription  of  Ten  Shillings  shall  become  due  on  the  1st  day! 
of  January,  or  £5  be  paid  in  lieu  thereof,  as  a  composition  for  life.     Subscriptions  to  ; 
be  paid  at  the  Lewes  Old  Bank,  or  by  Post-office  order,  to  Geoege  Molineux,  Esq., 
Treasurer,  Lewes  Old  Bank,  or  to  any  of  the  Local  Secretaries. 

5.  That  Members  of  either  House  of  Parliament  shall,  on  becoming  Members  of  the  I 
Society,  be  placed  on  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents,  and  also  such  other  persons  as  theH 
Society  may  determine. 

6.  That  the  affairs  of  the  Society  be  conducted  by  a  Committee  of  Management,  to  f 
consist  of  the  Patron,  the  President,  Vice-Presidents,  Honorary  Secretary,  Local  Secre- j] 
taries,  a  Treasurer,  and  not  less  than  twelve  other  Members,  who  shall  be  chosen  at  the  j 
General  Annual  Meeting ;  three  Members  of  such  Committee  to  form  a  Quorum. 

7.  That  at  every  Meeting  of  the  Society,  or  of  the  Committee,  the  resolutions  of 
the  majority  present  shall  be  binding,  though  all  persons  entitled  to  vote  be  not  present,  j 

8.  That  a  General  Meeting  of  the  Society  be  held  annually,  in  July  or  August,  as  1 
may  be  appointed  by  the  Committee,  at  some  place  rendered  interesting  by  its  Anti- 
quities  or  Historical  Associations,  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  Divisions  of  the  County 
alternately ;  such  General  Meeting  to  have  power  to  make  such  alterations  in  the  Rules 
as  a  majority  may  determine,  on  notice  thereof  being  one  month  previously  given  to 
the  Committee. 

9.  That  a  Special  General  Meeting  may  be  summoned  by  the  Secretary  on  the 
requisition  in  writing  of  five  Members,  and  either  the  Patron,  President,  or  two  Vice- 
Presidents,  specifying  the  subject  to  be  brought  forward  for  decision  at  such  Meeting, 
and  such  subject  only  to  be  then  considered. 

10.  That  the  Committee  have  power  to  admit  without  ballot,  on  the  nomination  of 
two  Members,  any  Lady  who  may  be  desirous  of  becoming  a  Member  of  the  Society. 

11.  That  the  Committee  have  power  to  appoint  as  Honorary  Member  any  person, 
including  foreigners,  likely  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Society,  such  Honorary 
Member  not  to  pay  any  Subscription,  and  not  to  have  the  right  of  voting  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Society,  and  to  be  subject  to  re-election  annually. 

12.  That  the  Committee  be  empowered  to  appoint  any  Member  Local  Secretary 
for  the  town  or  district  where  he  may  reside,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  collection  of 
accurate  information  as  to  objects  of  local  interest,  and  for  the  receipt  of  Subscriptions, 
and  the  distribution  of  Circulars  and  Books  j  and  that  such  Local  Secretaries  be  ex-officig 
Members  of  the  Committee. 

13.  That  Meetings  for  the  purpose  of  reading  papers,  the  exhibition  of  antiquities, 
or  the  discussion  of  subjects  connected  therewith,  be  held  at  such  times  and  places  as 
the  Committee  may  determine. 

14.  That  the  Secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Society,  to  be 
communicated  to  the  General  Meeting. 

Persons  desirous  of  becoming  Members  of  the  Society  are  requested  to  communicate 
with  a  Secretary. 


ussejc  arrijaeotosical  CoUtttfoti** 


EPISCOPAL  VISITATIONS   OF   THE   BENEDICTINE 
NUNNERY  OE  EASEBOURNE. 

BY   W.  H.  BLAAUW,    Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


PABTLY  BEAD  AT  HOESHAM,  JULY  12,  1855. 


East  Front  of  Easeborne.1 


After  the  general  suppression  of  monasteries  in  England,  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  it  is  remarkable  how  quickly  and  how 
effectually  the  accurate  knowledge  of,  or  interest  in,  these 
religious  institutions  passed  away  from  public  memory,  and 
what  vague  ideas  of  their  inmates  remained.  Though  closely 
connected  by  so  many  historical  and  biographieal  ties  to  the 
progress  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  the  importance  of  ancient 
families,  all  the  documentary  evidence  relating  to  them  was 
at  once  cast  aside  with  neglect ;  and  we  principally  owe  it  to 


1  The  woodcut  of  the  east  front  is  from 
a  drawing  by  Grimm,  in  the  Brit.  Mus. 

IX. 


Add.  MSS.  5675,  f.  7, 11. 


2  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

the  self-supported  zeal  and  care  of  a  few  learned  men  after 
those  times  that  we  can  still,  however  imperfectly,  trace  the 
localities,  possessions,  or  customs  of  these  establishments,  which 
for  many  centuries  exercised  so  important  an  influence,  whether 
for  good  or  evil,  on  the  feelings  of  the  people.  Few  records 
of  the  intimate  life  of  monks  and  nuns  have  come  down  to  us, 
although  we  have  occasionally  the  free-spoken  revelations  of  a 
garrulous  monk,  like  the  Chronicle  of  Jocelin  de  Brakelond ; 
but  the  notices  of  the  interior  arrangements  of  monasteries 
are  rare  and  insufficient,  though  the  names  of  their  former 
occupiers  are  now  often  indistinctly  used  among  us  as  by- 
words of  reproach. 

Some  monastic  orders,  like  those  derived  from  Cluny  and 
Premonstre,  were  exempted  by  Papal  authority  from  the  su- 
perintendence of  the  diocesan  bishops,  but  others  continued 
liable  to  episcopal  visitation;  and  from  the  records  of  such 
periodical  examinations  we  occasionally  gain  an  insight  into  the 
domestic  life  of  convents,  which  their  very  nature  is  framed 
habitually  to  deny.  This  source  of  information  has  been  seldom 
applied  to,  and  may  not  be  very  attractive,  involved  as  the  facts 
often  are  in  the  phraseology  of  legal  forms;  but,  being  genuine 
and  contemporaneous,  their  evidence  is  worth  preserving  on 
matters  so  little  known. 

With  respect  to  the  small  Priory  of  Benedictine  Nuns  at 
Easebourne,  near  Midhurst,  there  are  extant  a  few  such  visita- 
tions2 during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  which  on 
this  occasion  may  be  referred  to,  as  adding  some  details  to  its 
scanty  history ;  and  perhaps  this  convent  exhibits  to  us,  in 
its  records  of  occasional  misrule,  nothing  exceptional,  or  dif- 
fering from  what  may  have  been  passing  in  other  similar 
communities.  No  fixed  date  can  be  named  for  the  foundation 
of  Easebourne  Priory,  though  it  happened  about  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  was  certainly  clue  to  the  liberality 
of  a  neighbouring  landholder,  John  de  Bohun,3  whose  family 
so  long  held  an  important  position  at  Midhurst,  down  to  the 
time  of  Henry  VII.    Franco  de  Bohun  held  land  there  of  the 

2  Dallaway,  in  his  History  of  the  Rape  ciun  libera  warrenna,  &c,  et  quod  ipse  et 
of  Chichester,  has  given  some  incomplete  antecessores  sui,  a  tempore  quo  non  extat 
extracts  from  these.  memoria,  plene  usi  sunt  libertatibus  pre- 

3  "  Johannes  de  Bohun  clamat  habere  dictis." — Dallaway,  i.  p.  237,  from  MSS. 
sine  charta  manerium  suum  de  Esseborn  Bodl.  No.  138. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  6 

honour  of  Arundel,  in  the  time  of  Richard  I.  In  the  year 
1439,  the  market  tolls  of  Midhurst  were  commuted  by  John 
Bohun,  Knight,  Lord  of  Midhurst,  on  the  burgesses  agreeing 
to  pay  him  £10  a  year,  and  two  law-days  to  be  held  every 
year  in  the  name  of  Bohun,  on  the  Thursday  after  Hokeday, 
and  on  the  Thursday  after  Michaelmas  {MS. Deed).  According 
to  an  inquest  after  the  death  of  "John  de  Bohun  of  Midhurst, 
chevaler,"  he  appears  to  have  died  on  the  Tuesday  before  the 
Assumption,  in  1481,  and  to  have  left  a  widow,  Cecilia,  and  a 
son  and  heir,  John  de  Bohun,  above  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
Leland  briefly  describes  Easebourne  as  "Prioratus  monialium, 
Johannes  de  Bone,  miles,  fundator  primus,  modernus  David 
Owen,  miles." 

We  do  not  know  with  what  revenues  it  was  first  endowed, 
nor  indeed  how  soon  they  were  increased  by  subsequent  bene- 
factors ;  but  at  the  earliest  date  when  we  have  an  account  of 
them,  they  appear  to  have  been  ample,  and  indeed  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  support  of  the  five  or  six  "poor  nuns"  settled 
there.  Deriving  an  inference  from  some  names  which  occur 
in  the  lists  of  the  nuns,  and  from  their  bibles  and  books 
of  prayer  being  in  French,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  founder 
intended  the  nunnery  as  a  refuge  for  noble  or  gentle  poverty, 
and  that  its  few  inmates  were  well  born,  and  selected  from 
important  families. 

The  first  trace  of  any  individual  admitted  is  derived  from  a 
letter  of  Archbishop  Peckham  (1278-92),  a  Sussex  man  him- 
self, requesting  the  Prioress  and  nuns  of  Easebourne  to  admit 
Lucy,  daughter  of  the  deceased  knight,  Sir  William  Basset, 
as  a  sister  into  their  house.4  About  the  same  time,  Pope 
Nicholas  Taxation,  a.d.  1292  (pp.  134-139),  estimates  the 
Church  of  Easebourne,  with  its  chapel,  at  £'26.VdsAd.  a  year, 
and  the  temporalities  of  the  Prioress  at  £41,  besides  rents 
valued  at  £2  in  Broadwater  and  Worthing. 

Half  a  century  later,  in  1342,  when  Henry  Husee  and  the 
King's  Commissioners5  had  to  certify  the  value  of  property  in 
the  parish  of  "  Esburne,"  the  church  was  valued  as  before  at 
40  marcs  (£26.  13s.  4>d.);  and  the  jury,  consisting  of  Nicholas 
atte  Eelde,  Thomas  le  Fytteler,  Richard  Kaperon,  and  Roger 

4  Dugcl.  Monast.  iv.  424,  from  Lambeth  5  Nonarum  Inquis.  f.  363. 

Register. 


4  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

le  Kember,  returned  the  lay  property  as  small,  "  inasmuch  as  j 
the  Prioress  of  Esburne,  who  is  rector  there  {que  est  rector 
ibidem),  has  a  messuage,  with  curtilege  and  garden,  worth  60s. 
a  year.  She  has  also  a  hundred  and  four  score  acres  of  arable 
land,  worth  £4.  10s.;  also  four  acres  of  meadow,  worth  12s.; 
from  fixed  rents,  £4.  10s.  M.;  the  tithes  of  mills,  6s.  8d.;  of 
hay,  60s.;  of  cider  (cisere),  100s.;  of  flax  and  hemp,  17s.;  of 
milk  and  calves,  35s.  8d.  She  has  also  from  mortuaries  and 
oblations  107s.;  and  from  tithes  of  pigs,  geese,  pigeons,  and 
other  small  tithes,  5s."  These  profits  amount  to  £26.  3s.  8d. 
in  the  parish  alone.  In  the  Subsidy  Roll  of  1380,  the  tempo- 
ralities of  the  Prioress  from  agricultural  profits  in  Broadwater 
and  Worthing  were  valued  at  4 Is.,  and  "  William  de  laRuwe, 
Chaplain  of  Eseborne,"  paid  his  personal  tax  of  2s.6 

It  is  not  in  our  power  to  trace  the  early  accumulation  by 
the  priory  of  this  property,  as  shown  in  these  valuations.  The 
first  documentary  evidence  consists  of  a  deed  of  gift7  of  a 
messuage  in  the  vill  of  Midhurst,  from  Sir  John  de  Bohun  to 
Thomas  Snolk  of  Eseburne,  dated  1  Edward  III.,  1327,  to 
which  the  names  of  Hugh  de  Budyton,  Symone  de  Stedeham, 
Henry  de  Batchin,  Richard  Joseph,  William  Snolk,  Thomas 
Snolk,  Roger  atte  Rude,  William  de  Middleton,  and  others, 
are  attached  as  witnesses.  We  then  have  a  quit-claim  of  the 
same  messuage  from  Thomas  Snolk  to  "  the  Lady  Beatrice,  by 
the  grace  of  God  Prioress  of  Eseborne." 

A  few  years  later,  in  1332,  we  have  a  record  in  the  Patent 
Rolls  (6  Edw.  III.,  p.  1,  m.  29),  of  a  considerable  gift  made 
by  Sir  John  de  Bohun,  of  Midhurst.  The  King,  when  grant- 
ing him  license  to  endow  the  nunnery  with  "  a  messuage  of 
55  acres  of  land,  4  acres  of  meadow,  2  acres  of  pasture,  and 
36s.  of  rent  in  Sturmynstre  Mareschal  (co.  Dorset),  and  Thor- 
nesdepe,  and  a  fourth  part  of  the  hundred  of  Busebergh," 
stated  that  he  had  ascertained,  by  the  inquisition  of  William 
Trussel,  his  eschaetor  on  this  side  Trent,  that  he  should 
lose  thereby  from  some  of  these  lands,  held  in  capite,  the 
service  of  one  man  twice  a  year,  and  from  others  the  services 
of  four   men    twice  a  year,   valued   truly   at    64s.    a   year. 

8  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  V.  pp.  236,  239.  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Sir  Sibbald 

\  For  copies  of  this  and  of  the  deed  re-  Scott,  Bart.,   from  his  own  MS.  collec- 

lating  to  the  Prioress  Margerita,  as  well  tions. 

as  for  that  relating  to  the  market  tolls,  I 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  5 

Relaxing  for  the  purpose  the  prohibition  of  the  Mortmain 
[statute,  the  King  received  a  fine  of  £20,  on  signing  this 
'grant  with  his  private  seal  on  January  28,  1333,  at  West- 
minster. 

The  names  of  Alicia  and  Maria  occur  soon  after,  as  among 
the  early  prioresses  of  Easebourne.  It  appears  by  a  Patent 
iRoll  of  1339,  that  a  former  Prioress  Alicia  and  the  convent 
had  taken  possession  of  a  gift  of  3  assarts  and  a  meadow, 
containing  40  acres  of  land  and  V2d.  of  rent  in  Wolbedyng 
and  la  Niwode,  held  in  capite  of  the  King  by  Ralph  de  Wol- 
bedyng, whereupon  the  King  had  seized  them  into  his  own 
hands,  no  previous  license,  as  required  by  the  Mortmain  Sta- 
tute, having  been  obtained.  Maria,  now  prioress,  by  pleading 
that  this  transgression  occurred  before  the  publication  of  the 
statute,  and  by  paying  a  fine  of  one  marc,  obtained  the  royal 
pardon,  and  the  liberty  of  holding  the  said  acquisition  for 
ever,  by  a  deed  dated  at  Berkhampstede,  January  15,  1339. 
{Rot.  Pat.  12th  Edw.  III.  p.  iii.  m.  2.) 

Perhaps,  by  the  influence  of  the  same  Ralph  de  Wolbedyng, 
an  additional  gift  was  added  in  1354  "by  Peter,  the  parson 
of  the  church  of  Wolbedyng,  and  Richard  Wyatt,  chaplain." 
This  consisted  of  "18  acres  of  land  with  a  meadow  in  Myn- 
testede  in  Stedeham,"  valued  by  the  escheatorat  ISd.  a  year; 
and  the  King  also  permitted  the  same  benefactors  to  give 
the  nunnery  a  messuage  of  19  acres  of  land  and  1  acre  of 
meadow  in  Lynch.  The  priory  had  already  obtained  the 
royal  license  to  accept  lands  to  the  value  of  10  marcs  a  year, 
non  obstante  the  Mortmain  Statute ;  and  these  fresh  acquisi- 
tions were  to  be  reckoned  in  part  satisfaction  of  such  a  sum. 
{Rot.  Pat.  28th  Edward  III.  p.  1,  m.  9,  dated  Westminster, 

May  10.) 

We  learn  the  name  of  another  prioress  by  a  deed  dated  m 
1362.  In  that  year  "  Margerita  Wyvile,  Prioress  of  Eseborne, 
and  the  nuns  of  the  same  place,"  granted  the  lease  of  a  cottage, 
situated  between  that  of  Matilda  Sawyer  and  the  tenement 
of  Christiana  atte  bour,  to  Hugh  Walsche,  his  wife  Scelia, 
and  Agnes,  their  daughter,  for  their  lives,  on  the  payment  of 
18^.  a  year,  attendance  on  the  Court  of  the  Priory  every  three 
weeks,  and  a  heriot  on  the  death  of  the  survivor.  "  One  part 
of  the  Indenture,  sealed  with  the  Common  Seal  of  the  House 


6  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

of  Escborne,"  to  be  retained  by  Hugh  Walsche,  the  other  part 
with  his  seal,  to  be  retained  by  the  Prioress.  "  Witnesses — 
John  Elkam,  William  Scherston,  Roger  Manser,  Thomas  Tode- 
man,  John  Cholvvyne,  and  others.  Given  at  Eseborne  on 
the  Lord's  Day,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Vincent  the  Martyr,  in 
the  30th  year  of  the  reign  of  King  Edward  the  Third  from 
the  conquest  of  England." — {June  9,  1362.) 

Richard  II.,  by  his  letters  patent,  dated  Westminster, 
Oct.  17, 1386,  renewed  King  Edward's  license  to  the  prioress 
and  nuns,  "  for  the  honour  of  God  and  for  the  augmentation 
of  divine  worship,  and  in  aid  of  the  support  of  the  priory," 
to  accept  more  lands  to  the  value  of  10  marcs,  provided  they 
were  not  held  of  him  in  capite.  (10  Richard  II.  p.  1,  m.  16.) 
Accordingly,  in  the  following  year,  Walter  Eforay,  clerk,  was 
allowed  to  give  the  priory  "  a  messuage,  8  shops,  3  tofts,  4 
scanella,  27  acres  and  3  roods  of  land,  and  l-§-  acre  of  meadow 
in  Midhurst,"  and  also  the  reversion  of  "  a  messuage,  5  acres 
of  land,  and  17s.  Qd.  rent  in  Midhurst,"  and  also  another 
"  messuage,  and  4s.  6d.  rent  in  the  same  town,"  all  proved  by 
our  escheator  to  be  worth  60s.  a  year.  {Rot.  Pat.  11  Ric.  II. 
p.  1,  m.  38,  Westm.,  24  June.) 

After  enumerating  so  many  benefactions,  which  would 
seem  ample  for  the  support  of  a  few  nuns  with  decent  eco- 
nomy, we  cannot  avoid  wondering  at  the  strong  expressions 
used  in  the  preamble  of  Henry  IV.'s  license,  in  1409,  to 
accept  an  advowson. 

"  Know  that  we,  considering  the  immense  burdens  {immensa 
onera)  which  our  beloved  in  Christ  the  prioress  and  convent 
of  Esebourne,  in  the  county  of  Sussex,  who  are  now  10  nuns 
in  number,  support  in  these  days,  and  especially  as  they  are 
bound  to  find  yearly  two  chaplains,  although  their  possessions 
do  not  exceed  £40  in  value,  as  we  are  informed,"  &c. 

Permission  is  then  granted  to  the  prior  and  convent  of 
Lewes  to  give  the  advowsons  of  Compton  and  Up  Merdone 
to  the  Priory  of  Eseborne,  "provided  always  that  the  vicarages 
ot  the  said  churches  should  be  sufficiently  endowed,  and 
that  certain  competent  sums  of  money  from  their  fruits  and 
profits  should  be  annually  distributed  among  the  poor  pa- 
rishioners by  the  prioress  and  convent  of  Eseborne,  according 
to  the  direction  of  their  ordinary,  and  to  the  form  of  the  statute 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEB0URNE.  7 

therein  made  and  provided."     {Rot.  Pat.  10  Henry  IV.  m.  5, 
Westrn.,  August  14,  1409.) 

In  compensation  for  this  grant,  Eseborne  Priory  paid  a  fine 
of  405.  to  the  King,  and  agreed  to  pay  a  pension  annually  of 
40,9.  to  the  prior  and  convent  of  Lewes,  giving  them  the  right 
of  distraining  upon  any  and  all  their  possessions,  in  case  of 
non-payment.  {Rot.  Pat.  12  Henry  IV.  m.  44,  dated  Westm., 
Oct.  20,  1410.) 

The  earliest  reference  to  Eseborne  in  the  Episcopal  Registry 
(R.  p.  39)  makes  mention  of  a  visitation  there  on  February  10, 
1402,  during  the  episcopacy  of  Bishop  Reade ;  but  no  details 
are  given,  and  we  cannot  tell  whether  any  disorders  in  the 
discipline  of  the  nunnery  then  called  for  interference.  The 
usual  course  of  proceeding  was  for  the  bishop,  or  some  one 
deputed  by  him,  at  the  time  previously  announced  to  the 
prioress,  to  take  evidence  on  the  spot  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  convent,  and,  after  putting  on  record  the  result  of  such 
inquiry,  to  issue  at  once  injunctions  for  the  amendment  of 
anything  amiss.  The  first  visitation  from  which  we  learn 
any  details,  is  that  of  January  12,  1441,8  ordered  by  Bishop 
Richard  Praty,  who  was  Chancellor  of  Oxford,  and  occupied 
the  see  of  Chichester  from  1438  till  his  death  in  1445.  The 
evidence  taken  on  the  occasion  has  not  been  found,  but  the 
reproof  on  the  prioress  is  remarkable. 

"  Visitation  of  the  Priory  of  Eseburne,  held  in  the  Chapter 
House  there,  on  Friday,  that  is  to  say,  the  12th  day  of 
January  in  the  year  above  named,  by  Master  Walter  Eston, 
the  Commissary  of  the  Reverend  Father  in  God  and  Lord, 
the  Lord  Richard,  by  the  grace  of  God  Bishop,  specially 
appointed  for  this  purpose. 

"  In  the  first  place,  it  has  been  proved  and  discovered,  in 
the  said  visitation  before  the  said  Commissary,  that  the 
house  was  in  debt  to  the  amount  of  £40,  and  this  princi- 
pally from  the  costly  expenses  of  the  prioress,  because  she 
frequently  rides  abroad,  and  pretends  that  she  does  so  on  the 
common  business  of  the  house,  although  it  is  not  so,  with  a 
train  of  attendants  much  too  large,  and  tarries  long  abroad, 

8  Episcopal  Reg.  E.  p.  79.  The  original       volved,  for  a  transcript  of  which  I  am 
MSS.  of  this  and  the  subsequent  visita-       obliged  to  Mr.  Seaman,  of  Chichester. 
tions  are  in  Latin,  often  obscure  and  in- 


8  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

and  she  feasts  sumptuously  both  when  abroad  and  at  home, 
and  is  very  choice  in  her  dress,  so  much  so  that  the  fur  trim- 
mings  of  her  mantle  are  worth  100  shillings."  ("Sepius  equitat  j 
ad  extra  etfingit  quod  in  communibus  negociis  domus,  licet  no%\ 
ita  sit,  cum  familia  excessiva  multum  et  diu  expectando  ad 
extra,  ac  laute  conviviatur  tarn  extra  quam  infra,  et  est  multum 
curiosa  in  vestitu  adeoquod  furrura  mantelli  sui  valet  cs.") 

"  Also  the  prioress  compels  her  sisters  to  work  continually 

like  hired  workwomen  (ad  modum  midierum  condueliciarum), 

and  they  receive  nothing  whatever  for  their  own  use  from 

their  work,  but  the  prioress  takes  the  whole  profit  (Mum 

percipit)." 

"  Injunctions  given  to  the  Prioress. 

ct  In  the  first  place,  the  Lord  suspends  the  prioress  from  all 
administration  of  the  temporal  goods  of  the  said  priory,  both  by 
his  own  ordinary  authority  and  by  the  express  consent  of  Robert 
Roos9  (Boon?),  Knight,  founder  of  the  said  house;  he  has] 
committed  the  administration  of  the  said  goods  to  Master 
Thomas  Boleyn  and  John  Lylis,  Esquire,  until  and  so  long  as 
when  the  aforesaid  house  or  priory  shall  be  freed  from  debt. 
Also  that  the  prioress  shall  by  no  means  compel  her  sisters 
to  continual  work  of  their  hands,  and  if  they  should  wish  of 
their  own  accord  to  work,  they  shall  be  free  to  do  so,  but  yet 
so  that  they  may  reserve  for  themselves  the  half  part  of  what 
they  gain  by  their  hands,  the  other  part  shall  be  converted  to 
the  advantage  of  the  house  and  unburdening  it  from  debts. 

"Also  that  the  prioress,  with  all  possible  speed,  shall  diminish 
her  excessive  household,  and  shall  only  retain,  by  the  advice 
and  with  the  assent  of  the  said  Masters  John  and  Thomas, 
a  household  such  as  is  merely  necessary,  and  not  more. 

"  Also,  that  the  prioress  shall  not  receive  any  guests  at  her 
table  to  sojourn  there  (aliquos  commensales  ad  sojornandum 
ibidem),  except  with  the  assent  of  the  said  Thomas  and  John. 

"  Also,  that  the  prioress  shall  convert  the  fur  trimmings, 
superfluous  to  her  condition  and  very  costly,  to  the  discharge 
of  the  debts  of  the  house. 

9  Sic  MS.,  but  there  must  be  a  mistake      was  undoubtedly  the  founder. 
in  the  transcript  of  the  name,  as  Bohun 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  9 

"  Also,  that  if  eventually  it  shall  seem  expedient  to  the  said 
Masters  Thomas  and  John  at  any  time,  that  the  prioress 
should  ride  in  person  for  the  common  business  of  the  house, 
on  such  occasions  she  shall  not  make  a  lengthened  stay 
abroad,  nor  shall  she  in  the  interval  incur  expenses  in  any 
way  costly  beyond  what  is  needful,  and  thus,  when  despatched 
to  go  abroad,  she  must  and  ought  rightly  to  content  herself 
with  four  horses  only. 

"  We  desire  and  command  these  matters  to  be  inviolably 
observed  by  the  prioress,  in  virtue  of  her  sacred  obedience, 
and  under  penalty  of  her  deposition." 

The  route10  of  Bishop  Praty  on  this  visitation  explains  to  us 
the  order  in  which  he  made  his  journey  on  horseback  through 
his  diocese.  It  was  arranged  to  occupy  four  weeks,  which, 
considering  the  winter  season,  implies  much  activity  of  move- 
ment, especially  as  he  always  halted  on  Sundays,  passing  them 
at  Horsham,  Winchelsea,  Broadwater,  and  Boxgrave.  As  he 
advanced  on  his  progress  he  despatched  commissioners  to  visit 
as  his  deputies  the  Priories  of  Shulbred,  Esebourne,  Rusper, 
and  Hastings,  and  the  Hospital  of  St.  Bartholomew  at  Rye. 
After  devoting  Monday,  January  8,  and  the  two  next  days,  to 
visiting  Chichester,  he  went  on  Thursday,  January  11,  to  visit 
the  clergy  at  "  Boxgrave,  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Faith  adjoining 
the  cloisters." 

"Friday,  Jan.  12.  He  will  visit  in  the  church  of  Midhurst 
the  clergy  of  the  deanery  of  Midhurst,  and  the  same  day  he 
will  visit  by  his  commissioners  the  Priories  of  Shulbrede  and 
Esseborne,  and  will  sleep  at  Midhurst. 

"Saturday,  Jan.  13.  He  will  dine  at Pulborough  and  sleep 
at  Horsham. 

"  Sunday,  Jan.  14.  He  will  remain  at  Horsham. 

"Monday,  Jan.  15.  Pie  will  visit  early  in  the  morning,  in 
the  church  of  Horsham,  that  part  of  the  deanery  of  Storring- 
ton  which  is  in  le  Welde,  and  will  sleep  at  Crawle.  The 
same  day  he  will  visit  by  his  commissioner  the  Priory  of 
Rouspar."11 

We  do  not  know  the  name  of  the  Lady  Prioress  at  this 


10  Progressus  Visitationis,  from  Regist.       p.  355. 

79 ;    Cartwright's  Rape  of  Bramber,  "  See  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  V.  248. 

TX.  2 


10  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

time,  on  whom  such  strict  orders  were  laid,  and  who  was  left 
stripped  at  once  of  her  authority,  her  pleasant  rides,  the  dainty 
feasts  with  her  friends,  and,  "  unkindest  cut  of  all,"  her  choice 
fur  trimmings.  What  species  of  fur  the  lady  wore  is  not  said; 
but,  considering  the  different  value  of  100s.  at  that  time,  the 
cost  does  seem  excessive.  In  the  household  roll12  of  Richard 
de  Swinfield,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  we  find  that,  in  1289,  he 
provided  himself  with  a  warm  winter  super-tunic  of  deerskin 
(bissm)  for  39s.,  and  with  three  hoods  of  miniver  (a  costly 
fur)  for  17s.  We  shall  see  that  the  state  of  the  priory  got 
worse,  rather  than  better,  subsequently.  It  need  not  sur- 
prise us  that  we  find  the  nuns  grudging  their  prioress  the 
profits  of  their  handiwork,  when  it  appears  by  a  later  docu- 
ment, in  1521,  that  these  diligent  ladies  had  to  provide  their 
own  clothing  out  of  the  allowance  of  a  marc  (13s.  4sd.)  a  year 
each ;  and,  moreover,  that  they  were  often  defrauded  even  of 
this  resource  by  the  prioress. 

The  injunctions  given  in  this  visitation  of  1441,  and  those 
in  that  of  1521,  are  confused  together,  and  erroneously  sup- 
posed to  have  been  laid  upon  "  Joan  Sackfylde,  prioress,"  in 
the  Monasticon,  iv.  423. 

Among  the  muniments  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  re- 
lating to  Seleborne  Priory,  an  inventory,  taken  in  1450,  of 
the  goods  and  chattels  of  Esebourne  Priory,  has  by  some  con- 
fusion of  names  been  included,  and  a  transcript  of  this  has 
been  kindly  communicated  by  Sir  Henry  Ellis,  K.H.,  of  the 
British  Museum.13  It  must  have  been  ordered  by  the  cele- 
brated Bishop  Reginald  Peacock  very  soon  after  his  transla- 
tion from  St.  Asaph  to  Chichester,  March  23,  1450. 

"  Esseburne. — Survey  (visits)  of  the  Priory  there,  on  the 
27th  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1450, 
and  in  the  29th  year  of  the  reign  of  K.  Henry  VI. : — 

"  The  Church.— Firstly,  in  the  church,  1  small  bell,  2  mis- 
sals, 2  portiforia  (breviaries),  4  antiphonies,  1  large  Legenda, 
8  psalters,  1  book  of  collects,  1  tropary  (a  book  containing 
tropos,  chants  sung  before  the  introitus  on  feast  dags,  consisting 

12  Published  by  the  Camden  Society,  Chandler,  was   read  December  5,  1782, 

P"  nl\'  r  tut  not  published.     The  Latin  original  is 

»  A  copy  of  this  inventory,  sent  to  the  "No.  81,  in  the  Selebum  box."     It  is 

Society  of  Antiquaries  by  the  Rev.  Or.  alluded  to  also  in  Grose's  Antiquities. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE. 


11 


of antiphone,  canticle,  and  gloria)-,  4  vestments,  namely,  a  suit 
of  red  with  deep  cope,  3  golden  vestments,  2  cups,  8  napkins, 
1  silver  cross,  2  candlesticks  of  brass,  1  thuribule  {incense- 
furner),  2  silver  cruets,  1  French  Bible,  2  ordinalia  in  French, 
1  book  of  the  Gospel,  1  Martyrology. 

"  The  Chamber. — Also  2  hanging  beds  of  red  worsted,14  8 
other  beds,  8  mattrasses,  12  pair  of  linen  sheets,  8  pillows. 

"The  Hall. — Also  2  tables,  2  desks,  2  pair  of  trussels. 

"The  Pantry. — Also  2  silver  saltcellars;  3  silver  cups, 
namely,  2  with  covers,  the  third  gilt  and  with  cover ;  3  basins, 
4  washing  basins,  20  candlesticks,  6  napkins,  6  sanapes  (save- 
cloths)15  with  2  wash  towels. 

"  The  Kitchen. — Also  4  spits,  6  brass  jars,  1  stone  mortar, 
1  brass  mortar,  2  iron  cleavers,16  4  dishes,  3  pots,  3  doseyn 
vessel  garnessyd.17 

"  The  Bakehouse. — Also  1  lead  '  furneys '  with  a  copper 
bottom,  2  '  bolting  wyches  ' 18  {the  linen  or  haircloth  for  sift- 


14  De  rubra  loircato.  There  may  be 
an  error  here  in  the  transcript  from  the 
MS.,  but  probably  the  word  was  meant 
to  imply  the  woollen  stuff  then  princi- 
pally manufactured  at  Worsted,  in  Nor- 
folk. In  the  Inventories  of  Church  Goods 
in  Shrewsbury,  a.d.  1552-3,  lately  printed 
by  Mr.  Hunter  in  the  Archceol.  Journal, 
xlvii.  p.  269,  the  word  is  variously  spelt, 
"vesmentes  of  blake  wosted,"  "vestment 
of  violett  worstyd."  In  the  inventory 
quoted  in  the  following  note  occur  also, 
"  i  tectum  de  rubro  worstede — item  I  lec- 
tum  de  blocl  worstede." — P.  317.  Be- 
quests of  similar  beds  frequently  occur 
in  the  wills  of  noble  personages,  proving 
that  the  "red  worsted"  by  no  means  be- 
tokened the  poverty  of  the  nuns.  The 
Countess  of  Northampton,  in  1356,  be- 
queathed to  her  daughter,  married  to 
Richard  Earl  of  Arundel,  "  a  bed  of  red 
worsted  embroidered."  Lady  Despenser, 
in  1409,  gave  her  daughter  Philippa  "a 
bed  of  red  worsted,  with  all  the  furniture 
appertaining  thereto."  Lady  Elizabeth 
Andrews,  in  1474,  gave  to  William  Wyn- 
desorc  "  a  red  bed  of  worsted,  with  all  the 
hangings."—  Testamenta  lretusta. 

13  Sanapes  are  savenaps,  savecloths — 
long  pieces  of  linen  laid  over  the  parts  of 
the  tablecloth  most  exposed  to  be  soiled 
or  injured.  In  the  inventory  of  the  goods 
of  R.  de  Ravenser,  Archdeacon  of  Lincoln, 


a.d.  1386  (see  Lincoln  vol.  of  the  Archocol. 
Institute,  p.  321),  are  "also  in  sanapes, 
each  containing  7^  yards,  one  of  which  is 
in  bad  condition  (debilis),  the  best  one  of 
which  is  worth  8d.,  the  middle  one  Ad., 
and  the  most  worn  3d. — sum  total  15d. ; 
also  1  sanape  containing  6f  yards,  worth 
8d." 

16  Cobertes,  a  word  Latinised  from  the 
French  "  couperet,  a  butcher's  knife,  a 
cleaver." — Cotgrave's  _Dic£.  1611.  In  the 
Richmond  Wills  of  the  Surtees  Society 
occur,  page  260,  a.d.  1576,  "n  pare  of 
couperattes.  iis.  viiid." 

17  Three  dozen  pewter  plates  or  dishes 
in  sets.  A  garnish  signified  commonly 
the  set  or  service  of  pewter.  Harrison, 
writing  in  1580,  says,  "such  furniture  of 
household  of  this  metal,  as  we  commonlie 
call  by  the  name  of  vessell,  is  sold  usuallie 
by  the  garnish,  which  dooth  conteine  12 
platters,  12  dishes,  12  saucers."  Prompt. 
Parvul.  page  187.  Or  "garnessyd"  may 
perhaps  here  mean  "polished." 

18  Bolting  ivyches.  In  the  Unton  In- 
ventories, edited  by  J.  Grough  Nichols, 
1841,  p.  2,  is  "  A.D.  1596.  In  the  Pasterie 
Howse,  1  olde  whitche — in  the  Bakehouse, 
one  bowlting  whitch."  In  1620,  "in  the 
Boultinge  Howse,  II  boltinge  wittches." 
Bolte  pooke,  Prompt.  Parvul.  from  the 
German  beutel,  a  sieve — beuteler,  to  sift; 
boulanger,  Fr.    The  hopper  was  anciently 


12  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

big  meal),  2  knedyng  trowes,  2  meshfatts  (vats)  with  2  cover- 
ings." 

{"Ecclesia. — Inprimisin  ecclesia,  I  campana parva,  n  mtsA 
salia,  ii  portiforia,  mi  antip/ionaria,  I  legenda  grossa,  yiij 
psalteria,  i  collectane :  i  troparium,  mi  vestimenta,  videlicet, 
i  secta  d<?  r&foo  czm  «/&z  c«j»«,  in  wsfes  a«n,  n  calices,  vin 
mqppa,  i  cr«a?  argenti,  n  candelabra  de  latton,  i  terribulum, 
n  cruettes  argenti,  i  2?«M«  Gallicana,  n  ordinalia  in  Gall., 
i  librum  Evangelii,  i  Martirologium. 

"Camera. — i?m,  u  lecti  pendentes  de  rubro  wircato,  vm'\ 
alii  lecti,  vm    calcetri,   xn  jPflrea   linthiaminum,  vin  jd«/- 
vinarice. 

"Aula. — 7?m,  n  tabula,  n  descas,  n  jtftfmz  trescellis. 

"Panetria. — 7/e/»,  n  solaria  argenti,  in  cratera  argenti, 
videlicet,  n  cooperta,  tertium  deauratum  et  cooperlum,  in 
pelves,  mi  lavacra,  xx  candelabra,  vi  mappm,  vi  sanapes  cum 
ii  tuellis  lavatorum. 

"Coquina. — iifcw,  mi  broclies,  vi  o//^  e#£^,  I  mortarium 
lapideum,  i  mortarium  eneum,  n  cobertes  ferri,  nn  patellce, 
in  cacabi,  in  doseyn  vessel  garnessyd. 

"Pistrina. — ifejw,  ifurneys  plumbeus  cujus  fundus  est  cu- 
preum,  n  bolting  wgc/tes,  n  knedyng  troives,  n  ?/2e&&  /<z^s  czm 
ii  coverings). 

"  Live  Stock. — Also  of  live  stock  1  horse,  10  oxen,  20  cows, 
1  bull,  200  sheep,  40  swine,  2  boars,  4  sows,  20  pigs. 

"  Dead  Stock. — Also  2  ploughs,  2  coulters,  2  ploughshares, 
G  iron  chains  with  other  apparatus  of  wood,  2  two-wheel 
carts,  1  cart  with  appurtenances,  2  winnowing  forks,  6*  sacks, 
1  bushel  bound  with  iron. 

"  The  Priory  of  Eseburne  is  valued,  that  is,  on  an  average 
of  years,  as  appears  by  the  rental,  £8. 

"  Land  with  pasture,  by  estimation  worth,  40s. 

"  Chapel  of  Mydhurst,  with  repairs,  40s. 

"Chapel  of  Loddesworth,  13s.  4<d. 

"  Chapel  of  Farnherst,  60s. 

"  The  church  of  Compton  and  Merdon,  with  repairs,  is  worth 
in  annual  value,  beyond  the  pensions  paid  to  the  Prior  of 
Lewys,  6  marcs,  to  the  Bishop  twice  23s.  4d.,  to  the  Dean 

t-alled  "Taratantula,  ex  sono  quern  facit       et  cujus  percussions  grauum  defluit  inter 
dictum  instrumentum  quo  farina  colatur,       molas  molendini." — Bucange. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  13 

and  Chapter  twice  6s.  8d.,  to  the  Archdeacon  twice  6s.  8d., 
and  thus  its  value  is  v  marcs  (£3.  6s.  Sd.)  a  year. 

"The  church  of  Eseburne  is  worth  10  marcs  (£6. 13s.  4d.), 
from  which  church  the  vicar  receives  the  same  sum.  The 
land  of  Newode  is  worth  40s.  a  year.  Worthyng  is  worth 
5  marcs  a  year.     Sum  total  xxviii/.  vis.  viii^.  (sic  MS.) 

"  And  in  the  discharge  (in  liberatione  vicarii)  of  the  vicar  of 
Eseborne  10  marcs. 

"  And  thus  remains  £22.  3s.  for  the  repairs  of  the  house,  as 
well  as  for  other  expenses. 

"  The  debts  there  for  repairs  and  other  necessary  expenses 
this  year,  £66.  6s.  Sd." 

It  is  clear  that  the  debts  of  the  Nunnery,  so  far  from  being 
reduced  after  the  visitation  of  1441,  by  the  sale  of  the 
prioress'  fur  and  the  economy  recommended,  had  from  £40 
increased  now,  in  1450,  to  £66.  6s.  Sd.  "Master  Thomas 
Boleyn,"  who  was  one  of  Bishop  Praty's  commissaries  in 
1442,  and  had  in  that  capacity  visited  Rusper  Nunnery  with 
his  colleague  Master  John  Lylis,  had  not  succeeded  better 
than  the  wrell-dressed  prioress  in  managing  the  finances  of 
Eseburne. 

We  have  only  a  slight  notice  of  this  nunnery  and  some 
other  Sussex  monasteries  in  1456.  According  to  a  custom 
very  prevalent  among  such  establishments,  a  notice  of  the 
death  of  some  prior  or  other  friend  was  carried  by  travelling 
messengers  from  one  religious  house  to  another,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  prayers  of  the  community  for  the  repose  of  the 
soul  of  the  deceased.  The  Obituary  Roll 19  of  two  priors  of 
Durham,  William  Elchester  and  John  Burnaby,  was  thus 
brought  into  Sussex  in  1456,  and  the  title  of  each  religious 
house  was  written  on  it  as  it  came  round,  in  proof  of  its  re- 
ceipt, and  as  engaging  its  prayers  of  intercession.  There  was 
usually  added,  to  mark  the  reciprocity  of  such  good  offices, 
"  vestris  nostra  damns,  pro  nostris  vestra  rogamus."  On  this 
occasion  there  was  this  entry  on  the  roll,  "Titulus  monialium 
Beatce  Marice  de  Eseburn,  Ordinis  St.  Angustini,  Cicestr. 
(Cisterc.  in  orig.  MS.)  diocesis." 

The  next  account  we  have  of  the  interior  of  the  nunnery 

19  Published  by  the  Surtees  Society,  1856. 


14 


EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 


occurs,  in  1478,  from  the  Visitation  of  Bishop  Edward  Story, 
who,  in  less  than  four  months  after  his  translation  from  Car- 
lisle to  the  see  of  Chichester,  personally  examined  the  state 
of  things  on  the  spot.  Agnes  Tauke,  the  prioress,  was  pro- 
bably the  same  person  who,  thirty-six  years  earlier,  in  1442, 
was  in  Rusper  Nunnery,  but  who  had  not  then  taken  the  veil' 
"  non  professa."20  She  was  therefore  no  longer  young — a  cir- 
cumstance to  be  remembered,  when  we  judge  of  the  fairness 
of  now  renewing  the  principal  charge  against  her  on  the  vague 
hearsay  evidence  we  shall  presently  meet  with.  Agnes  Tauke 
was  probably  of  good  family,  as  among  those  whom  the 
bishop  consulted  with  on  this  occasion  was  "  Thomas  Tauke 
armiper";21  and  a  family  of  that  name  was  at  this  period 
settled  at  West  Hampnett,  near  Chichester.  Unfavourable 
reports  of  the  condition  of  the  priory  under  the  government 
of  this  prioress  must  have  quickly  reached  the  ears  of  the  new 
bishop;  and  m  order  that  the  correction  of  abuses  might 
cause  the  least  public  scandal,  and  might  least  offend  the 
feelings  of  her  kinsmen,  he  held  a  meeting  in  his  palace 
chapel  preliminary  to  his  formal  visitation,  when  the  follow- 
ing arrangement  was  drawn  up  providing  for  the  resignation 

ot  her  authority  on  his  future  demand : 

"Be  it  remembered,  that  the  Lady  Agnes  Tawke,  Prioress 
ot  Lseborne  m  the  diocese  of  Chichester,  on  the  23rd  day  of 
the  month  of  May  a.d.  1478,  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Palace  of 
the  Lord  Edward,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  neither  compelled  by 
force  or  induced  by  fraud,  of  her  own  accord,  took  her  cor- 
poral oath,  touching  the  holy  Gospels,  in  presence  of  the  afore- 
said Lord  Bishop,  and  me  Hugh  Gryndone,  notary  public, 
then  and  there  present,  as  also  of  Masters  John  Cloos,  Doctor 
of  Laws,  William  Myll,  Bachelor  in  decretis,  Thomas  Tawke 
Esquire,  and  other  trustworthy  persons,  that  she  would 
purely,  spontaneously,  simply,  and   absolutely,  without   any 

ho  lH  ay'  resifVler  0ffice  0f  Prioress>  wlle^ver  she 

should  be  so  required   by  the  same  Lord  Bishop,  into  his 
hands,  or  into  those  of  any  other  person  having  his  authority 

W^apiV£S,1^7S-       ****»?  of  Hetfeldlond  is  found  in 

21  Arms  of  Tawke-Ament   a T £nE'       Si m<3l»f  ^  after  the  death  of  John  de 

in  chief  3  chaplets  verT  Tne na£  of      S   1383    "^  °f  ^^  ^  * 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  15 

in  this  particular.  Also  the  Lord  on  the  same  day  then  and 
there  enjoined  the  said  Prioress  of  Eseborne,  and  most  strictly 
exacted  from  her  these  matters  following,  namely  : — 

"  first,  that  as  soon  as  possible  after  her  arrival  at  the  said 
Priory  she  would  remove  and  separate  the  Sub-Prioress  from 
her  office  of  Sub-Priorate. 

"  Secondly,  that  every  week  she  should  besides  hold  and 
keep  at  least  one  chapter,  and  should  impartially  and  wholly 
correct  and  punish  the  excesses  of  her  nuns. 

"  Thirdly,  that  every  week,  beginning  with  the  eldest,  ex- 
cept the  aforesaid  Sub-Prioress,  she  should  select  for  herself, 
in  due  course  and  in  turns,  one  of  her  nuns  as  chaplainess 
for  divine  services,  and  to  wait  upon  herself  (sibi  assumeret  in 
wtpellanissam  pro  divinis  dicendis  et  ad  sibi  attendendam). 

"  Fourthly,  that  neither  the  Prioress  nor  any  nun  should 
pass  out  beyond  the  enclosures  of  the  priory,  nor  meet  toge- 
ther for  the  purpose  of  drinking  or  practising  any  other  iin- 
'proprieties.  {Quod  scepta  (sic)  prior  at  us  nee  priorissa  nee 
monialis  aliqua  ad  bibendum  seu  insolencias  aliquas  exercendas 
\nou  exibit  nee  frequentabit") — Reg.  D.  f.  42. 

After  thus  securing  beforehand  a  great  change  in  the 
[priory,  the  bishop  fixed  his  visitation  to  take  place  five 
i weeks  afterwards. 

"Bishop  Story,  Reg.  D.  f.  23,  a.d.  1478.  Visitation  of 
the  Reverend  Father  in  Christ  and  Lord,  the  Lord  Edward,  by 
(divine  permission  Bishop  of  Chichester,  performed  by  himself 
in  person,  in  the  Chapter  House  of  the  Prioress  of  Esborne, 
on  the  4th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  as  above,  and 
ihe  there  passed  the  night  (peruoctamf). 

"  To  the  Reverend  Father  in  Christ  and  Lord,  the  Lord 
Edward,  by  divine  permission  Bishop  of  Chichester,  your 
humble  and  devoutly  obedient  daughter  the  Lady  Agnes  Tauke, 
Prioress  of  Esborne  in  your  diocese  of  Chichester,  all  manner 
of  obedience  and  reverence  clue  to  such  a  Father  with  honor. 

"  I  have  received  your  revered  command  of  the  26th  day 
of  May,  a.d.  147S,  in  these  words: — 'Edward,  by  divine 
permission,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  to  our  beloved  in  Christ 
the  Prioress  of  the  Priory  of  Eseborne,  of  our  diocese,  health, 
grace,  and  blessing, — Among  the  pastoral  anxieties  pressing 
[upon  our  shoulders,  we  consider  with  perpetual  care  how  we 


10  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

may,  by  our  ordinary  visitation  of  those  under  us,  correct 
the  vices,  and  reform  their  defects  by  the  helping  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  wishing  thus,  therefore,  to  execute  our  pastoral 
duty,  as  we  are  bound  to  do,  we  intend,  with  the  guidance  of 
God,  actually  to  visit,  among  other  places  of  our  diocese,  you 
and  your  priory,  both  its  head  and  its  members  {tain  in  capite 
quam  in  membris),  after  having  thoroughly  visited  our  cathe- 
dral church  of  Chichester,  as  the  canonical  ordinances  exact 
and  require, — Wherefore,  by  the  tenor  of  these  present,  we 
peremptorily  summon  you,  and  through  you  we  wish  to  be 
summoned  all  and  singular  the  nuns  of  the  aforesaid  priory, 
and  we  command  that  you  appear,  and  that  each  of  them 
appear  before  us,  or  those  commissioned  by  us  in  this  parti- 
cular, if  anything,  which  God  forbid,  should  happen  to  prevent 
us,  in  the  Chapter  House  on  the  Saturday  next  after  the  next 
Feast  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  {June  29),  with  adjourn- 
ment {continuacione)  and  prorogation  of  the  following  days,  if 
need  be,  in  order  duly  to  perform  the  business  of  the  afore- 
said visitation,    you  being  prepared  humbly  to  admit  andi 
canonically  to  submit  to  such  our  visitation,  and  to  exhibit ; 
and  shew  the  foundation  and  condition  of  your  house,  and! 
the  repairs  of  all  and  singular  your  churches  united  to  you,  i 
and  furthermore  to  do  and  receive  what  the  business  of  the 
said  visitation  may  exact  and  require.     We,  moreover,  by  I 
the  tenor  of  these  presents,  prohibit  you,  and  we  wish  and 
command  that  through  you,  on  our  behalf,  all  and  each  of  i| 
your  nuns  should  be  prohibited,  and  that,  while  our  aforesaid  | 
visitation  is  impending,  nothing  be  attempted,  done,  or  caused 
to  be  in  other  way  attempted  to  the  prejudice  of  the  same, 
knowing  that  if  anything  of  this  sort  should  be  attempted 
against  our  prohibition  in  any  manner,  we  decree  it  to  be 
invalid   and  void.     Concerning,  moreover,  the  days  of  the 
receipt  of  the  present  command,  and  of  the  mode  and  form  of 
its  execution,  as  also  what  you  shall  cause  to  be  done  in  the 
premises,  you  shall  take  care  clearly  to  certify  to  us  or  our 
said  commissaries,  on  the  said  day  and  place  by  your  letters 
patent,  a  list  containing  in  full  the  names  and  surnames  of  these 
your  sisters,  all  and  each,  and  the  designation  of  their  offices, 
attested  by  authentic  seal.     Given  under    our  seal,  in  the 
house  of  our  residence  near  London,  on  the  19th  day  of  the 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EA.SEBOURNE.  17 

month  of  May,  a.d.  1478,  and  in  the  first  year  of  our  trans- 
lation.' 

"  By  the  authority  therefore  of  which,  your  revered  mandate, 
I  have  peremptorily  summoned  my  fellow- nuns  {commoniales) 
and  sisters  to  appear  before  you  on  the  day  and  place  above 
specified  in  your  mandate." 

"  The  Lady  Agnes  Tauke,  Prioress  there,  made  obedience 
to  the  Lord,  and  being  examined  concerning  the  life  and  con- 
versation of  the  nuns  and  co-sisters  (consororum),  all  and  each, 
of  the  said  priory,  says  that  Johanna  Pottesmouth  and  Philippa 
King  were  not  of  good  conversation  or  disposition,  who  had 
withdrawn  from  the  said  priory  for  their  health  without 
license  {ad  salutem  itticenciate),  and  so  are  abroad  in  apostasy 
at  present,  but  in  what  place  she  knows  not,  as  she  says. 

"  The  Lady  Matildis  Astom  made  obedience  to  the  Lord, 
and  being  examined  secretly  and  singly  as  to  whether  the 
divine  services  were  said  and  sung  (psallebantur)  at  the  due 
and  accustomed  times  equally  by  day  and  night,  says,  how- 
ever, that  the  Bishop  of  Chichester  immediately  preceding22 
had  dispensed  with  their  being  obliged  to  rise  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  twilight,  and  that  from  that  time  forth  to  this  they 
had  so  kept  {dispensavit  cum  eis  quod  surgere  valerent  Uora 
quartet,  in  auroris  et  sic  citra  servarent).  She  also  says  that 
certain  persons,  named  John  Smyth,  chaplain,  and  N.  Style, 
bond-servant  to  the  Lord  Arundel  (conjtyatus23  serviens  domi- 
nium Arundel),  had  and  were  accustomed  to  have  great  fami- 
liarity within  the  said  priory,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  with  the 
said  Lady  Johanna  Portesmouth  and  Lady  Philippa  Kinge, 
nuns  of  the  said  priory,  but  whether  the  said  Sir  John  Smyth 
and  N.  Style  abducted  (abduxerant),  or  caused  to  be  abducted, 
the  said  Johanna  Pottismouth  and  Philippa  Kinge,  she  knows 
not,  as  she  says.  And,  moreover,  she  says  that  certain  William 
Gosden  and  John  Capron  of  Esborn  aforesaid,  guarded  and 
kept  {custodiebant  et  servabant)  in  their  own  houses  the  said 
Johanna  and  Philippa  for  some  time  before  their  withdrawal 
(recessum)  from  the  said   priory,  and   took  their  departure 

22  This  was  John  Arundel,  Bishop  of  et  vassallus  ejusdem  militise  socii."— Du- 
Chichester  from  March  1459  to  1478.  cange.     Some,  however,  consider  <  conju- 

23  "Conjuges  in  libris  feudalibus  dicun-  gatus  "  as  meaning  a  married  man. 
tur  domini  et  vassali-consortes,  dominus 


IX. 


:3 


13  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

(devillabant24)  with  them,  and  so  were  great  encouragers  to 
them  in  that  particular.  Also  she  says  that  the  prioress  is  ' 
very  negligent,  as  before  stated,  in  the  punishment  of  her 
delinquent  sisters,  who  contravened  the  statutes  and  rules. 
Moreover,  she  says  that  they  do  not  keep  silence  at  the  suit- 
able times  (temporibus  congruis\  as  they  ought. 

"  Lady  Johanna  Crackelynge  made  obedience  to  the  Lord,  j 
and,  being  examined  as  above,  says  that  the  prioress  was  very  | 
negligent  in  the  punishment  of  the  Ladies  Johanna  Potismouth 
and  Phiiippa  Kinge,  nuns  and  sisters  of  the  said  prioress,  j 
who,  as  before  stated,  withdrew  from  the  said  priory,  and  so 
remain  abroad  at  present.     Also,  she  says  that  certain  Sir  ! 
John   Smyth   and   N.  Style,  a   bond   servant   to  the  Lord  j 
Arundel,  caused  the  said  Johanna  and  Phiiippa  to  withdraw 
from  the  said  priory  and  apostatise  and  cause  them  so  to 
continue  at  present.     Also,  concerning  the  conversation  and 
continence  of  the  prioress,  she  says  that  she  has  heard  say 
that  many  years  ago  she  gave  birth  to  one  or  two  children 
{audivit  dici  quod  pluribus  minis  transactis  enixa  ficit  unam 
prolem  vel  duas).25 

"Lady  Johanna  Stevyn  made  obedience, and,  being  examined 
as  above,  says  that  the  withdrawal  and  ruin  of  the  said  Ladies 
Johanna  and  Phiiippa  might  be  attributed  to  their  having  had, 
each  of  them,  long  before  their  withdrawal,  children,  or  a 
child,  and  that  the  prioress  {not  in  MS.)  in  various  other 
modes  governed  them  ill,  inasmuch  as  she  neglected  to  correct 
them  by  regular  discipline. 

"  Lady  Margaret  Lightnore  (Lewhwre  ?)  made  obedience 
to  the  Lord,  and,  being  examined,  says  that  a  certain  Sir  John 
Senoke26  much  frequented  the  priory  or  house,  so  that  during 
some  weeks  he  passed  the  night,  and  lay  within  the  priory  or 
monastery  every  night,  and  was  the  cause,  as  she  believes,  of 
the  ruin  of  the  said  Sir  John  Smyth  (sic  MS.).  Also,  she 
says  the  said  Sir  John  Smyth  gave  many  gifts  to  Phiiippa 
Kinge.  Moreover,  she  says  that  the  kinsmen  of  the  said 
prioress   very  often,  and  by  weeks  at  a   time  (multocies  et 

24  Devil/are,  discedere  de  villa— to  leave  at  least  fifty  years  old  at  the  time  of  this 
a  place.  vague  accusation  being  renewed. 

25  As  six-and-thirty  years  had  elapsed  26  Probably  the  same  family  as  William 
since  she  was  preparing  to  take  the  veil  and  Thomas  Snolk,  previously  referred  to 
at  Rusprr,  Agnes  Tawke  must  have  been  in  reference  to  a  deed  of  A.T>.  1327. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  19 

septimanatini),  frequent  the  priory,  and  have  many  banquets 
of  the  best  food,  while  the  sisters  have  them  of  the  worst,  to 
the  great  prejudice  and  discomfort  (discommodum)  of  the  nuns 
of  the  priory.  She  says  also  that  the  said  prioress  laid  out 
xv11-  for  a  certain  Bull  of  Capacity27  for  William  Cotnall,  for 
which  the  jewels  of  the  house  remain  pledged  lor  this  xvh. 

"The  Lady  Fredeswyda  Conand  made  obedience  to  the 
Lord  ;  she  is  not  professed." 

"  Injunctions. 

"  The  Inventory  of  all  the  goods  of  the  said  Priory  exhibited 
by  the  Prioress  remains  filed  in  the  Register. 

"  Be  it  remembered  that  at  the  same  clay  and  place  Brother 
William  Cotnall  confessed  publicly  to  the  Lord  that  he  had 
sealed  and  caused  to  be  sealed,  by  the  common  seal,  against 
the  will  of  the  prioress,  a  quittance  for  Sir  John  Smyth,  con- 
cerning all  and  every  sort  of  actions  and  suits,  &c,  which  the 
said  prioress  and  convent  have,  or  might  have,  against  the 
same  Sir  John  Smyth,  and  especially  concerning  the  jewels  of 
the  house,  reaching  to  the  value  of  xv11-.  Also  he  confesses 
that  he  has  sealed,  or  caused  to  be  sealed,  a  license  to  Lady 
Johanna  Potesmouth  to  go  out  of  the  priory.-  Also  the 
brother  confessed  carnaliter  coynovisse  the  nun  Philippa 
Kinge  before  her  withdrawal  from  the  said  priory.  Also  he 
says  that  the  prioress  delivered  to  Sir  John  Smyth  divers 
jewels  belonging  to  the  house  to  the  value  of  x11,  (sic  MS.), 
to  pledge  them  for  money  to  procure  a  Capacity  for  this 
deponent,  which  jewels  are  all  and  each  utterly  lost." 

The  misrule  of  the  priory  seems  thus  to  have  gone  on  increas- 
ing, as  first  testified  by  the  poverty  arising  from  extravagance 
and  luxurious  dress,  by  the  exhibition  of  unequal  treatment 
of  its  inmates,  and  the  consequent  heart-burnings  within  the 
fair  bosoms  of  the  nuns,  and  latterly  by  the  imputations  of 
immorality  elicited  by  the  reciprocal  reproaches  of  prioress 
and  nuns.  What  a  striking  and  painful  scene  is  represented 
to  us  by  this  last  visitation  of  1478  !  The  quiet  Chapter 
House  of  this  female  community  occupied  by  the  bishop  and 
his  officers  sitting  in  judgment,  and  the  frightened  inmates  of 
the  nunnery  admitted  secretly  one  by  one  into  their  presence, 

27  A  Bull  enabling  the  holder  to  obtain  certain  privileges  or  exemptions. 


20  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

making  their  lowly  courtesies,  and  not  backward  in  bearing 
witness  to  the  faults  of  their  sisters,  or  retailing  the  scanda- 
lous stories  of  years  long  past. 

There  seems  to  have  been  more  reality  in  these  Episcopal 
Visitations  than  was  attributed  to  those  of  an  Abbot  by 
Walter  Mapes,  in  the  thirteenth  century.  If  the  Abbot  was 
well  fed  and  lodged,  all  was  reported  to  be  well,  and  no 
question  asked  as  to  discipline  or  morals,  so  that  such  certi- 
ficate might  fairly  be  said  by  the  satirist  as  "  not  worth  two 
garlicks." 

"  Tota  de  temporalibus  est  patris  inquisitio, 

Quasi  nulla  de  moribus  habetur  ibi  questio. 

****** 
Tandem  carta  componitur      ut  rite  riant  omnia 
Quod  magnum  est  omittitur  sola  scribuntur  levia. 
Ibi  bene  perpenditur  visitantis  incuria 

Nam  quicquid  illic  scribitur  duo  non  valent  allia." 

Walter  Mapes'  Poems,  p.  185. 

From  the  Episcopal  Registers  we  learn  that  the  priory 
was  so  poor  about  this  period,  that  it  was  exempted,  in  1485 
and  1489,  from  payment  of  the  subsidies  then  raised  by  the 
clergy.28 

It  appears,  indeed,  by  an  enrolment  in  the  King's  Remem- 
brancer's Rolls,  that  King  Henry  V.,  by  letters  patent  of 
Oct.  20,  1414,  expressly  exonerated  the  prioress  and  convent 
of  Easebourne  from  all  tenths,  fifteenths,  and  other  tallages  for 
twenty  years,  when  such  tenths  were  granted  to  the  amount 
of  104s.  Id.,  and  such  fifteenths  to  the  amount  of  9s. ;  and 
that  Henry  VI.,  on  January  26,  1437,  extended  the  term  of 
this  exemption  for  three  years  more ;  and  finally,  on  Decem- 
ber 18,  1439,  on  the  surrender  of  the  former  letters  patent, 
the  King  made  this  privilege  perpetual,  and,  on  account  of 
their  poverty,  exonerated  the  prioress  and  convent  for  ever 
from  all  tenths,  fifteenths,  aids,  contributions,  subsidies,  taxes, 
and  tallages  of  every  kind.  (MS.  Hick.  Term,  21  Hen.  VI. 
Rot.  3.) 

More  than  forty  years  elapsed  before  the  next  visitation  of 
which  we  have  any  notice,  and  this  was  held  by  the  authority 
of  Bishop  Robert  Sherburn,  on  August  5,  1521.     He  was 

*8  Dallawaj's  Sussex,  i.  237. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  21 

then  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  he  deputed  a  commissary,  Master  John  Worthiall, 
to  act  for  him. 

"  Robert  Sherburn,  a.d.  1521.  Reg.  C.  f.  ciii.  Mandate 
to  the  Prioress  of  Eseborne  for  Visitation. 

"  Robert,  by  divine  permission,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  to  our 
beloved  in  Christ  the  Prioress  of  the  House  or  Priory  of  Nuns 
of  Eseborne,  in  our  diocese,  health,  grace,  and  blessing. 

"  All  things  being  at  the  disposal  of  God,  we  intend,  by  the 
help  of  God,  actually  to  visit,  both  as  to  the  head  and  its 
members,  you  and  your  aforesaid  priory,  from  certain  reasons 
moving  us  [to  the29]  reformation  of  some  defects  therein.   By 
the  tenor,  therefore,  of  this  present,  we  peremptorily  summon 
vou,  and  through  you  we  wish  and  command  all  and  each  of 
the  nuns  of  the°aforesaid  priory,  and  your  co-sisters,  that  you 
should  appearand  that  each  of  them  should  appear  before  us, 
,  or  our  commissary  or  commissaries  in  that  particular,  in  the 
Chapter  House  of  your  aforesaid  priory,  on  the  fifth  day  of 
the  month  of  August  next  coming,  at  the  ninth  hour  before 
noon  of  the  same  day,  with  adjournment  and  prorogation  of 
the  days  next  following,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  undergo  such 
ou  visitation,  and  to  exhibit  and  show  to  us,  or  our  saidcom- 
i  missaryor  commissaries,  the  foundation  and  condition  of  your 
i  house,  and  an  inventory  of  all  and  singular  the  goods  of  the 
said  house,  both  in   spiritualities  and  temporalities,  and  a 
faithful  and  complete  account  of  every  year  of  your  adminis- 
tration from  the  time  of  your  first  undertaking  the  govern- 
ment of  the  said  house  down  to  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  the 
Archangel  last  past,  and  to  render  a  true  copy  of  all  things 
then  to  be  exhibited  before  us,  or  our  registrar  to  be  des- 
patched there ;  and  moreover,  to  do  and  provide  what  the 
business  of  our  said  visitation  exacts  and  requires.   We  more- 
over prohibit  you,  by  the  tenor  of  this  present,  and  through 
you  we  wish  and  command  all  and  each  of  your  nuns  and  co- 
sisters  not  to  attempt,  or  do,  or  cause  to  be  in  any  way 
attempted,  anything  beforehand  to  the  prejudice  of  our  said 
visitation  ;  and  that  you  make,  and  on  the  said  day  and  hour 

M  Ad  not  in  MS. 


22  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

and  place  duly  certify,  by  } oar  letters  patent,  to  us  or  such 
our  commissary  or  commissaries,  a  list  of  these  nuns  {harum), 
containing  in  full  the  names  and  surnames  of  your  nuns 
and  co-sisters,  sealed  with  the  authentic  seal.— Given  under 
our  seal,  at  our  dwelling-house  of  Cathorne,  the  13th  day 
of  the  month  of  July,  a.d.  1521,  and  the  14th  year  of  our 
translation." 

"  Visitation  of  the  aforesaid  Reverend  Father  in  the  Chapter 
House  of  the  Priory  of  Esborne,  by  the  said  Master  John 
Worthiall,  in  the  stead  and  authority  of  the  said  Reverend 
Father,  by  virtue  of  the  said  Commission,  on  the  5th  day 
of  August,  at  the  ninth  hour  before  noon,  in  the  afore- 
said year  of  our  Lord. 
"  At  which  day,  hour,  and  place,  the  commission  of  the  said 
Reverend  Father  as  above  being  read,  and  the  burden  (onere) 
of  the  said  commission  having  been  undertaken,  the  Lady 
Margaret  Sackville,  prioress  of  the  said  house,  then  and  there 
present,  certified  to  the  said  venerable  man,  Master  John  Wor- 
thiall, the  commissary  then  and  there  sitting  as  the  court  (pro 
tribunali  sedenti),  that  she  had  executed  the  above-written 
mandate  of  the  said  Reverend  Father  according  to  its  tenor, 
of  which  she  gave  assurance  (wide  fecit  fide  ni),  and  then,  after 
notice  being  proclaimed  (preconisatione  facta),  all  and  each 
of  the  nuns  whose  names  follow  appeared  in  person  : — 

Lady  Margaret  Sackfilde,  Prioress. 

Lady  Alicia  Hill,  Sacristan  there. 

Lady  Agnes  Howse  {Hoese,  Hussey?), ")     ^ 

Lady  Johanna  Farnfolde,  c       ?       a 

Lady  Cecilia  Cradocke,  )  professed. 

Johanna  Sackfilde,  Novice. 

"  On  such  appearance  of  whom,  the  said  Lord  Commissary 
charged  on  their  oath  (jurejurando  oncravit)  the  prioress  and 
aforesaid  nuns  faithfully  to  depose  and  reveal  those  matters 
which  ought  to  be  reformed,  concerning  the  said  house  and 
its  condition,  when  they  should  be  examined.  Afterwards  the 
said  Lord  Commissary  adjourned  the  aforesaid  visitation  to 
the  first  hour  after  noon. 

"  At  the  coming  of  which  hour,  in  the  said  Chapter  House, 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OE    EASEBOURNE.  23 

the  said  Lord  Commissary  examined  concerning  the  premises 
the  aforesaid  prioress  and  nuns  singly  and  in  private  {singil- 
latim  et  secrete),  who  deposed  as  follows  : — 

"  Lady  Margaret  Sackfilde,  Prioress,  being  examined,  says 
that,  as  to  the  sisters  and  nuns  of  the  said  priory,  they  lived 
honestly  and  religiously  according  to  the  rule  of  Saint  Augus- 
tine, and  that  they  are  sufficiently  obedient  to  her  {ei  satis 
obedientes). 

"  Lady  Alicia  Hill,  being  examined,  says  that  the  cloisters 
{claustrum)  are  in  need  of  repairs  on  the  south  and  west  sides 
in  the  roofing ;  but  she  says  the  prioress  buys  all  necessaries 
to  repair  such  defects  of  the  house.  Furthermore,  she  says 
that  the  Lady  Prioress,  according  to  the  foundation  of  the 
aforesaid  house,  should  furnish  them,  every  year,  to  each  of 
them  xiii-5.  \\\\d.  in  money  to  buy  and  provide  all  garments 
necessary  for  them,  which  she  neither  does  nor  otherwise  pro- 
vides for  them  in  necessary  garments,  as  is  fitting  for  them  to 
have,  as  she  says.  Moreover,  she  says  that  the  Lady  Prioress 
does  not  make  up  any  account  annually,  as  she  ought,  in  pre- 
sence of  the  sisters  of  the  said  house,  concerning  her  adminis- 
tration of  the  goods  of  the  said  priory.  In  other  respects  it 
is  well  {cetera  bene),  as  she  says. 

"  The  Lady  Agnes  Hosy,  being  examined,  says  that  she  has 
not  the  necessary  garments,  nor  any  stipend  from  the  Lady 
Prioress  to  buy  the  same,  according  to  the  foundation  of  the 
house.     In  other  respects  it  is  well,  as  she  says. 

"  The  Lady  Johanna  Farnfolde,  being  examined,  says  that 
the  cloisters  of  the  said  priory  in  some  parts  want  repairs  in 
the  roofing,  and  in  like  manner  other  places  elsewhere  of  the 
same  priory ;  yet  she  says  that  the  Lady  Prioress  has  all 
things  necessary  concerning  them  ready  for  their  repair. 

"  The  Lady  Cecilia  Cradocke,  being  examined,  says  that, 
according  to  the  foundation  of  the  house,  the  Lady  Prioress 
should  give  to  each  sister  of  the  same  house  annually  xiiis.  mid. 
for  providing  all  the  necessary  clothes  for  them,  which  is  now 
withheld  from  them  by  the  said  prioress,  nor  have  they  from 
her  the  necessary  garments  when  they  want  them.  Further- 
more, she  says  that  the  said  house  needs  repairs  in  various 
parts  of  it ;  but  she  says  that  the  Lady  Prioress  is  sufficiently 
provided  with  all  necessaries  to  perform  such  repairs. 


24  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OP    THE 

"  Johanna  Sackfilde,  being  examined,  says  (sic)." 

"  Injunctions  given  to  the  Lady  Prioress.  Also,  the  exami- 
nation being  over,  the  said  Lord  Commissary  enjoined  the 
Lady  Prioress  to  exhibit  all  things  specified  in  the  writ  above 
written,  which  she  had  not  yet  exhibited,  and  to  render  an 
account  as  is  commanded  in  the  same  above,  before  him,  in 
the  Chapter  House  aforesaid,  on  the  17th  day  of  the  month 
of  October  next.  Furthermore,  he  enjoined  her  to  repair 
satisfactorily  the  defects  of  the  house  or  priory  aforesaid  before 
the  first  day  of  the  month  of  May  next  coming ;  and  it  was 
also  enjoined  her  that  she  should  sufficiently  provide  for  her 
sisters  the  ornaments  {prnamentd)  necessary  for  them,  and 
that  she  should  make  window  shutters  {fenestras  clausuras) 
for  the  chapel,  on  the  east  side  between  the  chapel  and 
church. 

"  After  this  the  said  Lord  Commissary  adjourned  the  visita- 
tion of  the  said  Lord  Father  to  the  17th  day  of  the  month  of 
October  next,  and  gave  notice  (monuit)  to  the  said  Lady 
Prioress  and  the  said  nuns  to  be  then  present  in  the  Chapter 
House  as  above." 

Nearly  all  the  same  parties  appeared  again,  under  the  autho- 
rity of  the  same  Bishop  Sherburn,  three  years  later,  in  1524 ; 
and  this  was  the  last  visitation  of  which  we  have  any  account. 
Indeed,  the  suppression  was  near  at  hand  to  put  an  end  to 
all  the  good  and  evil  of  the  small  community.  No  more  re- 
pairs, no  more  injunctions,  were  then  needed. 

"Bishop  Sherburn,  a.d.  1524.     Reg.  A.  f.  95. 

"  Visitation  of  the  said  Reverend  Father  in  the  Chapter  House 

of  the  Priory  of  Eseborne  by  the  aforesaid  Master  John 

Worthiall,  by  the  authority  of  the  aforesaid  Commission, 

exercised  on  the  26th  day  of  the  month  of  July,  in  the 

year  of  the  Lord,  at  the  ninth  hour  before  noon. 

"  At  which  day  and  place,  before  the  said  Lord  Commissary, 

after  the  charge  of  the  said  commission  had  been  accepted, 

there  appeared  Lady  Elizabeth  (sic  MS.  in  error  for  Margaret) 

Sackfelde,  Prioress  there,  and  certified  that  she  had  executed 

the  mandate  of  the  Reverend  Father  according  to  its  tenor,  of 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE.  25 

~  which  she  made  assurance ;  and  then,  after  proclamation,  there 
appeared  as  follow  : — 

The  Lady  Margaret  Sackfelde,  Prioress. 

The  Lady  Alicia  Hill,  Sub-Prioress. 

The  Lady  Agnes  Hosey        j  Nung       fessed< 

The  Lady  Cecilia  Cradocke,  ) 

The  Lady  Johanna  Sackfelde. 

The  Lady  Margaret  Pratt. 

The  Lady  Elena  Hill. 

The  Lady  Alicia  Parker. 

"  On  whose  appearing,  the  said  commissary  charged  the  said 
prioress  and  all  her  aforesaid  sisters,  on  the  strength  of  their 
consciences,  faithfully  to  reveal  and  present  those  matters 
which  needed  reformation  in  and  about  the  said  house. 
Then  the  said  commissary  examined  them  and  each  of  them 
as  follows,  secretly  and  singly. 

"  The  Lady  Margaret  Sackfelde,  Prioress,  being  examined, 
says  that  all  things  were  well  as  to  the  state  of  religion  and 
the  house.  Being  questioned  furthermore,  what  grants  (con- 
cessiones)  they  had  made  under  their  common  seal,  she  says 
they  had  made  four,  namely,  one  to  William  Salter,  of  Compton, 
to  farm  the  rectory  there;  another,  of  the  proceeds  of  the  chapel 
of  Farnherst ;  another,  of  the  proceeds  of  the  chapel  of  Myd- 
herst ;  and  another  to  William  Toty,  for  his  corrody. 

"  The  Lady  Alicia  Hill,  Sub-Prioress,  being  questioned,  says 
that  all  is  well  as  to  the  condition  of  the  house  and  of  religion, 
with  this  exception,  that  the  Lady  Johanna  Sackfelde,  Lady 
Margaret  Pratt,  and  Alicia  Parcar,  nuns  not  professed,  are  dis- 
obedient to  her  in  the  absence  of  the  prioress ;  and  she  says 
that  the  Lady  Prioress  does  not  render  any  account  concerning 
the  condition  of  the  house  annually  in  the  presence  of  her  sis- 
ters. Furthermore,  being  questioned  how  many  grants  they  had 
made  under  their  common  seal,  she  says  they  had  made  five, 
namely,  one,  of  the  proceeds  of  the  church  of  Eseborne  to  Ralph 
Pratt ;  another,  of  the  proceeds  of  the  church  of  Compton ; 
another,  of  the  proceeds  of  the  chapel  of  Mydherst ;  another,  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  chapel  of  Farnherst;  and  another  to  William 
Toty,  for  his  corrody.  Furthermore,  she  says  that  about  twelve 

ix,  4 


26  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

years  ago  the  said  Ralph  Pratt,30  ad  tunc  persona  suspecta  im- 
pregnavit  quandam  dominant  Johannam  Covert  sororem  dicte 
domus,  which  Ralph  Pratt  down  to  the  present  day  has  much 
access  to  the  said  priory. 

"  Agnes  Hosey,  an  unlearned  (ideota31)  sister  of  the  said 
house,  says  all  is  well. 

"  Cecilia  Cradock,  sister  of  the  same  house,  being  examined, 
says  that  Lady  Alicia  Hills  is  too  haughty  and  rigorous,  and 
cannot  bear  patiently  with  her  sisters.  Furthermore,  being 
examined,  she  says  that  she  has  not  sufficient  apparel  (nimis 
superba  et  riaorosa,  nee  potest  suffer  re  sorores  suas.  Ulterius 
examinata  dicit  quod  non  habet  sufficientem  apparatum.  She 
says  besides,  that  the  prioress  does  not  render  an  annual 
account  of  the  said  house  in  presence  of  the  sisters.  The  rest 
is  well. 

"  Johanna  Sackfelde,  a  nun  not  professed,  being  examined, 
says  that  matins  are  not  said  at  the  fitting  hours,  that  is,  some- 
times at  eight  o'clock,  and  other  times  at  seven  o'clock.  Fur- 
thermore, she  says  that  the  sub-prioress  is  haughty  towards 
her  sister  (sic32) ;  and  she  says  furthermore,  that  the  Lady 
Prioress  does  not  render  an  account  annually  before  the  con- 
vent.    The  rest  well. 

"  Margaret  Pratt,  nun  not  professed,  being  examined,  says 
that  Lady  Alicia  is  too  proud  and  severe  against  the  sisters ; 
and  she  says  furthermore,  that  the  prioress  is  not  in  the  habit 
of  rendering  her  accounts  (computare)  before  the  convent.  The 
rest  well. 

"  Elinora  Hill,  twelve  years  of  age,  not  professed,  says  '  all  is 
well.' 

"  Alicia  Parker,  nun  not  professed,  says  all  is  well,  except 
that  the  Lady  Prioress  is  too  strict  (rigorosa). 

"  After  finishing  which  examination,  the  said  commissary 

30  It  will   be  observed  that  the  Sub-  bailiff  of  the  priory.     The  sub-prioress, 

Prioress  Alicia  Hill,  when  complaining  of  however,  gets  all  the  blame  in  the  result, 

the  insubordination  of  the  other  novices,  si  Ideota  may  perhaps  here  imply  some 

carefully  omits  one  who  was  probably  of  infirmity  of  mind,  which  made  it  inexpe- 

her  own  family,  Elena  Hill ;   and   here  dient  to  examine  Agnes  Hosey  more  than 

brings  forward  a  grant  to  Ralph  Pratt,  thus  briefly. 

omitted  by  the  prioress— a  suspicious  cir-  32  This  use  of  the  singular  number  seems 

cumstance,  when  connected  with  what  is  to  imply  that  the  Prioress  Margaret  was 

afterwards  said  of  the  said  Ralph,  who  Johanna's  sister, 
appears  to  have  been  the  receiver  and 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OE    EASEBOURNE. 


27 


enjoined  the  Lady  Prioress,  that  matins  should  in  future  be 
said  at  the  sixth  hour,  but  in  winter  at  the  seventh  hour ;  and 
that  she  should  close,  or  cause  to  be  closed,  the  door  in  the 
cloister  leading  to  the  parish  church,  continually  locked  {con- 
tinue ceratiim),  and  shall  not  permit  any  one  to  enter  there, 
except  those  licensed ;  and  he  also  enjoined  her  to  render 

i  her  account  annually  before  the  convent,  under  pain  of  de- 
privation. 

"  Afterwards  Lady  Alicia  Hill,  Sub-Prioress,  appeared,  and 
humbly  submitted  herself  to  correction,  in  presence  of  the 
said  Prioress  and  her  co-sisters,  upon  what  has  been  discovered 
against  her  in  the  said  visitation.  Afterwards  the  Lord  en- 
joined her  that  from  henceforth  she  should  conduct  herself 
well  and  religiously  in  all  things  towards  the  said  prioress 
and  the  nuns ;  and  as  to  the  other  portion  of  her  penitence 

I  he  adjourned  it  for  a  time.  After  doing  which,  the  said 
commissary  enjoined  all  to  be  obedient  to  the  Lady  Prioress, 
and  in  her  absence  to  the  sub -prioress." 


Church  and  Cloisters.33 


The  south  wall  of  the  parish  church  of  Easeborne  formed  one 
side  of  the  cloisters  of  the  nunnery,  and  the  door  referred  to 

33  Woodcut  from  drawing  of  S.  H.  Grimm  in  Add.  MSS.  5675,  f.  7,  No.  12. 


28  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 

above,  led  from  them  into  that  portion  of  the  church  appro- 
priated exclusively  to  the  nuns.  The  too  ready  access  to  the 
convent  by  this  means  led  to  the  orders  given  for  keeping  the 
door  locked,  and  for  putting  up  shutters  inside,  more  effec- 
tually to  divide  the  nuns,  when  they  attended  the  church  ser- 
vice, from  the  outer  world  assembled  in  the  body  of  the  church. 
In  the  will  of  Sir  David  Owen,  in  1 529,34  who  had  then  become 
the  patron  of  the  Easeborne  Nunnery  by  his  marriage  with  the 
heiress  of  the  Bohuns,  provision  is  made  for  the  same  seclusion, 
and  a  new  gallery  in  the  choir  ordered  to  be  built  for  the  nuns. 
"  I  wille  that  myn  executours  make  a  new  stage  quere  at  the 
saied  church  of  Esseborne  over  tholde  quere,  under  such  forme 
as  the  nonnes  there  may  comme  fro  their  dorter  in  the  great 
chamber,  and  from  thens  in  to  the  quere,  and  nobody  to  see 
them ;  the  saied  quere  to  be  made  of  tymber  after  the  facyon 
of  the  quere  of  the  Priory  of  Wintonye,  in  the  countie  of 
Hamshire,  and  tholde  quere  to  be  taken  away  and  belfraye, 
and  it  is  to  be  used  as  parcell  of  the  churche,  with  a  particon 
to  be  made,  so  that  non  may  comme  out  of  the  churche  to 
the  highe  Aulter  in  the  Chauncelle  of  the  saied  Priory."  By 
means  of  Sir  David's  new  gallery,  the  nuns  could  frequent 
their  chancel  by  walking  from  their  dormitory  on  the  same 
floor  without  passing  through  the  cloisters,  some  remains  of 
which  may  still  be  traced  by  the  forms  of  their  arches  along 
the  east  wall  of  the  enclosure. 

Little  time  was  allowed  for  the  effect  of  the  remedies 
against  abuse  provided  by  the  final  visitation  of  1524,  or  by 
the  care  of  Sir  David  Owen  in  1529,  before  all  the  doors 
were  unlocked,  and  all  the  "particons"  thrown  down  for  ever. 
In  the  act  of  Parliament,  1536  (27  Hen.  VIII.  c.  28),  autho- 
rising the  suppression  of  all  the  small  monasteries  which  had 
less  than  twelve  persons,  and  less  than  £200  rental,  these  are 
thus  described  in  the  preamble  : — 

"Forasmuch  as  manifest  synne,  vicious,  carnal,  and  abo- 
minable living,  is  dayly  used  and  committed  commonly  in 
such  little  and  small  abbeys,  priories,  and  other  religious 
houses  of  monks,  canons,  and  nuns,  where  the  congregation 
of  such  religious  persons  is  under  the  number  of  twelve 
persons,  whereby  the  governors  of  such  religious  houses  and 

34  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  VII.  33. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOTJRNE.  29 

their  convent,  spoyle,  destroye,  consume,  and  utterly  waste, 
ks  well  their  churches,  monasteries,  priories,  principal  houses, 
farms,  granges,  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments,  as  the 
ornaments  of  their  churches  and  their  goods  and  chattels,  to 
the  high  displeasure  of  Almighty  God,  slander  of  good  reli- 
gion, and  to  the  great  infamy  of  the  King's  Highness  and  the 
'realm,  if  redress  should  not  be  had  thereof  ;  And  albeit  that 
many  continual  visitations  hath  been  heretofore  had  by  the 
space  of  two  hundred  years  and  more  for  an  honest  and 
charitable  reformation  of  such  unthrifty,  carnal,  and  abo- 
minable living,  yet  nevertheless  little  or  none  amendment  is 
hitherto  had,  but  their  vicious  living  shamelessly  increaseth 
and  augmenteth,  and  by  a  cursed  custom  so  rooted  and  in- 
fected, that  a  great  multitude  of  the  religious  persons  in  such 
small  houses  do  rather  choose  to  rove  abroad  in  apostasy  than 
to  conform  themselves  to  the  observation  of  good  religion ;  so 
that  without  such  small  houses  be  utterly  suppressed,  and  the 
religious  persons  therein  committed  to  great  and  honourable 
monasteries  of  religion  in  this  realm,  where  they  may  be  com- 
pelled to  live  religiously  for  reformation  of  their  lives,  the 
same  else  be  no  redress  nor  reformation  in  that  behalf." 

Though  covetousness  may  have  prompted  the  description, 
yet  the  facts  here  adduced  may  justify  us  in  hoping  that  the 
larger  ones  were  better  and  more  "  honourable."  When  the 
same  prioress,  Margaret  Sackfield,  in  1535,  surrendered  her 
dignity  and  all  the  property  of  the  convent  into  the  King's 
hands,  the  few  ladies  of  her  small  community  rejoined  the 
world,  to  spread  there  at  their  pleasure  the  mutual  recrimi- 
nations in  which  we  have  seen  them  indulging  at  the  visita- 
tions, and  the  buildings  were  soon  converted  into  an  ordinary 
dwelling-house.  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam,  to  whom  the  grant 
of  the  site  was  made,  and  to  whom,  as  lord  of  the  manor  of 
Cowdrey,  only  1  lb.  of  cumin,  worth  M.,  had  hitherto  been 
paid  by  the  priory,  probably  used  the  "  dorter  "  of  the  nuns 
for  his  own  sleeping  chamber,  and  walked  to  his  prayers  from 
thence  into  their  new  gallery  in  the  chancel,  much  to  his  own 
convenience. 

The  outer  walls  of  the  refectory,  situated  beyond  the  south 

,  side  of  the  cloisters,  still  retain  some  Pointed  windows  in  the 

upper  story,  though  blocked  up ;  and  its  interior,  now  used  as 


80 


EPISCOrAL    VISITATIONS    OF    THE 


a  barn  and  granary,  shows  its  ample  dimensions,  far  beyond 
the  need  of  the  few  inmates,  except  on  the  grand  but  unwel- 
come occasions  of  the  bishop's  visitations,  or  when  the  prioress 


.c* 


Exterior  of  Building;.35 


filled  the  empty  seats  at  her  feasts  with  some  of  her  own 
private  friends.  It  was  perhaps  reserved  for  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  be  the  first  to  preside  here  at  a  princely  banquet,  and  to 
fill  the  refectory  with  her  goodly  company.  The  gross  income 
of  the  nunnery  at  the  suppression  was  £47.  3s.,  according  to 
Speed;  and  the  net  revenues  are  stated  in  King  Henrv  VIII. 's 
valuation,  taken  in  1534-5,  at  £29.  16s.  Id.  To  the  vicar  of 
Easebourne  an  annual  payment  of  £6.  13s.  4d.  was  due  from 
the  priory.  Among  the  officers  at  that  period  was  "the 
Seneschal  of  the  Court  of  the  Prioress,  Thomas  Grose," 
who  was  paid  a  mark  annually,  and  "Ralph  Pratt,  Receiver 
and  Bailiff  of  the  Monastery,"  whose  fee  was  £2  a  year. 
A  pension  of  100s.  was  granted  to  "Baldwin  Hammed 
late  incumbent  of  the  community  (incumbens  fraternitatis)  of 
Estborne,"  and  this  he  continued  to  enjov  down  to  Queen 
Mary's  times,36  in  1555-6. 

One  memorable  day  only  occurred  in  the  annals  of  Ease- 
bourne  after  the  priory  had  passed   into  lay  hands.      On 

l*LS°UlddSi MR^^fr^T  deHn-  36  2  and  3  PhiL  and  Mar.-Add.  MSS. 
1780.     Add.  MSS.  5675,  f.  8,  No.  14.  8102.     Willis's  Mitred  Allies,  ii.  239. 


BENEDICTINE    NUNNERY    OF    EASEBOURNE. 


31 


Tuesday,  Aug.  18,  1591,  its  noble  and  loyal  proprietor,  Lord 
Montague,  though  still  attached  to  the  same  ancient  forms  of 


Interior  of  Building-37 


faith  as  the  nuns,  received  Queen  Elizabeth  as  his  guest  in 
their  former  refectory,  during  her  visit  to  Cowdray. 

"  On  Tewsday  her  Majestie  went  to  dinner  at  the  priory, 
where  my  lorde  himselfe  kept  house,  and  there  was  she  and 
her  lordes  most  bountifully  feasted." 38 

Among  the  original  relics  of  the  nunnery  may  be  noticed 
two  bells  still  in  the  belfry  of  Easebourne. 
On  one  is  inscribed  iSanc  ,  ta  ♦  2ln  . 
na  ♦  ora  .  pro  ♦  nofc  .  is  .  This  bell 
measures  3  ft.  4  in.  in  diameter  at  the 
lip,  and  3  ft.  4  in.  in  height.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  it  belonged  to  Midhurst 
Chapel,  on  St.  Ann's  Hill.  Its  tone  is 
B  flat.  The  other  bell  measures  2  ft. 
7 J  in.  diameter  at  the  lip,  and  is  2  ft. 

It  has  the  simple  motto,  te  ♦  TiZVLVX  .  IautiatttUS, 


6  in.  high. 


36  Grimm   delin.   1780. 
5675,  f.  8,  No.  13. 


Add.   MSS.  3s   See   Nichols's,   Progresses,   iii.   90. 

Sussex  Archceol.  Coll.  V.  186. 


32  EPISCOPAL    VISITATIONS,    ETC. 

followed  by  two  lions'  heads,  and  a  cross  inscribed  within  a 
circle. 

Among  the  Burrell  MSS.  is  a  drawing  of  the  oval  seal  of 
the  priory ;  but  no  reference  is  there  made  to  the  original 
from  which  it  was  taken.  This  has  been  professedly  copied 
by  Dallaway  (i.  p.  237),  and  also  in  the  new  edition  of  the 
Monasticon  (iv.  pi.  xxiv.),  but  with  variations.  In  the  upper 
part  it  represents  the  crowned  Virgin  and  Child,  seated  under  | 
a  Gothic  arch  upon  a  long  flat  altar,  which  has  a  series  of 
arches  in  front,  and  bears  a  tall  candlestick  on  each  side  the 
Virgin.  Beneath  is  a  seated  figure,  who  may  be  St.  Benedict, 
or  the  founder,  John  de  Bohun,  delivering  a  book  to  a  prioress 
standing.  The  inscription  is  variously  given  as  JStQtllfrttt  I 
©om&S  S  ♦  ♦  +J  tie  IS&SChonta,  or,  as  drawn  by  Howlett,1825, 

SIGILL   :   COMUNE    :    SANCTE    :    MARIE    :    DE    :    ESEBORNA.       The  | 

authority  for  the  drawing  of  this  seal  was  probably  its  im- 
pression attached  to  the  final  surrender;  but  it  has  been 
separated,  and  may  perhaps  be  among  the  large  collection  of 
unarranged  detached  seals  now  in  the  Carlton  Ride  Record 
Office. 

Prioresses. — The   names  with   an   asterisk   are   not    in 
Dugdale  or  Dallaway. 

*  Alicia,  before  1279. 
♦Beatrice,  1327. 

Maria,  1339. 
*Margerita  Wyvile,  1362. 

Agnes  Tawke,  1478. 

Margaret  Sackfilde,  1521—1524. 


NOTICES   OF  THE   FAMILY   OF   MILLER,   OF 
BURGHILL  AND  WINKINGHURST. 

BY  MARK  ANTONY  LOWER,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


BEAI>   AT   THE   WORTHING   MEETING,    1855. 


By  favour  of  our  member,  Robert  Mercer,  Esq.,  of  Sedles- 
comb,  I  have  before  me  a  manuscript  purporting  to  be  : — 
"  The  pious  and  affectionate  Father's  Advice  to  his  Children ; 
being  the  dying  counsel  of  the  late  Mr.  Henry  Miller,  of 
Winkinghurst,  in  Hellingly,1  Sussex,  to  his  surviving  Family, 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  his  son,  &c.  Found  among  his  papers 
after  his  death.  '  By  it,  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh.'  Heb. 
xi.  4."  The  original  document  was  dated  July  yc.  22d.  1723  ; 
the  transcript  was  made  in  1748,  "by  Thomas  Mercer,  grand- 
son of  the  said  Henry  Miller."  Mr.  Mercer  was  a  respectable 
medical  practitioner  at  Lewes,  and  was  patronized  by  the 
celebrated  Duke  of  Newcastle,  then  of  Halland.  Opposite 
the  title-page,  by  way  of  frontispiece,  is  the  book-plate  of 
the  writer,  "  Henry  Miller,  Gent,  of  Winkinghurst"  :  Arms  ; 
Ermine  a  f  esse  Gules  between  three  wolves1  heads  erased  Azure: 
Crest ;  a  wolfs  head  erased  Azure,  collared  Ermine.  These 
arms  are  identical  with  those  of  Nicholas  Miller,  of  Wrotham, 
sheriff  of  Kent,  8  Charles  I.,  and  show  Mr.  Miller  to  have 
descended  from  an  ancestor  of  that  gentleman.  The  Millers 
of  Oxenheath  in  the  parish  of  West  Peckham,  in  the  same 
county,  also  bore  these  arms,  and  were  unquestionably  colla- 
teral relations  of  Mr.  Miller's  family.  Nicholas  Miller,  Esq., 
was  a  great  acquirer  of  lands  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  pur- 
chasing largely  of  the  Chowne,  Culpeper,  and  other  families. 
His  nephew  Sir  Nicholas  Miller  enlarged  the  mansion  of 
Oxenheath  "  with  all  the  circumstances  both  of  art  and  mag- 
nificence."— Philipott's  Villare  Cantianum,  p.  269. 

1  Subsequently  the  seat  of  the  Mason  family — now  of  Mrs.  Woodward. 

ix.  5 


34  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    MILLER, 

In  addition  to  what  Mr.  Miller  tells  us  about  himself,  we 
learn,  from  a  note  affixed  by  the  transcriber  of  the  MS.,  that 
"  he  was  educated  in  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  England 
by  his  parents,  who  were  sober  members  of  that  community, 
though  he  afterwards  saw  reason  to  alter  his  judgment ;  the 
occasion  of  which  Mr.  Crosby,  with  great  truth,  gives  an  account 
of,  with  some  brief  account  of  his  character,  &c.  Speaking 
of  a  public  disputation  in  the  parish  church  of  Waldron,  in 
Sussex,  between  one  Mattw.  Caffin  and  the  minister  of  the  said 
parish,  on  the  point  of  infant  baptism,  he  says : — '  It  issued 
in  the  conviction  of  Mrs.  Fuller  and  one  Mr.  Henry  Miller,  a 
gentleman  who  was  an  able  practitioner  in  the  law.  Soon 
after  they  were  both  baptized  on  the  profession  of  their  faith. 
Mr.  Miller  quitted  his  employment,  adhered  to  the  study  of 
divinity,  became  an  eminent  preacher,  and  at  length  was  or- 
dained pastor  to  a  Baptist  congregation  at  Warbleton,  in  Sus- 
sex.' {History  of  the  Baptists,vo\.  iv.  pp.  330,  331.")  Mr. 
Mercer  adds,  that  "  Mrs.  Fuller  was  mother  of  John  Fuller, 
Esquire,  afterwards  representative  of  the  county  of  Sussex  in 
Parliament." 

The  time  when  the  polemical  discussion  above  referred  to 
took  place,  is  not  mentioned,  but  it  must  have  occurred  during 
the  period  of  the  Commonwealth ;  and  the  Waldron  minister 
was  probably  an  Independent  intruder.  I  do  not  call  to 
mind  any  other  instance  of  a  Baptist  having  challenged  the 
officiating  clergyman  to  a  discussion  of  creeds,  but  the 
"  Friends "  were  great  disturbers  of  the  peace  in  "  steeple- 
houses."  A  curious  anecdote  of  an  occurrence  of  this  kind 
in  the  neighbouring  church  of  Burwash,  is  related  in  Palmer's 
Nonco?/formists  Memorial,  vol.  ii.  459.  Mr.  Thos.  Goldham, 
(the  vicar)  "was  once  disturbed  by  a  Quaker,  who  enter- 
ing his  church,  and  walking  towards  the  pulpit  like  a  ghost, 
said  to  him,  '  I  am  sent  with  a  message  from  God  to  thee.' 
Mr.  Goldham,  who  was  a  quick  and  ready  man,  said,  '  What ! 
to  me?'  'Yea,'  said  the  Quaker,  to  thee.'  Mr.  Goldham 
then  asked  him,  'Dost  thou  know  my  name?'  'Nay,'  said 
the  Quaker,  '  I  know  it  not.'  Mr.  Goldham  replied,  '  If  God 
sent  thee  to  me,  he  could  surely  have  told  thee  my  name!' 
and  endeavoured  to  convince  him  that  he  might  be  mistaken 
in  the  person  he  was  sent  to.     At  this  the  man  was  con- 


OF    BURGHILL    AND    WINKINGHURST.  35 

founded,    and   the   people  were    satisfied  without   any  dis- 
pute." 

The  MS.,  which  occupies  71  closely  written  octavo  pages,  is 
divided  into  three  parts  : — 

"  1 .  Respecting  our  Family,  that  you  [his  two  children  ad- 
dressed] may  know  something  more  relating  to  them. 

"  2.  Respecting  Religion,  and  the  true  worship  of  God,  &c. 

"  3.  Respecting  a  prudent  management  of  worldly  affairs." 

The  first  of  these  portions,  which  is  by  far  the  shortest  of 
the  three,  is  the  only  one,  which — as  a  trustworthy  genealogy 
of  an  old  and  respectable  Sussex  family — is  here  first  printed. 
The  other  divisions  show  that  the  writer  was  a  man  of  genuine 
piety,  a  cool,  dispassionate,  and  candid  reasoner,  an  able  theo- 
logian, and  a  wise  and  prudent  man  of  business.     Whatever 
view  may  be  taken  of  his  peculiar  sentiments  on  some  points 
of  religious  doctrine,  most  readers  would  cordially  assign  him 
a  place  among  the  Christian  country  gentlemen  of  a  period 
rather  notorious  for  its  characteristics  of  laxity,  ignorance,  and 
the  grossness  of  public  morals.    He  died  January  1 5th,  1728-9, 
aged  63,  and  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month  (after  a  funeral 
sermon,  "  preach'd  to  a  numerous  and  crowded  auditory  of 
his  sorrowful  relations,  friends,  &c,  by  Mr.  Richard  Drink- 
water"),  was  buried  in  Hellingly  churchyard,  near  the  remains 
of  his  wife  and  some  of  his  descendants.    His  monument  still 
exists  at  Hellingly,  in  good  preservation,  and  contains  a  poeti- 
cal epitaph  of  his  own  composition,  but  no  great  merit,  and 
subscribed — "Sic  cecinit  ipse  Henricus" 

1295825 

"  Sect.  I. 

"  Bcspecting  our  Family. 

"  Our  ancestors  came  from  a  place  called  Seal,  in  Kent  (as 
I  have  been  inform'd),  where  they  had  a  large  estate  ;  a  moiety 
of  a  large  farm,  wth.  an  ancient  seat  of  the  family  on  it,  de- 
scended down  to  my  own  father,  who  sold  it  many  years  before 
I  was  born,  for  £1600,  or  thereabouts.  _  And  also,  as  I  have 
been  inform'd,  there  now  is  a  commission  of  Master  of  the 
Ordnance,  or  something  of  that  nature,  amongst  the  ancient 
writings  of  the  family,  in  custody  of  my  cousu.  Henry  Miller, 


3G  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    MJLLER, 

of  Burghill  in  Chiddingly,2  wch.  has  been  the  seat  of  the  family 
from  it's  coming-  out  of  Kent.     The  manner  whereof  is  as 

follows  : — 

"  John  Miller,  my  great-grandfather,  had  an  uncle  by  the 
mother's  side,  whose  name  was  Porter3  (he  was  an  ancient 
batchelor,  and  a  fishmonger  in  London),  who,  having  laid  a 
mortgage  on  Burghill  aforesaid,  of  so  much  money  as  the  j 
estate  was  worth,  was  forced  to  enter  on  it  and  take  posses-  j 
sion  ;  but  he  being  at  so  great  a  distance  was  not  able  to  keep 
the  possession  of  it,  wch.  in  those  days  also  was  too  trouble-  | 
some  and  dangerous  for  a  person  of  his  years,  wherefore  he  i 
prevail'd  wth.  his  nephew,  my  said  great-grandfather,  to  take 
that  part  on  him ;  who  managed  it  so  well  that  his  said  uncle 
gave  him  the  estate.    Who  my  said  great-grandfather  married, 
and  what  children  he  had  beside  my  grandfather,  I  cannot 
positively  say,  tho'  I  have  formerly  been  told  much  about  it 
by  my  eldest  sister,  but  she  being  dead  I  can't  further  inform 
myself  of  that. 

"  John  Miller,  son  of  the  above-mentioned  John  Miller,  was 
my  grandfather." 

[His  will  was  dated  25th  November,  1622,  and  proved 
at  Lewes,  3rd  May,  1624.  The  substance  of  this  docu- 
ment is  as  follows : — "  I,  John  Miller,  of  Chittingly,  in 
the  county  of  Sussex,  &c.  I  give  unto  the  poore  of  the 
parishe  of  Chittingly  the  some  of  twenty  shillings.  Unto 
Richard,  my  sonne,  and  his  heires  the  moity  or  half-part  of 
my  messuage  or  tenement  called  Millwayes,  &c.  &c.  &c.  at 
Kemsing  (Seal,  mentioned  before,  is  a  curacy  or  chapelry 
to  the  parish  of  Kemsing),  which  was  granted  by  deed  from 
Richard  Miller,  my  father,  to  me  and  my  heirs,  after  the  de- 
cease of  the  longest  liver  of  R.  M.,  my  father,  and  Joane,  my 
mother,  upon  condition  that  my  said  son  Richard  pay  to  my 
daughter,  Anne  Miller,  £100  on  her  attaining  the  age  of  21, 
such  sum  to  be  paid  at  or  in  the  south  church-porch  of  Chit- 
tingly.    Mary,  my  wife,  to  be  executrix,  and  my  brothers-in- 

2  Now  the  property  of  Jno.  Day,  Esq.  3  Probably  of  the  ancient  family  of 
The  old  mansion  of  the  Millers  was  pulled  Porter,  from  Nottinghamshire,  who  set- 
down  about  thirty  years  since.  On  the  tied  in  Sussex,  temp,  Henry  VI.  Their 
south  side  of  the  chancel  of  Chiddingly  principal  residences  were  at  Cuckfield, 
Church  there  are  several  altar  tombs  to  Lamberhurst,  and  Wadhurst. 
t  lie  memory  of  the  Miller  family. 


OF    BURGH1LL    AND    WINKINQHURST.  37 

law,  Nicholas  Acton,  and  Richard  Button,  to  be  overseers  of 
[this  my  will." 

I  may  remark,  that  before  and  at  the  date  of  these  trans- 
actions, the  church-porch  was  frequently  employed,  in  many 
parts  of  England,  as  the  place  for  the  payment  of  money, 
under  the  provisions  of  a  will,  and  other  matters  of  business ; 
a  practice  which  reminds  us  of  the  similar  employment  of  the 
porticos  of  temples  in  classical  times.] 

"  Who  he  married  I  have  no  certain  account,  but  I  think  he 
left  three  children,  my  father  and  two  daughters,  wch.  daughters 
both  married,  one  to  one  Bathee,  afterwards  to  one  Purlen, 
and  the  other  to  one  Acton ;  but  I  think  all  their  children  are 
dead  long  ago,  unless  John  Bathee  of  Gardiner-street,  be  of 
their  issue.  My  said  grandfather  died  a  young  man,  not  near 
30  years  of  age,  and  left  his  children  to  be  brought  up  by  his 
father,  who  died  also  while  my  father  was  but  young. 

"  Richard  Miller,  my  father,  was  bred  to  the  practice  of  an 
attorney,  but  did  not  serve  out  his  time.  He  was  a  person  of 
a  very  good  understanding  and  management  in  business,  and 
always  had  a  great  name  and  esteem  for  it.  And  about  the 
age  of  17  years  he  married  a  wife  about  16,  viz  : — 

"  Elizabeth  Mancer,4  youngest  daughter  of  one  Mr.  Mancer, 
of  Wadhurst,  in  Sussex,  a  very  prudent  and  virtuous  woman, 
and  of  exemplary  piety.  The  eldest  of  her  sisters  married 
one  Mr.  Cruttal,  of  Wadhurst,  who  had  a  good  estate,  but 
spent  it  chiefly  by  keeping  hounds." 

|~Mr.  Miller  was  no  friend  to  this  species  of  field-sports. 
Under  the  head  of  "  Prudent  Management,"  he  says  :  "  An- 
other means  of  pleasure  is  hounds,  the  keeping  whereof  is 
very  chargeable,  and  the  use  pernicious.  If  they  are  kept  at 
home,  the  charge  of  corn,  &c,  to  feed  them,  is  considerable, 
and  the  mischief  they  do,  both  within  doors  and  without,  is 
unsufferable  by  wise  and  considerate  persons.  And  if  they 
are  kept  abroad,  every  day  creates  a  debt,  or  lays  the  owner 
under  such  obligations  to  the  party  who  keeps  them  as  can 
hardly  be  satisfied In  the  use  of  them  they  are  per- 
nicious ;  thereby  many  poor  men  are  drawn  away  from  their 

4  The  family  of  Mancer,  or  Maunser,  ser,  1  Richard  III.,  1483.    See  Visitation 

were  of  some  antiquity  and  consideration,  of  Sussex,   1634 ;    and   Berry's   Sussex 

and  were  seated   at  Hightown  in  "Wad-  Genealogies,  p.  309. 
hurst,  from  the  time  of  Sir  Robert  Maun- 


38  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    MILLER, 

business,  while  their  poor  families  want  bread ;  neighbours' 
hedges  are  broken,  their  corn  and  grass  trodden  down,  their 
stock  frighted,  so  that  many  times  they  cast  their  young,  and  j 
the  party  who  keeps  the  dogs  is  generally  so  bewitch' d  with 
the  brutish  sport,  as  that  thereby  his  mind  is  wholly  removed 
from  all  other  things  that  are  good  and  recommendable." 
"  Spannels  and  guns,"  and  greyhounds,  he  treats  with  more 
leniency,  still  he  adds,  as  to  these  recreations,  "  not  at  all  is  j 
best." 

It  may  be  added  as  somewhat  singular,  that  a  descendant 
of  Mr.  Miller,  paying  little  attention  to  his  advice,  actually 
lost  the  bulk  of  his  patrimonial  estate  at  Winkinghurst  and 
elsewhere,  in  consequence  of  expenses  incurred  by  an  undue 
attachment  to  field-sports.] 

"  Some  of  the  family  are  still  living  about  Wadhurst.  The 
second  married  one  Mr.  Causten  of  Oxted,  in  Surry,  and  left 
about  twelve  children,  wch.  died  mostly  without  issue.  Thomas, 
the  eldest,  has  left  two  sons,  attorneys  in  London;  a  daughter, 
I  think,  who  married  one  Jewell,  has  left  children,  but  I  never 
knew  them.  Another  daughter  married  one  Ben  net,  and  left 
two  sons ;  and  Abraham,  the  youngest,  is  yet  living,  and  a 
batchelor. 

"  My  said  father  and  mother  had  twelve  children  : — 
"  1.  Elizabeth,  the  eldest,  who  died  young. 
"  2.  Mary,  who  died  an  ancient  maid  of  70. 
"  3.  John,  who  married  when  pretty  ancient,  but,  having  no 
children,  left  the  estate  to  Henry,  son  of  his  brother 
Richard. 
"  4.  Elizabeth,  married  to  Jeremiah  Ford,  of  Horsemonceux, 
in  Sussex,  and  left  children,  viz.,  Hannah,  Jeremiah, 
Frances,  Nicholas,  Edward,  and  Richard. 
"  5.  Richard,  who  married  Elizth.  Dod.    He  was  a  shopkeeper 
at  Hailsham,  in  Sussex,  and  left  children,  viz.,  Richard, 
who  died   single,  Elizabeth,  married  to  Nath.  Hall, 
Henry,  who  married  Martha  Stone,  and  heir  to  Burg- 
hill  aforesaid,  and  Mary,  who  married  John  Friend.5 
"  G.  Ann,  who  died  an  ancient  maid  of  58. 

5  Nath1.  Hall  was  ancestor  of  the  Halls  to  an  ancient  Brighton  family,  whose  valu- 

of  Portslade  and  Brighton.  Martha  Stone  able  estate  descended,  through  an  heiress, 

•was  a  member  of  the  family  of  Stone  of  to  the  famdy  of  the  late  Thos.  Bead  Kemp, 

Stonebridge ;  and  John  Friend,  belonged  Esq.,  the  founder  of  Kemp  Town. 


OF    BURGH1LL    AND    W1NKINGIIURST.  39 

:l  7.  Edward,  who  died  a  batchelor,  aged  49.  He  was  a  sales- 
man of  cattle  in  London,  and  died  there,  leaving  be- 
twixt £3000  and  £4000  (almost  all  of  his  own  getting) 
among  his  relations. 

I  8.  Elenor,  who  married  Thos.  Lucas,  of  Burghill  aforesaid, 
and  left  only  two  sons,  Thomas  and  Robert. 

{  9.  Martha  (the  only  one  besides  myself  now  living)  married 
John  Elliott,  a  tanner,  now  of  Sedlescomb,  in  the 
said  county  of  Sussex.  Her  children  were  Mary,  John, 
Elizabeth,  Richard,  and  William. 

I  10.  James,  a  malster  in  Lewes,  who  married  one  Mrs.  Bar- 
barah  Palmer.  He  left  three  children,  viz.,  Elizabeth 
(now  a  maid),  Barbarah  (married  to  one  Peckham,  a 
carpenter  at  Ringmire,  Sussex),  and  Richard,  now  a 
batchelor. 

"11.  Sarah,  who  died  a  maid  of  about  30. 

I  12.  Henry  (myself),  bred  an  attorney  in  London,  and  after- 
wards with  Mr.  Raines,  of  Coneyburroughs  in  Bar- 
comb,  Sussex,  a  great  conveyancer  and  court-keeper ; 
but,  not  liking  the  practice  of  the  common  law,  I  only 
practised  conveyancing. 
"  I  married  Mary',  widow  of  Thos.  Dean,  a  shopkeeper 
in  Chiddingly,  and  eldest  daughter  of  Rob*.  Tapsfield, 
of  Eramfield,  in  Sussex.  She  was  a  religious,  virtuous, 
and  prudent  woman,  whose  price  was  far  above  rubies  ; 
a  kind,  faithful,  and  diligent  wife  ;  a  good  and  tender 
mother;  a  kind  mistress;  an  useful  and  helpful  neigh- 
bour.    I  had  two  children  by  her,  viz. : — 

"  Mary,  who  married  Robert  Mercer,  now  of  Isfield,  in 
Sussex,  who  has  four  children  now  living,  viz.,  Joseph, 
Thomas,  Mary,  and  Susanna;  and  two  wc\  are  dead, 
viz.,  Robert  and  Henry. 
"Henry,  who  married  Elizabeth  Mills,  daughter  of  Mr. 
Samuel  Mills,  late  of  Boreham,  in  Sussex,6  shopkeeper, 
whose  children  now  living  are  four,  Elizabeth,  Mary, 
John,7  and  Samuel ;  but  one,  viz.,  Henry,  is  dead. 

6  This  lady  died  in  1737,  aged  44.  Her  the   advanced    age  of  QO.—Mon.  Inscr. 

husband  (who  survived  till  1750)  subse-  Mellingly. 

quently  married  Charity ,  who  out-  '  John  M.  died  1797,  aged  76 ;    Jane, 

lived  him,  and  re-married  Daw  Buss,  of  his  wife,  1808,  aged 79.  —  M.I.  HelhngJy. 
Cranbrook,  surgeon.  She  died  in  1799,  at 


40  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    MILLER. 

"  So  that  of  my  father's  twelve  children,  five  of  us  were 
never  married,  and  the  seven  that  did  marry  were  married  but 
once  apiece. 

"  The  advice  I  would  give  you,  my  dear  children,  on  this 
occasion  is,  never  to  disown,  slight,  or  overlook  any  relation 
by  reason  of  poverty,  or  any  misfortune  in  the  world,  or  any- 
thing that  is  not  sinful ;  but  to  endeavour  to  keep  and  increase 
ye  reputation  of  the  family  by  a  prudent  and  religious  manage- 
ment." 

[The  Samuel  Miller  above  mentioned,  the  grandson  of  the 
writer,  settled  at  Rye,  where  he  died  about  the  year  1790,  at 
the  age  of  82.  He  had  several  children,  who  all  died  young, 
except  William,  who  died  at  Rye  in  1837,  aged  72.  He  left 
issue  three  sons,  Henry,  George,  and  Alfred;  and  five 
daughters.  Henry  Miller,  an  officer  of  the  Revenue  service, 
settled  at  Penzance,  co.  Cornwall,  and  had  a  son  who  prac- 
tised there  as  a  surgeon.  Some  of  the  other  branches  emi- 
grated to  America.  Several  fine  old  books,  a  portion  of  the 
library  of  our  Mr.  Henry  Miller,  were  sold  at  Rye,  at  the  sale 
of  Mr.  William  Miller's  effects.8] 

3  Information  of  Charles  Hicks,  Esq. 


THE  FREE  CHAPELS  OF  MARESEIELD  AND 
DUDENEY. 

BY  THE  REV.  EDWARD  TURNER. 


MARESEIELD  CHAPEL. 

This  Chapel,  which  is  mentioned  in  some  of  the  earlier 
deeds  relating  to  the  castle  and  lordship  of  Pevensey,  was 
situated  about  half  a  mile  to  the  westward  of  the  village  of 
Nutley,  on  an  eminence,  now  part  of  a  wood  still  called  "  the 
Chapel  Wood."    At  what  time,  and  by  whom  it  was  founded, 
I  have  been  unable  to  discover,  but  imagine  it  to  have  been 
built  by  Richer  de  Aquila  (who  died  a.d.  1176),  grandson  of 
Richer  of  the  same  honour,  a  benefactor  to  the  priories  of 
Wilmington  and  Michelham.     (See  Sussex  Arch.  Collections, 
vols.  iv.  p.  43,  and  vi.  p.  130.)     He  also  built  the  original 
church  of  Maresfield,  portions  of  which  may  still  be  traced  in 
the  north  and  south  walls  of  the  chancel  of  the  present 
church.     During  the  reigns  of  Edward  I.  and  II.,  and  until 
1372,  the  honour  of  Pevensey  was  held  by  the  crown;  but  in 
that  year  Edward  III.  gave  it  to  his  third  son,  John  a  Gaunt, 
upon  his  becoming   King  of  Castile  and  Leon,  as  a  con- 
sideration for  the  earldom  of  Richmond.     It  is  in  the  deed 
recording  this  gift  that  we  have  the  first  documentary  notice 
of  this  chapel.     The  grant  in  Rymer's  Fadera,  p.  499,  men- 
tions "  the  advowsons  of  the  churches  of  Maresfield  and  ol 
the  free  chapel  there,  of  the  free  chapel  within  the  castle  of 
Pevenese,  of  the  priory  of  Wylmyngdon,  and  of  the  priory  of 
Whithiham— the  castle  and  leucate    of  Pevenese,   and  the 
manors  of  Wylyndon    and  Marsfeld,   and  the  bailiwick  of 
Endelenewyk— and  the  free  chace  of  Ashedon,  with  the  rights 
and  liberties   belonging  to  free  chaces.— Westm.  June  25 
1372."      Nicholas   de  Lovayne,   constable  of  the  castle  of 
Pevensey,  and  Roger  Dalyngrigg,  the  sheriff,  were  authorised 
to  give  seizin. 

The  records  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  throw  some  light  on 

ix.  6 


42  THE    FREE    CHAPELS    OF 

the  endowment  of  this  chapel.  They  state  that  Richer  de 
Aquila,  its  probable  founder,  gave  to  it  sixty  acres  of  land  on 
the  forest  of  Ashdown,  which  land  seems  to  be  indicated  by 
the  name  of  Prest  or  Priest  Ridge,  by  which  a  tract  of  forest 
land  near  Wychcross  is  still  called.  He  also  endowed  it  with 
other  rights  and  privileges  in  the  same  forest,  enumerated  in 
an  extent  of  the  forest  made  in  1576,  in  which  the  separate 
rights  of  the  parson  and  chaplain  of  Maresfield,  as  they  were 
granted  and  confirmed  by  Edward  III.,  are  distinctly  set 
forth.  A  copy  of  this,  signed  by  many  of  the  landowners  of 
the  district,  is  entered  on  a  blank  leaf  of  one  of  the  older  re- 
gister books  of  the  parish,  and  which  is  given  in  the  Extracts 
from  Parish  Registers  at  Vol.  IV.  p.  247,  Arch.  Collections. 
This  extent  states,  that  the  rights  of  the  parson  of  Maresfield 
were  to  be  exercised  "  where  the  prior  of  Michelham  hath  his 
kyne ;"  which  plainly  shows  that  this  priory  possessed  pro- 
perty in  Maresfield,— a  fact  which  Mr.  Cooper,  in  his  history 
of  it,  was  led  to  doubt,  from  his  finding  no  mention  of  such 
property  in  his  researches  among  its  records.  (See  Arch.  Col- 
lections, Vol.  VI.  p.  163.  I  have  already  stated,  at  p.  32  of 
volume  viii.,  the  probability  that  this  chapel  was  appendant 
to  the  royal  hunting-seat  there  alluded  to.  In  it  WiclhTe,  the 
reformer,  is  said  to  have  officiated  during  the  time  he  was 
compelled  to  seek  retirement  and  the  protection  of  his  patron, 
John  a  Gaunt,  to  escape  popular  indignation ;  which  probably 
gave  rise  to  the  tradition,  that  he  was  once  the  incumbent  of 
Mayfield,  and  which  supposition  led  to  a  correspondence  on 
the  subject  some  years  ago  in  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine. 

When  it  was  discontinued  as  a  chapel,  and  suffered  to  go  to 
decay,  is  involved  in  as  much  uncertainty  as  the  date  of  its 
first  foundation.  But  that  it  was  no  longer  used  for  divine 
service  in  the  year  1541,  is  shown  by  the  churchwardens'  ac- 
counts of  that  year,  which  are  entered  mi  a  blank  leaf  of  the 
same  register-book,  and  which  mention  the  transfer  of  the 
sacramental  cup  and  vestments  of  this  chapel  to  the  church 
of  Maresfield.  The  memorandum  is  as  follows :— "And  they 
{guardiani  ecclesiai)  dyd  ffurther  accompt  for  iik  iiiiV— a 
legacye  gyven  to  the  churche  by  Roger  Atheral ;  and  alsoe 
tor  a  chalyce  sometyme  belonging  to  the  chappelle  of  Notlye  • 
the  which  sayd  legacye  and  chalyce  they  haue  receyved  to  the 


MARESEIELD    AND    DUDENEY. 


43 


use  of  the  churche  of  John  Pettytt  th'  elder  of  Notlye  ;  alsoe 
a  new  albe  with  an  amysse ;  and  soe  therebye  discharged  the 
sayde  John  Pettytt  from  anye  ffurther  payment  of  the  sayde 
legacy e  and  chalyce."     This -chalyce  the  church  no  longer 
possesses,  it  having  been  superseded  probably  by  the  present 
sacramental  cup,  the  date  of  which,  1635,  is  marked  upon  it. 
The  ancient  font  of  the  free  chapel  was  found  among  its  ruins, 
upwards  of  half  a  century  ago,  about  two  feet  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil,  and,  having  been  again  lost,  was  accidentally 
discovered  by  myself  in  a  cowyarcl,  where  it  had  been  used 
for  some  years  as  a  drinking  place  for  cattle,  and  is  now  in 
my  possession.     It  is  of  the  better  kind  of  sandstone  of  the 
neighbourhood,  circular  in  shape,  and  of  rude  construction. 
The  under  part  of  it  shows  that,  when  in  use,  it  was  supported 
by  six  pillars  surrounding,  and  forming  a  part  of,  a  central 
shaft,  through  which  the  drain-pipe  passed.    Although  towards 
the  close  of  the  last  century  the  walls  of  this  chapel  were 
standing  more  than  six  feet  above  the  ground,  but  little  trace 
of  them  now  remains.     They  have  shared  the  fate  of  many 
other  interesting  antiquarian  relics  in  this  county,  having  been 
despoiled  by  the  neighbouring  inhabitants,  who,  not  having 
before  their  eyes  the  fear  of  the  Manx  curse,  "  May  a  stone 
of  the  church  be  found  in  the  corner  of  your  house,"  had  re- 
course to  these  too  ready  materials  for  building  and  other 
purposes,  until  the  whole  was  removed. 

DUDENEY  CHAPEL. 


Mz 


•ma     ^ 


SISESiWSfS^ 


Hoo-o-  in  his  Picturesque  Views  of  the  Antiquities  of  England 
and  Wales,  published  in  1786,  gives  an  ill-executed  engraving 
of  a  chapel  of  this  name,  which,  he  says,  was  situated  on  the 


II  FREE    CHAPELS    OF    MARESFIELD    AND    DUDENEY. 

forest  of  Asbdown  ;  but  of  the  precise  locality  of  which  the 
Rev.  A.  Ilussey,  when  speaking  of  it,  expresses  his  inability 
to  obtain  any  information  at  the  time  he  was  preparing  his 
work  {Notes  on  the  Churches  of  Sussex,  p.  31 1)  for  publication. 
That  such  a  chapel  ever  stood  upon  this  forest  at  all  is,  I 
think,  very  questionable ;  for,  besides  other  evidences  of  its 
not  doing  so,  which  the  print  itself  affords,  Hogg  places  in  its 
background  a  castle,  which  no  view  taken  on  this  forest  would 
justify.  Even  assuming  Hogg  to  be  correct  in  his  locality,  it 
is  very  remarkable  that  such  a  building  (or  rather  the  ruins 
of  such  a  building,  for  he  represents  it  as  in  ruins),  which,  as 
he  tells  us,  "  had  neither  door  nor  window  perfect,  had  an 
aisle  on  the  south  side,  and  was  supported  internally  by 
massy  pillars,"  should  have  stood  on  Ash  down  Forest  so 
lately  as  he  describes  it  to  have  done,  and  that  all  remem- 
brance of  it  should  have  entirely  passed  away.  Possessing  a 
somewhat  long  acquaintance  with  this  forest  myself,  I  have 
no  recollection  of  such  a  ruin ;  nor  had  my  inquiries  among 
others  whose  knowledge  of  this  forest  extends  much  farther 
back  than  mine,  been  attended  with  any  success.  I  was 
therefore  disposed  to  consider  Hogg  as  wrong  in  assigning 
this  chapel  to  Ashdown  Forest,  or  else  that  he  had  confounded 
his  Dudeney  chapel  with  the  free  chapel  of  Maresfield,  of 
which  an  account  is  given  in  the  pi^eceding  pages,  and  which 
stood  upon  ground  once  a  part  of  this  forest,  though  not  so 
lately  as  1786.  In  1855,  however,  I  was  informed  that  the 
tenant  of  a  small  farm  at  Duddleswell,  abutting  on  the  forest, 
in  grubbing  up  a  shaw  at  the  corner  of  one  of  his  fields,  had 
discovered,  about  sixteen  inches  below  the  surface,  extensive 
remains  of  a  very  substantial  building.  From  his  account  of 
it — for  I  did  not  see  it  myself,  he  having  removed  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  the  materials,  and  the  ground  having  been 
closed  over  the  remainder,  before  I  heard  of  the  discovery — 
and  from  the  character  of  one  or  two  pieces  of  carved  stone 
which  were  preserved,  I  am  now  led  to  consider  these  founda- 
tions as  belonging  to  an  ecclesiastical  building.  May  they 
not,  then,  be  the  relics,  and  may  not  this  be  the  site,  of 
Hogg's  Dudeney  Chapel  ?  And  may  not  Dudclleswell  have 
taken  its  name  from  this  chapel,  and  be  a  corruption  of 
Dudeneyswell  ?  Many  coins  have  been  found  in  the  adjoin- 
ing field,  all  of  them  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  MSS.  OE  SAMUEL  JEAKE, 
COMMUNICATED  BY  T.  W.  W.  SMABT,  ESQ.,  M.D. 


The  MSS.  which  belonged  to  the  family  of  Samuel  Jeake, 
of  Rye,  are  now  in  the  possession  of  his  descendant,  Morton 
Ere  wen,  Esq.  They  relate  to  many  matters  of  general  and 
also  of  local  interest ;  and  Dr.  Smart  has  transcribed  for  our 
Society  the  following  papers,  which  show— 1st,  the  course 
which  the  gentlemen  and  yeomen  of  the  county  took,  on  the 
accession  of  James  I.,  to  procure  an  uniformity  of  religion, 
the  address  of  the  gentry  being  signed  by  members  of  most 
of  the  chief  families  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county ; — 
2nd,  some  additional  particulars  of  the  civil  war  in  our  county, 
including  a  graphic  account  of  the  capture  of  Arundel  Castle 
in  1644,  and  the  representation  of  the  Independents  to 
Fairfax,  the  successful  Lord  General ;— and  3rd,  the  system  of. 
electioneering  pursued  in  the  ancient  town  of  Rye  at  an  earlier 
date  than  in  any  contest  hitherto  recorded.1  I  have  added 
such  observations  and  notes  as  appeared  to  be  desirable. 

Wm.  Durrant  Cooper. 

81,  GtriLFOKD  Street, 
15th  Jan.  1857. 


State  of  Religion  in  Sussex. 

The  gentlemen  and  commonalty  of  Sussex  represent  to 
King  James  the  want  of  learned  ministers,  and  pray  for  uni- 
formity of  religion  before  the  King's  proclamation  for  con- 
formity, dated  on  5th  March,  1603-4,  and  issued  after  the 
Hampton  Court  conferences  : — 

f  To  ye  Kinges  most  excellent  Matye. 

"  Most  mightye  Prince,  ye  multiplicitye  and  indiscretion  of 

1  The  ineffectual  efforts  of  the  town  of  the  power  then  claimed  by  the  Lord 
Rye,  in  1683  and  1685,  to  escape  from       Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports  to  nominate 


Mi  EXTRACTS    PROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

petitioners  unto  your  Matye,  made  us  at  ye  first  fearefull  to 
bee  of  that  number,  because  some  of  them  carve  there  iust 
reprofe;  but  haveinge  obiected  what  wee  could  agaynst  m 
owne  purpose,  and  findeinge  ourselues  herein  voyde  of  malice 
toward  any,  ambition,  or  indevouringe  or  owne  good  in  a 
worldly  regard  (the  common  motives  of  most  sutors),  but  stir- 
red upp  with  a  desire  to  God's  glorye,  the  publishinge  of  his 
Gospell,  a  conscyonable  loue  in  your  subiects  towards  your 
Matye,  the  salvation  of  ye  ignorant  and  wicked,  and  yc  further 
comfort  of  ye  Godly  disposed,  wee  haue  receiued  strength  and 
boldness  to  come  before  yo1'  Matyes  presence  as  ye  woman 
of  Samaria  did  in  a  great  famine  (2  Kings  vi.  26),  before  ye 
Kinge  and  crye  'Helpe,  my  Lorde,  O  Kinge,'  that  every  parishe 
or  congregation  maye  haue  a  godly  and  learned  pastor  to  in- 
struct the  people,  prouided  with  sufficient  mayntenance ;  and 
that  pluralityes,  non-residence,  unpreachinge,  ignorant,  and 
ungodly  ministers  bee  remouued ;  as  ye  mayne  cause  that  the 
most  perfecte  of  your  Matye's  subiects  within  this  realme  are 
ignorant  of  ye  truth  of  God's  word,  of  yc  dutyes  towards  God 
and  man,  and  consequently  cannot,  for  conscyence  sake,  bee  I 
faythfnll  and  obedyent  subiects  towards  yo1'  Matye. 

"That  ye  preacheinge  of  subscription,  otherwise  than  to  your 
Matye's  supremace,  and  those  articles  which  concerne  ye  true  I 
fayth,  doctrine,  and  sacraments,  commanded  in  ye  xiiith  yeare 
of  her  late  Matye's  raygne,  and  ye  hott  urgeinge  of  ceremonyes, 
not  approued  of  in  ye  iudgem*  (as  wee  are  persuaded)  of  many  I 
godly  and  learned  ministers  within  this  yor  realme,  which 
each  greatly  hindered  the  growth  of  true  religion  and  pietye 
(whilst  many  learned  and  zealous  preachers  have  been  depriued, 
silenced,  and  secluded  from  there  flocks,  and  many  learned  and 
well  qualifyed  men,  discouraged  from  entringe  into  ye  ministery, 
whereby  Athisme,  Popery,  and  Ignorance  have  taken  roote 
and  spread  themselves  ou1'  the  lande)  maye  nowe  quite  cease, 
or  bee  accomted  indifferent,  for  ye  ministers  to  retayne  or 
omitt,  without  trouble  or  beinge  reputed  obstinat  for  not 
submittinge  themselves  unto  them. 


one  member,  are  given  in  the  Law  Mac/a-  one  member  for  each  of  the  ports,  dated 
zineiov  August,  1852,  No.  96,  p.  57.  At  13th  March,  is  under  the  King's  sign 
the  election  of  1685,  James  II.  was  him-  manual,  countersigned  by  Secretary  Sun- 
self  Lord  Warden,  and  the  nomination  of  derland. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  MSS.  OF  SAMUEL  JEAKE. 


47 


"  Lastly :  that  an  uniforme  government  of  ye  church  in  all 
poynts,  accordinge  to  ye  prescript  of  God's  word,  maye  bee 
'established.  When  wee  consider  howe  these  thinges  should 
bee  reformed  we  stopp  or  raouthes  with  an  holy  silence,  and 
instantly  call  to  minde  howe  your  Matye  hathe  beegune  to 
reforrae  both  Church  and  Commonwealth  alreadye,  so  that  it 
lis  with  us  as  it  was  with  the  children  of  Israel  (after  Kinge 
Solomon  had  giuen  sentence  upon  the  pleadinge  of  ye  two 
harlots — 1  Kings  iii.  28).  '  And  all  Israel  heard  of  ye  iudge- 
Iment  which  ye  Kinge  had  iudged  ;  and  they  feared  the  Kinge; 
for  they  sawe  that  ye  wisdome  of  God  was  in  him  to  doe' 
iustice. 

"  Notwithstandinge,  yf  in  yor  princely  moderation  it  shall 
ibee  pleaseinge  unto  yor  Matye  to  consult  with  God's  messin- 
gers,  the  teachers  of  his  word,  and  to  appoynt  a  conference,  or 
disputation,  y*  thereby  the  will  of  God  maye  bee  the  better 
knowne  in  these  or  desires,  Wee  humbly  crane  of  yor  Matye 
yi  you  would  bee  further  pleased  therein  alone  to  pronounce 
the  determinat  sentence  accordinge  to  the  wisdome  of  God 
in  yor  owne  soule,  that  this  petition  of  yor  most  duetyfull 
subiects  may  stand  or  fall  by  that  mygty  Arme. 


"  Thomas  La  Warre. 
Walter  Court. 
Nicolas  Parker. 
Henery  Goreinge. 
Thomas  Palmer. 
John  Ashburnham. 
Edward  Goreinge. 
Herbert  Morley. 
Antony  Sherley. 


George  Hussey. 
Thomas  Sell  wine. 
Thomas  Shurley. 
Ffrancis  Jeffrey. 
Bartholomew  "Whetstone. 
John  Shurley. 
Henery  Bowyer. 
Edward  Cullpeper. 
Thomas  Pellham. 


Edward  Burton. 
Harbert  Pellham. 
Henery  Shelley. 
William  Newton. 
John  Sackevile. 
Thomas  Englefeiki . 
George  Porter. 
Henery  Apsley. 
Wilbam  Jeffrey." 


These  names  I  found  wTitten  in  another  paper,  which 
agreed  with  this  copy  above  written. — JSote  hy  S.  Jeake. 

The  petition  from  the  commonalty  runs  thus  : — 

"  To  ye  Kinge's  most  excellent  Matye. 

"  Dread  Souvraygne :  amongst  ye  manifolde  suites,  which 
yor  Matye  hath  seene  and  received,  We,  yor  Matye's  humble 
subiects  of  the  Cominalty  of  Sussex,  encouraged  by  the  ex- 
amples of  many,  but  much  more  by  your  gratious  favour, 


48  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

are  bould  to  offer  these  our  humble  petitions  unto  yo1  Matye, 
wherein  wee  nether  sue  for  worldly  honors  nor  profits 
(wherein  yet  many  have  obtayned  gratious  hearemge  and 
departed  much  contented),  but  for  releife  in  those  thinges 
whereof  yf  wee  fayle  of  helpe,  many  of  us  are  like  to  perishe 
for  ever.2 

"  The  ignorance  y*  hath  covered  us  seemeth  palpable,  and 
ye  grevaunces,  which  wee  and  oure  paynefull  pastors  have 
borne,  innumerable;  the  one  occasioned  by  insufficient  minis- 
ters, the  other  by  the  Ecclesiasticall  Courtes j  these  are  two 
evills,  which  contynually  haunte  us,  from  ye  which  wee  in  all 
duetyfull  submission  entreat  your  Matye,  in  a  holy  wis  dome 
nowe  at  ye  last  to  free  us,  without  yor  Matye  wee  can  see  ye 
fault,  but  not  helpe  ourselves.  Therefore  (Gratious  Souraygne) 
lett  our  soules  bee  pretious  in  your  eyes,  and  ye  gulphe,  which 
was  wont  to  swallowe  up  synne  and  defyle  ye  lande  with  loath- 
some smoake  thereof,  bee  shut  upp.  Wee  knowe  yor  love  is 
reaclye,  and  yor  power  able  to  doe  it.  Lett  nether  of  these  bee 
wantinge,  wee  in  all  humble  obedyence  craue  at  yor  Matye's 
hands.  And  for  or  partes  wee  vowe  in  ye  presence  of  the 
great  God  of  heaven,  yl  nether  our  lyveinges  nor  lives  shall 
bee  deere  unto  us  in  regard  of  or  duetyfull  service  at  your 


2  Two  petitions  to  the  like  effect,  one  kingdome  may  be  in  the  hands  of  persons 
from  Northamptonshire,  are  in  the  State  of  ability,  integrity,  and  good  conversa- 
Paper  Office.  Full  copies  of  the  Sussex  tion :  Papists  may  be  totally  disarmed, 
petitions  of  February,  1642,  to  both  houses  their  persons  confined,  their  subtile  con- 
of  parliament,  for  reformation  of  abuses  in  veyances  of  their  estates  discovered  and 
the  church,  are  to  be  found  in  the  King's  prevented;  secret  evil  counsels  and  coun- 
Pamphlets,  British  Museum,  E.  134,  4to,  sellors  taken  away  from  his  Majesty,  and 
No.  35.  The  petitions  are  from  the  bigh  delinquents  punished,  sale  of  honour  and 
sheriff,  knights,  ministers,  &c. ;  and,  after  offices  restrained ;  that  our  county  more 
thanking  the  Lords  for  passing  the  bill  than  seventy  miles  naked  to  the  sea  may 
for  taking  away  the  bishops'  votes  in  par-  speedily  be  put  into  a  posture  of  warlike 
liament,  and  the  Commons  for  what  had  defence  by  sea  and  land,  seamen  incou- 
been  done  in  that  house,  the  petitioners  raged,  fishing  maynteined ;  Ireland  fur- 
thus  proceed  in  the  Commons'  petition  :  ther  relieved  ;  the  clergy  and  others  dis- 
— "  Our  humble  desires  are  that  the  laws  obeying  your  late  orders  in  our  cathedrall  I 
of  God  be  truly  maintayned,  government  and  other  churches  questioned.  The 
and  discipline  so  settled  that  wee  may  universities  throughly  purged,  the  masse 
conforme  therein  to  the  perfect  rule  of  utterly  abolished.  For  the  perfecting  of 
God's  word,  able,  learned,  and  painfull  all,  with  all  your  honorable  endevours. 
ministers  may  be  encouraged,  scandalous  That  the  glory  of  God  may  be  by  your 
speedily  displaced,  pluralities  and  unwar-  zealous  and  loyal  intentions  propagated, 
ranted  orders  and  dignities  of  the  clergy  the  honour  and  safety  of  his  Majesty  and 


taken  away,  that  the  probats  of  wils  may  his  kingdomes  advanced,  the  privileges 
be  referred  to  the  cognizance  of  temporall  of  parliament  and  every  member  thereof 
courts,  that  places  of  concernment  in  the      mayntained." 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  MSS.  OF  SAMUEL  JEAKE.     49 

katye's  commaude.    And  as  a  witnesse  hereof,  wee  subscribe 
these  with  the  names  of  .        „ 

Yor  Matye's  humble,  loyall,  and  obedyent  subiects. 

Proceedings  during  the  Civil  War. 

The  Rev.  John    Coulton,    Chaplain   in   the  Parliamentary 
Army  to  Samuel  Jeake. 
"My  deare  harts  Samuell  Jeake,  widow  Shoesmith,  and 
Richard  Ffrench  and  Martha.     Your  letter  I  have  received, 
1  being  your  last  fFarewell,  and  soe  indeed  it  is ;  this  day 
our  Capt.  being  on  London,  and  quartermaster  Grenfeild  and 
'seriant  Greenfeild,  he  hath  sent  one  man  to  bring  us  nuse 
from  him,  we  being  at  Arundell ;  his  nuse  is  this,  we  are 
'desired  by  the  Parlm*  to  march  to  my  lord  generall,  our  colonell 
lhath  laid  downe  his  amies  resolveing  neuer  to  beare  armes 
more  in  this  cause,  soe  are  left  as  sheep  without  a  shepheard, 
lonely  the  Lord  is  our  shepheard;  we  want  nothing;  our  colonell 
'marched  into  the  feild  and  was  quartered  in  out  quarters  soe 
far  of  us,  his  excelency  said  planely  he  could  not  releeve  him. 
Prince  Rupard  {sic)  that  damnable  wretch,  marched  out  with 
1200  horse,  passed  two  quarters,  asked  for  Morley's  quarters, 
and  fell  on  them ;  took  45  horse,  12  men  prisoners.     Joseph 
Palmer  is  slaine,  for  whome  we  all  Dragones  mourned  with 
ribbons  over  our  shouldiers.     Capt.  Gratocke  had  3  encoun- 
ters with  Prince  Rupert,3  dismounted  him,  and  xcept  if  he  be 
nott  a  devell,  he  wounded  him  ;  he  made  4  despered  thrests 
at  his  body,  and  with  one  threat  dismounted  him  ;  the  same 
soldiers  seing  that  mett  his  horse  without  a  rider,  said  the 
Prince  was  lost,  and  soe  they  fled ;  Capt,  Gratocke  posted  to 
his  excelencv  for  helpe   to  redeeine  his  12  men,  butt  was 
denyed,  which  made   the    Colonell  lay  downe    his    armes ; 
quartermaster  Yonge   behaued   himself  valiantly :    Coronett 
Burton  did  the  like,  brought  his  colours  out  of  the  fold ;  and 
now  we  shall  advance,  how  soone  we  know  nott.     Tomorrow 
we  looke  for  our  Capt.  at  Arundell,  then  shall  wee  know  more 
sure  ;  we  are  nott  armed.     Your  expressions  of  love  in  your 

3  The  chaplain  was  probably  in  error  wick  of  Tortington,  and  in  1653  was  a 
as  to  Prince  Rupert  being  present  with  commissioner  under  the  act  tor  reliet  oi 
the   troops  at  this  engagement.     Roger      poor  prisoners. 


Grattwick  was  third  son  of  Sir  W.  Gratt- 
IX. 


/ 


50  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

letter,  my  deare  hart,  Samuell  Jeake,  I  hartily  thanke  you  for, 
and  shall,  if  I  fall,  leave  them  as  plunder  for  onr  enemy  ;  I 
will  not  leave  it  by  noe  meanes  ;  lett  me  haue  more  from  you  ; 
oh,  how  our  souldiers  desire  to  see  it.  Samuell,  can  thy  soule 
invent  encouragements  for  me  in  this  cause  ?  If  it  cost  thee 
two  dayes  time,  lett  me  have  it ;  such  is  my  corage  that  if  my 
hart  deceive  me  nott  I  will  either  se  King  Charles  at  his 
parlm*  or  myselfe  in  heaven ;  what  have  I  fought  for  this  32 
yeares  but  assurance.  I  blesse  God  I  have  it  more  then  ever  I 
had.  Duty  compeles  me  to  discover  my  soule  unto  you  whoe 
are  soe  deare  unto  me;  take  notice  of  it;  and  I  charge  you  before 
God  the  Judge  of  all  the  world,  that  if  you  heare  of  my  fall, 
never  shed  one  teare  for  me,  rather  joy  the  Lord  hath  freed 
me  from  this  body  of  sine,  and  answer  my  enemies  in  my 
name;  thus  reioyce  nott  against  me,  oh!  my  enemie,  though  I 
fall  yett  shall  I  rise  unto  judgement  to  stand  before  God  with 
boldness,"  &c.  &c. 

The  remainder  of  this  letter,  which  was  evidently  written  J 
in  haste  and  contains  many  errors,  extends  over  another  page, 
and  consists  chiefly  of  religious  advice  and  grateful  expressions 
of  good  wishes  to  several  of  his  friends  at  Rye.  Alluding  to 
his  own  religious  advantages  he  writes  :  "  The  last  fast  we 
kept  in  our  chamber,  my  mr.  praied  2  houres,  Joseph  Rolfe 
one,  Thomas  Carew  and  myselfe  five  houres." 

"  Soe   prayeth  your  despised  freind  by  wicked  men,  butt 
by  you  beloved  brother  in  the  faith, 

"John  Coulton. 
"Arundel,  June  29th,  1643. 

"Joseph  Rolfe,  Tho.  Carew  remember  their  love  to  you 
all.  J 

"  To  my  verey  loveing  freind,  Samuel  Jeakes,  at  his  house 
m  Rye,  in  Sussex,  these,  &c.  &c.  &c." 

In  another  letter  to  S.  Jeake  the  following  passage  occurs  : 
Some  difference  is  betweene  our  Colonell  and  Lewes 
Comittee,  they  will  give  us  noe  pay  if  we  stay  not  in  the 
county.  Sir  William  Waller  desires  us  with  him  W*  will 
be  done  the  Lord  knowes.  Fford  lyes  at  Winchester  with  3 
regiments  intended  for  Sussex.  I  believe  we  shall  step 
betweene  them  and  home  ;  our  God  direct  us  ;  all  our  desires 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE.  51 

arc  to  goe  to  Reding  if  it  might  be ;  a  company  of  Raged 
Rogues  are  there  ;  your  honest  exhortations  to  practise  is 
my  desire  ....  My  Drum  beats  up ;  the  Trumpet 
i  sounds ;  my  lord  Generall  this  night  comes  to  Winsor,  and 
;  I  must  goe  to  the  guard  to  oficiate,  as  I  am  comanded  when 
his  excelency  comes 

"  Your  truely  loveing  freind  and  brother  till  death, 

"  John  Coulton,  cler.  under  Capt.  Cockram.4 
"ffrom  my  quarters  at  Colebrook,  Octob.  2:2nd,  1643. 
I  To  his  very  loveing  freind  Samuell  Jeakes  at  his  {father's 
house  in  Rie,  present  these  with  trust  I  pray." 

TAKING    OF    ARUNDELL    CASTLE.       COULTON    TO    JEAKE. 

"  Most  deare,  loveing,  and  kind  freind  and  brother  in  Jesus 
Christ ;  my  most  dutyfull  love  unto  you  all  in  generall,  and 
unto  yourselfe  in  perticuler  salutation.     In  this  time  of  my 
retyrement  I  hold  it  my  duty  to  give  you  an  acompt  of  our 
proceedings  since  I  last  "saw  you.     That  Saturday  I  came  from 
Rie,  I  marched  to  Robert  Rolfe's  house  at  Mayfeild,  wheare  I 
quartered  all  night ;  the  next  day  we  marched  to  Poartslaid 
and  theire  quartered.  On  Chrismas  clay  we  came  to  Shoareham, 
and  about  eleaven  a  clocke  seriant  Rolfe  shott  off  a  carabine 
and  withal  his  thumbe.     I   stayed    with   him    all   Tuesday 
and  saw  him  in  some  goad  posture,  and  soe  I  went  to  my 
colours  ;  and  after  some  time  spent  in  seekeing  them,  I  found 
them  at  Arundell,  with  all  our  Regiment  upon  the  guard,  it 
beino-  our  turne  to  be  the  out  guard    on  the  Comon,    soe 
we  remained  on  Berey  hill  all  that  night,  and  the  next  day 
about  6  a   clocke  we    sent  out  a  party    of   horse,    myselfe 
being  one,    and  Tho.   Carew  another,    to  descover  Hopton, 
wheare   we  found    him    at    Petersfeild,    seven  miles  beiond 
Medhurst,  we    faceing  his  scouts;    and  soe  safely  returned 
(close  by  theire  quarters  all  alonge),  all  of  us  verey  safe,  our 
God  be  praised ;  we  gave  inteligence  to  our  Generall :  my- 
selfe lead  on  the  party ;    the  returne  of  us  was  the  next  day 
about  10  a  clocke  ;    ourselves  and  horse  had  noe  meat  but  a 
peece  of  bread  and  cheese,  and  our  horses,  while  we  eate  it,  had 
hay  nott  halfe  an  houres  time ;    prise  your  fireside  comforts, 

4  For  the  proceedings  of  Capt.  Cockram       lections,  Vol.  V.  pp.  54-99. 
and  bis  Rye  troop,  see  Sussex  Arch.  Col- 


52  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

you  know  nott  the  hardships  of  warr ;  nay,  though  it  be  in  a 
flowing  County  as  is  Sussex.  These  things  being  thus,  true 
nuse  came  that  in  Hampshire  Coll.  Newton  had  taken  800 
prisoners,  140  horse,  and  kild  100  of  Hopton's  men;  good 
nuse  and  true  nuse.  A  little  before  Sir  William  took  845, 
kiled  120,  300  horse,  and  brought  them  into  Ffarnham  Castle 
from  Olton,  all  these  of  Hopton's  4000  men,  as  is  said  he  had 
noe  more.  The  enemy  atempted  Bramber  bridge,  but  our 
brave  Carleton  and  Evernclen  with  his  Dragoones,  and  our 
Coll.  horse  welcomed  them  with  drakes  and  musketts,  sending 
some  8  or  9  men  to  hell  (I  feare),  and  one  trooper  to  Arundell 
Castle  prisoner,  and  one  of  Capt.  Evernden's  Dragoones  to 
heaven ;  all  this  while  the  enemy  held  the  castle,  and  a  party 
seised  Wiston  house,  within  a  mile  of  Bramber  bridge ;  butt 
att  last  Sir  William  comeing  and  tooke  Arundell  Towne  with 
140  prisoners  to  boote,  wheareof  60  beare  Amies  for  the  Par- 
liament, the  rest  are  sent  to  London ;  our  Wiston  Cavaileirs 
left  the  house  and  fled  for  theire  lives,  and  in  theire  march  at 
Ffindon  left  3  carts  loaden  with  plunder,  the  which  we  with  a 
party  of  12  horse,  we  fetched  home,  and  refreshed  our  weary 
souldiers  ;  these  things  being  by  the  Lord's  hand  done,  my 
Coll.  advanced  to  Arundell,  leaveing  at  Shoareham  Capt.  Tem- 
ple, at  Bramber  Capt.  Efuller  and  Capt.  Evernden  ;  and  after 
we  weare  sent  to  our  quarters  onely  one  regiment  of  horse  a 
night  guardeth  the  army ;  trained  bands  came  in  Hampshire, 
sent  in  souldiers,  and  brave  Capt.  Dyke  with  his  men  and 
700  dragoones,  and  4  troopes  of  horse,  all  out  of  Kent ;  Coll. 
Beare  came  with  1 2  troops  from  his  exeelency ;  all  which 
remained  with  us  ;  2  regiments  are  on  march  from  London, 
towards  us  of  the  trained  t)ands,  and  2  regiments  of  auxeliaries; 
soe  that  God  will  deliver  us  by  strength ;  we  have  strength 
enough.  Tell  widow  Dod  I  eat  and  drink  with  both  her  bro- 
ther William  and  John,  they  are  very  well ;  onely  my  unkle 
Pye  wants  his  feather  bed  to  sleep  on.  Our  men  plyed  them 
still  in  the  Castle  with  alarmes,  soe  that  they  had  noe  sleep  all 
the  while  they  held  the  Castle ;  soe  often  atempted  it  to  feare 
them,  butt  noe  good  it  did  them  butt  hardened  them  ;  the 
souldiers  moved  to  yeild  us  the  Castle,  but  was  denyed ;  Fforcl 
putt  it  one  day  to  a  voat  whether  his  souldiers  would  yeild  or 
noe,  they  answered  noe,  onely  6;  they  threw  them  over  the  walls, 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    HISS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE.  53 

and  they  came  to  us,  whoe  we  used  curteously,  and  now  they 
tare  amies,  and  by  them  we  know  theire  strength.  They  had 
I'noe  bread,  only  each  souldier  had  2  sponefulls  of  soden  wheat 
I  day,  beef  they  had  enough  ;  att  last  Sir  William  fired  some 
oranadoes  which  feared  them  much  and  brought  them  to  a 
parley  last  Ffryday,  Jan.  5,  and  on  Saturday  they  yeilded 
•  themselves  and  Castle  to  Sir  William's  mercy;    theire  was 
prisoners  in  the  Castle  sick  and  well,  1400  men,   6  cluefe 
pomanders,  Coll.  Eford,  Sir  Edw.  Bishop,  with  theire  starved 
ladies,  Coll.  Bramston  and  4  Coll.  more  whose  names  1  know 
nott,  and  Sir  William  Goareing,  all  which  are  in  prisons  acord- 
:ing  to  theire  ranks;    we  are   provideing  to  cary  them   to 
London  ;  I  hope  the  Parliament  will  provide  gallows  for  Mord 
i  and  Bishop.     What  will  become  of  us  I  know  nott.     We 
j  have  fortified  Arimdell  as  strong  as  ever  you  saw  a  thing. 
It  is  worth  noteing  to  see  how  our  Easterne  Gentry  come  to 
I  Comfort  our  power  Collonell,  and  to  shew  theire  thankfulnes 
to  our  noble  Waller.     I  shall  write  theire  number  in  figures, 
nott  thousands,  except  three  ooo  ciphers  will  doe  it.     Thus 
;  Christian  brethren,  you  se  Jacob's  God  never  said  to  you, 
Seeke  ye  me  in  vaine,  you  se  answered  praiers  comes  home 
crowding;    unto  vou   praying    soules  heaven   begins  to  be 
oratious;  the  lord" awakes  as  a  man  from  his  wine;  soe  now 
look  for  deliverance  and  hope  our  God  hath  now  begun  deliver- 
ance, and  feare  it  will  be  done  before  we  be  fitt  for  deliverance; 
bleeding  harts  cheare  up,  your  God  will  work  for  you,  and 
1  fiaht  both  for  you  and  us ;  soe  do  begin  to  advertise  you  that 
the  Lord  hath  never  lett  our  enemies  prosper  since  the  Cesa- 
tion  in  Ireland,  neither  can  they  except  word  faill  and  promises 
faill,  butt  they  cannott,  our  God  hath  said  it ;  stay  your  faith 
and  I  pray  you  remember  him  in  your  praiers  whoe  hath  vowed 
himselfe  an  orator  for  you,  I  cannott  omitt  one  thing;  nnediately 
after  the  vending  of  the  Castle,  3  holonders  rune  aground,  a 
Dunkirk  man  of  war  richly  laden  with  Hollands  and  lockrams, 
and  threed  Plush,  with  24  piece  of  ordnance ;  the  holouder 
perceiveins;   us  neare  (it  was  3  miles  from  Shoareham)  they 
onely  desired  the  ship,  and  gave  Sir  William  Waller  the  prize, 
the  which  they  have,  and  now  carts  are  carymg  it  to  Arundell ; 

s  Lockrams,   a   kind   of  coarse  linen,       traded  in  them.— (MS.  accounts.) 
from  Morlaix,  in  France.     S.  Jeake,  Jun., 


54  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

its  hoped  the  Generall  will  furnish  Arundell  Castle  with  Gunnsj 
butt  this  mercy  made  our  men  break  sabath,  and  soe  instead 
of  thankfulnes  for  the  Castle  it  proved  a  snaire  unto  us  to 
cause  us  to  prophane  the  sabath.  Thus  I  have  given  you  an 
acompt  of  what  I  promised  you  ;  my  paper  bids  me  break  of; 
comend  me  to  all  my  deare  freinds,  and  I  shall  for  ever  rest 
your  brother  in  Christ, 

"  John  Coulton,  Cler.  under  Captaine  William  Morley. 
"  Ffrom  my  quarters  at  South  lanceing,  January  8th,  164f . 
"  To   his  verey  loveing  freind,  Mr.  Samuell  Jaques,   at  his 

house  in  Rie,  Sussex,  presente  these." 

In  addition  to  the  particulars  of  Waller's  attack  upon 
Arundel  Castle,  printed  in  the  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  Vol.  V. 
p.  Gl,  we  find  in  the  Kingdoms  Weekly  Post,  No.  2,  under 
date  of  1st  January,  1643-4,  the  following  account: — "We 
do  not  yet  hear  that  Arundel  Castle  is  delivered  up  to  Sir 
William  Waller,  but  Sir  William  hath  made  another  onset 
upon  it,  in  which  fight  Col.  Ramsey  is  slain,  whose  death  is 
much  lamented,  but  it  is  believed  they  cannot  hold  out  long. 
A  letter  from  Sir  William  Waller  to  the  Parliament  doth  cer- 
tify that  he  had  a  very  considerable  army,  and  did  no  way 
stand  in  need  of  more  forces,  for  he  had  sufficient  already, 
but  rather  a  supply  of  monies,  and  that  he  had  intercepted 
a  messenger  which  was  sent  from  the  Castle  to  the  Lord 
Hopton,  that,  except  relief  came  within  five  days,  they  must 
be  forced  to  deliver  up  the  Castle,  which  may  very  well  be 
believed,  because  they  want  bread  already,  the  pipes  are  out, 
which  straightens  their  water,  and  they  want  hay  for  their 
cattle,  and  to  kill  them  would  help  them  little,  because  they 
have  not  salt,  and  they  are  almost  1000  persons,  so  that  in 
few  days  more  will  appear." 

ADDRESS    TO    FAIRFAX,    THE    LORD    GENERAL. 

Ill  a  letter  sent  by  Samuel  Jeake,  and  some  others  to  the 
Lord  General  Fairfax,  the  following  requests  were  made : — 

"We  earnestly  crave  that  amongst  ye  midst  and  multi- 
plicity of  your  weighty  agitations,  these  our  few  petitionary 
proposalls  may  have  admission  into  your  serious  thoughts, 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE.  55 

which  out  of  our  faithfull  affection  to  your  honour  and  tender 
care  of  ye  weale  of  ye  Republiqne  we  as  humbly  as  earnestly 
remonstrating  both  declare  and  desire, 

"  ffirst,  that  as  we  do  fully  adhere  to  ye  late  Remonstrance 
and  are  resolved  to  venture  lives  and  fortunes  in  defence  of 
ye  Army  in  ye  just  prosecution  of  it ;  so  doe  we  desire  that  no 
delayes  (as  conceiving  them  altogether  unsafe)  may  be  ad- 
mitted therein. 

"  21y.  Considering  that  want  of  care  and  vigilancy  (as  well 
as  fidelity)  in  Committees  and  others  be-trusted  with  publique 
affaires  hath  beene  ye  seminary  of  many  evills  to  this  kingdome, 
we  intreat  that  care  may  be  taken  to  refine  them,  and  that  such 
as  shall  in  any  wTaies  be  obstructers  of  justice  either  by  op- 
posing it,  or  not  improving  their  intrusted  power  to  that  pur- 
pose may  be  excluded,  and  also  that  yc  like  sedulity  may  be 
used  in  removing  ye  Committee  of  Accompts  and  appointing 
others  in  their  places  they  being  such  whose  endevours  are 
more  to  ensnare  then  to  advance  the  publique  good. 

"  31y.  The  Kingdomes  groaning  under  ye  burden  of  free- 
quarter  and  (yet)  unreasonable  taxes,  occasioned  by  ye  un- 
faithfull  dealing  of  those  entrusted  with  ye  publique  treasure, 
requires  (as  we  humbly  conceive)  some  exquisite  search,  and 
those  being  found  that  have  anyway  abused  ye  state  by  such 
fraudulent  practises,  as  to  designe  ye  publique  treasure  to  their 
private  advantage  deserve  to  be  severly  dealt  withall. 

"41y.  Minding  the  nakedness  of  these  marine  parts  and  the 
great  dangers  we  lie  exposed  to,  if  any  new  commotions 
(which  God  forbid)  should  breake  forth,  we  earnestly  sue  that 
some  carefull  provision  may  be  made  for  ye  seacoast,  and  es- 
pecially neare  this  place  y  better  to  strengthen  ye  hands  of 
ye  kingdomes  friends  and  to  prevent  (at  present)  un thought 
of  mischiefs. 

"  51y.  Being  grieved  to  heare  y°  slanderous  aspersions  yc 
Armv  is  and  hath  beene  loaded  with,  notwithstanding  its 
desert  to  ye  contrary ;  we  heartily  desire  that  all  such  as  shall 
be  knowne  to  asperse  them  or  to  act  or  speake  against  their 
proceedings  in  reference  to  ye  execution  of  justice  and  righte- 
ousness may  be  brought  to  condigne  punishment. 

"61y.  The  principall  Actors  in  and  Abettors  of  our  miserable 
differences  by  reason  of  connivance  in  some,  alliance  in  others, 


50  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

with  other  such  wiseblinding  bribes,  have  regained  strength 
to  rally  againe  and  againe,  when  we  had  well  hoped  they 
were  irrecoverable  :  wherefore  we  humbly  intreat  your  Honour 
that  some  Commissioners  may  be  appointed  to  find  out  ye 
Actors  and  fomentors  of  ye  late  warre  and  bringing  in  of  yp 
Scots  and  being  found  to  secure  them  or  otherwise,  without 
superficiall  dealing  in  matters  of  this  concernment,  yet  a 
speciall  care  to  be  had  of  the  non-oppressing  their  families. 

"  71y.  Because  of  the  distance  of  this  and  many  other  Gar- 
risons from  ye  Head  quarters,  and  ye  necessity  of  intelligence 
from  thence  to  animate  ye  Souldiery  and  well  affected  residing 
therein,  to  joyne  with  and  in  defence  of  ye  just  proceedings  of 
ye  Army  ;  we  therefore  humbly  beseech,  that  there  may  be  an 
impartiall  communication  of  ye  actions  of  ye  Army  to  ye  re- 
spective Garrisons  yl  shall  remonstrate  with  them  by  such 
actors  as  each  Garrison  shall  to  that  purpose  appoint,  and  y* 
all  such  of  ye  countrey  as  either  have  or  shall  shew  themselves 
worthy  to  be  confided  in  may  be  put  into  a  posture  of 
defence." 

Without  date  or  signature,  but  probably  written  in  June, 
1047,  when  petitions  from  Essex,  Bucks,  Herts,  Norfolk,  and 
Suffolk,  and  Rutland  (copies  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  the 
King's  Pamphlets)  were  presented  to  the  Lord  General  at 
St.  Alban's.  Another  portion  of  the  Sussex  men  differed  from 
Jeake,  and,  on  9th  June,  1047,  presented  by  Sir  Wm.  Cul- 
peper  to  the  House  of  Commons,  a  petition  praying  for  a  safe 
treaty  with  the  King,  and  the  payment  and  disbanding  of 
the  army  under  Fairfax.  Surrey  and  Kent  took  the  same 
course,  and  open  disturbances  took  place  in  the  latter 
county.6 

Election  for  Rye  Town  in  1001. 

SAMUEL    GOTT,7    ESQ.,    OF    BATTLE,    TO    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

"  Sir, — I  am  credibly  informed  that  Mr.  Spencer  is  lately 
dead,  and  that  suddenly  a  writt  will  come  down  to  your  town 

6  On  16th  June,  about  500  men  rose  7  Mr.  Gott  had  represented  Winchelsea 

in  the  King's  cause  at  Horsham,  seized  at    the   close   of  the    Long   Parliament ; 

arms,  and   put   themselves   in   training.  Sussex  in  1656;  andHastings  in  1658.  He 

A  copy  of  the  petition  is  in  the  King's  was  a  commissioner  for  ejecting  scandalous 

Pamphlets.  and  insufficient  ministers,  1654,  and  for  the 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE.  57 

with  another  letter  for  a  new  election  of  some  person  chosen 
for  yon,  though  I  suppose  such  an  election  ought  to  be  first 
i  by  the  understanding  and  knowledge  and  then  by  will  and 
consent,  and  that  they  who  chose  they  know  not  whom,  doe 
they  know  not  what,  I  can  offer  nothing  in  myselfe  which  may 
countervaile  the  tentation,  unless  others  find  that  in  them- 
t  selves  which  may  prevail  against  it.  I  know  very  well  to 
whom  I  Avrite,  and  you  know  me  and  the  towne.  I  wholy 
depend  upon  your  advice  whither  it  be  fitt  for  me  to  appear 
in  it  and  promise  you  to  act  accordingly  one  way  or  other 
with  an  equal  satisfaction.  If  you  approve  of  it  I  shall  only 
give  this  advice,  to  ingage  as  many  as  you  may  which  will  be 
a  fair  answer  to  others  who  come  after.  As  for  the  Maior,  1 
hope  I  may  spare  his  vote,  though  he  be  my  assured  ffriend. 
I  pray  represent  so  much  of  this  letter  as  you  think  fitt  to 
my  good  ffreinds  Mr.  Bennett,  Mr.  Miller,  Mr.  Key,  and  to 
Mr.  Allen  [the  then  vicar].8  I  hope  among  you  you  will  give 
me  the  best  advice  you  can ;  and  if  you  satisfy  your  own  con- 
sciences I  have  satisfied  mine.     I  desire  to  hear  from  you, 

and  am, 

"  Your  affectionate  freind, 

"  Samuel  Gott. 

"London,  Oct.  8,  1661. 

"  I  desire  your  town  would  only  remember  the  memorable 
examples  of  the  3  last  Maoris  of  Winchelsea, 

"For  my  worthy  friend  Mr.  Samuel  Jeake  at  Rye." 

SAMUEL    GOTT    TO    S.    JEAKE. 

"Sir,— I  have  received  yours  by  the  bearer  heerof,and  though 
I  did  not  intend  to  have  been  present  at  the  election,  yet  upon 
this  summons  would  have  appeared  if  Providence  had  not 
hindred  me  by  a  casual  blow  on  my  knee  with  a  stone  which 
happened  this  morning  as  I  was  walking  in  the  street  going 
to  take  water,  by  a  waterman  throwing  it  at  another.  I 
thank  God  I  am  not  very  ill,  but  fear  least  riding  and  the 

Sussex  assessment  of  1656,  and  was  buried  other  member  Mr.  Herbert  Morley^  died, 

at  Battle,  18th  Dec.  1671.     There  is  no  and  a  new  writ  was  ordered,  10th  Uct. 

entrv  in  the  Journals  of  the  writ  on  Col.  8  See  Arch.  vol.  xxxvn.  p.  1,.  for  an  ac- 

|pe?cSs  death.     See  aiso  Sussex  Arch.  count  of  John  Al  en  and  some  m  erestmg 

Collections,  Vol.  V.  p.  96.     In  1667,-  the  letters  on  the  last  plague  in  London. 

ix.  b 


58  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OE    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 

cold  may  produce  some  inconvenience  to  me.  Sir  John 
Robinson 9  is  my  friend  whom  I  should  not  have  opposed  if 
he  had  either  told  me  of  it  before  or  wrote  to  me  since ;  but 
understanding  how  farr  I  have  ingaged  my  friends,  and  they 
me,  I  can  neither  with  honor  nor  honesty  desert  them,  and 
shall  ever  preferr  the  good  affections  of  your  Towne  before 
any  particular  fTriend  whatsoever,  yea  before  any  considera- 
tions of  myselfe,  which  I  shall  sufficiently  demonstrate  by  in- 
sisting or  desisting  as  you  and  the  rest  of  my  good  ffreinds 
shall  "think  fitt,  referring  myself  wholly  to  your  directions 
herein,  and  to  this  purpose  I  have  heer  inclosed  sent  a  Letter 
to  Maior,  Jurates,  and  Comminalty,  which  I  desire  you  to 
peruse,  and  if  occasion  require  to  send  it  by  John  Hedger  to 
the  Maior,  being  sealed,  the  same  day  on  which  the  election 
shall  be,  which  I  doubt,  if  the  writt  be  not  delivered,  will  not 
be  very  sudden ;  and  if  I  were  at  Rye  I  doe  verily  beleeve  it 
would  not  be  delivered  while  I  should  be  present  or  had  pro- 
mised to  desist.  I  hartily  thank  all  my  good  freinds,  well 
knowing  what  tentations  they  may  have  to  the  contrary,  and 
which  I  much  doubt  whither  others  would  resist,  which  doth 
highly  ingage  me  to  adhere  to  them,  and  assure  them  that 
I  am, 

"  Your  and  their  true  freind  and  servant, 

"  Samuel  Gott. 
"For  my  worthy  friend  Mr.  Samuel  Jeake,  at  Rye." 

No  date,  but  amongst  the  series  of  letters  of  1661. 

S.    JEAKE    TO    S.    GOTT,    ESQ. 

"  Sir, — Though  I  doubt  not  but  by  an  abler  pen  you  have 
beene  ere  this  informed  of  your  unhappy  misse  of  the  eleccon 
here,  yet  I  thought  it  not  only  my  duty,  but  out  of  that 
respect  I  beare  to  you  also,  to  give  you  a  line  or  two  touching 
ye  same.  Ye  messenger  sent  hence  to  you  on  Thursday  re- 
turned not  with  your  letters  till  Monday  night  following,  by 
reason  of  which  delay  Sir  John's  party  had  too  confidently 
possest  some  weake  sighted  freemen  that  you  had  desisted, 
and  on  ye  Lord's  clay  prevailed  with  one  to  desert  your  interest, 
and  on  ye  Monday  discouraged  another.     And  a  great  blocke 

9  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  of  London. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE.  59 

in  ye  way  was  this;  before  anything  was  knowne  of  Col. 
Spencer's  death,  our  corporacion  growing  thinue,  8  new  free- 
men were  voted  in,  in  case  they  would  pay  such  sumes  of 
money  as  was  imposed  on  them  :  now  when  Sir  John's  party 
saw  they  could  feast  away  nor  discourage  no  more  of  your 
party,  nor  by  threats  to  some,  or  flatterys  to  others  winne 
any  assurance  of  their  votes  who  had  not  declared  for  either 
side,  they  posssest  Sir  John  that  Mr.  Maior  might  call  an 
Assembly  and  make  not  only  those  new  ffreemen  aforesaid  but 
also  others  for  whom  Sir  John  privately  would  as  was  inti- 
mated have  paid  their  fines  for  them,  and  although  no  such 
practise  was  ever  done  here  in  our  remembrance  upon  an 
eleccion,  yet  so  strongly  had  they  informed  Sir  John  thereof 
that  in  case  it  were  not  done,  or  that  you  had  the  eleccion 
ye  whole  cause  would  have  beene  attributed  to  Mr.  Maior, 
who  thereby  was  in  a  very  great  straight  to  put  either  on 
irregularities  or  hazard  of  Sir  John's  perpetuall  displeasure, 
which,  though  possibly  might  not  have  effected  much,  yet  to  a 
timorous  spirit  might  be  much  dreaded.  This  project  did  much 
trouble  some  of  your  friends  here,  knowing  ye  evill  conse- 
quence of  filling  ye  corporacion  with  such  ffreemen  which  now 
is  scarce  equally  balanced ;  yet  the  former  discouragements 
prevailing  by  the  tarrying  of  the  messenger,  this  project  came 
to  nothing  on  Monday  at  ye  Assembly,  though  warned  for  ye 
purpose ;  but  a  reserve  was  had  (as  I  found  out)  that  if  your 
party  that  they  had  prevailed  on  to  be  absent  should  come  to 
ye  Hall  at  ye  eleccon  then  ye  ffreemen  should  be  made,  and 
some  of  them  were  attending  there  for  that  purpose  when  ye 
eleccon  wras,  of  which  there  was  at  last  no  need;  for  2  of  your 
party  proving  neutrall,  we  knew  ye  voices  wrould  be  even  and 
even,  and  then  Mr.  Maior  who  in  such  cases  useth  to  have  a 
casting  voice  would  have  concluded  ye  eleccon  against  you ; 
this  being  knowne  kept  2  more  of  your  party  from  ye  Hall;  so 
as  at  ye  eleccon  their  was  9  for  you  to  12  with  Mr.  Maior 
against  you.  I  believe  had  you  beene  here  or  sent  sooner  ye 
case  had  beene  otherwise,  especially  if  you  had  written  effec- 
tually to  Mr.  Maior,  I  also  believe  Sir  John  found  such  a 
tugge  now  he  will  never  attempt  ye  like  here  for  ye  future ; 
besides  his  expenses  of  well  nigh  £100,  he  did  greatly  hazard 
it,  and  if  he  had  feasted  much  longer  would  have  done  on 


00 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    MSS.    OF    SAMUEL    JEAKE. 


more  than  he  did.10  I  am  heartily  sorry  your  expenses  were 
fruitlesse,  and  yet  hope  you  will  entertaine  wonted  affections 
for  your  friends ;  had  I  oppertunity  to  see  you,  I  could  par- 
ticularize more  but  am  unwilling  to  trouble  you  with  my 
scribbling,  which  though  truly  related  yet  I  desire  you  as 
concerning  me  to  be  private  and  hope  you  will  suspend 
jealousies  of  your  particular  friends  till  you  more  fully  under- 
stand ye  premises,  which  I  write  ye  rather  because  I  heard  as 
if  some  misinformacon  had  beene  given  you  of  my  brother 
Key11  and  others. 

"  Wishing  you  health  and  happines  I  remaine 

"  Yol  very  humble  servant, 

"  S.  Jeake. 

"Rye,  Nov.  20th,  1661." 


10  Treating  wa9  the  common  practice  at 
this  time.  Mr,  Robert  Wharton,  writing 
to  Sir  Gilbert  Ireland  about  the  Liverpool 
vacancy,  on  12th  Nov.  1670,  says,  "If 
you  please  to  treate  the  towne,  or  any 
other  way  that  may  advance  my  election, 
shall  very  thankfully  repay  you." — Lan- 


cashire and  Cheshire  Historical  Society, 
Sess.  VI. 

11  Samuel  Jeake' s  eldest  sister  Anne 
married  for  her  second  husband  William 
E!ey,  of  Eye,  and  died  21st  Sept.  1665. 
For  a  memoir  of  Samuel  Jeake,  see  Hol- 
loway's  History  of  Bye,  p.  550. 


INJUNCTIONS   GIVEN   TO   THE   PRIOR   AND 
CONVENT  OE  BOXGRAVE,  A.D.  1518. 

COMMUNICATED 

FROM  THE  EXTRACTS  MADE  BY  THE  LATE  J.  B.  FREELAND,  Esq., 
FROM  THE  EPISCOPAL  REGISTER,  SHERBURNE,  159) 

BY  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  TUENER. 
(TRANSLATED  BY  W.  H.  B.) 


"  Robert,  by  Divine  permission,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  to 
our  beloved  in  Christ,  the  Prior  of  the  Priory  of  Boxgrave, 
and  to  the  Convent  of  the  said  place,  health,  grace,  and  bless- 
ing.  Inasmuch  as  in  our  ordinary  Visitation,  held  on  the 
7th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1518,  we  have  learned, 
partly  from  the  evidence  of  the  fact,  partly  from  the  admission 
of  the  parties,  partly  by  testimony,  that  there  are  some  matters 
to  be  reformed  there  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  increase 
{augumentum)  of  religion,  We,  setting  God  before  the  eyes  of 
our  mind,  enjoin  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  diligently  to  watch  over 
the  care  committed  to  you,  especially  in  spiritual  matters, 
and  that  this  injunction  should  not  appear  obscure  to  you, 
we  have  thought  it  right  to  specify  it  in  particular  articles  as 

follows  : — 

"  In  the  first  place,  we  enjoin  you  on  the  bond  {vinculo)  ot 
your  obedience  that  the  number  of  your  brother  monks  be 
filled  up,  as  soon  as  you  are  able,  according  to  your  founda- 
tions and  the  faculties  of  the  priory. 

"  Also,  in  the  second  place,  that  tolling  the  bell  for  Primes 
{pulsacio  ad  primam)  should  take  place  at  the  due  hour,  and 
that  the  elders  as  well  as  the  younger,  no  lawful  impediment 
interfering,  should  walk  to  this  service  by  two  and  two,  both 
in  going  and  returning,  and  thus  henceforth  that  the  whole 
day  should  be  spent  to  the  praise,  glory,  and  honor  of  God 
Almighty,  according  to  the  rules  and  constitutions  of  your 
holy  predecessors. 

Thirdly,  That  the  said  honor  of  God  may  be  observed  more 
inviolably,  we  enjoin  you  to  appoint  from  your  fellow-monks 
the  one  most  ripe  and  most  perfect,  who  may  assiduously 


02  INJUNCTIONS    GIVEN    TO    THE    PRIOR 

instruct  the  novices  and  others  who  are  ignorant  of  the  rules, 
constitutions,  and  ceremonies  of  religion  in  those  things  which 
belong  to  divine  services,  that  they  may  know  by  heart  the 
Psalter  of  David,  and  other  things  which  belong  to  the 
canonical  hours.  Let  him,  moreover,  instruct  them  always 
to  attend  to  the  observance  and  ceremonies  of  religion,  and 
that  they  should  have  their  countenances,  as  they  walk,  cast 
down  to  the  earth,  or  reverently  raised  to  a  crucifix  ;  that  they 
should  also  all  sing  at  the  same  time  lowly,  devoutly,  and 
methodically,  blessing  God  with  one  voice. 

"  Fourthly,  That  your  fraternity  should  provide  that  the 
novices  should  have  outward  and  inward  garments  according 
to  the  propriety  and  decency  of  their  order,  and  should  take 
care  not  only  that  these  should  be  had,  but  should  teach  that 
when  torn,  broken,  or  defaced  with  stains,  they  should  be  kept 
clean,  and  that  they  should  learn,  even  by  punishment  if 
needful,  that  their  own  things  should  be  preserved. 

"  Fifthly,  That  all  wearing  the  monastic  dress  should  eat  at 
the  same  time,  should  listen  to  the  sacred  lessons,  should  sleep 
at  the  same  time,  and  rise  at  the  same  time,  should  keep  silence 
in  places  of  silence,  should  with  their  own  hands  clean  out 
and  keep  cleaned  their  own  cells  and  places  of  silence,  unless, 
perchance,  it  can  be  provided  by  some  convert  who  might  un- 
burden them  from  these  and  other  works,  and  that  they  should 
sit  in  the  same  cells  according  to  the  regulations  of  their  order. 

"  Sixthly,  That  they  should  never  be  unemployed  (vacui), 
lest  the  devil  should  find  them  idle,  and  that  they  should 
have  gardens  in  which  to  labor  with  bodily  exercise,  and  to 
refresh  themselves,  provided  always  that  the  gardens  planted  I 
with  trees  should  be  made  pure  from  briars,  nettles,  clods,  ■■' 
mounds,  and  other  uncleanness,  the  refuse  of  the  place,  and 
should  be  brought  into  order  and  an  agreeable  pleasant- 
ness of  recreation,  and  when  so  brought  should  always  be 
kept  in  order  by  the  cloistered  brethren  themselves  {per  ipsos 
claustrales). 

"  Seventhly,  We  enjoin  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  on  the  bond 
of  your  obedience,  that  your  brethren,  after  the  receipt  of 
this  present,  should  not  wander  outside  the  enclosure  of  the 
priory,  without  your  license  or  that  of  your  sub-prior,  and  that 
they  should  not  have  such  license  without  just  and  reasonable 


AND  CONVENT  OF  BOXGRAVE.  63 

cause,  and  that  every  one  should  then  have  with  him  one  of 
his  fellow-monks,  or,  if  that  cannot  conveniently  be,  some  one 
serious  man  who  may  act  as  a  witness  of  his  conversation. 

"  Eighthly,  That  they  should  rest  contented  with  their  diet, 
and  that  they  should  wholly  abstain  from  drinkings  or  feast- 
ings  together  or  other  gluttonies,  and  from  vain  talkings 
together  ;  namely,  breakfasting  {dejujunando)  at  the  ninth  hour, 
dining  at  the  eleventh  hour,  supping  at  the. fifth  hour,  and 
.making  a  collacion  according  to  the  requirement  of  their 
order,  afterwards  that  they  should  wholly  withdraw  them- 
selves either  to  sleep,  contemplation,  or  study. 

"  Ninthly,  We  desire  you,  on  the  penalty  above  named,  to 
cause  your  said  fellow-brethren  to  be  provided  at  the  fitting 
hours  by  certain  officers  with  bread,  drink,  and  competent  and 
wholesome  diet,  so  that  there  should  be  altogether  no  right  of 
complaint  given  them,  provided  always  that  they  never  eat 
nor  drink  outside  the  refectory  or  the  place  of  mercy  {extra 
locum  misericordie),  except  for  some  honest  and  lawful  cause 
to  be  approved  by  you  or  your  sub-prior. 

"  Tenthly,  That  kinsmen  of  the  monks,  or  strangers  arriving, 
should  be  received  honourably  by  consent  of  the  prior,  accord- 
ing to  the  faculties  of  the  priory,  and  the  condition  of  those 
thus  coming  in. 

"  Eleventhly,  That  they  should  regard  the  refectory  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  Saint  Benedict,  in  eating,  reading,  keeping 
silence,  and  other  ceremonies  of  the  order. 

"  Twelfthly,  That  the  dormitory  should  be  cleansed  from 
the  ordure  of  the  place,  should  be  lighted  up,  and  should  be 
brought  to  evenness  {ad  equalitatem  reducatur),  and  should  be 
made  orderly  in  its  pavements  or  boards,  and  that  each  one 
of  your  feliow-brethren  should  have  in  his  own  cell  a  small 
window  {fenestrellam)  agreeably  to  the  custom  of  the  order, 
through  which  it  may  be  perceived  whether  he  lives  in  obe- 
dience to  the  rules,  and  keeps  it  clean  and  decent. 

Thirteenth,  We  will  and  also  ordain  that  your  common 
seal  moreover  should  be  kept  under  three  keys  at  the  least, 
one  of  which  we  have  determined  should  remain  with  the 
prior,  a  second  with  the  sub-prior,  and  a  third  with  the  eldest 
of  your  fellow-monks,  to  be  kept  faithfully  by  them;  pro- 
hibiting moreover,  on  pain  of  greater  excommunication,  any- 


04  INJUNCTIONS    GIVEN    TO    THE    PRIOR 

thins  in  any  manner  to  be  sealed  with  the  said  common 
seal/unless  the  letter  thus  to  be  sealed  shall  have  been  pre- 
viously  read,  inspected,  and  also  maturely  understood  by  the 
greater  and  older  part  of  the  whole  convent,  and  that  the 
consent  of  the  greater  part  should  be  given  for  such  sealing, 
since  from  such  a  method  many  expenses  may  probably  arise 
remarking  that,  since  we  are  such  neighbours  to  you,  you  can 
consult  with  us  in  any  difficult  matters  to  be  sealed  by  you, 
for  the  welfare  and  strengthening  of  the  said  priory,  which, 
from  the  information  of  many  persons,  we  understand  to  have 
suffered  great  loss  and  diminished  rents  from  want  of  such  a 
provision. 

Also,  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  should  not  maintain  useless 
servants,  but  only  those  who  are  necessary  in  the  offices,  or 
cultivating  the  fields. 

"Also,  that  once  in  the  year  there  should  be  made  an 
account  of  all  the  receipts  and  expenses  of  the  household  of 
the  said  priory,  and  it  should  be  entered  in  a  parchment  book 
for  the  memory  of  future  persons,  and  in  the  said  book  should 
be  inserted  all  repairs,  and  should  be  brought  to  a  sum  total. 

"  Also,  that  an  inventory  should  be  made  both  of  moveables 
and  immoveables  belonging  to  the  said  priory,  and  that  the 
condition  of  the  place  should  be  laid  open  every  year,  both 
before  us  and  before  your  fellow -brethren,  within  eight  days 
after  the  feast  of  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
and  that  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  to  clear  your  responsibility  in 
that  particular,  should  signify  in  what  things  and  how  much 
the  priory  has  increased  under  your  administration,  and  that 
book  should  be  replaced  in  some  safe  place  fitted  for  the 
purrpose,  for  the  memory  of  yourself  and  others  in  future 
times. 

"  Also,  as  it  is  written,  '  it  is  not  good  to  take  the  bread  of 
our  children  and  give  it  to  dogs  to  eat,'  therefore  we  order 
that  you  should  nourish  no  dogs,  birds,  or  hawks,  but  that  if 
any  fragments  should  remain,  they  should  be  given  to  the 
poor. 

"Also,  inasmuch  as  public  report  has  much  noised  it 
(percrebuit)  that  some  of  the  monks,  contrary  to  the  holy  and 
accustomed  rule  of  their  order,  wear  their  hose  lined  (colic/is 
dijjloidibus)  and  tied  with  many  laces  (which,   however,  we 


AND  CONVENT  OF  BOXGRAYE.  65 

have  rather  heard  than  believe),  nevertheless,  lest  so  detestable 
a  custom  should  become  established  (which  Gocl  forbid)  we 
order  and  distinctly  enjoin  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  entirely  and 
continually  to  abolish  all  things  endeavoured  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  order  in  the  aforesaid  matters,  and  henceforth  not 
to  permit  them  in  any  manner  to  be  done. 

"  Also,  inasmuch  as  we  have  seen,  by  ocular  proof  {oculata 
fide)  that  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  have  admitted  into  your  order 
certain  persons,  whose  fitness  had  not  been  examined  by  you, 
nor  their  worth  or  knowledge  tested,  whom  also,  after  their 
assuming  the  dress  of  your  order,  you  in  no  way  at  all 
instructed,  or  took  care  to  have  instructed,  We,  on  that 
account,  order  you  not  to  presume  in  any  way  to  admit  others 
without  our  knowledge,  under  penalty  of  the  broadest  (latis- 
sirnc)  excommunication. 

"Also,  because  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  are  noted  for  an  archer 
[pro  sagittario)  even  outside  the  priory  with  laymen,  and 
because  you  wear  out  the  time,  which  ought  to  be  your  leisure 
for  contemplation  and  wholesome  reading,  in  vain  forbidden 
sports  and  in  unlawful  matches  {jllicitis  contractibus),  we 
enjoin  you,  under  penalty,  that  neither  you  nor  your  fellow- 
brethren  contend  in  arrow-shootings  in  any  way  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  priory,  so  that,  if  for  the  sake  of  recreation 
that  sport  please  you,  it  may  be  carried  on  secretly  within  the 
enclosure  of  the  priory. 

"  Also,  whereas  there  are  certain  offices  which  are  usually 
done  more  by  women  than  by  men,  such  as,  to  wash  linen 
suitably,  to  milk  cows,  to  churn  butter,  and  to  make  cheeses, 
we  strictly  order  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  to  provide  for  these 
and  other  works  of  this  nature  such  persons,  as  from  whom 
no  suspicion  could  with  probability  arise,  and  that  they 
should  come  to  these  duties  appointed  them  at  fitting  hours, 
provided  always  that  all  the  linen  and  other  things  necessary 
for  them  shall  be  carried  to  them  by  a  man  free  from  sus- 
picion, and  that  all  things  got  ready  for  the  use  of  the  priory 
in  the  said  duties  shall  be  brought  in  by  the  same  man,  so 
that  they  should  have  no  opportunity  of  entering  into  the 
kitchen,  hall,  pantry,  or  other  interior  places  of  the  said  priory, 
in  order  to  remove  any  sinister  opinion  which  may  by  such 
occasions  occur  in  such  matters. 

ix.  9 


()(>  INJUNCTIONS    TO    CONVENT    OE    BOXGRAVE. 

"Also,  that  your  fellow-brethren  shall  not  use  games  of 
dice  or  cards,  or  huntings,  which  are  prohibited  even  to 
secular  clerks  by  the  holy  canons. 

"  Also,  that  no  drinkings  or  gossipings  {confabulationes)  or 
games  take  place  in  the  church  or  cemetery,  but  when  burials 
take  place,  if  this  is  done  within  the  church,  the  grave  shall 
be  immediately  covered  over  with  the  former  paving,  until  a 
proper  covering-stone  to  be  had  can  be  provided. 

"Also,  because  we  incessantly  suffer  in  these  days,  on 
account,  as  it  is  believed,  of  our  sins,  pestilences,  together 
with  other  known  and  unusual  affections  of  the  air  and  the 
symptoms  of  diseases,  We  ordain  and  in  ordaining  determine 
that  you,  my  Lord  Prior,  should  excite  your  brethren  to  pro- 
cessions according  to  the  necessity  of  the  time,  without  wait- 
ing for  the  command  of  the  ordinary. 

"Also,  because  it  is  ascertained  that  the  honor  of  the  order, 
its  rules,  constitutions,  ceremonies,  and  other  observances, 
have  long  passed  away  into  disuse  among  you,  not  without 
your  great  peril,  my  Lord  Prior,  We  enjoin  you,  by  the  bond 
of  obedience,  diligently  and  effectually  to  watch,  in  the  pre- 
mises, and  perhaps  in  other  matters  tending  to  the  glory  of 
your  order  omitted  by  us,  and  before  the  feast  of  the  Nativity 
of  our  Lord  to  execute  them  with  effect,  so  that  in  reward  for 
your  burdens  you  may  be  esteemed  as  a  good  shepherd  in 
the  sharp  and  terrible  day  of  judgement. 

"  Also,  We  ordain  that  these  injunctions  shall  be  written 
in  some  large  book  to  remain  in  the  Chapter  House,  and  that 
they  be  read  once  a  month  in  chapter,  also  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  if  needful,  and  that  diligent  enquiry  be  made  as  to 
keeping  the  matters  before  mentioned,  so  that  a  reform  should 
be  made  in  things  not  observed,  lest  the  memory  of  them 
perish  with  their  sound. 

"  Lastly,  we  protest  in  these  writings,  that  if  any  injunction 
of  ours  above  made  should  be  opposed  to  the  sacred  canons, 
or  the  rules  of  Saint  Benedict,  we  revoke  it  by  the  tenor  of 
these  presents,  and  wish  it  to  be  considered  as  not  having 
been  enjoined." 

Similar  injunctions  were  given  to  the  prior  and  convent  of 
Tortyngton,  of  Hardham,  of  Shulbrede,  of  Michelham,  of 
Hasty  ngs. 


ROTTINGDEAN     CHURCH    IN     1855. 

BY  THE  REV.  ARTHUR  HUSSEY. 


In  July,  1855,  was  commenced  the  enlargement  of  this 
church  by  rebuilding  the  south  aisle,  destroyed  at  some  un- 
known period  centuries  ago.  The  following  observations  were 
made  during  the  progress  of  the  works. 

It  was  found  that  many  interments  had  taken  place  within 
the  area  of  the  old  aisle,  one  directly  through  the  remains  of 
the  eastern  wall,  as  well  as  of  the  altar,  though,  the  width  of  the 
new  aisle  not  equalling  that  of  the  old  one,  the  precise  extent 
of  the  latter  was  not  ascertained,  but,  if  former  marks  in  the 
turf  may  be  relied  upon,  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  about 
25  feet.  Of  the  churchyard  south  of  the  southern  wall  of  the 
church  a  breadth  of  15  feet  was  excavated  for  the  new  erec- 
tion to  the  level  of  the  interior  of  the  church,  this  being  below 
that  of  the  original  aisle,  as  proved  by  the  existing  remains, 
viz.,  the  lower  portion,  of  the  ancient  stone  altar,  the  base  of 
which  was  undermined.  This  altar  was  constructed  merely 
of  rouoh  flints,  and  appeared  never  to  have  been  even  cased 
with  ashlar.  It  was  about  4  feet  S  inches  wide,  and  the 
position  was  rather  peculiar,  never  having  been  central,  but 
standing  2  feet  8  inches  from  the  exterior  line  of  the  nave 
wall,  and  3  feet  from  a  fragment  of  wall  to  the  south.  This 
fragment,  after  running  a  short  distance  (not  measured)  from 
east  to  west,  turned  at  a  right  angle  southward,  but  could  not 
be  traced  in  that  direction  farther  than  3  feet,  the  limit  of  the 
excavation.  On  the  removal  of  this  wall,  at  the  angle,  near 
the  foundation,  a  number  of  human  bones  were  discovered, 
not  lying  in  any  order,  but  in  utter  confusion,  proving  that 
they  must  have  been  re-interred  in  this  spot.  From  the  fact 
of  foundations  extending  westward  from  the  above-mentioned 
angle,  and  from  similar  traces  of  a  wall  returning  toward  the 


OS 


KOTTINGDEAN    CHURCH    IN    1855. 


nave  of  the  church,  much  short  of  what  evidently  was  once 
the  length  of  the  old  aisle,  combined  with  the  position  of  the 
altar,  already  alluded  to,  it  seems  a  safe  inference  that  the 
original  adjunct  to  the  church,  whether  it  should  be  termed 
aisle  or  private  chapel,  wras  very  small,  and  that  it  was  enlarged 
during  the  Decorated  period  (the  few  remaining  mouldings 
being  in  that  style),  when  perhaps  the  relics  of  some  person  of 
consequence,  possibly  a  founder  or  benefactor,  were  built  into 
the  wall  in  the  manner  just  described.  The  fragment  of  wall 
near  the  altar  is  not  unlikely  to  have  formed  part  of  a  tomb, 
which,  of  course,  would  not  have  escaped  when  the  aisle  itself 
was  destroyed.  -Though  the  excavation,  as  above  noted,  was 
carried  below  the  ancient  floor,  it  is  rather  remarkable  that 
not  a  vestige  of  any  pavement,  not  even  a  fragment  of  a  paving 
tile,  was  observed. 

When  the  arches  blocked  up  in  the  south  wall  of  the  church 
(see  Notes  on  the  Churches  of  Kent,  Sussex,  and  Surrey,  p.  277) 
were  reopened,  it  was  found  that  the  stone  work  was  too 
seriously  damaged  to  be  trustworthy  again,  or  to  admit  of 
reparation,  wmerefore,  as  the  roof  too  required  to  be  renewed, 
the  whole  was  taken  down  and  rebuilt.  In  breaking  down 
this  wall,  the  later  portion  within  the  arches  proved  to  be 
much  firmer  and  more  difficult  to  separate  than  the  older  por- 
tion above  them.  Among  the  materials  of  this  wall  were  a 
few  fragments  from  some  former  construction,  but  nothing  of 
any  importance,  nor  of  wdiich  the  prior  use  was  recognisable. 
One  very  small  piece  of  stone  had  some  colour  upon  it,  and 


Carved  Bracket. 


Lower  Side  nf  Bracket. 


ROTTINGDEAN    CHURCH    IN    1855.  69 

the  shape  suggested  that  it  might  have  belonged  to  the  orna- 
mental part  of,  perhaps,  a  tomb.  From  the  north-west 
angle  of  the  church  was  extracted  an  elaborately  deco- 
rated stone,  which,  manifestly,  had  originally  been  a  bracket, 
the  projecting  part  by  which  it  had  been  originally  fixed  in 
the  wall  having  been  roughly  squared  oft1.  The  four  sides, 
which  would  have  been  exposed  to  view,  are  covered  with 
carving  in  one  of  the  innumerable  Norman  patterns,  but  of 
which  style  no  specimen  is  visible  in  the  existing  building, 
neither  are  these  mouldings  usual,  if  to  be  found,  in 
England. 

Very  many  stones  of  the  old  piers  and  arches  had  acquired 
such  a  red  tinge  to  some  depth  from  the  surface  (which  also 
had  been  observed  previously,  and  is  still  perceptible,  in  the 
arches  and  windows  of  the  tower),  and  the  defective  stones 
split  in  such  a  peculiar  manner  (the  cracks  not  appearing  till 
the  stones  were  removed  from  their  position),  as  necessarily  to 
suggest  some  operating  cause  beyond  the  ordinary  effects  of 
time  ;  the  foreman  consequently  submitted  to  the  action  of  fire 
a  piece  of  unstained  Caen  stone,  the  result  of  the  experiment 
being  that  a  precisely  similar  tint  was  produced  to  that  so 
extensively  prevailing  in  the  church.  This  fact  strongly  con- 
firms my  impression,  already  pronounced  (at  stfjjra  277 ',  and, 
under  Rye,  377),  that  the  former  aisle  was  burned  down. 

The  original  floor  of  this  church  was  upon  an  inclined  plane. 
The  recent  alterations  allowed  some  opinion  to  be  formed  as 
to  the  amount  of  this  inclination,  and  it  was  calculated  that 
the  east  end  of  the  nave  was  about  2^  feet  higher  than  the 
sill  of  the  western  entrance ;  consequently,  the  total  length  of 
the  nave  being  about  68  feet,  the  rise  was  3-7ths  of  an  inch 
in  a  foot,  or  about  1  in  28.  The  old  piers  between  the  nave 
and  aisle  were  placed  upon  varying  levels,  the  difference 
between  the  bases  being  6  inches,  descending  westwards, 
another  instance  of  which  has  been  recorded  in  the  account  of 
Fletching  Church  (iv.  241). l  The  roof,  likewise,  was  framed 
with  an  inclination  from  east  to  west,  though  this  could  be 
easily,  and  was,  overlooked  when  viewed  from  beneath.  It 
was,  however,  sufficiently  evident  from  a  little  distance,  more 

1  Of  Portslade  Church  also  the  floor  has  a  slight  inclination  westwards.     (Notes 
on  Churches,  $c,  2G9.) 


70  ROTTINGDEAN    CHURCH     IN    1855. 

particularly  when  the  new  work  was  advanced  far  enough  for 
its  own  horizontal  line  to  be  contrasted  with  the  sloping  one 
of  the  old  building. 

One  grand  defect  of  our  early  ecclesiastical  architecture  was 
the  slight  care  very  frequently  bestowed  upon  securing  a  good 
foundation,  instances  having  occurred  where  it  could  be  ascer- 
tained that  the  walls  had  even  been  erected  immediately  upon 
the  natural  turf.  Appearances  indicate  that  this  may  have 
been  the  case  at  Worth  Church,  the  walls  commencing,  as 
may  be  seen  on  the  north  side,  with  a  course  of  boulder- 
stones,  such  as  might,  probably,  be  collected  in  the  neigh- 
bouring forest.  Though  somewhat  more  skill  had  been  exerted 
at  Rottingdean,  the  original  foundations  are  so  shallow  that, 
in  levelling  the  floor  of  the  nave,  the  earth  had  been  removed 
lower  than  the  base  of  the  tower,  wherefore,  had  the  soil  been 
any  other  than  solid  chalk  or  rock,  it  is  by  no  means  unlikely 
that  the  improvers  of  1 81 S  might  have  occasioned  the  fall  of 
the  tower  upon  the  body  of  the  church. 

It  may  be  added,  that  the  cheerful  co-operation  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  village  and  their  friends  permitted  advantage 
to  be  taken  of  the  opportunity  for  effecting  the  very  great 
improvement  of  replacing  all  the  remaining  sash  windows  by 
others  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  the  building ; 
though  it  is  to  be  regretted,  that  the  correction  of  former 
anomalies  was  not  completely  carried  out. 


SUBSIDY   ROLL,  COLLECTED   WITHIN  THE   RAPE 
OF  LEWES,  19  JAMES  L,  A.D.  1621. 

COMMUNICATED  BY  W.  S.  ELLIS,  Esq.1 


******  Certificate  indented  made 
the  xxth  dpye  of  September,  in  the  nyneteenth  veer  of  the 
rayne  of  the  moste  gracious  Sonvraigne  Lord  Jeames,  by  the 
grace  of  God  of  Englande,  Ffrance,  and  Scotlande  Kynge, 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c,  and  of  Scotlande  the  five  and 
fiftieth,  witnesseth  that  wee,  Sir  Walter  Covert,  Sir  Edward 
Culpeper,  knightes,  and  Richard  Amherst,  Esquire,  Commis- 
sioners amongst  others  assigned  by  our  Souvraigne  Lord  the 
tinge,  in  the  said  Countye  of  Sussex,  for  the  assessinge,  taxe- 
ing,  and  levienge  of  the  first  paiem*  of  the  seconde  subsedye 
granted  to  our  said  Souvraigne  Lord  Kinge  Jeames,  of  the 
layetie,  by  Acte  of  Parliamente,  in  the  eighteenth  yeere  of  his 
Ma,ies  raigne,  have  executed  that  service  within  the  said  Rape 
of  Lewes,  in  the  said  Countye  of  Sussex,  wdl  said  Rape  wee 
have  assigned  and  nominated  John  Stapley,  of  Twyneham, 
gent.,  high  collector  for  the  wholle  taxacon  of  the  said  Rape, 
and  have  taken  his  obligation  for  answeringe  the  money 
apointed  to  his  collection  to  the  use  of  our  said  Souvraigne 
Lorde  the  Kinsre,  accordinge  to  the  forme  of  the  saide  Acte. 


»o^>  u^^'«"'5' 


LEWES  BURROWE. 


Mr.  Richard  Amherst,  esquire,  in  landes 
Mr.  Edward  Amherst,  in  landes 
Richard  Glover,  in  landes 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cheynie,  widow,  in  landes 

1  From  the  original  MS.  roll  in  his  possession 


xvi/z.  xlij-5.  viijf/. 

XX5-.  ijs.  viijc/. 

xh.  xs.  iiijc/. 

vli.  xiijs.  iiijc/. 


7-2 


SUBSIDY    ROLL,    COLLECTED    WITHIN 


Walter  Dollcggc,  in  landes 

Mr.  Henry  Peeke,  in  landes     . 

John  Rowe,  gent.,  in  landes     . 

Richard  Crane,  in  landes 

Robert  Gaymer,  gent.,  in  goodes 

Mrs.  Margaret  Morley,  widow,  in  landes 

Joane  Ffaukner,  widow,  in  landes 

Mr.  George  Bindles,  in  goodes 

Mr.  Roberte  Bindles,  in  landes 

Richard  Knighte,  in  landes 

John  Streater,  in  landes 

John  Mathewe,  in  landes 

William  Browne,  in  landes 

Henry  Rose,  in  landes 

Thomas  Snatt,1  in  landes 

Raphe  Bristoe,  gent.,  in  landes 

John  Holter,  in  landes 

Richard  Martin,  in  landes 

Mr.  William  Heathe,  in  landes 

Richard  Nnton,  in  landes 

John  Dufell,  in  landes 

Peter  Raie,  alien  p.  polle 

George  Seager,  in  landes 

William  Dodson,  in  landes 

Roberte  Otringham,  in  landes 

John  Perce,  in  landes 

Samnell  Midmore,  in  landes 

Thomzin  Dawson,  widowe,  in  lands 

Mr.  Jeames  Warnet,  in  landes 

William  Ffoster,  in  lands 

John  Bayley,  in  lands 

George  Mathewe,  in  landes 

Roberte  Sparkes,  in  landes 

Christopher  Warren,  in  landes 

Mrs.  Anne  Goringe,  widowe,  in  landes 

John  Margerom,  in  goodes 

1  A  family  of  this  name  lived  at  Hun- 
ton,  co.  Kent,  in  the  seventeenth  century 
(vide  Thorp' sRegistrumRoffense,  p.  872), 
who,  with  those  of  Sussex,  were  probably 
descended  from  "William  de  Snaith,  Chan- 


xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

x\s.  vs.  viijd. 

x\s.  vs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

iijii.  vs. 

x\s.  vs.  iiijV/. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

iijli.  vs. 

xh.  vs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

iijl.  vs. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

iijl.  vh>. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxxs.  iiijf/. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

liijli.  xs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

iiijV/. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxxs.  iiijs. 

xxs.  ijs.  viijd. 

xxxs.  iiij.*?. 

xxxs.  hip. 

x\s.  vs.  viijd. 

xxs.  us.  viiid. 

xxs.  iis.  viiid. 

xxs.  iis.  viiid. 

xxs.  iis.  viiid. 

ivl.  xs.  viiid. 

iii/.  vs. 


cellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  Edward  III., 
whose  descendant  "William  Snaith  was 
sheriff  of  Kent  9  Henry  IV.  (vide  Hasted's  j 
Kent,  8vo  edit.  iii.  537). 


THE    RAPE    OF    LEWES. 


73 


John  Hcntye,  in  landes 

John  Pernell,  in  landes 

John  Cowlestocke,  in  landes 

John  Booker,  in  landes 

Edward  Turle,  in  landes 

Richard  Bloomer,  in  landes 

William  Hollingdale,  in  landes 

Gersham  Bailey,  in  landes 

Mr.  Edward  Henshawe,  in  lands 

William  Read,  in  landes 

John  Bexhill,  in  landes 

Mr.  Clement  Athurst,  in  landes 

Mrs.  Hocherk,  widowe,  in  lands 

Mr.  Walter  Dubbell,2  in  lands 

Mr.  John  Ayhum,  in  landes 

Richard  Kidder,  in  goods 

John  S hurley,  esq.,  in  landes 

Mrs.  Frances  Shurley,  widow,  in  landes 

Mrs.  Catheryne  Wood,  widowe,  in  landes 

Edward  Fitharber,  in  landes 

Henry  Godman,  in  landes 

Thomas  Ollyver,  in  landes 

JSessors.  Richard  Shelley,  gent.,  in  goodes 
,,       William  Thomas,  gent.,  in  landes 
,,       Thomas  Trayton,  gent.,  in  landes 
,,       William  Clagget,  in  goodes 
,,       Henry  Stonestreat,3  in  goods     . 


SOUTHOVER  BURROWE. 


s. 


s.    d. 


20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

8 

30 

4 

0 

20 

2 

8 

20  2  8 
20  2  8 
40     5     8 


20 

2 

8 

£5 

13 

4 

40 

5 

8 

£3 

5 

0 

£4 

10 

8 

40 

5 

8 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

£3 

8 

0 

£4 

6 

8 

£4 

10 

8 

£3 

8 

0 

£3 

5 

0 

£3 

5 

0 

Som'  £46  19     8 


Henry  Shelley,  esqr.,  in  goodes 
William  Nuton,  esqr.,  in  landes 


£4     6     8 

40     5     8 


2  Adam  de  Dubel  occurs  in  the  Subsidy 
Roll  for  the  Rape  of  Lewes,  a.d.  1297, 
published  in  Vol.  II.  of  Sussex  Arch. 
Coll.,  and  Henry  Dubyll  in  the  List  of 
Gentry  of  Kent,  A.D.  1433. 

3  This  family  derived  its  name  from 
Stanestreet,   a    hamlet    in   Charing,    co. 

IX. 


Kent,  where  was  a  Roman  way.  Robert 
Stanstreet  of  Ivychurch,  and  Laurence 
Stanstreet  of  Maidstone,  occur  in  theList 
of  Gentry  of  Kent,  1433 ;  and  Richard 
de  Stanestreet  was  M.P.  for  Horsham, 
A.D.  1313. 

10 


74 


SUBSIDY    ROLL,    COLLECTED    WITHIN 


5-.      (I. 


John  Michell,4  gent.,  in  landes 

Jeames  Ploraer,  in  landes 

Thomas  Russell,5  in  landes 

Mrs.  Elphicke,  widowe,  in  landes 

William  Lane,  in  landes 

Roger  Cobie,  in  landes 

William  Adams,  in  lands 

Mathewe  Parker,  in  landes 

Henry  Sparkes,  in  landes 

Richard  Kidder,  in  landes 

William  Aleock,  in  landes 

Thomas  Earle,  in  landes 

Sessors.  Thomas  Heneage,  gent.,  in  goods 
„       Samuell  Towers,  gent.,  in  lands 
„       John  Knowles,  gent.,  in  lands 


Petie  Collector,  Nicholas 


Russell,  in  landes 

Som'  £3.  15^ 


40 
£3 
40 

20 
40 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
£3 
£3 
20 
20 


M. 


BARKHAM  AND  HAMSEY  HUNDRED. 


Barkham. 
Edward  Brooke,  in  landes 
Widowe  Burtinshall,  in  landes 
Edward  Skynner,  in  landes 
William  Rootes,  in  landes 
Thomas  Wickerson,6  in  landes 
John  Heseman,  in  landes 
Thomas  West,  in  landes 
John  Bodle,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Thomas  Michelborne,  gent 

,,       Henrye  Hesman,  in  landes 
William  Atree,  in  lands    . 

,,       John  Earle,  in  landes 


in 


lands 


30 
40 
30 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
40 
40 
40 
40 


Som'  48s. 


4  There  are  several  pedigrees  of  families 
of  this  name  in  Berry's  Sussex  Genea- 
logies, all  apparently  of  one  stock,  and 
bearing  the  same  arms,  viz.,  a  chevron 
between  3  escallops ;  but  the  original  coat 
of  this  wide-spread  indigenous  Sussex 
family  was  probably  a  chevron  between  3 
eagles,  which  were  borne  by  the  Michells 


of  Cornwall,  as  the  eagle  was  the  bearing 
of  their  progenitor  Gilbert  de  Acquila. 
{Vide  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  VI.  8S.) 

5  Hugh  Russell  occurs  in  the  Nonarum 
Inquisitiones  for  Brighthelmstone. 

6  This  is  probably  the  same  as  "  Wick- 
ersham,"  the  name  of  a  Sussex  family. 


THE    RAPE    OF    LEWES. 


75 


Newick. 
Mr.  John  Michelbourne,  in  Jandes 
William  Carpenter,  in  landes 
Thomas  Nuneham,  in  lands 
Richard  Berne,  in  landes 
Sessors.  John  Kyllinor,  in  lands    . 
William  Delve,  in  landes 
Robert  Chatfield,  in  landes 
Thomas  Dapp,  in  landes 
John  Nuneham,  in  landes 


Som'  34*.  Sd. 


s. 
20 
30 
20 
20 
£3 
30 
40 
20 
20 


Hamsey. 

Sir  Thomas  Hendle,  knighte,  in  landes 

Fromabove  Hendle,  gent.,  in  lands 

John  More,  in  landes 

Thomas  Hawkins,  in  landes 

John  Cowlestocke,  in  lands 

John  Constable,  in  landes 

Robert  Plomer,  in  landes 

Sessors,  Petie  Collectors.  John  Comber,  in  landes 


£12 

30 
20 
20 
20 
30 
20 
40 
Wm.  Marquicke,  in  landes  30 
„  John  Draper,  in  lands         30 

,,  John  Alcock,  in  lands         20 

Som'  £3.  66'.  Scl, 
Som'  of  this  whole  hnnd'  is  £7.  9s.  4?d. 


s. 
2 
4 
o 

2 
8 
4 
5 

•2 

2 


32 
4 

2 

2 
o 

4 
2 
5 
4 
4 
2 


d. 

8 
0 
8 
8 
0 
0 
8 
8 
8 


SWANBARROWE  HUNDRED. 

Kingston. 
Sessors.  Mr.  Edmund  Booker,  in  landes 
,,       John  Vynoll,7  in  goodes 


40     5     8 
£6  10     0 


'  The  following  notice  of  this  family 
occurs  in  Harl.  MSS.  1144  (Brit.  Mus.) 
amongst  the  Grants  of  Arms,  A.D.  1657 : 
— "  John  Vinall,  of  Kingston,  gent.,  is 
of  good  birth  and  anciently  descended, 
which  was  the  son  of  John,  which  was  the 
son  of  William,  which  was  the  son  of 
William  of  the  same  place  and  county, 
who  was  anciently  descended  from  Vyne- 
hall  in  the  said  county."  Their  arms 
were  party  per  fesse  or  Sc  sable,  in  chief 
3  lions  rampant  sable,  armed  cf  langued 


gules ;  their  crest,  a  Demi-lion  rampant 
erased  sable;  holding  in  its  mouth  a 
bezant.  There  is  a  pedigree  of  the  family 
in  the  Visitation  for  1662.  William 
Vinall  of  Kingston,  gent.,  then  living, 
married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Walter 
Dobell,  of  Street,  Esq. ;  and,  secondly, 
Mabilla  Davis,  by  whom  he  had  William 
Vinall,  who,  by  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Kichard  Gunn,  Esq.,  had  a  son  William, 
who  was  buried  at  Iford,  1773.  The 
name  was  spelt  originally  Vynagh ;  and 


70 


SUBSIDY    ROLL,    COLLECTED    WITHIN 


Sessors.  William  Ade,  in  goodes 

„       Thomas  Barrenden,  in  lands 
Mr.  Thomas  Michell,  in  landes 
John  Towner,  in  landes 
Richard  Howell,  in  landes    . 
John  Ade,  in  lands 
John  Pickham,  in  lands 


s. 

s.    d. 

£3 

5     0 

ids      .         .         20 

2     8 

40 

5     4 

•20 

2     8 

20 

2     8 

30 

4     0 

20 

2     8 

Som'  40^.  kd. 


Iforde. 
Sessors.  Stephen  Aridge,  in  goodes 
,,       Richard  Aridge,  in  goodes 
„       Nicholas  Parkhurst,  in  lands 
John  Frende,  in  lands 
Frances  Mavnarde,  in  landes 

Som'  19s 
Som'  of  this  hundred  is  £3. 


£4  6  8 

£3  5  0 

20  2  8 

20  2  8 

20  2  8 


Sd, 


HOLMSTROWE  HUNDRED. 
RODMELL. 

Richard  Stonehouse,  in  landes       .         .         .  20 

John  Yeomans,  in  lands        .          .          .          .  20 

John  White,  in  landes          .         .         .         .  20 

Richard  Alchorne,  in  landes          .         .         .  20 

Sessors.  Mr.  Laurence  De  la  Chamber,  in  landes  £4 

,,       Frances  ,  in  goodes        .         .  £3 

,,       Thomas  Marshall,  in  landes       .         .  40 

,,       Richard  Ade,  in  landes              .         .  20 

Som5  Us.  M, 

SOUTHEESE. 

John  Tester,  in  landes          ....  20 

John  Dumbrell,  in  landes              .         .         .  20 

Telscombe. 

Sessors.  George  Ockenden,  in  landes     .         .  40 

„       Robert  e  Ade,  in  lands      .         .         .  20 


Som5  xivs.  iiij^. 


2 
2 
2 
2 
10 
5 
5 
2 


in  the  Burrell  MSS.  there  are  copies  of 
many  of  their  deeds,  the  originals  of 
which  arc  in  the  British  Museum.    Vine- 


hall,  as  it  is  now  spelt,  whence  they  took 
their  name,  is  in  the  parish  of  Sedles- 
combe. 


THE    R.\rE    01''    LEWES. 


Meechinge. 
Edward  Tomsett,  in  landes 
Richard  Tuppen,  in  landes 
Widowe  Allen,  in  landes 
Thomas  Allen,  in  landes 
John  Allen,  in  landes 
Thomas  Easton,  in  lands 
John  Easton,  in  landes 
Edwarde  Russell,  in  lands 
Stephen  Symms,  in  landes 
John  Hodson,  in  landes 
Peter  Ga 

Pedinghooe. 
William  Benett,  in  landes 
Robert  Styles,  in  landes 
Jeames  Yokehurst,  in  landes 
Henrye  Lucas,  in  landes 
Richard  Tomsett,  in  landes 
Richard  Crane,  in  landes 
Richard  Acton,  in  landes 


6'. 

20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
0 


Som'  27*. 


20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 


77 

s.  d. 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 
iiijV/. 


Som'  18^.  Sd. 
Som'  of  this  hundred,  £4.  13*.  M. 


YEONSMERE  HUNDRED. 


Ffalmere. 
Mr.  Walter  Dubble,  in  landes 
Nicholas  Yonge,  in  landes 
William  Boone,  in  landes 
Robert  Howell,  in  goodes 
Thomas  Bearde,  in  landes 
Richard  Bearde,  in  landes 
Thomas  Savidge,  in  landes 
John  Baldie,  in  landes 
John  Riche,  in  landes 

Ovingden. 
Thomas  Geere,  in  landes 
Widowe  Avourde,  in  landes 


£4 

10 

s 

30 

4 

0 

20 

2 

8 

£4 

6 

8 

20 

2 

8 

30 

4 

0 

30 

4 

0 

20 

0 

8 

20     2     8 


Som'  x\s. 


20     2     8 
20     2     a 


71 


SUBSIDY  ROLL,  COLLECTED  WITH  I N 


S.       S.      (1. 

JPetie  Collector,  Richard  Dumbrell,  in  goodes  £3     5     0 

Som'   10*.  4f/. 
Som'  of  this  hundred  is  50s.  4cl 


WHALESBONE  HUNDEED. 

Brightehelmston. 
Peter  Booker,  in  goodes 
Mr.  Richard  Scrase,  in  goodes 
Edward  Myhill,  senr.,  in  goodes 
William  Guilham,  senr.,  in  landes 
Thomas  Humfrey,  in  goodes 
Thomas  Gunn,  in  goodes 
John  Gunter,  in  goodes 
Thomas  Kitchener,  in  landes 
John  Humfrey,  in  landes 
Henry  Howell,  senr.,  in  landes 
Mr.  Mathew  Bishe,  in  landes 
Thomas  Worger,  jun.,  in  landes 
Edwarde  Harpur,  in  landes 
William  Gun,  in  landes 
lessors.  Richard  Mockford,  in  landes 
,,       Henry  Killick,  in  lands 
,,       Henrye  Soane,  in  lands 
John  Frende,  sen.,  in  lands 
Thomas  Jefferye,  in  landes 

Som'  £3.  10 
Patcham. 
Anthony  Stapley,  esq.,  in  landes 
John  Gower,  in  landes 
John  Gorringe,  in  landes 
Thomas  Rawkins,  senr.,  in  landes 
Richard  Geeringe,  in  landes 
Robert  Hardman,  in  landes 
Mr.  Richard  Scrase,  in  goodes 
Thomas  Winchester,  in  landes 
Richard  Hardman,  in  landes 
Thomas  Rawkins,  junr.,  in  landes 

Som' 
Som'  of  this  hundred  is  £6.  5s 


30 
20 
20 


$d. 


20 

£5 


£3 

£5 
£3 
30 
£3 

£3  5 

£3  5 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 
4 
2 

9 


£8  21 
20  2 
20  2 
20  2 
20  2 


40  5 
30  4 
20  2 


45s. 


THE    RAPE    OF    LEWES. 


79 


PRESTON  AND  HOVE  HUNDRED. 

Preston. 
Thomas  Shirley,  esq.,  in  landes 
Mr.  Henry  Shirley,  esquire,  in  landes 

Hoove. 

Mrs.  Scrase,  widow,  in  landes 

Sessors.  Edward  Efowle,  in  landes 
,,       Robert  Androse.  in  goodes 
„       Jeames  Buckholl,  in  goodes 

Sorn'  3G 


s.     s. 
£G  IG 
20  2 

d. 
0 

8 

20  2 
40  5 
£3  5 
£3  5 
s.  8d. 

8 
S 
0 
0 

FFISHERSGATE  HALF  HUNDRED. 

Hangletox. 
Mr.  John  Puckle,  in  goodes 
John  Edwardes,  in  landes 
Henry  Owden,  in  landes 
Thomas  Ockenden,  in  landes 
John  Ampleford,  in  landes 
Nicholas  Hunter,  in  landes 
Thomas  Barrowe,  in  landes 
John  Pollarde,  in  landes 
lessors.  Abraham  Edwards,  gent.,  in  landes 

„       Edward  Blaker,  in  landes 

„       Henrye  Savidge,  in  landes 

„       John  Collyer,  in  landes 

Soni'  of  this  halfe  hundred,  £3.  3s 


£6  10 

0 

£3  8 

0 

30  4 

0 

30  4 

0 

20  2 

8 

20  2 

8 

20  2 

8 

20  2 

8 

£4  10 

8 

£4  10 

8 

20  2 

S 

20  2 

8 

4c/. 


POONINGES  HUNDRED. 

Newtimber. 

Sir  Edward  Bellingham,  knighte,  in  landes  .  £20  53  4 

Thomas  Woodcock,  gent.,  in  landes        .  .  40  5  8 

Piecombe. 

Thomas  Cowlestocke,  in  landes      .          .  .  20  2  8 

John  Bellingham,  gent.,  in  goodes         .  .  £3  5  0 

Edward  Pelliam,  gent.,  in  landes            .  .  20  2  8 

Richard  Toope,  gent.,  in  landes     .          .  .  30  4  0 


80 


SUBSIDY    ROLL,    COLLECTED    WITHIN 


Perching. 
William  Marchante,8  in  landes 
Nicholas  Ffaukener,  in  landes 
William  Wakefield,  in  landes 
William  Scrase,  in  landes 
William  Sappes,  gent.,  in  goodes 
Phillip  More,  gent.,  in  lands 
John  Cheale,  in  landes 

Some  of  this  hund',  £5 


s. 
20 
20 
20 
20 
£3 
40 
£3 


(J. 
8 
8 
8 
0 
8 
4 
0 


2s. 


BUTTINGHILL,  NORTH  PARTE. 

Slangham. 
Sir  Walter  Coverte,  knighte,  in  landes 
William  Gatfer,  in  landes     . 
John  Bartley,  in  landes 
John  Standen,  in  landes 
John  Steele,  in  landes 
John  Gatfer,  in  landes 
Henry  Yonge,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Jerrarde  Wheeler,  in  landes 

„       Edward  Guilham,  in  landes 

„       Richard  Hall,  in  landes 

Som' 


£8. 


CUCKFIELD. 

Mrs.  Mary  Hussey,  widowe,  in  landes 
Nathaniel  Hussey,  gent.,  in  landes 
Henry  Alberrie,  gent.,  in  goodes   . 
Roger  Butler,  gent.,  in  landes 
John  Bluet,  gent.,  in  landes 
William  Hovenden,  gent.,  in  goodes 
Nicholas  Burte  of  Brantridge  in  lands 
Richard  Wickham,  in  landes 
Henry  Michell,9  in  landes     . 


£50  £6 

10 

8 

20 

2 

8 

40 

G 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

30 

4 

0 

30 

4 

0 

2s.  Sri 

£3 

8 

0 

40 

5 

8 

£3 

5 

0 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

£5 

8 

4 

£3 

8 

0 

£3 

8 

0 

£3 

8 

0 

8  Branches  of  this  family  lived  at  Al- 
bourne,  Edburton,  and  Street.  Thomas 
Marohant  of  Albourne,  temp.  Charles  II., 
purchased  the  estate  of  Little  Park,  in 
Hurstpierpoint,  which  continued  in  that 
family  till  recently,  when  it  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  Hannington. 

0  Richard  Mychell,  by  his  charter  dated 


7  Edward  I.,  granted  to  the  prior  and 
monks  of  St.  Pancras,  Lewes,  lands  in 
Cuckfield,  called  De  la  Monhell.  A  pe- 
digree of  Michell,  of  Cuckfield,  was  entered 
at  the  Visitation  in  1634,  and  is  printed 
in  Berry's  Sussex  Genealogies,  p.  346. 
There  is  also  another  of  three  descents  in 
the  Visitation  of  1662. 


THK    ll.APK    OP    LF.WES. 


81 


Widowe  Pickham,  in  landes 

Richard  Parkes,  in  goodes 

Thomas  Abott,  in  landes 

Richard  Tomsett,  in  landes 

Drew  Cheale,  in  landes 

Thomas  Hirste,  in  lands 

Robert  Weekes,  in  landes 

Walter  Holcombe,  in  landes 

Ffrances  Scrase,  in  landes 

Walter  Burte,  in  landes 

William  Efaukener,  in  landes 

John  Robertes,  in  landes 

Edmunde  Stanford,  in  lands 

John  Weller,  in  landes 

Richard  Jenner,  in  landes 

Anthony  Atree,  in  landes 

Stephen  Jupp,  in  landes 

Thomas  Affield,  in  landes 

Richard  Spurlinge,  in  landes 

John  Garston,  in  landes 

William  Ashfould,  in  landes 

Richard  Blaker,  in  landes 

Robert  Thomeden,  in  landes 

John  Martin,  in  landes 

Thomas  Geere,  in  landes 

Thomas  Patchinge,  in  landes 

Roberte  Abott,  in  landes 

John  Lashemore,  in  landes 

Robert  Stanbrige,  in  landes 

John  Burtenshall,  in  landes 

Richard  Bartley,  in  landes    . 

George  Jenken,  in  landes 

Sessors.  Ellis  Jenner,  in  landes 

„       William  Woolridge,  in  landes 
„       John  Warden,  in  landes  . 
„       Henry  Gatlande,  in  landes 

Som'  £8. 
Worth. 

Sir  Jno.  Smith,  knight,  in  landes 

IX. 


s. 

s. 

d. 

40 

5 

8 

£3 

5 

0 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

8 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

30 

4 

0 

20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

4 

30 

4 

0 

40 

5 

4 

20 
Id 

2 

8 

£10 

26 

S 

11 

82 


SUBSIDY  ROLL,  COLLECTED  WITHIN 


John  Whitfield,  esquire,  in  landes 

Ambrose  Wickham,  in  landes 

John  Balcombe,  in  goocles    . 

Nicholas  Brooker,  in  landes 

Richard  Gardyner,  in  landes 

George  Goldsmith,  in  goodes 

Thomas  Wood,  in  landes 

John  Tidham,  in  landes 

John  Peake,  in  landes 

jSessois.  Abraham  Edwardes,  in  goodes 
„       Thomas  Weeker,  in  landes 
„       William  Ownstead,  in  goodes 
„       John  Elfick,  in  landes 


Crawley. 
William  Dodd,  gent.,  in  landes 
John  Martin,  in  landes 
Giles  Cuddington,10  in  landes 
Thomas  Jeale,  in  landes 
John  Jorden,  in  landes 
Thomas  Nicholas,  in  landes 
Edwarde  Sarredge,  in  landes 


Soin'  £4.  10s. 


Som'  25s.  Ad. 


s. 
£8 
20 
£3 
20 
20 
£3 
20 
20 
20 
£3 
20 
£3 
30 
M. 

40 
20 
20 
20 
40 
30 
20 


Balcombe. 
John  Efaukener,  sen.,  in  landes  . 
John  Ffaukener,  jun.,  in  landes  . 
William  Illman,  in  landes 

Petie  Collector,  Sessors.  John  Nuneham,  in  landes 
»  Thomas  Vynoll,  in  landes 

Som'  25s.  Ad. 
Some  of  this  halfe  hundred,  £23.  19s.  &d. 

BUTTINGHILL,  SOUTH  PAETE. 
HURSTPERPOINTE. 

Mr.  John  Thorpe,  in  landes 


40 

£4 
20 
30 
20 


s. 
21 

2 
5 
2 
2 
5 
2 
2 
2 
5 
2 
5 
4 


5 
10 

2 
4 
2 


d. 

4 
8 
0 
8 
8 
0 
8 
8 
8 
0 
8 
0 
0 


°  A  family  of  this  name,  derived  from 
Cuddmgton,  in  Surrey,  flourished  at  an 
early  penod  in  that  county ;  but  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  Till,  the  chief  line  re- 


£3     S     0 

moved  into  another  part  of  England. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
there  were  persons  of  this  name  living  at 
Charlwood,  in  Surrey. 


THE    RAPE    OF    LEWES. 


83 


Mr.  Richard  Challenor,  in  landes 

John  Dunibrell,  in  landes 

Thomas  Luxford,  in  landes 

Jeames  Mathewe,  in  landes 

Joane  Bracr,  widowe,  in  landes     . 

Marye  Luxford,  widowe,  in  landes 

Richard  Lnxford,  in  landes 

Robert  Whitepaine,  junr.,  in  landes 

William  Lashmere,  in  landes 

Allen  Savidge,  in  lands 

John  Butcher,  in  landes 

John  Smithe,  in  landes 

Edwarde  Goffe,  in  landes 

William  Burte,  in  lands 

Edward  Brooker,  in  landes 

John  Wickham,  senr.,  in  landes    . 

Richard  Burtinshall,  in  landes 

John  Chatfield,  in  landes 

Thomas  Cowlestocke,  in  landes 

Thomas  Herriott,  in  landes  . 

Richard  Gander,  in  landes    . 

Scssors.  Thomas  Averye,  in  landes 

,,       Robert  Whitepaine,  senr.,  in  landes 
„      William  Jorden,  in  landes 
„      John  Norton,  in  landes     . 

Som'  £4 
Keemer. 

Frances  Luxford,  in  landes  . 

Richard  Alcocke,  in  landes  . 

Thomas  Holcombe,  in  landes 

Thomas  Renfield,  in  lands    . 

Sessors.  George  Overye,  in  lands 

„       George  Luxford,  gent.,  in  landes 
„      Thomas  Turner,  in  landes 

Som'  46s.  $d. 
Clayton. 

Edwarde  Michelbourne,  esq.,  in  landes 

Edwarde  Smith,  in  landes     . 

Frances  Alexander,  in  landes 


s. 
40 
40 
40 
40 
20 
20 


20  2 

20  2 

20  2 

20  2 


20  2 
20 
20 
20 


20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
30 
30 
30 
30 


d. 
4 
4 
4 
4 
8 
8 
8 
8 
8 
8 
8 
2  8 


s. 
5 

5 
5 
5 
2 

2 


£3  8  0 

20  2  8 

20  2  8 

20  2  8 

£4  10  8 

£6  16  0 

30  4  0 


40  5  8 
20  2  S 
20  2  8 


84 


SUBSIDY    ROLL,    COLLECTED    WITHIN 


S. 

Thomas  Brasier,  in  landes    ....  20 

Sessors.  Richard  Beache,  in  landes         .         .         20 

John  Atree,  in  landes       .  .  .         20 

John  Warde,  in  lands      .  .  .  20 

Som'  xxjs.  iiijd. 

Som'  of  this  halfe  hundred,  vij//.  viijs.  xiijd. 


WYNDHAM,  HALF  HUNDKED. 

Bolney. 
Sir  Benjamyn  Pellate,  knighte,  in  landes 
Petie  Collector.  Richard  Costedle,  in  landes 
Barnard  Burtenshall,  in  landes 
Jeames  Wickham,  in  goodes 
Thomas  Faukener,  in  landes 
Henry  Carpenter,  in  landes 
Humphrey  Wales,  in  landes 
John  Lintott,  junr.,  in  landes 
Alice  Beard,  widow,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Mr.  Henrye  Warde,  in  landes 

„      Nicholas  West,  in  landes 

„      John  Vinoente,  in  landes 

„      John  Lintott,  senr.,  in  landes 

Som'  xli.  ijs.  iujd. 

TWYNEHAM. 

Frances  Killingbeck,  clerke,  in  landes 
Walter  Challenor,  gent.,  in  landes 
Thomas  Agate,  in  landes 
Frances  Langford,  in  landes 
William  Homier,  in  landes  . 
William  Butcher,  in  landes 
Josephe  Langford,  in  landes 
Thomas  Chatfield,  in  landes 
Frances  Woolger,  in  landes 
High  Collector.  Mr.  John  Stapley,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Richard  Butcher,  senr.,  in  landes 
„      Richard  Butcher,  junr.,  in  landes 
Richard  Parson,  in  landes 

Som'  £3. 
Som'  of  this  half  hundred,  £8.  2s.  \d. 


£20  53 


£3 

8 

30 

4 

£iij 

5 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

£4 

10 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

40 

5 

20 

2 

30 

4 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

20 

2 

£5 

13 

£3 

8 

£3 

8 

20 

0 

■0 

THE    RAPE    OF    LEWES. 


S5 


8. 

s. 

d. 

£3 

8 

0 

20 

2 

8 

20 

0 

■w 

8 

20 

S 

20 

2 

8 

£3 

8 

0 

£3 

8 

0 

40 

5 

8 

30 

4 

0 

£3 

8 

0 

£3 

8 

0 

£8 

13 

4 

£4 

10 

8 

ST  RE  ATE,  SOUTH  PARTE. 

Weevilsfield. 
Thomas  Elliott,  esq.,  in  landes 
Richard  Dumbrell,  in  landes 
John  Hnrste,  in  landes 
Thomas  Atree,  in  landes 
Philip  Jenner,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Thomas  More,  gent.,  in  landes 

,,      Thomas  Godman,  in  landes 

,,      Walter  Lucas,  in  landes   . 

,,      Edmunde  Atree,  in  landes 

,,       Roberte  Warren,  in  landes 

Som'  52*' 

Westmiston. 
Diones  Pankhurste,  in  landes 

Petie Collector,  Sessors.  Nicholas Challenor, in  goodes  £8  13 
„  Frances  Challenor,  in  landes  £4  10 

,,  WilliamMichelborne,in  landes  £4  10 

„  Thomas  Alcocke,  in  goodes    £4     6 

Som'  49s.  4</. 

Plompton. 
John  Hohnevvood,  in  landes 
Thomas  Broomefield,11  in  landes    . 
Sessors.  John  Maskeall,  gent.,  in  landes 
,,      John  Thetcher,  in  landes 
,,      John  Pilven,  in  landes 

Som'  21a1.  4d, 

Streate. 
William  Alee,  in  landes 
John  Martin,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Gregorye  Pardone,  in  landes 

,,      Henry  Crawley,  in  landes 
Edwarde  Warcott,  in  landes 
Thomas  Sisson,  in  landes 

Som'  24s 


20 

2 

8 

20 

0 

8 

40 

5 

8 

£3 

8 

0 

20 

0 

8 

M. 

40 

5 

4 

20 

o 

8 

40 

5 

8 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

11  A  family  of  this  name  lived  at  Evvhurst  and  Udimore,  one  of  whom  married  the 
heiress  of  French,  of  Chiddingly. 


86  SUBSIDY    ROLL,    COLLECTED    WITHIN 

LOVELL.12 

Stephen  Martin,  in  goodes 
Thomas  Pellinge,13  senr.,  in  landes 
Thomas  Pellinge,  junr.,  in  landes 
Walter  Martin,  in  landes 
Henrye  Pankhurst,  in  landes 
John  Killingbecke,  in  landes 
Leonard  Savidge,  in  landes 
Sessors.  John  Chatfield,  in  landes 

„      John  Godlye,  of  Breanes,  in  landes 

„      Thomas  Button,  in  landes 

John  Godlye,  of  Byneham,  in  landes 

Som'  42s.  M 

DlTCHENlNGE. 

Stephen  Pollington,  in  landes 
Henry  Hider,14  gent.,  in  goodes    . 
Sessors.  Sackville  Porter,  gent.,  in  landes 
„      William  Gunn,  in  landes 

Som'  236'.  4</. 

Chailye. 
John  Gatton,  gent.,  in  landes 
Prances  Paine,  in  landes 
John  Chatfielde,  of  the  Greene,  in  landes 
John  Vynall,  in  landes 
Roberte  Martin,  in  landes    . 
Sessors.  Stephen  Prier,  gent.,  in  landes 
„      Richard  Coleman,  in  landes 
„      Nicholas  Earle,  in  landes 

Som'  32s. 
Some  of  this  halfe  hundred,  £12.  5s.  Sd. 


s. 

s. 

d. 

£3 

5 

0 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

s 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

8 

20 

2 

8 

£3 

8 

0 

20 

2 

8 

£6 

5 

0 

£3 

8 

0 

20 

2 

8 

40 

5 

4 

20 

9 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

0 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

0 

8 

£3 

8 

0 

40 

5 

4 

12  This  is  probably  a  misnomer  for  the 
extinct  parish  of  Loxfield,  merged,  it  is 
supposed,  in  that  of  Westmeston. 

13  By  an  undated  charter  in  the  Re- 
gister of  Lewes  Priory,  Gilbert  de  Acle 
[Ockley,  in  Keymer],  son  of  John  de 
Acle,  grants  to  Reginald  de  Pelting  all 
his  land  called  Hocland,  in  Lindfield. 
Witnessed  by  Richard  de  Petraponte, 
Ralph  his  brother,  Warin  de  Kingston, 
William  atte  Bore,  Philip  de  Acle,  &c. 

14  The  following   claim   to  bear  coat- 


armour  of  this  individual  appears  in  the 
Visitation  of  Sussex,  a.d.  1634  : — "  I, 
Henry  Hider,  of  Ditchling,  gent.,  do 
hereby  promise  at  or  before  the  last  day 
of  April  to  make  proof  of  the  arms  that 
belong  unto  me  at  the  Office  of  Arms  in 
London.  In  witness  whereof  I  here  set 
my  hand  the  29th  March,  1634.  Signed 
'  Henry  Hider.'  The  said  Henry  Hider 
doth  openly  disclaim  any  right  to  arms, 
descending  to  him  from  his  ancestors  or 
otherwise."  ': 


THE    RAPE    OF    LEWES. 


87 


STREATE,  NORTHE  PARTE. 

Ardingley. 
Sir  Edward  Cnlpeper,  knighte,  in  landes        £.2 
Thomas  Pilven,  in  landes 
Thomas  Bridges,  in  landes   . 
Nynion  Jenkin,  in  landes     . 
William  Nicholas,  in  landes 
lessors.  Abraham  Nicholas,  in  landes 

„      John  Ashfonld,  in  landes 

„      Thomas  Tullie,  in  landes 

Som'  £4.  ! 

LlNDFIELD  BaRDOLPHE. 

Thomas  Challenor,  gent.,  in  landes 
Richard  Fairehall,  in  landes 
John  Fairehall,  of  Buxshells,  in  landes 
Sessors.  Thomas  Nnneham,  in  landes 
„      Richard  Barham,  in  landes 

Som'  21s.  4d 

Balcomb  Burrow. 
Sir  Stephen  Borde,  knighte,  in  landes 
John  Brett,  in  landes 
Robert  Spence,  gent.,  in  landes 
John  Longley,  in  landes 
John  Ponder,  in  landes 
John  King,  of  Tilehowse,  in  landes 
Nynian  Brockett,  in  landes 
Thomas  Brett,  in  landes 
Thomas  Page,  in  landes 
Nicholas  Weller,  in  landes    . 
Henry  Braie,  in  landes 
John  Garston,  in  landes 
Edward  Balcombe,  in  landes 
Thomas  Holver,  in  landes 
George  Holver,  in  landes 

Som'  £5.  13s.  4d 

West  Hodelt. 
Katherine  Engfield,  widowe,  in  landes 
Margaret  Nnneham,  widowe,  in  landes 


s. 
5  £3 
40 
20 
20 
20 
30 
20 
20 


40 
40 
20 

40 


£20 
40 
£4 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
30 
30 
40 
40 
30 
40 


40 
40 


s.  d. 

G  8 

5  4 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

4  0 

2  8 

2  8 


2     8 
5     4 

20     2     8 


53  4 

5  4 

10  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

2  8 

4  0 

4  0 

5  4 
5  4 

4  0 

5  4 


5     4 
5     4 


88 


SUBSIDY    HOLT-    OF    LEWES. 


Richard  Engfield,15  gent.,  in  landes 

Thomas  Wood,  gent.,  in  landes 

Abell  Browne,  in  landes 

Richard  Brian,  in  landes 

Philip  Comber,  in  goodes 

Jeames  Stonner,  in  landes 

John  Browne,  in  landes 

Henry  Gibb,  in  landes 

Frances  Hamlen,  in  landes 

George  Wheeler,  in  landes 

Thomas  Browne,  in  landes 

Richard  Cripps,  in  landes 

William  Feldwyke,  in  landes 

Petie  Collector, Sessors.  Jasper  Wheeler,  in  landes 
Thomas  Jeninge,  in  landes 
John  Gibb,  in  landes  . 
Thomas  Cripps,  in  landes 
Som'  £4.  17,9.  M. 
Some  of  this  halfe  hundred,  £16.  Is.  4>d. 
Som'  totius  Rape,  £123.  3s.  U. 


S. 

S. 

el. 

£6 

16 

0 

£6 

16 

0 

30 

4 

0 

30 

4 

0 

£4 

6 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

30 

3 

4 

20 

2 

8 

30 

3 

4 

20 

2 

8 

£6 

8 

0 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

20 

2 

8 

15  This  family,  whose  name  was  also 
spelt  Infield,  owned  the  manor  of  Grave- 
tye,  in  the  parish  of  West  Hoathly.  They 
were  descended  from  the  Innyngfields  of 
Surrey,  who  were  a  branch  of  the  Ha- 


ningfields  of  Haningfield,  in  Essex,  one  of. 
whom,  Sir  William  de  Hanyngfield,  was 
at  the  battle  of  Boroughbridge,  temp. 
Edward  II.,  and  bore  for  his  arms,  or  a 
chevron  sable. 


NOTES  ON  THE 
CHURCHES    OF    NEWHAVEN   AND    DENTON 


PABTLY   BEAD    AT    THE   NEWHAVEN   MEETING,   25tH    SEPT.    1856. 


BY  MARK  ANTONY  LOWER,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


At  a  period  when  a  feeling  in  favour  of  church-restoration 
is  widely  prevalent,  it  is  most  desirable  to  collect  memoranda 
concerning  our  old  churches,  previously  to  their  undergoing 
that  process.  Posterity  may  wish  to  know  what  any  parish 
church  was  like  antecedently  to  the  great  changes  in  form, 
arrangement,  and  decoration,  which  are  now  going  forward ; 
but,  without  some  records  of  this  kind,  it  will  in  many  cases 
be  hard  to  judge  what  portions  of  the  edifices  have  been  re- 
moved, altered,  or  retouched.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  condemn 
the  prevailing  desire  to  enlarge  and  adorn  these  temples  of  the 
Most  High,  or  even,  upon  sufficient  authority,  to  restore  them 
to  their  ancient  architectural  condition.  But  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  true  antiquary  to  protest  against  much  of  what  is  called 
restoration,  and  which  is  too  often  rather  a  destructive  than 
a  conservative  process.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  instances  are 
not  rare,  even  in  archaeological  Sussex,  in  which  ancient  features 
have  been  so  tampered  with,  that  it  will  henceforth  be  difficult 
to  decide  what  is  original  and  what  is  merely  imitated ;  and, 
without  exemplifying  my  remark,  I  will  simply  observe,  that 
more  injury  has  been  done  to  Sussex  churches,  within  the  last 
fifteen  years,  by  the  application  of  zeal  without  knowledge, 
than  has  accrued  from  the  neglect  of  centuries,  or  the  white- 
washings and  other  "  beautifications"  of  a  thousand  church- 
wardens of  the  old  school.  If  I  might  be  permitted  to  make 
a  practical  suggestion  on  this  subject,  I  would  say  to  the 
gentlemen  officially  concerned  with  parish  churches  everywhere: 


i\. 


<J0  NOTES    ON    THE    CHURCHES    OE 

If  you  are  not  conversant  with  medieval  architecture,  be  care- 
ful before  you  remove  a  single  stone,  or  even  before  you  call 
in  the  aid  of  your  architect,  to  consult  some  experienced  anti- 
quary who  knows  your  church  and  has  studied  its  minutest 
features.  Such  a  person  will  generally  have  a  keener  percep- 
tion of  what  ought  to  be  retained,  than  the  professional 
church-builder,  who  is  not  unfrequently  biassed  by  his  own 
views  of  the  beautiful  and  of  the  structurally  convenient,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  flights  of  fancy  and  the  violent  anachronisms, 
in  which  some  of  that  fraternity  occasionally  indulge. 

These  remarks  have  not  been  called  forth  by  any  proceed- 
ings connected  with  this  locality.  Of  the  two  churches  brought 
under  our  notice  to-day,  one  stands  much  in  need  of  restora- 
tion ;  the  other  has  been  partially  rebuilt  without  the  injury 
of  a  single  ancient  feature. 


Of  the  history  of  Newhaven  church  little  is  known.  New- 
haven  is  a  comparatively  modern  name,  having  originated 
within  the  last  three  centuries,  and  since  the  river  Ouse  has 
been  made  to  debouche  here,  instead  of,  as  formerly,  at  Sea- 
ford.  The  ancient  name  of  the  parish,  and  manor,  Meeching, 
though  clearly  of  Saxon  origin,  is  not  mentioned  in  Domesday 
Book.  The  place  must  however  have  been  of  some  little 
importance  in  Norman  times,  since  the  church  clearly  belongs 
to  that  period.  The  first  mention  of  the  church  I  have  met 
with,  is  in  the  Taxatio  Ecclesiastica  of  Pope  Nicholas,  1291. 
in  which  its  annual  revenues  are  rated  at  £5.  0>s.  8d.  Fifty 
years  later,  namely  in  1341,  we  find  the  following  notice  of  it 
in  the  Nonas  return  : — 

"  This  indenture  testifieth,  that  an  inquisition  was  taken 
before  Hen.  Huse  and  his  fellow  collectors,  venditors,  and 
assessors  of  the  ninths  of  sheaves,  fleeces,  and  lambs,  and  the 
fifteenths  assigned  to  our  lord  the  King  in  the  county  of 
Sussex,  at  Lewes,  on  the  sabbath  day  next  after  midlent  Sun- 
day, in  the  fifteenth  year  of  King  Edward,  the  Third  of  that 
name  after  the  Conquest  of  England,  and  the  second  of  his 
reign  over  France,  upon  the  true  value  of  the  ninths  of  sheaves, 
fleeces,  and  lambs,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  commission 
of  our  lord  the  King  to  the  said  Henry  and  his  fellows  directed, 


NEWHAVEN     AND     DENTON.  91 

by  the  oath  of  Andrew  le  Fryc,  John  ate  Nclnc,  Ralph  Rus- 
sell, and  Walter  Nynman,  parishioners  of  the  church  of 
Mecltyng,  who  say  upon  their  oath,  that  the  ninth  of  sheaves 
this  year  is  worth  four  marks,  three  shillings,  and  fourpence ; 
the  ninth  of  fleeces  six  shillings ;  and  the  ninth  of  lambs  four 
shillings.  Item,  they  say  that  the  Prior  of  Lewes  receives  for 
tithes  of  sheaves  in  this  parish  ten  shillings — of  fleeces  two 
shillings — and  of  lambs  sixteen  pence.  The  sum  of  the  said 
ninths  with  the  portion  of  the  Prior  is  six  marks.  And  they 
say  that  the  ninths  aforesaid  could  not  answer  nor  reach  to 
the  taxation  of  the  church  aforesaid,  which  is  rated  at  eight 
marks  [the  £5.  6s.  Scl  of  Pope  Nicholas].  And  that  the  rector 
of  the  said  church  hath  one  messuage  with  nine  acres  of  land 
and  pasturage  worth  13s.  4d.  Item,  he  hath  oblations  worth 
10s.  per  annum.  Item,  the  tithe  of  hay  is  4s. ;  the  tithe  of 
mills,  3s.  4d. ;  the  tithe  of  cows,  calves,  and  dayrie,  2s.  6d. ; 
the  tithes  of  honey,  pigs,  geese,  and  eggs,  2s. ;  the  tithe  of 
hemp,  12c/.  The  tithe  of  pasture  is  worth  per  annum  3s.  4c/. 
And  thus  the  sum  excepted  is  40s.  6d.  And  they  say  that 
there  are  not  in  the  said  parish  any  chattels  beyond  the  value 
of  10s.  except  of  those  who  live  by  their  lands  and  tenements. 
In  witness  whereof  the  said  jurors  have  to  this  indenture  affixed 
their  seals." 

In  the  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  of  Henry  VIII.,  the  value  of 
the  rectory  of  Mechyng,  then  held  by  Richard  Glover,  was 
£13.  3s.  3\d.t  besides,  16s.  $d.  payable  to  the  Prior  of  Lewes, 
6s.  Sd.  to  the  archdeacon,  13d.  lor  synodals,  and  lO^d.  for 
procuration. 

In  Bishop  Bower's  visitation,  1724,  the  following  account 
is  given  of  "  Meeching  alias  Nevvhaven  Rectory  :"  Patron  :  the 
King.  Rector,  Ezekiel  Bristed,  A.M.,  of  Aberdeen  in  Scot- 
land; instituted  1694.  Church  and  chancel  in  good  repair 
without,  but  the  walls,  floor,  and  some  seats  of  both  very  nasty 
and  indecent  within  ;  the  communion  table  indifferent,  but 
the  cloth  bad ;  a  small  silver  chalice  and  cover,  and  pewter 
plate  pretty  good ;  the  pulpit  and  desk  very  dark  ;  the  pulpit 
cloth  and  cushion  scandalous  !  No  carpet  for  the  communion 
table ;  the  surplice,  bible  and  common-prayer  books  in  good 
order ;  the  steeple  and  one  bell  the  same ;  two  other  bells  lost 
many  years  ago  ;  no  chest  nor  poor  box.    The  chancel  repaired 


92  NOTES    ON    THE    CHURCHES    OF 

by  the  rector.  Parsonage  house  &c.  in  good  order.  Families 
49 — no  dissenters — no  papists.  Value  in  the  king's  books 
£8.  8*.  4d.,  discharged  from  first-fruits.  Divine  service  and 
sermon  by  the  rector ;  the  holy  sacrament  administered  at  the 
three  solemn  sacraments  and  at  Michaelmas.  Communicants 
about  15.     Nine  acres  of  glebe. 

The  church  at  that  period  was  extremely  small,  consisting, 
besides  the  tower  and  apse,  of  a  nave  only.  Subsequently  the 
latter  was  considerably  enlarged  in  the  worst  possible  taste. 
Quite  recently,  it  has  undergone  a  thorough  renovation. 

The  only  ancient  portions  of  the  building  are  the  tower  and 
the  very  small  semicircular  apse  attached  to  its  eastern  side. 
The  Rev.  J.  L.  Petit,  in  his  account  of  this  church,  in  the 
Archceological  Journal  (vol.  vi.  p.  138),  observes,  that  it  is 
"  almost,  if  not  quite,  unique,  as  an  English  specimen  of  a 
tower  with  an  eastern  apse  immediately  annexed  to  it  without 
the  intervention  of  any  other  chancel."  He  adds,  "  The  ar- 
rangement is  common  enough  on  the  Continent."  Though  I 
have  a  great  penchant  for  continental  churches,  I  cannot  boast 
of  a  large  acquaintance  with  them,  and  the  only  one  I  have 
seen,  in  this  respect  like  Newhaven,  is  at  Yainville  in  Nor- 
mandy, on  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine,  between  Duclair  and 
Jumieges.  This  I  encountered,  quite  unexpectedly,  in  a  sum- 
mer excursion  during  the  present  year.  When,  at  a  sudden 
turn  in  the  road,  it  burst  at  once  upon  my  view,  I  involun- 
tarily exclaimed,  "Why,  here's  Newhaven  church!"  As  a 
matter  of  course  I  sketched  it;  and  having  subsequently  taken 
a  sketch  of  Newhaven  from  the  same  point  of  view,  one  may 
on  inspection  easily  note  the  extraordinary  points  of  resem- 
blance— the  same  corbelled  band  beneath  the  eaves ;  the  same 
double  belfry-window  in  each  face  of  the  tower ;  and  the  same 
flat- buttressed,  semicircular  apse,  with  the  same  diminutive 
eastern  window.  There  are  however  some  points  in  which 
the  Norman  and  the  Sussex  churches  disagree ;  yet  so  strong 
is  the  general  likeness  of  these  sister  edifices,  that  there  is  no 
great  stretch  of  probability  in  assigning  them  both  to  precisely 
the  same  epoch,  if  not  actually  to  the  same  architect,  in  the 
twelfth  century. 

I  may  observe  here,  that  both  Mr.  Hussey,1  in  his  account 

1  Notes  on  Churches,  p.  258. 


rs«  sVA/Nvi'lle    NORM 


^wVav  en,  Sussex; 


NEWHAVEN    AND    DENTON. 


93 


of  this  church,  and  Mr.  Dawson  Turner2  in  his  notice  of  Yain- 
ville,  describe  the  towers  as  "  central,"  which  appears  to  me 
to  be  an  incorrect  use  of  terms.  In  general  effect  the  towers 
of  both  churches  stand,  not  in  the  centre,  but  at  the  east  end 
of  the  buildings ;  and  I  need  not  inform  the  people  of  New- 
haven  of  the  Irish  sailor's  joke,  that  their  church  sails  "  stern 
foremost."  Since  I  have  mentioned  Yainville  church,  it  may 
be  interesting  to  remark,  that  the  apsis  of  that  building,  with 
its  peculiarly  high-pitched  roof,  so  strongly  resembles  the  upper 
portion  of  the  much-debated  Round  Towers  of  Ireland,  that 
Mr.  Turner  concludes  that  the  latter  were  "  undoubtedly  of 
Norman  origin." 

The  following  is  Mr.  Petit's  architectural  account  of  New- 
haven  church,  illustrated  (by  the  liberality  of  the  Committee 
of  the  Archaeological  Institute)  with  the  original  woodcuts, 
as  they  appear  in  vol.  vi.  p.  13S,  &c.  of  the  Archaeological 
Journal : — ■ 

"  The  tower  is  extremely  massive  in  two  stages,  of  which 


East  Window  o(  Tower. 


the  upper  appears  to  be  an  addition,  though  both  are  Norman. 

3  Tour  in  Normandy,  i.  p.  134. 


94 


NOTES    ON    THE    CHURCHES    OF 


The  upper  stage  has  a  double  belfry  window  in  each  face,  with 
a  banded  shaft;  the  capital  seems  to  have  been  enriched 
with  foliage,  and  has  a  square  abacus  ;  the  arches  have  a  torus 
forming  a  continuous  impost  where  they  are  not  stopped  by 
the  capital  of  the  dividing  shaft,  there  being  no  corresponding 
shafts  on  the  jambs.  The  angles  of  this  stage,  and  the  upper 
half  of  the  stage  beneath  it,  have  a  torus.  The  tower  is 
finished  with  a  course  of  Norman  corbels  or  brackets,  and  is 
roofed  with  a  low,  shingled,  broach  spire.  The  interior  of  the 
tower,  above  the  arches  which  support  it,  is  quite  plain,  and 
appears  never  to  have  been  open  as  a  lantern.  The  arch  of 
the  belfry  window  internally  does  not  correspond  with  that  of 

^  the   window   in    the    lower 

,  ^  stage,  from  which  it  seems 

,g^r-    '     v  reasonable   to    suspect   that 

they  are  of  different  dates. 
The  western  arch  of  the  tower 
is  of  one  order,  square,  but 
having  a  torus  on  its  western 
edge,  which  is  also  carried 
down,  though  not  in  quite 
a  direct  line,  below  the  aba- 
cus of  the  impost.  The  east- 
ern face  of  the  same  arch  has 
a  label  and  two  plain  orders 
without  the  torus,  the  im- 
post having  Norman  shafts  at 
the  edges.  The  western  face 
of  the  chancel  arch  is  similar 
to  this,  with  the  addition  of 
a  torus  on  the  outer  edge  of 
each  order.  The  eastern  face 
of  the  chancel  arch  has  only 
one  order,  square  and  plain,  and  without  a  label,  but  the 
impost  has  a  torus  on  the  edge.  It  is  evident  there  have 
never  been  transepts,  but  north  and  south  windows  with 
large  splays.  The  apse  is  nearly  semicircular.  It  had  ori- 
ginally three  small  Norman  windows,  which  are  now  stopped 
up;  two  Pointed  side  windows  are  now  inserted  in  differ- 
ent positions  from  the  old  ones,  and  breaking  through  the 


Inside  of  Belfry. 


NEWHAVEN     AND    DENTON.  05 

old  string-course;  at  present  there  is  no  east  window  open, 
[Subsequently,  however,  the  small  east  window  was  reopened 
and  filled  with  painted  glass  by  the  Rev.  C.  Williams,  the 
late  rector.]  This  apse,  and  the  lower  part  of  the  tower 
with  its  arches,  may,  I  should  think,  be  assigned  to  an  early 
Norman  period.  The  nave  is  modern,  though  a  part  of  its 
south  wall,  retaining  no  architectural  features,  may  be  ori- 
ginal." This  description  was  printed  in  1849;  since  which 
year  the  portions  of  the  church  westward  of  the  tower  have 
been  enlarged  and  rebuilt,  without,  as  before  intimated,  the 
destruction  of  anything  that  was  worthy  of  preservation. 

The  dedication  of  this  church  to  St.  Michael  was  evidently 
suggested  by  its  lofty  position.  The  elevated  rank  of  the 
archangel  in  the  celestial  hierarchy  was  pointed  to  in  the 
choice  of  such  spots  as  St.  Michael's  Mount  in  Cornwall,  and 
the  still  more  celebrated  Mont  St.  Michel  in  Normandy. 


96  NOTES    ON    THE    CHURCHES    OF 


DENTON    CHURCH. 


No  mention  of  Denton,  at  least  under  that  name,  occurs  in 
Domesday  Book,  nor  is  there  any  evidence  of  a  church  there 
in  Norman  times,  unless  indeed  the  very  curious  font  may  be 
referred  to  that  era.  In  Pope  Nicholas's  Taxation,  1291,  the 
rectory  of  Denton  is  estimated  at  £6.  13*.  ±d.  The  Nonas 
return  of  1351  is  to  the  following  effect : — 

"This  indenture  testifieth  that  an  inquisition  was  taken 

before  Henry  Husee,  &c.  of  the  ninths  of  sheaves,  fleeces,  and 

lambs,  and  of  the  fifteenths,  &c.  at  Lewes,  on  Monday  next 

after  the  feast  of  St.  Gregory  the  Pope,  15th  Edw.  III.  &c. 

upon  the  true  value  of  the  ninths  of  sheaves,  fleeces,  and  lambs 

.     upon  the  oaths  of  John  ate  See,  Henry  Dourhute, 

John  Ambrays,  and  William   Hamond,  parishioners  of  the 

church  of  Denton,  who  say  upon  their  oaths  that  the  ninth 

part  of  the  sheaves  there  is  worth  this  year  fifty-six  shillings ; 

the  ninth  part  of  fleeces  6*.  Sd. ;  and  the  ninth  part  of  lambs 

four  shillings.     And  thus  the  sum  of  the  whole  ninths  of 

sheaves,  fleeces,  and  lambs  is  £3.  6*.  Sd.     And  the  church 

aforesaid  is  taxed  at  £6. 13*.  M.  [Pope  Nicholas.]     And  they 

say  that  the  foresaid  ninths  can  not  answer  or  reach  to  that 

taxation,  because  the  rector  hath  a  messuage  newly  endowed 

with  a  curtilage  and  garden  worth  per  annum  10*.     Also  he 

hath  five  acres  of  land,  arable  and  pasture,  worth  23*.     The 

tithe  of  apples  is  worth  3*. ;  and  that  of  pigeons,  pigs,  geese, 

and  eggs,  7*.    Tithes  of  hay,  5*.    Also  he  hath  tithes  of  cows, 

calves,  and  dayerie,  4*.  M.  per  annum;  tithe  of  mills,  18c/. ; 

that  of  linen  flax,  \%d.     The  oblations  are  worth  12*.     And 

they  say  that  there  are  none  resident  there  who  live  otherwise 

than  by  the  land  only.     In  witness  whereof,  &c. 

In  the  ecclesiastical  valuation  of  temp.  Henry  VIII.  we  find 
Denton  fixed  at  £14.  19*.  8±d.,  besides  6*.  Sd.  payable  to  the 
prebend  of  Bishopston,  synodals  18c/.  and  procuration  13c/. 

The  following  returns  relative  to  the  church  and  parish  of 
Denton  are  preserved  in  the  Registrar's  office  at  Lewes. 


NEWHAVEN   AND  DENTON.  97 

"  1603.  Benton.  John  Hochekis,  B.D.  rector.  Number  of 
communicants  about  29. — The  parish  of  South  Heigh- 
ton  whereof  I  am  parson  hath  about  36.  No  recusant 
in  either  parish.  The  patronage  of  the  rectory  is  be- 
tween Sir  Thos.  Floyd  and  one  Mrs.  Shelley,  and  de- 
pends upon  a  suite  in  law. 

"  16S6.  Benton.  The  steeple  and  the  roof  adjoining  a  little 
out  of  repair,  and  the  windows  in  a  similar  condition. 
The  pavement  wants  repairing. — The  porch  in  danger 
of  falling  clown  if  not  timely  repaired. — Several  arti- 
cles enjoined  by  the  canons  are  said  to  be  wanting. 

"  1724.     Bishop  Bower  s  Visitation. 

"Benton,  a  rectory,  of  which  Robert  Mitchell,  Esq.  is 
patron.  The  present  incumbent,  Wm.  Edwards,  A.B. 
of  St.  John's  Coll.  Cambridge,  instituted  1687.  The 
church  in  good  repair — the  bible  wants  binding — the 
common  prayer-book  good — one  pewter  flaggon — one 
silver  cup  and  cover — one  linen  cloth  for  the  commu- 
nion table — a  good  cloth  and  cushion  for  the  pulpit — 
no  poor-box  nor  chest — two  bells.  The  chancel  in 
good  repair.  A  small  matter  wanting  to  the  mansion 
house  &c. — Nine  families — no  papists  nor  dissenters. 
— Value  in  the  king's  books  £4.  19s.  9c/.  Discharged. 
— Divine  service  and  sermon  every  fortnight.  The 
living  supplied  by  a  curate,  Mr.  Alex.  Patison. 
Sacrament  administered  three  times  in  the  year. 
No.  of  communicants  about  9. — Six  acres  of  glebe, 
all  arable." 

The  church,  which  is  dedicated  to  St.  Leonard,  consists  of 
a  single  pace  or  nave,  with  no  interior  distinction  of  chancel. 
The  west  end  is  surmounted  by  a  small  bell-turret  of  wood 
and  tile.  A  ceiling  hides  from  view  a  very  good  timber  roof 
much  resembling  that  of  Godshill,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.3  From 
the  occurrence  of  two  Early  English  windows  in  the  nave,  Mr. 
Hussey  thinks  the  building  may  have  been  originally  of  that 
period ;  but  the  church  underwent  considerable  improvement 

3  Hussey's  ChnrcJies,  p.  221. 

ix.  13 


98  NOTES    ON    THE    CHURCHES    OF 

in  the  Decorated  period,  as  is  evident  from  the  fine  tracery  of 
the  east  window,  now  unfortnnately  stopped  up.  In  the  south 
wall,  near  the  east  end,  are  a  broad  sedile,  under  an  ogee  arch, 
and  a  canopied  piscina,  of  excellent  work  and  in  good  preserva- 
tion. The  Font,  which  strongly  resembles  that  at  St.  Anne's, 
Lewes,  in  its  basket-like  form  and  ornamentation,  is  well 
known  to  ecclesiologists,  and  is  engraved  in  Horsfield,4  and 
elsewhere. 

Of  early  monuments  Denton  possesses  but  one.  It  is  a 
slab  incised  with  an  inscription  round  the  verge  in  Lombardic 
characters,  some  of  which  only  are  legible,  namely,  the  words 

HlC    JACET   WlLLELMUS    D£    *    IRB*    **....    MlLLIO    CCCLXVIII. 

To  this  relic  of  ancient  times  the  words  of  the  poet  are  strictly 
applicable — 

"  And  monuments  themselves  memorials  need  " — 

a  thing  much  to  be  regretted  in  this  instance,  because  there  is 
no  doubt  from  the  situation  of  the  slab,  close  to  the  north 
wall,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  building,  that  the  person  com- 
memorated was  a  benefactor  or  re-founder  of  the  church.  The 
date  of  his  death,  1368,  agrees  sufficiently  with  that  of  the 
introduction  of  the  great  east  window,  which  I  have  little  hesi- 
tation in  assigning  to  him. 


In  connection  with  Newhaven  and  Denton,  to  both  of  which 
parishes  the  river  Ouse  forms  a  boundary,  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  add  a  few  words  relative  to  the  early  history  of  the  port  of 
Newhaven. 

Down  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the  Ouse,  after  passing 
southward  from  Lewes  to  a  point  near  the  village  of  Meeching, 
took  a  sudden  and  almost  rectangular  turn  to  the  south- 
eastward, nearly  in  the  direction  of  what  is  now  called  the 
Tidemill  Creek,  and  so  forward  in  a  line  almost  parallel  with 
the  seashore,  and  only  divided  from  it  by  a  strip  of  shingle,  to 
the  town  of  Seaford,  where  it  found  its  outfall  to  the  English 
Channel,  at  a  point  just  westward  of  the  cliff.  A  slight  glance 
at  a  map,  however,  will  show  that  the  true  and  natural  de- 

4  History  of  Lewes,  ii.  268. 


NEWHAVEN    AND    DENTON.  99 

bouchure  of  the  river  was  at  a  point  southward  of  Meeching 

in  fact  at  the  very  point  where  Newhaven  harbour  at  this 

moment  exists.  And  that  the  outlet  was  there  in  Roman 
times  seems  pretty  evident  from  the  great  earthworks  of  that 
era  overhanging  the  western  side  of  the  port,  and  called 
"  Castle  Hill."  The  prevalence  of  south-west  winds,  however, 
is  well  known  to  have,  on  this  coast,  the  effect  of  causing  a 
great  accumulation  of  shingle,  and  of  driving  river  currents  to 
seek  a  more  easterly  outlet,  as  exemplified  in  the  Adur,  the 
Cuckmere,  and  other  Sussex  rivers.  At  what  precise  epoch 
the  ancient  mouth  of  the  Ouse  became  choked  up  it  is  impos- 
sible to  conjecture,  though  it  is  evident  from  the  legend  of  St. 
Lewinna,  detailed  in  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  Vol.1,  p.  46,  et  sea. 
that  the  port  of  the  Ouse  was  at  Seaford  in  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century;  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  this  position  that 
Seaford  at  no  great  interval  of  time  became  one  of  the  Cinque- 
Ports.  In  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth  the  port  of  Seaford 
fell  in  its  turn  to  decay,  and  the  outfall  being  retransferred 
to  Meeching,  that  place  gradually  lost  its  ancient  designation 
in  that  of  Newhaven.  In  a  survey  of  the  Sussex  coast  made 
in  May  1537,  in  anticipation  of  the  Spanish  Invasion,  by  Sir 
Thos.  Palmer  and  Walter  Covert,  Esq.,  the  village  is  called 
Michin,  and  the  port  Newhaven.  The  latter  had  been  defended 
with  ordnance,  which  is  described  as  "  vnmounted  and  of  lit- 
tell  worthe."  It  is  recommended  by  the  surveyors  to  con- 
struct a  "  Bullwarke  of  earth  ....  for  the  plan  tinge  of  one 
dimy  culveringe  and  two  sacres."  Throughout  the  seventeenth 
century  the  harbour  seems  to  have  been  greatly  neglected,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  that  it  began 
to  receive  any  considerable  share  of  attention. 

The  above  remarks  are  merely  prefatory  to  a  very  curious 
notice  of  the  port  of  Newhaven  and  its  capabilities,  published 
in  1677  by  a  projector  of  many  ingenious  schemes,  Andrew 
Yarranton,  Gent.,  in  a  work  entitled,  "England's  Improvement 
by  Sea  and  Land."  As  the  work  is  very  scarce,  and  the 
matter  consequently  new  to  most  readers,  I  make  no  apology 
for  quoting  the  passage  in  extenso,  and  adding  a  facsimile  of 
the  rude  map  which  accompanies  it. 

"  But  I  find  it  is  not  my  own  single  opinion,  that  safe  and 


100  NOTES    ON    THE    CHURCHES    OF 

convenient  Harbours,  are  things  to  be  prised,  but  I  find  also 
that  some  Persons  of  Honour,  and  great  parts,  have  been  aim- 
ing at  the  same  thing,  and  within  some  late  years  have  fixed 
upon  a  place  in  Sussex,  to  make  a  safe  Harbour  for  Shipping, 
which  I  may  without  arrogancy  say,  that  no  one  place  in  this 
Island  doth  or  can  exceed  it  for  the  great  relief  of  all  Vessels 
and  Ships  sailing  through  the  narrow  Seas,  as  also  for  the 
benefit  and  relief  of  our  Men  of  War,  in  the  times  both  of 
War  and  Peace ;  this  place  is  New-Haven,  in  Sussex,  where 
some  progress  hath  been  made  towards  the  advancing  so 
generous  and  Noble  a  design,  wherein  I  presume  Pour  or  Five 
Thousand  pound  hath  been  expended,  and  the  work  in  some 
measure  advanced,  but  in  this,  as  in  most  other  publick  things, 
I  suppose  there  was  not  that  helping  hand  given  to  it  by  the 
publick  as  it  merited ;  nor  I  fear  countenanced  as  it  deserved 
by  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Countrey ;  bnt  why  such  a  place  so 
fitted  and  adapted  for  such  good  uses,  should  lie  unfinished, 
and  not  incouraged  by  the  Publick,  I  know  not ;  I  having  at 
the  desire  of  a  Person  of  Quality,  and  the  Inhabitants  of  East- 
Greensted,  in  Sussex,  surveyed  that  place ;  I  here  give  you 
my  observations  thereof. 

"  First,  Of  its  usefulness,  if  once  perfected. 

"  Secondly,  Of  the  reasons  of  its  being  at  present  choaked 

up.     And 
"  Thirdly,  The  means  to  be  used  for  perfecting  the  same, 

with  the  Charge  it  will  cost. 
"  First,  New-Haven  lyeth  over  against  the  Naval  of  France, 
and  there  is  no  safe  or  convenient  Harbour  to  secure  Shipping 
all  along  that  Coast,  for  at  least  Sixty  Miles  ;  and  what  strange 
Rekes  and  Damage  are  our  Merchants  and  Strangers  put  unto 
continually  upon  that  Coast ;  and  if  some  of  our  greatest  Mer- 
chants are  not  mistaken,  that  Harbour,  if  well  opened  and 
secured,  would  be  to  them  and  their  Trade  very  advantageous, 
and  in  the  time  of  War,  the  King's  Ships  which  draw  not 
above  Twenty  Foot  Water,  may  there  lie  well  secured,  and 
upon  all  occasions  be  quick  out  at  Sea,  and  there  small  Ships 
of  War  may  be  built  and  repaired ;  many  Shipwracks  pre- 
vented, and  certainly  it  will  invite  all  persons  sailing  that  way 
to  set  a  great  value  upon  that  Harbour,  as  now  they  do  on 
Ph 'mouth  and  Falmouth. 


NEWHAVEN    AND    DENTON.  101 

"  Secondly,  I  conceive  one  great  reason,  why  this  so  bene- 
ficial a  work  was  not  perfected,  was  the  want  of  an  Act  of 
Parliament  to  support  the  doing  thereof,  as  also  it  is  possible 
the  Engineer  first  imployed,  was  not  so  knowing  as  was  re- 
quisite in  so  great  an  undertaking,  for  as  the  thing  now  stands, 
there  was  one  Peer  made,  which  is  on  the  North,  but  had  the 
Western  Peer  been  first  Finished,  then  the  quantities  of  Sands 
now  lodged  in  the  mouth  of  the  Harbour,  had  been  carried 
away  to  Sea,  and  the  freshes  of  water  descending  out  of  the 
River,  would  have  kept  open  the  mouth  of  the  Harbour. 

"  Thirdly,  This  Noble  work  may  be  brought  to  perfection, 
by  making  of  a  Western  Peer,  as  in  the  Map  is  described ; 
and  thereby  all  the  Sands  and  Earth  which  falls  from  the  sides 
of  the  Hills  and  Clifts  will  be  carried  to  Sea ;  as  also  two 
Turnpikes  to  be  made  in  the  River,  to  let  down  flashes  of 
water  upon  all  necessary  occasions,  to  drive  and  keep  out 
those  Sands  already  lodged  in  the  mouth  of  the  Harbour,  or 
that  may  hereafter  chance  to  be  brought  in  ;  and  I  suppose  all 
the  work  may  be  compleated  for  about  Six  Thousand  Pounds. 
The  Map  of  the  place,  and  how  the  work  may  be  Accomplished, 
is  hereunto  affixed." — Pp.  97-99. 

Could  the  good  Mr.  Yarranton  revisit  Newhaven  at  the 
present  day,  he  would  behold,  in  the  substantial  "  western 
pier"  and  other  improvements  connected  with  the  harbour,  a 
partial  carrying  out  of  his  views.  Still,  very  much  remains  to 
be  done  for  the  full  developement  of  the  natural  capabilities 
of  a  port  which  is  destined  to  occupy  a  high  rank  among  the 
harbours  of  England.  Fortunately  the  supineness  of  the  coun- 
try gentlemen  of  the  seventeenth  century  upon  this  subject  is 
not  manifested  by  their  descendants  of  the  nineteenth,  and  as 
these  latter  possess  influence  in  a  quarter  more  remote  than 
East  Grinstead  (and  due  north  from  that  good  old  town), 
Mr.  Yarranton's  brightest  visions  must  ere  long  become  un 
fait  accompli!  These  anticipations,  however,  belong  not  to 
Archaeology.5 

5  I  am  indebted  to  R.  W.  Blencowe,       etching    in    his   own   excellent   manner, 
Esq.,  for  calling  attention  to  Yarranton's       Newhaven  and  Yainville  churches, 
wish ;    and   to  J.  H.  Hnrdis,  Esq.,  for 


COMMISSIONERS   FOR  THE   COLLECTION   OE 

SUBSIDIES  IN  SUSSEX. 

COMMUNICATED  BY  T.  HERBERT  NOYES,  ESQ.,  JUN. 


It  is  of  course  unnecessary  to  remind  Sussex  archaeologists 
that  the  art  of  taxation,  as  practised  by  modern  Chancellors 
of  the  Exchequer,  is  of  comparatively  modern  origin.  In 
ancient  times  the  revenues  of  the  extensive  crown  lands,  and 
the  produce  of  the  various  escheats,  fines,  and  payments  in- 
cidental to  the  old  feudal  tenures,  sufficed  for  the  ordinary 
expenditure  of  the  crown.  On  extraordinary  occasions  re- 
course was  had  to  aids  and  subsidies,  which  were  levied  on  a 
principle  so  nearly  akin  to  the  income  and  property  tax,  that 
it  would  seem  that  any  modern  claim  to  the  honour  of  having 
originated  that  impost,  may  be  fairly  questioned.  There  is, 
however,  this  distinction,  that  no  income,  however  small, 
escaped  the  collector  of  the  subsidy.  The  wages  even  of  the 
labourer  were  taxed  ;  and  as  the  name  and  residence  of  every 
contributor,  the  valuation  of  his  income,  whether  in  land, 
goods,  or  wages,  and  the  amount  of  his  contribution,  were 
entered  in  the  Subsidy  Roll,  there  are  perhaps  few  documents 
more  valuable  to  the  Genealogist,  than  these  records,  from  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.  to  that  of  Charles  I.  So  early  as  the 
reigns  of  Edward  I.  and  Edward  II.  they  contain  the  names 
and  payments  of  contributors — and  some  copious  extracts 
from  them  have  appeared  in  former  volumes  of  this  Society — 
but,  for  the  period  intervening  between  Edward  III.  and 
Henry  VIII.,  they  unfortunately  do  not  supply  the  same 
details,  but  record  only  the  sum-totals  contributed  in  each 
collector's  district.  It  was  only  in  1497  that  it  became  the 
practice  to  annex  to  the  acts  of  Parliament  lists  of  "  Com- 
missioners for  the  Collection  of  the  Subsidy;"  but  as  these 
lists  comprise  most  of  the  principal  gentry  of  the  county,  and 
therefore  afford  valuable  genealogical  evidence,  which  in  the 
ponderous  tomes  of  the  Record  Commissioners,  from  which 
these  lists  are  transcribed,  is  not  very  accessible  to  the  ge- 
nerality of  readers,  it  appeared  worth  while  to  give  them  a 
place  among  these  Collections.  The  MS.  Rolls  of  the  Sub- 
sidies to  which  they  refer,  will  probably  be  rendered  equally 
accessible  before  long,  in  the  new  Record  Office. 


IOMM1SS10NERS    OE    TAXES    EOR    SUSSEX. 


103 


COMMISSIONERS  FOR  SUSSEX. 


4th  Henry  VIII.  c.  19. 
Subsidy. 

A.D.    1512. 

Thomas  Comes  Arundell 
Robertus  Cicestren,  Epus 
Thomas  West  Mil,  Dns  laWarr 
Thomas  Fenys,  Mil.DnsDacre 
Thomas,  Prior  de,  Lewes 
David  Owen,  Mil. 
Thomas  West,  Mil. 
Thomas  Fenys,  Mil. 
Rogerus  Lewkenore,  Mil. 
Edwardus  Oxenbrigge,  Mil. 
Johannes  Donysshe,  Mil. 
Johannes  Scotte,  Mil. 
Johes  Warill  serviens  ad  legem 
Johannes  Ernley,  Attorn  Regis 
Henricus  Owen,  Armiger 
Ricardus  Sakewild,  Armiger 
Ricardus  Covert 
Johannes  Shelly 
Edwardus  Lewkonore 
Johannes  Dawtry 
Ricardus  Shurley 
Rogerus  Copeley 
Edwardus  Ekyngton 
Wilhelmus  Assheburnham 
Johannes  Goryng 
Averedus  Berewyk 
Johannes  Asshby 
Henricus  Husee 
Robertus  Moreley 
Johannes  Thenher 
Thomas  Thenher 
Edwardus  Palmer 
Johannes  Stanney 
Wilhelmus  Stardevile 
Johannes  Roote 


6th  Henry  VIII.  c.  26. 

Subsidy. 
a.d.  1514-15. 
Dns  Arundell 
Dns  Matarvers 
Thomas  West  Miles 
Johannes  Yerneley 
Rogerus  Cople 
Johannes  Stanney 
Wilhelmus  Skerdevyle 
Humfridus  Sydney 
Ricardus  Covert 
Ricardus  Evererd 
Ricardus  Belyngham 
Nicli113  Gaynesford 
Henricus  Coke 
Thomas  Lewkenour 
Johannes  Chalner  de  Lynfeldc 
Johannes  Goryng 
Edwardus  Palmer 
Johannes  Shelley 
Thomas  Coke 
Johannes  Dauntrey 
Radulphus  Belyngam 
Elys  Prestall 

Godard  Oxenbrige,  Miles. 
Johannes  Skett,  Miles 
Nichus  Tustone 
Robertus  Halle 
Wilhelmus  Assheburnham 
Wilhelmus  Fyiiche 
Dns  Delawer 
Migister  Karell 
Edwardus  Lewkenour 
Alveredus  Barwyk 
Ricardus  Sherlly 
Johannes  Michell 
Henricus  Hussev 


104 


COMMISSIONERS    FOR    THE    COLLECTION 


Dns  Dacre 
Thomas  Eenys,  Mil. 
Ricardus  Sakevyll 
Wilhelmus  Assheburnham 
Johannes  Gage 
Johannes  Roote 
Robertus  Burtune 

CIVITAS  CICESTR. 

Ricardus  Ruston 
Thomas  Welgare 
Johannes  Roys 
Ricardus  Eytun 

COMMISSIONERS  FOR  SUSSEX. 

12  Henry  VII.  c.  13.  19th  Henry  VII.  c.  32. 


Thomas  Roote 
Ricardus  Bevyngham 
Nicholaus  Gaynesford 
Willhelmus  Everard 
"Nicholaus  Tuston 
Willhelmus  Stapelly 
Robertus  Burton 
Edwardus  Belyngham 
Ricardus  Exton  de  Schyccster 
Johannes  Yong 
Thomas  Welgrowe 
Ricardus  Ruston 
Johannes  Brasweller 


Subsidy. 

a.d.  1496-97. 
Johannes  Palmer 
Wilhelmus  Bower 
Thomas  Wellys 
Johannes  Jeffrey 


COMMISSIONERS 

16  Charles  I.  c.  2. 

Subsidy. 

a.d.  1640. 
Sir  Thomas  Pelham,  Bt. 
Sir  Thomas  Bowyer,  Bt. 
Sir  John  Chapman,  Kt. 
Sir  William  Morley,  Kt. 
Sir  Henry  Dawtry,  Kt. 
Sir  Thomas  Parker,  Kt. 


Subsidy. 

a.d.  1503-04. 
David  Owen,  Knyght 
John  Devenysshe,  Knyght 
Thomas  Fynes,  Knyght 
Edmoncl  Dudley,  Esquyer 
Richard  Sakfeld,  Esquyer 
John  Coke,  Esquyer 
John  Goryng,  Esquyer 
John  Ernley,  Gentelman 
Henricus  Roos,  Knyght 
Roger.  Leykenor,  of  Tangmer 

FOR  SUSSEX. 

16  Charles  I.  c.  32. 
a  2nd  Subsidy. 

Contains  the  following  Names,  in  addition 
to  those  on  the  opposite  column. 

a.d.  1640. 
Sir  George  Courtopp 
Sir  Thomas  Eversfield,of  Denn 
Sir  Thomas  Eversfield,  junr. 
Sir  Thomas  Henley       ^  -, , 

Philip  Jarmin,  Serf  at  Law 


OF    TAXES    IN    SUSSEX. 


105 


Anthony  Stapeley. 
Edward  Ford 
Thomas  Grey 
John  Alforcl 
Thomas  Milles 
Nicholas  Wolfe 
Ralph  Cooper 
Henry  Goring 
Edward  Goring 
Thomas  Maye 
Thomas  Middleton 
Hall  Ravenscroft 
William  Marlott 
Edward  Apsley 
William  Michelborne 
James  Rivers 
Harbert  Morley 
Anthony  Fowle 
Henry  Shelley 
John  Ashbnrnham 
William  White 
Harbert  Hay 
John  Baker 
Laurence  Ashburnham 
Harbert  Bourd 
John  Bnsbridge 
Peter  Farneden 
Thomas  Eversfield 


Esquires. 


FOR  CHICHESTER. 

George  Green,  gent. 
William  Margerom,  Merch* 

■ Henshaw 

Stephen  Humphreys,  g\ 


(Thomas  MvlW)* 


(T.  Midleton)* 

(W.  Marlot)* 

(W.  Michillbourne)* 

(J.  Ashbournham)* 

(L.  Ashboiirneham)* 

William  Cawley 
Thomas  Whitfield 
William  Thomas 


John  Downes 
Henry  Peck 
Francis  Selwyn 
John  Apsley  Esqre9. 

Henry  Bridgen 
George  Sampson 
W.  Bachelonr,  of  Winchelsea, 

gent. 

*  Same  persons  as  those  in  next  column,  with  a  variation  of  the  spelling. 

ix.  14 


IOC) 


COMMISSIONERS    OF    SUBSIDY    TOR    SUSSEX. 


a.d.  1660.-— 12  Car.  II.  c.  9. 


Sir  John  Pelliam 

Sir  Henry  Goreing 

Sir  Charles  Shelley,  Bts. 

Sir  Thos.  Dyke 

Sir  Edward  Ford,  Kts. 

Henry  Goreing 

John  Stapeley 

Herbert  Springet 

Herbert  Morley 

Willm.  Morley 

Denny  Ashburnham 

George  Courtop 

John  Lewknor 

George  Parker 

Thomas  Midleton 

John  Byne 

Hall  Ravenscroft 

John  Fagg 

Henry  Pecham 

George  Stewart 

Edd.  Eversfield 

Ed.  Blaker 

John  Forrington 

Nisil  Rivers       Wm.  Garaway 

Thomas  Bettesworth 

Peter  Bettesworth,  of  Fitzales 

Wm.  Baldwin,  gent. 

Walter  Henley 

Anthony  Shurley,  Esqies. 

Richard  Bridger 

Ambrose  Trayton 

Walter  Burrell 

John  Oliver 

Anthony  Stapeley,  Esqre. 

Anthy.  Spriget,  Esq. 

Thomas  Beard 

Roger  Showeswell,  Esqre 

Ed.  English      Robert  Fowler 


Thos.  Grey 
Wm.  Gratweek 
Thos.  Palmer 
Hugh  Petter 
Allen  Can* 

Jno.  Paine  Esqles. 

Thos.  Peckham 
Walter  Pauley 
Thos.  Bernard,  gent. 
Christopher  Coles 
Geo.  Edmond 
Richd.  Mill         Ed.  Cooke 
Hy.  Onslow 
Ed.  Mitchell,  Esqrea. 
Henry  Cbowne     Bre  Chowne 
John  Bakshall 
W.  Strace 

John  Gratweek,  of  Eaton s 
Ed.  Paine 
Wm.  Dyke,  Esq. 
Francis  Selwin 
Thomas  Foster,  Esqres. 
John  Fuller,  of  Walden 
Sackvile  Groves 
Geo.  Nevil,  Esq. 
Edward  May,  Esq. 
Edward  Petthill  v  Polhill 
John  Dunk 
Thomas  Sackvil 
John  Dyne 
Walter  Everinden 
Richard  Shepherd 
Thorn3  Gratwicke,  of  Morleys 
Thomas  Bromfield  ye  elder 
Wm.  Gratweeke,  of  Jervis 
Sam1.  Gott,  Esqre 
The  Mayor  of  Chichester  fori 
the  time  being. 


FEES  OF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CROWN   IN  SUSSEX, 

TEMP.  ELIZ. 

FROM  A  MS.  IN  THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE  TAYLOR  INSTITUTION. 
COMMUNICATED   BY  THE   REV.  DR.  WELLESLEY, 

PRINCIPAL   OF   NEW   INN    HALL,   OXFORD. 


The  Manuscript  consists  of  thirty-two  quarto  leaves,  and 
has  the  autograph  of  a  former  possessor,  Thos.  Martin  (of 
Palgrave,  the  celebrated  Suffolk  antiquary),  inside  the  cover. 
The  first  leaf  is  thus  inscribed  : 

The  Account  of  Offices  belonging  to  the  Court,  &c.  temp.  Eliz.  Regime. 

Omnia  cum  re  tines  manibus  (mirabile)  si  non 
Officia  obtineas,  multis  e  minibus,  unum. 
When  in  your  handes  you  hould  theise  offices  all  alone 
'Twere  marvell  yf  you  should  not  get  'mongst  many  thousands  one. 

Liber  Petri  Le  Neve  als 

Norroy  Eegis  Armor. 

A.Dni.  1704. 

After  a  list,  at  page  7,  of  "  Customers  and  other  officers 
about  the  Custome  house  wth  their  ffees,  &c.  London,"  there 
follows  that  of  "Customers  in  other  Portes,  &c,"  among 
which,  at  page  9,  is  "  Chichester  in  com  Sussex,"     £     g     d 

fffee  .         •         •         •         6   13     4 

Customer     -U^a  .         .         .         .       21     0     0 

fffee  .         •         •         ■         3     0  10 

Comptroller   |Rewarde  .         .         .       40     0     0 

At  page  11.  "  Receauors  of  the  Revenues  of  ye  Crowne,  wth 
the1-  ffees  &  Allowances,"  and  among  them  :  £ 

Kent      ")  (ffee  100 

Surrey    >    .     .     •     •    ]  portage  .         ut  antea 
Sussex  )  (allowance        60 

[The  portage  had  been  previously  set  down  at  20  shillings 

of  every  100  pounds  delivered  to  the  Queen's  Cofferers,  or 

otherwise  paid  by  her  Majesty's  Warrant,] 


108  TEES  OF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CROWN  IN  SUSSEX. 

At  page  13.  "  Surueio™  of  the  Queenes  Landes,  with  the  flees 

&  Allowances,  &c,"  and  among  them  :  £     s.    d 

Sussex         .         .         .     flee         .  13     6     8 

At  page  34.  "  Townes  of  Warre,  Castles,  Bulwarks,  &  for- 
tresses, with  the  fees  and  allowances  to  the  Captaines,  officers, 
and  Souldiers  having  charge  of  them,"  among  which  : 

Sussex. 

Camber  cast  nere  Rie. 

per  diem 
Capten  of  ye  Castle         .         ffee     ...         2*. 
porter  .  .  .         ffee     ...  Qd. 

Souldiers  9  )  ™ 

gonnersl7J  '         '         ^e  apece    .  6d. 

At  page  40.  "  Castles,  houses,  Parkes,  forrests,  &  Chaces  : 
with  the  fees  and  allowances  to  the  officers  and  keepers  of 
euery  of  them,"  among  which  : 
Sussex. 

Petwourth. 

£>     s.    d. 
Consta:  of  ye  Castle.         .ffee  22  16     6 

Kep.  ofveillouse     \        •         ffee         •         •         2     0     0 

r        J    (  great  parke     .         ffee         .         .         3     0  10 

Mr  of  the  game  there         .         ffee         .  18     2     6 

Walberton  &  haulf  naked. 

f  manor  of  haulf  na-  )  ™ 
Keaper   (  |  ked  and  good  woodd j  ttee    •  ^0     0     0 

of  the   {   (  woodd  and  chace  of  )  ~ 

I      walberton    .         .  j ffee    ■         ■         3     0  10 

At  page  52,  in  "The  Valuacon  of  the  seuerall  Liuinges  of  all 
theArchbusshops  and  Busshopps  of  England,  with  the  Tenths 
that  euery  of  them  paieth  her  Maiestie  yearely." 

r„  .  ,  £      s.    d. 

Uncnestren  Ep.  val 420     1     8 

Decimae  inde  .         .         .         .       40     0     2 

At  page  54,  in  "The  Valuacon  of  all  ye  Deaneries,  &c." 

Decaii  Chichestrs  val 53     9     4 

Dechnae  inde  .         .         .  5  16  11 


NOTICE   OE   A    BRITISH    SETTLEMENT    AND 
WALLED  TUMULUS,  NEAR  PULBOROUGH. 

BY  P.  J.  MARTIN,  ESQ. 


The  following  remarks  on  some  Ancient  British  remains  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Pulborough,  were  read  to  the  Philoso- 
phical and  Literary  Society  of  Chichester,  in  the  year  1S34, 
and,  at  their  request,  left  in  the  hands  of  its  officers. 

Not  long  after,  the  manuscript  got  into  the  possession  of 
the  editor  of  a  periodical  called  The  Garland,  then  being 
published  at  Chichester,  and  was  printed  (p.  46),  without  the 
writer's  concurrence,  and  without  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tions, which  were  required  for  a  better  realisation  of  the  sub- 
ject in  the  mind  of  the  reader,  than  could  be  effected  by  mere 
verbal  description.  It  having  been  lately  suggested  that  its 
appearance,  in  companionship  with  matters  of  a  kindred  nature, 
would  be  desirable,  it  is  here  republished. 

The  writer  does  this  the  more  willingly,  because  Nutbourne 
Common,  the  site  of  these  interesting  remains,  has  been  lately 
enclosed.  One  mound  has  been  levelled  in  the  process  of 
smoothing  the  cricket-ground,  and  the  other  is  suffering 
under  the  classical  and  significant  symbol  of  obliteration,  "the 
plough  is  passing  over  it,"  and  it  is  sinking  into  the  level  of 
the  adjoining  plain. 


"  The  rare  occurrence  of  Celtic  or  Ancient  British  remains 
in  this  county,  out  of  the  range  of  the  chalk  downs,  will  pro- 
bably give  this  short  notice  more  importance  than,  from  its 
slight  and  imperfect  nature,  it  could  otherwise  claim.  To 
those  who  are  conversant  with  the  South  Downs,  the  traces 
still  visible  of  the  habitations,  works  of  convenience  and  de- 
fence, places  of  sepulture,  and  more  rarely,  perhaps,  of  religious 


110  NOTICE    OF    A    BRITISH    SETTLEMENT    AND 

observances,  of  the  Ancient  Britons,  are  perfectly  familiar; 
made  so  by  the  frequent  contributions  of  various  antiquaries 
and  topographers,  from  the  times  of  Stukeley  and  Gale,  and 
perfected  by  the  researches  and  discoveries,  in  the  kindred 
districts  of  Wiltshire,  of  Sir  Richard  Colt  Hoare,  under  whose 
guidance  we  may  now  traverse  our  downs  and  waste  lands 
with  an  interest  before  almost  unknown,  and  in  direct  com- 
munion, as  it  were,  with  the  character  and  domestic  habits  of 
their  primitive  inhabitants. 

"  Although,  for  obvious  reasons,  the  most  numerous  traces 
of  a  nomadic  and  pastoral  people  would  be  found  upon  the 
open  districts  and  superior  pasture  lands  of  the  chalk  downs, 
there  is  no  reason  for  supposing,  with  Sir  R.  Hoare,  that  they 
had  not  made  advances  into  what  are  now  the  more  cultivated 
parts  of  the  country,  before  the  arts  of  Rome  had  taught  the 
rude  barbarians  to  extend  their  operations  farther  inland. 
Unreclaimed  forest,  doubtless,  then  occupied  the  greater  part 
of  our  interior,  but  there  is  still  sufficient  evidence  remaining 
of  the  preoccupation  of  our  sandy  lands  and  river  borders. 
The  stone  and  copper  axes  which  I  deposited,  some  time  since, 
in  the  Chichester  Museum,  were  found  by  the  gravel-diggers 
upon  our  commons ;  sepulchral  barrows  are  not  rare ;  and  I 
have  now  to  notice  another  curious  specimen  of  Celtic  economy 
from  the  same  locality. 

"In  the  summer  of  1818  or  1819,  I  pointed  out  to  my 
then  neighbour  and  friend,  the  Rev.  Edmund  Cartwright,  the 
continuator  of  Dallaway's  Hisiory  of  Sussex,  two  remarkable 
mounds  upon  an  elevated  part  of  Nutbourne  Common,  in  the 
parish  of  Pulborough,  with  the  remark  that  they  were  broader 
and  lower  than  the  usual  run  of  sepulchral  barrows.  They  lay 
within  twenty  paces  of  each  other;  the  southernmost  measuring 
90,  and  the  northern  80  feet  diameter,  and  were  perfectly 
circular. 

"  Mr.  Cartwright  conjectured  they  were  sepulchral ;  and, 
under  his  directions,  cross  sections  were  made  in  the  larger 
one ;  but  it  appeared  to  be  composed  entirely  of  sand,  and  there 
were  no  signs  of  sepulture ;  the  search,  therefore,  was  aban- 
doned, and  no  further  attempt  made  to  investigate  their  nature. 
A  labourer,  who  remembered  the  circumstance,  came  to  me 
two  or  three  months  ago,  and  told  me  he  had  accidentally  dis- 


WALLED    TUMULUS,    NEAR    PULBOROUGH. 


Ill 


covered,  when  searching  for  stone,  that  the  northern  tumulus 
was  partially  surrounded  with  stones  set  endways  in  the  turf, 
above  which  they  here  and  there  protruded.  Finding  this  to 
be  the  case,  I  directed  him  to  clear  away  the  earth,  and  endea- 
vour to  complete  the  exposure.     In  doing  this,  we  not  only 


Barrow  and  Foundation  of  Wall. 


found  that  the  circle  was  complete,  but  that  it  was  also  the 
outer  line  of  the  foundation  of  a  wall  four  feet  in  thickness, 
the  remainder  being  packed  in  without1  cement ;  with  a  door- 
way to  the  east  four  feet  in  width,  the  stones  there  being 


wanting 


"  Within  this  circle  of  stones  the  mound  rises  to  about  three 
feet  perpendicular  in  height,  into  a  platform,  with  a  depression 
in  the  centre,  like  the  pond-barrows  of  the  South  Downs. 

"Upon  the  supposition    that  a  smaller  concentric  circle 

1  This  important  word  was  misprinted  "  with  "  in  the  Garland. 


112  NOTICE    OF    A    BRITISH    SETTLEMENT    AND 

might  have  existed  upon  the  crown  of  the  mound,  the  search 
was  continued  in  that  direction ;  but  a  few  stones  only  were 
found,  packed  in  upon  that  part  of  it,  facing  the  doorway  in 
the  wall. 

"  Cross-sections  were  then  made  to  the  bottom,  and  into 
the  undisturbed  sand-rock,  but  nothing  more  was  discovered, 
save  a  few  fragments  of  pottery,  like  coarse  Roman  ware,  and 
a  fragment  of  a  quern  or  millstone  ;  both  near  the  surface,  and 
near  the  centre  of  the  mound. 

"  It  was  thus  satisfactorily  proved  that  neither  of  these 
tumuli  was  sepulchral.  What,  then,  was  their  purpose ;  and 
what  was  the  use  of  the  wall,  or  the  circular  layer  of  stones  ? 

"Before  I  attempt  to  give  an  answer  to  this  question,  I 
will  proceed  shortly  to  describe  the  situation  of  what  I  believe 
to  be  a  British  settlement,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of 
these  mounds.  It  is  a  triangular  headland  of  sandy  soil,  partly 
waste  and  partly  arable,  now  called  Winterfielcl,  enclosed  on 
two  sides  by  streams  which  flow  through  low  meadows,  in 
earlier  times  unquestionably  woody  marshes,  like  the  neigh- 
bouring unreclaimed  peat  bogs.  On  the  third  it  is  defended 
by  a  broad  ditch  and  vallum,  having  the  perfect  character  of 
the  Celtic  encampment,  not  improved,  as  many  of  them  were, 
by  subsequent  Roman  works.  The  area  of  the  peninsula  thus 
enclosed  may  be  about  six  or  eight  acres.  1  do  not  know  that 
any  relics  of  the  Celtic  or  Roman  character  have  been  ploughed 
up  in  the  cultivated  part  of  it,  but  on  the  adjoining  lands  of 
Hurston  and  Wiggonholt,  Roman  coins,  pottery,  and  other 
marks  of  the  habi cation  of  Romanised  Britons,  have  been 
discovered. 

"  This  encampment  of  Winterfield  exactly  corresponds  in 
character  and  situation  with  the  more  important  one  of  Bur- 
pham,  near  Arundel,  which  is  in  like  manner  defended  by  a 
morass  on  one  side,  the  river  Arun  on  the  other,  and  at  the 
base  of  the  triangle  by  a  ditch  and  wall  twice  the  size  of  the 
work  in  question.  Arundel  itself,  the  ad  Decimum  Lapidem 
of  the  Romans,  was  originally  a  British  town  of  the  same  cha- 
racter, with  the  river  on  one  side,  a  marshy  and  woody  ravine 
on  the  other,  and  a  fosse  and  vallum  traversing  the  neck  of 
land  between  the  two,  still  to  be  seen,  intersected  by  the 
London  road,  just  without  St.  Mary's  Gate. 


WALLED    TUMULUS,    NEAR    PULBOROUttH.  L13 

"  To  return  to  our  British  fastness  of  Winterfield.  It  is,  as 
I  before  observed,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  walled 
tumulus,  and  will  serve  to  connect  it  and  its  companion  with 
Ancient  British  associations. 

"  My  first  thought  was,  that  they  might  be  religious  circles, 
and  that  the  place  of  the  large  stones,  generally  used  in  the 
construction  of  Druidic  temples,  was  here  supplied  by  the  wall 
of  small  stones,  afforded  by  the  surrounding  wastes,  at  a  time 
when  all  these  wastes  were  mostly  open  glades,  and  would 
probably  afford  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  angular  boulder-stones, 
still  to  be  found  under  the  turf. 

"  In  support  of  this  proposition,  I  may  appeal  to  the  autho- 
rity of  the  enthusiastic  but  credulous  Stukeley,  who  has  left 
descriptions  of  religious  works  of  various  kinds.  In  that  part 
of  the  Itinerarium  Curiosum  which  was  published  after  his 
death,  I  find  figures  of  walled  circles  in  Ireland  and  Anglesey, 
as  they  existed  in  his  time. 

"There  can  be  no  question  that  the  construction  of  the 
religious  circle  varied  with  the  circumstances  of  the  country 
in  which  it  was  situate.  The  mud-wall  temple  at  Barrow,  in 
Lincolnshire,  is  an  important  instance ;  Stonehenge,  with  its 
gigantic  imposts,  is  an  advance  toward  the  walled  building, 
from  the  single-stone  erections  of  Abury,  Stanton  Drew, 
Rowlritch,  &c.  Andjt'cannot  be  supposed  that  any  populous 
district  would  be  without  its  religious  edifice,  more  or  less 
important,  according  to  the  means  of  its  inhabitants. 

"  Having  these  thoughts  of  our  monument,  and  supposing 
that  the  singularity  of  a  walled  tumulus  would  not  be  unin- 
teresting to  the  venerable  historian  of  Wiltshire,  I  addressed 
a  description  of  it  to  Sir  R.  Hoare,  wrhose  observations  in  reply 
are  these : — 

" '  I  have  seen  several  earthen  circles  in  Wilts  and  Somer- 
setshire with  a  single  entrance  to  them,  but  no  one  with  a 
wall.  Circles  of  stone  enclosures  are  also  frequent  on  Dart- 
moor, and  I  think  they  may  be  deemed  religious,  and  were 
surrounded  by  a  slight  vallum  of  earth,  ivhere  stone  could  not 
be  procured,  as  on  our  downs. 

" '  The  difference  between  religious  earth-works  and  those 
for  defence  consists  in  the  former  having  the  fosse  ?vit/iinsk\v 
instead  of  outside. 

ix.  15 


114  NOTICE    OF    A    BRITISH    SETTLEMENT    AND 

"  '  I  find  also  that  sepulchral  barrows  were  sometimes  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  single  stones ;  and,  as  they  could  not 
have  answered  the  purpose  of  a  fence,  no  other  motive  but 
their  implied  sanctity  can  be  assigned  for  their  erection.' 

"  More,  perhaps,  might  be  said  in  favour  of  the  religious 
nature  of  these  mounds,  still,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
case  is  very  doubtful.  The  larger  of  them  has  no  stone-work  ; 
they  are  not  exactly  alike,  like  the  twin  circles  of  Abury;  and 
they  are  not  enclosed  in  a  common  vallum,  as  they  probably 
would  have  been  if  they  had  constituted  one  temple. 

"  Let  us,  then,  consider  what  other  uses  they  may  have 
served,  and  how  these  appearances  may  be  reconciled  with  the 
known  habits  and  conditions  of  a  rude  and  primitive  people. 

"  Amongst  the  earth-works  often  seen  upon  our  downs,  and 
so  minutely  described  by  Sir  R.  Hoare,  is  what  he  has  called 
the  'pond  barrow.'  It  does  not  differ  materially  from  our 
walled  mound,  except  that  it  is  not  quite  so  elevated.  It  is 
thus  spoken  of  by  the  above-mentioned  author  (I  quote  from 
his  Ancient  Wiltshire) : — 

" '  VI.  The  Pond  Barrow. — I  can  form  no  conjecture 
about  these  tumuli  that  carries  with  it  the  least  plausibility ; 
they  differ  totally  from  all  the  others,  and  resemble  an  exca- 
vation made  for  a  pond ;  they  are  circular,  and  formed  with 
the  greatest  exactness,  having  no  protuberance  within  the  area, 
which  is  perfectly  level.  We  have  dug  into  several,  but  have 
never  discovered  any  sepulchral  remains.  We  generally  find 
one  or  more  of  these  barrows  in  the  detached  groups,  and  on 
Lake  Downs  there  is  a  group  of  four  or  five  of  them  alto- 
gether. I  once  thought  that  the  Britons  might  have  adopted 
this  method  of  preparing  their  barrows  for  interment,  by  thus 
marking  out  the  circle,  and  throwing  out  the  earth  on  the 
sides ;  but  the  very  great  regularity  of  the  vallum  militates 
against  this  idea.' 

"  Elsewhere  he  supposes  they  were  appropriated  to  the 
females  in  some  way,  having  often  found  trinkets  and  articles 
of  domestic  use  in  them. 

"  In  looking  at  these  constructions,  I  have  always  been  in- 
clined to  think  that  they  were  the  sites  of  British  habitations, 
perhaps  of  the  superior  order. 

"  I  suppose  the  shallow  excavation  to  be  the  area  of  the 


WALLED    TUMULUS,    NEAB    PULBOROUGH.  L  1  5 

hut,  and  the  low  circular  vallum  the  basis  upon  which  the 
superstructure  rested,  consisting  of  long  rafters  meeting  at  top 
over  the  centre  of  the  area,  like  a  pile  of  hop-poles  ;  and  these 
being  strengthened,  and  closed  in  with  boughs  and  thatch, 
formed  the  habitation — than  which,  we  may  suppose  the  noblest 
Briton,  with  his  flint  or  copper  spear-head,  his  pottery  of  un- 
baked earth,  and  other  rude  appliances,  '  could  boast  no  better 
home/  The  circular  embankment  on  which  the  rafters  rested 
would  serve  to  carry  ofF  the  water  as  it  trickled  down  the  roof, 
and  keep  the  interior  dry  and  comfortable. 

"  To  this  rude  cottage  was  added,  in  our  present  instance, 
a  stone  wall  at  the  foot  of  the  mound,  to  defend  it  from  the 
intrusion  of  cattle  or  other  injurious  animals. 

"  The  supposition  of  its  being  the  site  of  a  human  habita- 
tion is  strengthened  by  the  discovery  of  the  stones  in  that  part 
of  the  crown  of  the  circle  which  corresponds  with  the  door- 
way in  the  wall,  and  were  placed  in  the  entrance  of  the  hut, 
perhaps,  to  make  the  pathway  firm  ;  and  also  by  the  discovery 
of  the  broken  millstone  and  pottery  under  the  floor  of  the 
area. 

"  To  this  use  I  am  inclined  to  assign  all  the  pond  barrows, 
and  that  is  the  reason  Sir  R.  Hoare  so  frequently  found  trin- 
kets and  articles  of  domestic  use  in  them." 


In  a  letter  afterwards  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the  Garland, 
dated  16th  Nov.,  1836,  the  writer  made  the  following  addi- 
tional observations  (p.  426) : — 

"  The  revision  contemplated  on  the  publication  of  my  paper 
comprehended  the  addition  of  such  explanations  and  illustra- 
tions as  wrere  given  at  the  reading  verbally,  or  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  diagrams ;  with  such  supplementary  matter  as  might 
be  obtained  in  corroboration  of  the  opinion  of  the  real  use  of 
the  pond  barrow,  and  of  such  mounds  as  did  not  appear  to 
be  sepulchral,  and  yet  were  found  associated  with  them ;  and, 
also,  of  the  reasonable  supposition  that  the  huts  of  the  higher 
orders  of  the  semi-barbarous  inhabitants  of  Ancient  Britain 
were  erected  on  these  eminences ;  and  that,  in  this  instance 
(and  perhaps  in  many  more,  where  the  stones  have  been  re- 
moved), a  fence  wall  served  to  give  security  and  importance 


116  NOTICE    OF    A    BRITISH    SETTLEMENT    AND 

to  the  edifice.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  follow  out  the  dis- 
quisition here;  and  there  is  not  much  room,  in  the  same 
locality,  for  making  new  discoveries  in  the  habits  and  practices 
of  the  Ancient  Britons.  But,  since  my  paper  was  read,  a 
curious  stone  mall,  or  pestle  {see  fig.  3),  was  found  near  the 
same  spot  (deposited  by  Dr.  Forbes,  at  my  request,  in  the 
Chichester  Museum) ;  and  I  have  been  able  to  trace  a  circular 
vallation,  of  five  or  six  acres  area,  upon  the  open  waste,  on 
Hurston  Warren,  hard  by  the  'fastness'  of  ■  Winterfield.' 
This  ditch  and  vallum  crowns  an  eminence  rising  over  the  spot 
on  which  there  was  lately  made  a  remarkable  '  find '  of  Roman 
coins,  at  Redford,  in  Storrington  parish.  The  form  of  the 
encampment  is  circular ;  and,  though  the  bank  is  not  high, 
being  crowned  with  palisades,  it  would  closely  resemble  the 
'pah'  of  New  Zealand,  and  other  strongholds  of  the  South 
Sea  Islanders.  Two  sepulchral  barrows  (one  bearing  the 
marks  of  having  been  rifled)  are  to  be  found  on  West  Chil- 
tington  Common,  adjoining  to  Nutbourne ;  and  similar  ones 
occur  here  and  there  in  the  line  of  sand-hills  ranging  from 
Washington,  by  Coldwaltham,  to  Lavington  and  the  country 
south  of  Midhurst.  But  the  writer  has  not  been  able  to  de- 
tect many  specimens  of  the  mounds  like  those  here  described 
as  '  pond  barrows.'  There  was  one  (levelled  a  few  years  ago) 
on  what  appeared  to  be,  and  still  is,  an  unbroken  piece  of 
grass,  in  the  priory  grounds  at  Hardham,  within  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  Roman  camp  there.  There  are  also  two  or 
three  mounds  in  Parham  Park,  west  of  the  house,  which  are 
probably  pond  barrows,  but  they  do  not  appear  ever  to  have 
been  examined." 

Finally,  this  part  of  Sussex  has  afforded  to  the  writer 
many  indications  of  human  occupancy  in  all  historic  times, 
attested  by  weapons  and  other  memorials  of  "  the  stone,"  "  the 
copper,"  and  the  "  iron  "  ages.  But  it  is  only  lately  by  the 
discovery  of  the  celts  near  Billingshurst,  and  a  celt  or  hammer 
of  iron  sandstone,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Weekes,  and 
a  flint  spear-head  at  Brinsbury,  that  we  have  got  assurance 
that  the  country,  which  must  then  have  been  an  interminable 
forest  of  oak  timber,  gave  shelter  to,  and  was  the  hunting- 
ground  of,  the  British  savage. 


WALLED    TUMULUS,    NEAR    PULBOROUGH. 


117 


118  NOTICE    OF    A    BRITISH    SETTLEMENT,    ETC. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE. 

Fig.  1. — Sword,  with  iron  blade  and  hilt  of  brass,  from  Nutbourne  Common, 
Pidborongh. 

Fig.  2. — Celt  of  flint;  one  of  four  found  in  making  a  new  ditch  in  1852, 
near  Billingshurst. 

Fig.  3. — Mall  or  pestle,  made  of  a  gray  quartzose  granite,  11^  inches  long, 
and  2  inches  diameter.  Found  in  digging  ground  near  the  walled 
tumulus.  It  was  perhaps  used  with  a  mortarium,  as  referred  to  in 
Vol.  VIII.  of  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  p.  287,  and  may  probably  be 
Koman,  not  Celtic. 

Figs.  4,  5. — Fig. 5  is  a  water-worn  boulder  of  silicious  stone,  in  which  a  hole  has 
been  bored  to  the  depth  of  half  an  inch  by  the  friction  of  fig.  4,  which 
is  another  pebble  of  similar  stone,  highly  polished.  They  were  both 
found  some  yards  apart  in  the  ruins  of  St.  Botolph's  Priory,  Pem- 
brokeshire— illustrating  the  process  of  piercing  fig.  8.  In  the  pos- 
session of  H.  Latham,  Esq. 

Fig.  6. — Pierced  bead  of  unbaked  earth  i  inch  diameter,  from  Nutbourne 
Common,  Pulborough. 

Fig.  7. — Copper  celt,  found  by  a  ditcher  at  Pulborough. 

Fig.  8. — Stone  hammer  head,  or  weapon,  of  silicious  hornstone,  possibly  from 
the  gravel-pits  in  the  vicinity.  Found  August,  1856,  in  grubbing 
an  ash-tree  root  near  Pallingham  Quay.  A  similar  stone,  apparently 
prepared  for  boring,  has  been  found  at  Pulborough,  and  is  in  the 
possession  of  Henry  Latham,  Esq.,  as  are  also  4  and  5.  It 
measures  3  inches  by  2£,  and  is  f  of  an  inch  thick.  It  is  not  quite 
circular,  tapering  a  little  to  one  side,  with  a  sharp  edge  all  round. 


DISCOVERY  OF  A  TUMULUS  AT   HOVE,  NEAR 
BRIGHTON, 

CONTAINING   AN   AMBER   CUP,   &c. 
BY  BARCLAY  PHILLIPS,  ESQ. 


Westward  of  Brighton,  and  extending  from  the  sea-beach 
to  the  Downs,  is  a  plain  many  miles  in  length,  rising  with  a 
very  gradual  slope  to  the  hill  tops,  and  varying  in  width  from 
one  to  three  miles.  It  may  be  said  to  commence  about  the 
centre  of  Brighton,  between  which  town  and  the  village  of 
Hove  have  existed  till  within  the  last  few  years,  some  remark- 
ably level  fields  devoted  to  pasturage  and  the  cultivation  of 
grass  for  hay.  Nearly  in  the  centre  of  one  of  these  fields, 
that  which  was  the  second  out  of  Brighton  parish,  once  stood 
a  small  hillock,  about  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  high,  on  the  north 
of  the  pathway  leading  from  Brighton  to  Hove  Church,  and 
situated  about  100  yards  N.N.E.  of  the  new  church  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist ;  and,  till  very  lately,  famous  every  Good 
Friday  as  the  resort  of  hundreds  of  young  persons  of  both 
sexes  to  join  in  the  rustic  game  of  "  kiss  in  the  ring." 

Rising  from  a  dead  flat,  and  being  unconnected  with  any 
other  hills,  this  hillock  always  presented  the  appearance  of  an 
artificial  mound,  and  therefore,  when,  some  years  ago,  a  road 
was  cut  through  it  to  the  Hove  station  of  the  Brighton  and 
Portsmouth  Railway,  I  was  anxious  to  learn  whether  any 
antiquities  had  been  met  with ;  but  not  any  were  then  found. 
Now,  however,  all  doubt  on  the  subject  has  been  set  at  rest, 
and  the  hillock  proved  to  be  a  barrow  or  monumental  mound 
erected  over  the  remains  probably  of  an  Ancient  British 
chieftain. 

In  consequence  of  extensive  building  operations  now  going 
forward  in  the  lower  part  of  the  field,  labourers  have  recently 


120 


DISCOVERY    OF    A    TUMULUS    AT    HOVE. 


,^    ~       I 


DISCOVERY    OF    A    TUMULUS    AT    HOVE.  121 

been  employed  removing  the  earth  of  this  hill  for  the  forma- 
tion of  an  ornamental  garden  in  Palmeira  Square;  and  in 
January  last,  on  reaching  the  centre  of  the  mound,  about  two 
yards  east  of  the  road  leading  to  Hove  station,  and  about  nine 
feet  below  the  surface,  they  struck  upon  a  rude  coffin,  between 
six  and  seven  feet  long.  It  was  lying  nearly  east  and  west, 
and  the  boards  had  the  appearance  of  having  been  fashioned 
with  a  hatchet,  as  was  shown  by  their  impression  upon  the 
surrounding  clay ;  for,  on  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  they 
immediately  crumbled  away,  though  one  of  the  knots  has 
been  fortunately  preserved.  It  proves  to  be  of  oak,  though 
one  of  the  labourers,  in  describing  the  coffin  to  me,  as  we 
stood  on  the  spot,  said  it  was  of  elm. 

In  the  earth  with  which  the  coffin  was  filled  were  nume- 
rous small  fragments  of  carious  bone,  apparently  charred, 
some  of  which  were  picked  out ;  and  about  the  centre,  as  if, 
said  one  of  the  men,  they  had  rested  on  the  breast  of  the  body 
interred,  were  found  the  following  curious  relics : — 

1.  An  Amber  Cup,  hemispherical  in  shape,  rather  deep  in 
proportion  to  its  width,  with  a  "  lip  "  or  "  nick,"  and  orna- 
mented merely  with  a  band  of  fine  lines  running  round  the 
outside,  about  half  an  inch  from  the  top.  There  is  one 
handle,  large  enough  for  the  insertion  of  a  finger,  ornamented 
with  a  fillet  on  each  side  of  the  surface,  which  is  flat,  similar 
to  that  on  the  cup  itself.  From  the  fact  of  the  rim  not  being 
perfectly  round,  and  the  band  before  mentioned  not  passing 
over  the  space  within  the  handle,  and  its  being  marked  off 
with  a  line  at  each  end,  seemingly  cut  across,  we  may  con- 
jecture it  to  have  been  made  and  carved  by  hand.  There  are 
two  small  chips  in  the  rim.  That  on  the  left  of  the  handle  is 
fresh,  and  was  caused  by  the  man  who  found  the  cup  acci- 
dentally striking  it,  as  he  told  me,  with  his  spade,  when  he 
first  came  upon  it ;  that  on  the  right  is  not  so  large,  but  is 
ancient,  as  is  shown  by  its  appearance.  The  cup  is  perfectly 
smooth  inside  and  out,  excepting  where  the  earth  in  which  it 
was  buried  still  adheres  to  the  surface ;  but  since  its  exhu- 
mation the  amber  has  cracked  slightly  in  every  part.  On  the 
cup  being  lifted  by  the  handle,  this  broke  into  two  pieces, 
having  received  a  blow  from  the  workman's  spade,  but  for- 

ix.  16 


122  DISCOVERY    OF    A    TUMULUS    AT    HOVE. 

tunately  the  fragments  fit  very  exactly,  and  I  have  therefore 
easily  repaired  it. 

The  following  are  the  dimensions  of  the  cup,  which  I  have 
carefully  measured,  expressed  in  inches  and  decimal  parts : — 

External  diameter,  3*5  inches;  internal,  3*35 . 

Height,  2-5  ;  depth,  24. 

Internal  diameter  at  and  below  band,  3' ;  width  of  lip,  '125. 

Distance  of  band  from  upper  rim  of  lip,  "5  ;  width  of  band  of  six  fillets,  "3. 

Width  of  handle  at  upper  and  lower  end,  1*5  j  in  centre,"6. 

Thickness  of  handle,  '2  ;  depth  of  handle  from  upper  surface  of  insertion 

between  lip  and  fillet  to  surface  below,  1'4. 
Projection  of  handle  from  surface  of  cup  to  outer  surface  of  handle,  '85  ; 

average  thickness  of  cup,  '2. 

According  to  these  measurements  I  find,  by  calculation,  that 
the  capacity  of  the  cup  is  a  little  more  than  half  a  pint. 

Inches. 
Eeal  cubic  contents  .  .  .  .  .         .       19*5914 

Half  pint 173295 


Excess 2-2619 

2.  A  "  Celt,"  or  head  of  a  battle-axe,  made  of  some  sort 
of  ironstone.  It  is  5  inches  long,  1*9  wide  in  the  broadest 
part,  and  '8  of  inch  thick.  It  is  in  perfect  preservation,  with 
a  hole  neatly  drilled  through  the  centre  ;  half  an  inch  wide  in 
its  narrowest  part,  but  *8  inch  wide  on  one  side,  evidently  in 
order  that  the  handle  might  be  securely  fastened  in  by  a 
wedge  at  the  upper  end.  The  extremity  of  the  axe  is  semi- 
circular, sharp  (though  slightly  chipped),  and  1"9  inch  wide; 
the  other  extremity  is  not  quite  so  wide,  1*8  inch,  and  flat  in 
the  centre,  apparently  serving  as  a  hammer. 

3.  What  I  have  called  a  small  whetstone,  2*7  inches  long ; 
"6  inch  wide  in  the  centre,  and  "35  inch  thick  at  the  centre, 
tapering  off  slightly  at  each  extremity.  There  is  a  small  hole 
neatly  drilled  through  one  end,  and  the  surface  appears  partially 
encrusted  with  some  oxide  or  paint  of  a  red  colour. 

4.  A  bronze  dagger,  very  much  oxidised,  and  so  brittle 
that  it  broke  into  halves  as  it  was  being  taken  out  of  the 
ground.  Two  of  the  rivets,  and  fragments  or  traces  of  the 
bone  handle,  still  remain  attached  to  the  lower  end  of  the 
blade.  Dimensions  :  length,  5  5  inches ;  width  at  lower  end, 
2*4  inches ;  thickness  at  ditto,  '3  inch. 


DISCOVERY    OF    A    TUMULUS    AT    HOVE.  123 

The  workmen  described  the  coffin  as  resting  on  the  natural 
soil,  which  is  stiff  yellow  clay,  while  the  mound  itself  bears 
every  appearance  of  having  been  formed  of  surface  earth  and 
rubbish  thrown  up  together.  I  minutely  examined  the  re- 
maining sections  of  the  hill,  and  myself  picked  out  several 
specimens  of  charred  wood,  and  was  informed  that  such 
fragments  were  very  abundant. 

The  manner  of  sepulture,  and  all  the  relics,  excepting  the 
dagger,  show  this  mound  to  have  been  the  burial-place  of  a 
British  chieftain  before  the  time  of  the  Roman  invasion.  The 
mound,  which  was  close  behind  my  house,  and  which  I  have 
known  from  childhood,  was  nearly  circular,  perhaps  slightly 
elongated ;  and  therefore,  from  its  being  of  the  simplest  and 
most  ancient  form,  I  am  inclined  to  think  we  may  reckon  it 
to  have  been  at  least  2000  years  old,  perhaps  more  !  It  has 
now  disappeared !  The  last  clod  of  that  earth  which  so  long 
covered  the  bones  of  a  British  chieftain  has  been  carted  away; 
and  coffin,  bones,  and  earth,  have  been  thrown  pellmell  to  form 
the  mould  of  the  rosary  of  Palmeira  Square. 

I  was  not  present  when  the  discovery  was  made,  but  heard 
of  it  next  day,  and  immediately  commenced  inquiries  on  the 
spot  among  the  men  still  working  there.  From  their  own 
mouths,  and  from  Mr.  Lainson,  clerk  of  the  works  to  Baron 
Goldsmid,  on  whose  estate  the  tumulus  stood,  I  received  the 
information  now  published.  Mr.  Lainson  states  that  he  was 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  place  at  the  time  of  the  "  find  "j  that 
the  men  immediately  sent  for  him,  and  that  not  ten  minutes 
had  elapsed  from  the  coffin  being  disclosed  before  he  was  on 
the  spot.  The  relics  had  just  been  taken  out  of  the  earth  as 
he  came  up,  and  he  insisted  upon  their  being  given  up  to 
him  as  the  property  of  the  Baron.  The  articles  all  remained 
under  Mr.  Lainson's  care  for  a  few  days,  when  he  delivered 
them  up  to  me,  by  whom  they  have  been  deposited  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Royal  Brighton  Literary  and  Scientific  Insti- 
tution, where  they  may  now  be  seen. 

At  my  suggestion,  application  was  made  to  Baron  Gold- 
smid, by  the  Committee  of  the'Literary  and  Scientific  Institu- 
tion, to  present  them  to  the  Town  Museum,  which  he  very 
handsomely  did,  merely  stipulating  that  these  antiquities 
should,  until  the  formation  of  the  Town  Museum,  be  placed 


124  DISCOVERY    OF    A    TUMULUS    AT    HOVE. 

in  the  Society's  reading-room,  with  particulars  when  and 
where  they  were  found,  and  by  whom  presented.  This  has 
been  done,  and  the  committee,  in  accordance  with  the  Baron's 
wish,  named  three  persons  as  trustees  to  have  charge  of  them 
— Mr.  J.  Cordy  Burrows,  Mr.  J.  Andrews,  and  myself. 

Several  small  fragments  of  the  broken  handle  have  been 
submitted  by  me,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Richard  Noakes, 
of  Brighton,  to  chemical  test,  and,  according  to  these,  proved 
to  be  amber.  Similar  experiments  were  made  by  us  on  other 
pieces  of  amber,  with  the  like  results.  We  also  boiled  some 
pieces  of  amber  in  spirits  of  turpentine,  and  found  the  pro- 
cess rendered  them  quite  plastic  while  warm,  so  that  the 
amber  could  be  moulded  with  the  fingers.  This  may  assist 
our  conjectures,  how  the  cup  was  worked  and  made,  and  I  am 
not  aware  that  the  experiment  of  boiling  amber  has  ever  been 
tried  before.  Perhaps  the  ancient  Scandinavians  had  some 
secret  by  which  they  could  soften  it,  by  holding  it  over  a  fire 
of  green  pinewood. 

The  drawings  of  the  various  articles  described  were  made 
by  Mr.  George  De  Paris,  under  my  direction. 


P.S. — January,  1857. — On  the  open  down  forming  the  sheep-walk  and 
north  part  of  the  farm  occupied  by  Mr.Hardwick,  at  Hangleton,  to  the  north- 
west of  Brighton,  was  a  little  mound,  and  by  its  side  a  slight  hollow  or  depres- 
sion of  the  surface.  Here  Mr.  Hard  wick  recently  set  some  men  to  work  to 
dig  a  pond,  when  they  had  occasion  to  remove  the  mound  ab-eady  mentioned, 
and  in  doing  so  dug  out  seven  human  skeletons,  all  of  full  size,  placed  in  no 
particular  order.  They  were  about  two  feet  below  the  turf,  having  apparently 
been  placed  on  the  ground  and  covered  with  the  surface-mould  and  upper 
chalk  taken  out  of  the  hollow.  Nothing  whatever  was  found  with  the  bones ; 
but  several  yards  away  from  them  was  picked  up  a  small  Roman  coin  of  brass, 
misshapen  and  veiy  much  corroded.  On  the  obverse  is  what  seems  a  head 
wearing  the  corona  radiata  ;  on  the  reverse  is  a  tropceum,  with  a  helmet  and 
military  standards.  The  only  letters  I  can  distinguish  are  V.M.,  being  the 
concluding  part  of  the  inscription.  A  similar  coin  had  been  picked  up  several 
weeks  previously,  near  Hangleton  Church,  thicker  than  the  other,  but  also 
much  oxidized.  On  one  side  is  an  imperial  profile ;  on  the  other,  a  robed 
female  stretching  her  right  hand  over  a  small  altar,  and  holding  something  in 
the  left.  The  only  letters  I  can  make  out  are  AVG.  However,  I  have  been 
led  to  believe  that  the  first  is  of  the  time  of  Germanicus,  the  second  of  Vale- 
rianus,  who  reigned  from  253  to  260  a.d.  The  weight  of  the  first  is  40| 
grains;  of  the  second,  only  31  grains.  The  small  mound  was  not  a  camp, 
but  resembled  another  about  half  a  mile  distant. 


RICHARD  KIDDER,  BISHOP  OF  BATH  AND  WELLS, 
AND  THE  KIDDERS  OF  MARESFIELD. 

BY  THE  KEY.  EDWARD  TURNER. 


Among  the  Sussex  families  whose  descent  may  be  traced 
from  an  early  period  to  the  present  time,  and  who  have  risen 
from  circumstances  comparatively  humble  to  positions  of  con- 
siderable eminence  and  importance,  is  that  of  the  Kidders  of 
Maresfield,  in  the  Register  Books  of  which  parish  the  name 
frequently  occurs.  These  registers  commence  with  the  year 
1 538,  and  the  earliest  events  recorded  in  them  are  connected 
with  this  family.  That  the  Kidders  were  of  respectable 
standing  as  yeomen  in  the  parish,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
circumstance  that  they  held  from  time  to  time  some  of  the 
principal  parochial  offices,  such  as  guardians  of  the  poor, 
churchwardens,  &c. ;  and  where  the  names  of  sponsors  are 
entered  in  the  same  register  books,  which  is  the  case  from 
1571  to  1585,  they  are  associated  in  this  capacity  with  some 
of  the  leading  gentry  of  the  neighbourhood  in  the  record  of 
baptisms  of  the  children  of  such  parents  as  ranked  above  the 
common  class.  One  of  the  family  is  also  sometimes  desig- 
nated "the  bayliffe,"  at  other  times,  vulgo,  "the  bayly,"  by 
which  I  understand  the  holder  of  a  crown  office  connected 
with  the  extensive  forest  of  Ashdown,  or  perhaps  with  that 
part  of  it  only  which  was  enclosed  by  John  a  Gaunt  as  a  royal 
park,  and  which  was  called  on  that  account  "  Lancaster  Great 
Park,"  much  of  which  was  in  Maresfield.  Of  this  office  the 
heads  of  the  Kidder  family  were  perhaps  the  hereditary  pos- 
sessors. Even  so  late  as  the  time  of  Charles  I.  large  herds 
of  deer  were  kept  up  in  the  different  enclosures,  into  which, 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  different  ages  and  sexes,  this 
park  was  divided,  as  is  still  indicated  by  the  names  Hartfield 


126       RICHARD    KIDDER,   BISHOP    OF    BATH   AND   WELLS, 

and  Hartwell,  Buckhurst,  Buckstead  and  Buckstye,  Hindover 
and  Hindleap,  Kidbrook,  &c,  which  are  all  of  them  places  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  what  now  remains  of  this  once  ex- 
tensive forest  tract.  As  "the  bayliffe "  was,  according  to 
Manwood,1  the  principal  superintendent  of  the  forest  and  its 
subordinate  officers  under  the  verderer,  the  name  Kidder  may 
possibly  have  been  originally  derived  from  the  nature  of  the 
duties  imposed  upon  him  as  the  holder  of  this  office.  Mr.  P. 
Kidder,  of  Boston,  U.S.,  one  of  this  family,  informs  me  that 
there  is  a  coat  of  arms,  "  which,"  to  use  his  own  words,  "  I 
trace  in  our  family  for  over  a  hundred  years,  but  do  not  find 
it  in  any  book  on  heraldry.  It  is  cut  in  stone.  The  principal 
figures  are  three  kids  or  deer.  There  is  no  crest  or  motto." 
This  seems  to  bear  out  my  conjecture.  Another  suggestion 
which  has  been  advanced  is  this  :  the  name  has  been  variously 
spelt  at  different  times.  In  some  documents  of  an  early  date 
it  is  written  Kyddwr ;  and  this  has  led  to  the  supposition 
that  the  family  were  of  very  early  Welsh  extraction,  and  that 
the  name  is  compounded  of  two  Celtic  words,  Kyd,  a  town 
situated  on  a  hill,  and  dwr,  a  stream  of  water.  Kidder  is  the 
Saxon  for  a  dealer  in  corn. 

But  whatever  might  have  been  the  derivation  of  the  name, 
that  the  office  itself  in  the  forest  was  an  honourable  as  well  as 
a  profitable  one,  may  be  inferred  from  its  having  been  held  at 
an  early  period  by  persons  of  rank  and  distinction,  uncon- 
nected apparently  with  the  county.  In  Wright's  History  of 
Rutlandshire,  published  in  the  year  1660,  Sir  William  Durant, 
Knt.,  is  called  "the  bayliffe  of  Archedown  Forest,  in  the 
county  of  Sussex."  At  what  date  he  held  this  office  this 
quaint  old  historian  does  not  mention ;  but,  as  Sir  William 
lived  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  he  probably  received  the 
appointment  from  him,  and  might  have  been  the  first 
"  bayliffe"  after  the  formation  of  Lancaster  Great  Park.  The 
family  of  Durant  held  large  possessions  in  the  county  of 
Rutland. 

The  residence  of  the  Kidder  family  is  sometimes  called  in 
old  writings  "  the  Hole,"  at  other  times  "  the  Hole  House," 
and  "  the  Pool,"  and  when  Latinized,  "  de  la  Stagno,"  which 
are  all  names  very  descriptive  of  its  situation  in  a  deep  forest 

1  Manwood' s  Treatise  of  the  Laws  of  the  Forest,  &c. 


AND    THE    KIDDERS    OF    MARESFIELD.  127 

dell,  a  considerable  portion  of  which  was  evidently  once  occu- 
pied by  water.  Of  this  pool  a  part  still  remains,  called  "  the 
Lake  ";  and  the  adjoining  property,  which,  if  it  was  not  the 
entire,  was,  no  doubt,  parcel  of  the  Kidder  patrimonial  estate, 
is  now  called  "  Lampool."  The  house,  which  was  of  a  mode- 
rate size,  and  possessed  no  claim  to  architectural  notice,  has 
been  taken  down  some  years.  In  an  old  manorial  book 
belonging  to  Viscount  Gage,  lord  of  the  manor  of  Maresfield, 
in  which  the  property  is  situated,  it  is  described  as  "  the  Hole 
House,  and  certain  lands  called  Arthurs  or  Athurs,  consisting 
of  35  acres  of  land,  lying  between  Homey  Common  and 
Lampool  Green,  late  Newnham's,  before  Hoath's,  and  formerly 
Kidder's." 

In  the  annexed  genealogical  table,  the  first  of  the  family 
mentioned  in  the  Maresfield  Register  is  Richard  Kidder  of 
the  Hole,  who  was  buried  in  1549;  but  his  father,  we  learn 
from  other  sources,  was  resident  in  the  parish  in  1492.  The 
family  indeed  may  be  traced  back  as  landowners  in  Maresfield 
to  the  time  of  Edward  II.  On  the  Subsidy  Roll  for  Sussex, 
6  Edward  III.,  1332,  the  name  appears  as  follows:  "Simon 
at  Hole  ]s.  $d."  And  again,  13  Eliz.  (1570-1),  "John 
Kydder,  lands  xxs."  "  John  Kydder,  Jr.,  lands  xxs."  In  the 
Muster  Roll,  temp.  Henry  VIII. ,  the  name  frequently  occurs, 
but  is  usually  written  Kether,  which  arose  probably  from  the 
name  being  entered  as  it  was  usually  pronounced. 

From  the  Manorial  Books  we  learn  also  that  other  members 
of  the  Kidder  family  were  copyholders  in  Maresfield.  At  a 
court  held  September  12th,  1599,  William  Kidder  of  Mares- 
field, was  presented  as  dying  seized  of  two  parcels  of  land 
called  the  Scope  and  the  Steake.  In  1606,  William  Kidder 
of  London  is  mentioned  as  a  tenant  owing  suit  and  service ; 
and  Richard  Kidder  surrendered  a  copyhold  called  Adderal's 
Eields,  containing  12  acres.  At  a  court  held  the  next  year, 
Richard  Kidder  of  the  Hole  was  one  of  the  homage,  and 
Richard  Kidder  was  presented  as  dying  seized  of  a  cottage 
and  half  an  acre  of  land  called  the  Slype.  In  1608,  Philip 
Kidder  surrendered  a  messuage,  barn,  and  garden,  called 
Moyses,  and  40  acres  of  assart  land  and  other  lands  in 
Maresfield,  to  Barnabas  Hodgson,  a  large  ironfounder.  There 
are  entries  in  the  same  records  of  the  deaths,  surrenders,  and 


128         RICHARD    KIDDER,   BISHOP    OF    BATH   AND   WELLS, 

admissions  of  many  other  Kidders  as  tenants  of  the  same 
manor  previous  to  the  year  1722.  In  that  year  John  Kidder 
surrendered  lands  held  by  him  to  Andrew  Gatland,  and  he 
appears  to  have  been  the  last  copyholder  in  it;  and  it  is  pro- 
bable that  he  was  the  last  of  the  family  connected  with  the 
parish  for  from  that  time  to  this  the  name  of  Kidder  has 
ceased  to  exist  in  Maresfield.  Among  the  MSS.  Inquisitiones 
post  Mortem  (i.  95,  Sussex,  42  Eliz.)  is  the  record  of  an  In- 
quisition taken  at  East  Grinstead,  January  2,  1600,  before 
sundry  jurors,  who  say,  that  John  Kidder  died  June  21st,  in 
the  year  preceding,  and  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
seized  of  a  demesne,  as  of  fee,  of  and  in  a  messuage,  barn, 
stable  garden,  orchard,  and  80  acres  of  land  with  the  appur- 
tenances, in  Marysfield,  called  Rolfe  Colvyells,  formerly  Fryt- 
ters ;  and  that  the  said  messuage  and  premises  were  held  of 
our  said  Lady  the  Queen  "  ut  de  honore  suo  de  Aquila  per 
servicium  militare,  sed  per  quantam  partem  feodi  militis  jura- 
tores  predicti  ignorant ;  et  valent  per  annum,  ultra  reprisaha, 
20s."  A  farm  adjoining  the  Pool,  or  Lampool  Farm,  is  still 
called  the  Frytter  Bank,  and  is  probably  the  land  here  alluded 
to.  By  his  will  dated  1650,  and  proved  in  1651,  Drew 
Kidder  of  Maresfield,  yeoman,  devises  his  estate,  called  Ke- 
nates,  to  his  son  John;  and  other  lands,  together  with  a  house 
in  Maresfield  Street,  to  his  younger  son  Drew. 

Richard  Kidder,  who  died  in  1549,  had  three  sons. 
Richard,  the  eldest  of  these,  had  a  large  family,  the  five  first- 
born of  which  were  sons ;  and  the  descendants  of  the  three 
eldest  of  these  attained  in  different  ways  to  considerable  emi- 
nence. The  elder  branch  continued  to  reside  at  Maresfield  until 
the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  Richard, 
the  eldest  son  of  Thomas  the  second  son,  removed  to  Lewes 
about  the  year  1590,  where  his  family  continued  to  reside  for 
upwards  of  a  century,  and  became  opulent  merchants.  They 
are  mentioned  in  the  Town  Records  eight  times  as  constables 
of  the  borough,  the  first  appointment  being  in  1586,  and  the 
last  in  1657.  In  Rowe's  MS.  of  the  customs  of  different 
manors  in  Sussex,  they  are  represented  as  living  in  All  Saints 
parish.  "  Lewes  Burgus,  Parochia  omnium  sanctorum,  pars 
borealis,  Thomas  Kydder,  pro  tenemento,  &c.  Pars  Aus- 
tralis,  Richardus   Kydder,  pro  tenemento,  &c."     Again,  at 


AND    THE    KIDDERS    OF    MARES  FIELD.  129 

pages  73,  74,  of  the  present  volume,  Richard  Kidder  is  stated, 
in  1021,  to  have  held  goods  valued  £3.  5s.  in  Lewes  Burrowe, 
and  lands  valued  at  £20.  2s.  Sd.m  Southover  Burrowe.  The 
Thomas  Kydder  here  alluded  to  was  probably  the  father  of  Anne 
Kydder,  who  married  George  Howard  of  Bookham,  Surrey, 
son  of  Sir  Charles  Howard,  Knt.,  and  brother  of  Francis,  fifth 
Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  from  which  marriage  the  present 
Earl  of  Effingham  is  descended. 

Another  member  of  this  family  removed  from  Maresfield  to 
East  Grinstead  at  a  somewhat  earlier  period,  where  he  settled 
as  a  tradesman.  In  the  Subsidy  Roll  of  the  13th  of  Eliz. 
(1570-1),  under  the  head  "Borough  of  East  Grinstead,"  occurs 
"Thomas  Kidder,  lands  xxs. ;"  and  again,  in  22  James  I. 
(1624-5),  "Hundred  of  East  Grinstead,  Richard  Kidder, 
lands  xxs."  In  the  East  Grinstead  register  books  the  name 
first  appears  in  1571,  about  seven  years  after  they  commence. 
Among  the  wills  to  be  found  in  the  Prerogative  Court  of 
Canterbury  is  that  of  Richard  Kidder  of  East  Grinstead, 
mercer,  who  was  baptised  there  in  1579.  He  is  called  the 
son  of  William  Kidder,  and  died  in  1636.  His  will  was 
proved  May  30th  of  the  same  year,  by  Margaret,  his  widow, 
in  which  he  mentions  an  estate  which  descended  to  him  as  the 
heir  of  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Kidder.  In  167 1 
the  will  of  William  Kidder  of  East  Grinstead,  dated  1669, 
was  proved  at  Exeter  House,  in  the  Strand,  before  Sir  Leoline 
Jenkyns.  He  is  probably  son  of  the  person  mentioned  in 
Richard  Kidder's  will  as  "my  brother  William."  In  the 
entry  of  his  burial  he  is  described  as  of  Sackville  College,  so 
that  he  must  have  lived  to  become  a  decayed  tradesman. 
By  his  wife,  whose  name  before  marriage  was  Elizabeth 
Wichenden,  he  had  a  numerous  family,  for  whom,  as  they 
grew  up,  he  was  able  to  do  but  little,  his  kind  and  generous 
disposition,  which  led  him  to  become  surety  for  others,  having 
brought  him  into  so  great  straits  and  difficulties,  that  he  was 
compelled  to  sell  the  small  estate  he  had,  on  which  account, 
probably,  we  find  him  an  inmate  of  the  college.  But,  not- 
withstanding the  difficulties  with  which  he  had  to  contend, 
their  son  Richard  became  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
Established  Church,  and  eventually  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells. 

ix.  17 


130       RICHARD    KIDDER,    BTSHOP    OF    BATH    AND    WELLS, 

William  Kidder  =f= 


Richard, 
of  East  Grin  stead, 
mercer :  bapt. 
1579;  ob.  1636. 


=T=   Margaret.         William. 


Richard. 


William  =f  Elizabeth 
ob.  1671.     |    Wickenden. 


Richard, 
Bishop  of  Bath 

and  Wells : 

bapt.  1634-5 ; 

ob.  1703. 


Elizabeth 
ob.  1703. 


Jeremiah  ? 


Susanna :  -r-  Sir  Rich.  Everard,  Bart. : 


ob.  1739. 


ob.  1722-3. 


Anne : 

ob.  innupt. 

1728. 


Richard : 
ob.  1741-2. 
s.p. 


Hugh 
ob.  s.p. 


I 
Susanna.    =p 


A 


.     White,        Anne, 
of  Virginia. 


It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  and  to  be  attributed  perhaps  to 
his  being  the  son  of  very  humble  parents,  that  the  birthplace 
of  so  eminent  a  divine  should  have  been  for  many  years  in- 
volved in  obscurity  and  doubt :  some  asserting  that  he  was 
born  at  Lewes;  Willis,  and  others,  at  Brighthelmstone.  Even 
the  county  of  which  he  was  a  native  was  by  no  means  a  cer- 
tainty, the  author  of  the  Supplement  to  Collier's  Dictionary 
asserting  that  he  was  born  in  Suffolk  ;  while  Chalmers,  in  his 
Biographical  Dictionary,  calls  him  "  a  very  learned  English 
bishop,  born,  as  Wood  says,  in  Sussex,  but,  as  others  say,  in 
Suffolk.5'  That  he  was  a  native  of  Sussex  the  inscription  on 
his  tomb  in  Wells  Cathedral  expressly  states — 

"  Cui  dedit 
Incunabula  Sussexiensis  ager." 

And  that  he  was  born  at  East  Grinstead  in  the  year  1633-4, 
he  himself  tells  us  in  an  autobiographical  memoir  which  he 
left  of  himself,  and  which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  J.  H. 


AND    THE    KIDDERS    OF    MARESFIELD.  131 

Casson,  when  he  published,  in  1829,  his  Lives  of  the  Bishops 
of  Bath  and  Wells;  since  which  time  the  MS.  has  not  been 
heard  of.     Mr.  Casson's  widow,  who  appears  to  have  assisted 
her  husband  as  an  amanuensis  in  the  compilation  of  his  book, 
states,  in  reply  to  a  letter  addressed  to  her  on  the  subject, 
that  she  has  a  perfect  recollection  of  making  extracts  from  it 
at  the  time  he  was  engaged  in  preparing  his  work  for  pub- 
lication, but  that  she  has  now  no  knowledge  of  what  became 
of  it  afterwards.     Its  loss  is  much  to  be  deplored,  for,  in  the 
extracts  published,  it  is  quite  evident  that  he  availed  himself 
only  of  such  parts  of  the  MS.  as  had  reference  to  the  bishop's 
public  life,  though  it  could  not  fail  to  contain  much  interest- 
ing matter  connected  with  his  private  history.     A  search 
among  Mr.  Casson's  books  and  papers,  now  in  charge  of  his 
widow  at  Bruton,  may,  at  some  future  day,  bring  the  lost  MS. 
to  light,  or  reveal  to  us  what  is  become  of  it.     That  it  was  in 
Bishop  Law's  library  at  Wells,  in  the  year  1830,  we  learn 
from  Mr.  Bowles's  Introduction  to  his  Life  of  Bishop  Ken, 
published  in  that  year,  in  which  he  expresses  his  thanks  to 
that  prelate  for  the  information  he  was  permitted  to  obtain 
from  it,  and  adds,  "This  work,  never  printed,  is  a  very  curious 
and  valuable  document  preserved  in  the  Episcopal  Library  at 
Wells."     In  this  autobiographical  memoir  the  bishop  says, 
"I  was  born  at  East  Grinstead  in  1633,  and  baptised  there 
in  Eebruary.    I  think  the  register  hath  it  on  the  8th."     Here 
the  bishop's  statement  is  not  quite  correct,  the  entry  in  the 
East  Grinstead  register  being  as  follows  :  "  1 633, February  9th, 
Richard,  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  Kidder."     "  I  was," 
the  bishop  continues,  "  the  8th  child  of  my  parents,  who  had 
9  children,  eight  whereof  lived  to  the  age  of  men  and  women, 
and  the  greater  part  of  them  to  more  than  60.     My  father 
was  a  man  of  great  diligence  and  industry,  and  made  a  shift, 
with  a  little  estate  of  his  own  and  some  land  that  he  hired,  to 
give  his  children  a  decent  education."    In  the  will  of  William, 
the  father,  he  is  stated  to  have  been  a  saddler.     His  mother, 
he  says,  was  "  a  woman  of  great  piety  and  sanctity,  of  much 
wisdom  and  diligence."     Having  been  educated  by  a  Mr. 
Reyner  Harman,  a  German  by  birth,  and  a  man  of  very 
superior  classical  attainments,  whom  he  describes  as  a  Sussex 
incumbent,  he  was  first  placed  with  an  apothecary  at  Seven- 


132       RICHARD    KIDDER,    BISHOP    OF    BATH    AND    WELLS, 

oaks,  in  Kent,  but  afterwards  sent  at  the  expense  of  private 
persons,  who  discerned  in  him  abilities  of  a  superior  order,  to 
Emanuel  College,  Cambridge.  He  was  admitted  a  sizar  of 
the  college  in  1649,  was  made  A.B.  in  1652,  A.M.  and  Fellow 
in  1656,  and  thus  fully  realized  the  expectations  that  were 
formed  of  him,  and  D.D.  in  1689.  His  first  preferment  was 
the  college  living  of  Stanground,  in  Huntingdonshire,  from 
which  he  was  ejected  for  nonconformity  in  1662,  having  held 
the  living  ten  years ;  but,  on  his  conforming  shortly  after,  the 
Earl  of  Essex  gave  him  the  living  of  Rayne,  in  Essex,  which 
he  vacated  two  years  after,  having  been  elected  by  the  Mer- 
chant Tailors'  Company  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Mary  Outwich, 
London,  in  their  patronage.  In  1681  he  was  made  a  pre- 
bendary of  Norwich  Cathedral ;  in  1689,  he  was  appointed 
to  the  deanery  of  Peterborough,  which  had  become  vacant  by 
the  appointment  of  Simon  Patrick  to  the  see  of  Chichester ; 
and  upon  the  deprivation  of  Ken,  and  Beveridge's  refusal  of 
the  bishopric  of  Bath  and  Wells,  he  was  appointed  to  that 
see.  Here  he  met  with  a  most  melancholy  end,  having  been 
killed  at  Wells  by  the  fall  of  a  stack  of  chimneys  through  the 
roof  of  the  palace,  which  were  blown  down  in  the  great  storm 
of  wind,  Nov.  26th  or  27th,  1703.  His  wife  was  killed  at 
the  same  time,  being  found  dead  in  bed,  and  the  bishop  dead 
on  the  floor,  a  short  distance  from  it.2  The  bishop  must  have 
married  while  he  held  the  living  of  Stanground ;  for,  in  his 
memoir  of  himself,  he  complains  bitterly  of  the  inconvenience, 
after  he  was  deprived  of  this  living,  of  being  without  clerical 
income  with  an  increasing  family. 

Of  his  numerous  children,  two  daughters  only  survived 
him,  the  greater  part  of  his  family  having  died  of  the  Essex 
fever  during  the  time  he  was  the  incumbent  of  Rayne.  The 
younger,  Anne,  died  single  at  Kensington.  Her  will  is  dated 
April  30th,  1728,  and  was  proved  May  1  6th  following.  By 
it  she  directs  her  body  to  be  buried  in  the  cathedral  church 
of  Wells,  at  an  expense  not  exceeding  £100 ;  and  she  directs 
her  executors  to  expend  a  farther  sum  of  £300  in  erecting  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  her  father  and  mother,  for  which 
she  suggests  a  short  English  inscription ;  but  this  part  of  her 
will  was  not  complied  with,  as  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  is 

2  Laudsdowne  MSS.  le  Neve,  in  the  British  Museum. 


AND    THE    KIDDERS    OF    MARESFIELD.  133 

a  very  long  Latin  one.  The  elder  daughter  married,  in  1706, 
Sir  Richard  Everard,  Baronet,  of  Langley,  in  Essex,  one  of  the 
early  governors  of  North  Carolina,  who  lived  and  died  in 
Virginia,  and  whose  descendants  are  among  the  most  distin- 
gnished  families  in  that  state.  Of  these  may  be  mentioned, 
as  worthy  of  special  notice,  Richard  Kidder  Mead,  a  member 
of  Congress ;  and  Bishop  Mead,  the  head  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  that  state.  To  her  sister  Susanna  Everard,  Anne 
Kidder  devises  all  her  real  estate,  and,  among  other  lands, 
"  my  farme  at  Heathfield,  in  the  county  of  Sussex ;"  and,  by 
a  codicil,  she  gives  legacies  to  her  sister's  four  children. 

George,  the  grandson  of  Thomas,  removed  from  Maresfield 
to  London  about  the  time  that  the  descendants  of  Richard, 
Thomas's  elder  brother,  left  Maresfield  for  Lewes ;  and  he  was 
the  founder  of  the  London  and  Irish  branch  of  the  family. 
At  what  time  he  migrated  from  Maresfield  to  London  with 
his  family  is  not  exactly  known  ;  nor  am  I  able  to  connect  the 
London  branch  one  with  another  in  regular  succession.  At 
this  distant  period  of  time  they  are  not  to  be  known  other- 
wise than  individually  by  their  wills.  Referring,  then,  to  these 
documents,  and  taking  them,  as  far  as  we  can,  in  the  order  of 
their  date,  we  find  the  will  of  a  John  Kidder  proved  in  the 
Prerogative  Court  of  Canterbury  in  1647  :  in  it  he  is  de- 
scribed as  of  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars.  The  business  in  which 
he  was  engaged  is  not  mentioned.  Among  the  London 
Tradesmen's  Tokens,  published  by  Mr.  J.  Y.  Akerman,  are  two 
with  the  name.  One  has  in  three  lines  across  the  field, 
"William  Kidder,  1666,  in  Blackfriars,"  and  in  the  field, 
W.  K. ;  the  other  is  without  date,  and  has  across  the  field, 
"  Susan  Kidder,  Sempster,  Southampton  Buildings,"  and  in 
the  field  "  S.  B.  K.  Semster."  The  will  of  Thomas  Kidder,  of 
London  Bridge,  citizen  and  merchant  tailor,  was  proved  in 
1656.  He  must  have  been  a  man  of  some  wealth,  for  he  left 
considerable  sums  of  money  to  his  widow  and  to  each  of  his 
four  children.  His  grey  and  chestnut  geldings  he  gave  to 
his  brothers,  Richard  and  Edward ;  and  to  his  lovynge  friend 
and  neighbour  John  Worger  his  ring,  with  a  death's  head  on 
it.  He  also  gave  legacies  of  money  and  clothes  to  his  ser- 
vants. He  was  probably  of  the  Lewes  branch.  The  will  of 
William  Kidder  was  proved  in  1665,  in  which  he  is  described 


134       RICHARD    KIDDER,    BISHOP    OF    BATH    AND    WELLS, 

as  a  "  citizen  of  London,  weaver."  Among  other  bequests  he 
gives  a  small  sum  "  to  the  poor  of  St.  Buttolph's,  Aldgate." 
The  will  of  Richard  Kidder  of  London,  citizen  and  merchant 
tailor,  dated  January  10th,  1680,  was  proved  in  1681,  and 
directs  rings  of  1 0s.  a  piece  value  to  be  given  to  such  of  his 
friends  as  may  attend  his  funeral,  the  charges  of  which  he 
limits  to  £100,  or  thereabouts,  which  implies  considerable 
opulence.  The  will  of  a  Jeremiah  Kidder,  described  as  "  late 
of  St.  Paul's,  Covent  Garden,"  was  proved  in  1697,  and  his 
widow  Mariana's  in  1715.  He  probably  was  the  son  of 
William  Kidder,  of  East  Grinstead,  and  a  brother  of  the 
bishop.  There  are  also  extant  wills  of  Nicholas  Kidder,  of 
Greenwich,  in  1697-8,  and  others  of  later  date. 

Another  resident  in  London  who  became  a  man  of  some 
notoriety  was  Edward  Kidder,  a  pastrycook,  or,  as  he  called 
himself,  "  pastry-master,"  who  carried  on  his  business  in 
Queen  Street,  Cheapside.  So  important  an  accomplishment 
was  the  art  of  making  pastry  considered  in  his  day,  that  it 
was  not  unfrequently  taught  in  schools  established  for  the 
purpose.  This  induced  him  to  open  two  such  schools,  one  at 
his  own  place  of  business,  and  the  other  in  Holborn.  He 
also  gave  instruction  to  ladies  at  their  private  houses.  So 
popular  did  his  system  of  teaching  become,  that  he  is  said  to 
have  instructed  nearly  6000  ladies  in  this  art.  He  also  pub- 
lished a  book  of  Receipts  of  Pastry  and  Cookery,  for  the  use 
of  his  scholars,  printed  entirely  in  copper-plate,  with  a  por- 
trait of  himself,  in  the  full  wig  and  costume  of  the  day,  as  a 
frontispiece.  He  died  in  1739,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three; 
and  his  will,  dated  1734,  was  proved  in  1739.  In  it  he  gave 
to  his  wife  Mary  Kidder  a  gold  watch,  a  diamond  ring,  and 
all  the  other  rings  and  trinkets  used  by  her,  and  also  all  the 
furniture  of  the  bedroom  in  which  he  lay  in  the  house  in 
Queen  Street ;  and  to  his  two  daughters,  Elizabeth  and  Susan, 
he  bequeathed  all  his  money,  Bank  stock,  plate,  jewellery,  &c. 
His  daughter  Elizabeth's  will  was  proved  in  1758,  and  her 
sister  Susan's  in  1768.  Susan,  amongst  other  bequests,  gave 
to  her  cousin  George  Kidder,  of  Canterbury,  pastrycook,  £50, 
and  her  copper-plates  for  the  receipt-book. 

What  business  George  Kidder  followed  in  London  I  have 
been  unable  to  ascertain ;  but  it  was  probably  that  of  a  silver- 


AND    THE    KIDDERS    OF    MARESFIELD.  135 

smith,  in  which  his  son  Vincent  was  certainly  engaged  in  the 
year  1650.  During  the  Commonwealth  this  Vincent  Kidder 
joined  the  Parliamentary  forces  under  Cromwell,  and  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  reduction  of  Ireland.  He  was  an 
enterprising  and  successful  officer,  and  attained  to  the  rank  of 
a  major  in  the  army.  A  grant  of  1000  acres  had  been  made 
him  at  Rochestown,  Kilkenny,  of  which  he  was  deprived  at 
the  Restoration,  but  which  was,  upon  his  petition,  restored 
and  confirmed  to  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever  on  the  6th  of 
October,  1676,  by  the  commissioners  appointed  under  the  Act 
of  Settlement,  it  having  been  proved  to  their  satisfaction  that 
the  land  in  question  was  allotted  and  assigned  to  him,  or  to 
those  for  whom  he  claimed,  for  his  and  their  services  as 
soldiers  in  the  late  war  in  Ireland,  and  that  they  were  in  the 
actual  possession  of  them  May  7th,  1659.3  He  married 
Ellen,  daughter  of  Adam,  second  son  of  Sir  Thomas  Loftus, 
Bai  t.,  of  Kyllian,  county  Meath,  and  grand-daughter  of  Adam 
Loftns,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland 
in  1678.  By  her  mother,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Richard 
Cosby,  of  Stradbally,  Esq.,  she  was  lineally  descended  from 
Thomas  of  Woodstock,  seventh  son  of  Edward  III.  Adam, 
their  eldest  son,  who  married  Cecilia,  daughter  of  Thomas, 
and  grand-daughter  of  Sir  Dudley  Loftus,  and  who  resided 
at  Parke,  county  Meath,  was  attainted  by  James  II.  in  the 
memorable  Parliament  held  in  Dublin,  1693.  In  the  will  of 
his  widow,  proved  in  1735,  he  is  described  as  "Lieut.  Adam 
Kidder,  of  General  Steward's  regiment  of  foot."  Vincent, 
their  second  son,  who  pursued  his  father's  business  of  a  silver- 
smith, was  a  lieutenant  in  Captain  Collingham's  company  of 
Irish  Volunteers,  and  greatly  distinguished  himself  at  the 
battle  of  the  Boyne,  for  which  he  was  made  a  colonel ;  and 
hence  the  adoption  of  the  word  "  Boyne  "  as  a  motto  to  their 
coat  of  arms. 

"January  15th,  1810.  Grant  of  coat  of  arms  under  the 
seal  of  Ulster  King  at  Arms,  to  the  descendants  of  Vincent 
Kidder : — 

Vert — 3  crescents — or — 2  and  1. 

Crest — A   hand   couped   below  the   elbow    proper  valed 
azure  holding  a  packet,  thereon  the  word  '  standard.' 

3  Certificates  of  Adventurers,  roll  24,  tnemb.  25. 


136       RICHARD    KIDDER,    BISHOP    OF    BATH    AND    WELlS, 

Motto—'  Boyne.' 

"Recorded  in  the  College  of  Arms,  London,May22,1827." 

The  arms  on  Bishop  Kidder's  tomb  in  Wells  Cathedral  are 
those  of  the  family  of  Kyddall  in  Lincolnshire,  namely, 
"  Sable,  a  saltere  ragule  argent."  See  York's  Union  of  Honour. 
Other  authorities  (Burke,  and  Berry)  describe  the  saltere  as 
"  embattled,  counterembattled." 

Vincent  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Dublin  Goldsmiths' 
Company  in  1690,  became  master  of  the  same  company  in 
1696,  and  assay-master  in  1697.  As  a  mark  of  esteem  for 
him  a  piece  of  plate  was  presented  to  him,  in  1717,  by  the 
corporation ;  and  his  full-length  portrait  was  for  some  years 
placed  in  the  Goldsmiths'  Hall,  but  is  now  in  the  Assay  Office 
in  the  Custom  House,  Dublin.  The  crest  of  the  Irish  branch 
of  the  family — a  hand  holding  an  assay  ticket,  with  the  word 
"standard"  written  on  it — is  an  allusion  to  the  office  of  assay- 
master  which  Colonel  Kidder  held  in  this  company.  Of  his 
eight  children,  Thomas  alone  survived  him,  and  was  ten  years 
old  at  his  father's  death  in  1736.  Having  been  defrauded  of 
his  patrimony  by  his  guardians,  he  was  sent  to  England,  and 
settled  as  a  tanner  in  Lancashire.  He  had  a  large  family. 
His  two  surviving  sons,  Thomas  and  Edward,  were  both 
citizens  of  London — the  latter  dying  in  1817,  the  former 
in  1820,  and  both  were  buried  at  Maresfield.  Of  his  six 
daughters,  Anne  married  James  Crosby,  to  whose  son  of  the 
same  names,  a  Fellow  of  the  Antiquarian  and  a  Member  of 
the  Sussex  Archaeological  Society,  I  am  under  considerable 
obligations  for  much  information  embodied  in  this  memoir. 

The  descendants  of  John,  the  third  son  of  Richard,  who 
died  in  1549,  appear  to  have  left  Maresfield  about  the  time 
of  the  migration  of  his  cousins,  descended  from  the  two  elder 
brothers,  when  the  spirit  of  enterprise  seems  to  have  taken 
possession  of  the  family,  and  to  have  carried  them  forth  into 
the  world  in  search  of  a  larger  field  of  active  utility.  James, 
the  grandson  of  this  John,  removed,  about  the  year  1599, 
into  the  adjoining  parish  of  East  Grinstead,  where  the  family 
of  William  Kidder  had  been  previously  settled.  His  son 
James  emigrated  to  America  in  the  year  1630,  and,  settling 
himself  at  Cambridge,  was  a  landowner  there  in  1649.  He 
married  Anna,  the  daughter  of  Elder  Francis  Morne,  one  of 


AND    THE    KIDDERS    OF    MARESFIELD.  137 

the  most  opulent  and  respectable  residents  of  that  place.  He 
was  probably  among  the  first  settlers  in  that  state,  where  he 
combined  a  military  life  with  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agricul- 
ture. His  descendants  are  now  very  numerous  in  America, 
being  spread  over  the  broad  expanse  of  territory  from  the 
Penobscot  to  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  from  Canada  to 
Louisiana,  some  of  whom  have  been  legislators  of  the  parti- 
cular states  to  which  they  belong,  and  two  have  been  mem- 
bers of  Congress.  By  marriage  they  have  become  connected 
with  some  of  the  leading  families  in  that  country. 

His  grandson,  Reuben  Kidder,  was  the  successful  and  po- 
pular founder  of  the  New  Ipswich  colony,  in  Hillsbury  county, 
New  Hampshire. 

Other  members  of  the  Kidder  family  left  Maresfield,  and 
settled  themselves  in  the  counties  of  Surrey,  Kent,  and 
Gloucestershire,  during  the  seventeenth  century ;  while  the 
heads  of  the  house  continued  to  reside  in  their  native  parish, 
and  on  their  slender  patrimonial  estate,  until  1724,  when  the 
last,  a  hale  and  venerable  man,  died,  and  was  buried  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-three,  shortly  after  which  the  property 
was  purchased  by,  and  merged  in  the  estate  of,  the  owner  of 
Maresfield  Park. 

Although  the  family  are  now  so  widely  dispersed,  yet  so 
endeared  to  the  different  members  of  it  is  the  parish  of 
Maresfield,  from  whence  they  sprung,  that  as  many  as  can  be 
are  brought  to  Maresfield  to  be  interred ;  and  their  tombs, 
after  recording  the  fact  of  their  death  and  burial,  and  any 
remarkable  events  that  may  have  happened  to  be  connected 
with  the  history  of  their  lives,  do  not  fail  to  set  forth  that 
they  were  "  descended  from  the  ancient  family  of  Kidder,  of 
this  parish." 


ix.  18 


138 


RICHARD    KIDDER,    BISHOP    OF    BATH    AND    WELLS. 


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THE  CHANTRY  OF  BRAMBLETYE,  AND  SEDITION 
IN  SUSSEX,  TEMP.  ELIZABETH,  1579. 

BY  WILLIAM  DU11RANT  COOPER,  F.S.A. 


The  following  extracts  from  the  State  Paper  Office  give  us 
a  curious  insight  into  the  apprehensions  felt  in  Sussex,  when- 
ever the  dignity  of  Elizabeth  was  questioned.  The  disturbed 
state  of  the  county  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
has  been  noticed  on  a  former  occasion.  {Archaol.  Coll.  Vol.  V. 
p.  195.)  From  the  examinations  sent  up  to  the  Council  by 
the  justices  in  quarter  sessions  assembled,  it  seems  that  their 
fears  were  very  much  excited  by  the  charge  made  by  an  angry 
woman  against  a  poor  attorney,  who  set  up  a  right  derived 
under  the  crown  itself  against  the  interest  of  the  very  gallant 
Mrs.  Pykas.  Fortunately  the  Council  saw  nothing  so  formida- 
ble in  the  matter  as  to  take  any  further  notice  of  Lord  Buck- 
hurst,  or  his  relative  or  attorney,  or  the  querulous  leader  of 
the  little  host  of  servants. 

The  papers  were  kindly  pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Robert 
Lemon,  F.S.A.,  of  the  State  Paper  Office,  where  the  Justices' 
letter  and  the  examinations  had  become  disconnected,  till  he 
brought  the  several  parts  once  more  together. 

Of  the  manor  of  Brambletye  no  accurate  particulars  have 
been  published.  It  formed  a  portion  of  the  large  possessions 
of  the  St.  Cleres,  till  the  death  of  Thomas  St.  Clere,  on  the  6th 
May,  143  5,1  leaving  his  three  daughters  his  coheiresses  :  Eliza- 
beth, then  aged  twelve ;  Eleanor,  then  aged  eleven  ;  and  Edith, 
then  aged  nine  years.2  The  manor  was  holden  of  the  King 
as  of  his  duchy  of  Lancaster  by  military  service,  and  was  worth 

1  Inq.  p.  m.  taken  at  East  G-rinstead,  -    Sussex   Archeeol.    Coll.  Vol.  VIII., 

13th  March,  17th  Henry  VI.  No.  56.  p.  131. 


140  THE  CHANTRY  OV    BRAMBLETYE, 

1 00s.  a  year.  As  St.  Clere,  however,  had  his  park  at  Lancrtyc, 
in  East  Grinstead,  he  is  not  likely  to  have  had  a  chantry  at 
Brambletye,  nor  can  I  discover  the  founder.  Upon  the  divi- 
sion of  the  estates  of  St.  Clere,  Brambletye  came  to  his  eldest 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  who  married — firstly,  William  Lovell  (by 
whom  she  had  one  son,  Henry,  who  died  leaving  two  daughters 
coheiresses,  Elizabeth  and  Agnes) ;  and  secondly,  Richard 
Lewknor,  who  is  the  first  person  described  as  of  Brambletye,3 
and  who,  most  probably,  built  the  house.  His  wife,  Elizabeth 
St.  Clere,  died  before  I486,  without  leaving  any  children  by 
him;  and  he  himself  died  13th  February,  1503,4  without  issue, 
although  he  had  taken  for  his  second  wife  Katherine,  daughter 
of  Lord  Scales,  and  widow  of  Sir  Thos.  Grey,  Knt.,  one  of  the 
ladies  to  the  Queens  of  Edward  IV.  and  Henry  VII.  She  died 
in  1505,  and  was  buried  at  East  Grinstead,  where  her  monu- 
ment recorded  that  she  and  Lewknor,  her  last  husband,  not 
only  provided  many  ornaments  for  that  church  (the  patronage 
of  which  had  been  appropriated,  2GthEdwardIIL,  to  the  priory 
of  Lewes),5  but  also  an  almshouse  for  three  persons.  To 
Richard  Lewknor  and  his  wife  Katherine,  therefore,  may  be, 
with  all  likelihood,  ascribed  the  foundation  of  the  free  chapel 
or  chantry  of  Brambletye.  It  was  endowed  out  of  the  manor 
with  lands,  and  a  rent-charge  of  26s.  Sd.  After  the  dissolution 
of  the  colleges,  chantries,  &c,  1st  Edward  VI.,  the  return6 
states  that  Edward  Stevynson  was  the  last  incumbent,  "  about 
thre  or  foure  yeres  past,"  and  that  "  this  chauntry  or  free 
chappell  was  dissolved  by  the  Lorde  Wyndsore  this  thre  or 
foure  yeres,  who  deneith  the  same  to  be  the  king's,  albeit  the 
fermor  of  the  said  Lord's  manour  of  Brameltie  is  bounden  by 
his  lease  to  pay  the  rent  aforesaid  to  the  chauntry  preist 
accordingly." 

By  the  examinations  it  appears  that  there  had  been  a  com- 
mission in  the  time  of  Elizabeth  (although  I  cannot  find  it 
among  the  public  records),  under  which  the  chantry  lands  had 
been  found  as  belonging  to  the  crown,  who  had  granted  them 

3  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  Vol.  III.  p.  95.  Grinstead  and  rents  out  of  the  manors 

4  Inq.  p.  m.    Suffolk,   18  Henry  VII.  of  Imberhorne  and  Dodeleswcll. — Inq.  ad 
No.  97.  quod  damnum,  No.  116. 

5  A  chantry  in  this  church  was  found-  6   Carlton    Ride    MSS.,    under     Est 
ed  19  Edward  II.  by  William  Hellindale,  Grenstede. 

and   was   endowed  with   lands   in   East 


AND    SEDITION    IN    SUSSEX,    1579.  141 

to  John  Farnham,  a  large  recipient  of  these  grants ;  and  he 
had  aliened  the  lands  to  Lord  Buckhurst. 

STATE  PAPER  OFFICE,  DOMESTIC,  MAY,  1579. 

Proceedings  against  John  Turner  for  seditious  ivords  spoken 
on  livery  and  seizin  of  Brambletye  Chapel  to  Lord 
Buckhurst' s  use. 
Our  duties  to  your  lordships  in  most  humble  wise  remem- 
brecl.  There  came  before  us  at  the  late  sessions,  holden  at 
Lewis  now  after  Ester,  on  Katherin  Pickas,  who,  among  other 
matters  then  and  there  declared  by  her  unto  us,  did  affirme 
that  on  John  Turner  in  seking  to  make  liverie  and  sesin  of  a 
dede  made  from  John  Farnam  of  a  chapel  and  certein  landes 
to  the  Lord  Buckhurst,  in  wch  the  said  John  Turner  was 
atturnie  for  that  purpose,  did  speke  certein  evell  and  unsemely 
wordes  toching  the  Queues  matie  such  as  she  thought  fit  to 
imparte  unto  us.  The  effect  whereof  was  thus  :  whan  the  said 
Katherin  Pickas  and  vj  other  wth  her  had  found  the  said  John 
Turner  and  v  others  wth  him,  at  a  place  being  nere  to  the 
hous  of  on  Steven  Frenche  within  Grinsted  parishe  in  Sussex, 
she  asked  of  the  said  John  Turner  what  he  and  the  rest  did 
there.  The  said  John  Turner  answered  "  to  take  possession 
for  my  Lorde  of  Buckhurste  for  the  chapel  of  Brambletie,  and 
land  wch  (as  he  said)  pertanied  thereunto  ;"  the  saide  Katherin 
answered  "  by  what  authoritie?  "  and  the  said  Turner  answered 
"  by  authority  from  John  Farnam."  "What  hath  he  to  do  here? 
(said  the  said  Katherin.)  This  matter  is  ended  by  the  Quene, 
God  save  her  highnes."  "  Yt  makes  no  matter  for  the  Querie  " 
(said  the  said  Turner.)  "  No  (said  the  said  Katherin).  Is  my 
lord  of  Buckhurst  above  the  Quene?"  "  Yea  (said  Turner), 
in  this  respecte."  Upon  the  informacon  of  wch  saide  wordes 
unto  us  some  of  us  were  of  opinion  that  we  shold  consider  of 
the  matter  among  ourselves,  and  accordinglie  to  procede  as  to 
the  same  caus  upon  the  statute  made  against  suche  as  shalle 
use  any  fals  seditious  or  slaunderous  wordes  against  the  Queues 
highnes;7  others  were  of  mind  that  in  a  matter  thus  concerning 

7  The  stat.  1st  Eliz.  c.  6,  extending  to  pillory  and  loss  of  both  ears,  or  a  fine  of 

Queen  Elizabeth  the  act  of  1  and  2  Phil.  £100  and  three  months'  imprisonment ; 

and  Mary,  c.30,  by  which  the  justices  were  and  the  second  offence,  by  imprisonment 

enabled  to  punish  the  first  offence  by  the  for  life,  and  loss  of  goods. 


142  THE    CHANTRY    OF    BRAMBLETYE, 

her  matic,  we  ought  rather  to  remit  the  iudgement  thereof  to 
the  order  and  wisdomes  of  your  honorable  lordships :  unto 
wch  presentlie  we  all  assented.  And  therupon  we  toke  the 
examinacons  by  othe  of  all  such  as  were  said  to  be  present  at 
the  said  place  and  time,  whan  the  said  wordes  were  supposed 
to  be  spoken,  save  of  the  said  John  Turner,  and  of  on  Alexander 
Middleton  being  but  a  boy  of  xiiij  yeres  of  age :  unto  bothe 
wch  we  forbare  to  offer  any  othe,  becaus  the  on  was  the  partie 
acused,  the  other  of  so  yonge  yeres ;  but  how  far  furthe  the 
same  wordes  are  proved  or  disproved  by  the  deposicons  of 
thos  that  were  present,  or  how  they  are  to  be  understode  or 
expounded,  we  do  most  humbly  referre  to  the  judgement  of 
your  Lordships,  to  whome  we  send  herewithall  the  examina- 
cons of  the  said  parties  at  large,  and  so  doe  most  humblie 
take  our  leave,  ffrom  Lewis  in  Sussex  this  second  day  of  May 

1579 

Your  Lordships  humblie  to  comande, 

t.  buckehurste.  rlcharde  couert. 

Thom.  Pelham.  John  Colepeper. 

George  Goringe.  John  Sackevylle. 

To  the  right  honorable  and  our  verie  good  Lordes 
the  Lordes  of  her  Matlcs  most  honorable  Privee 
Counselle  be  thes  deliuerede. 

Katherin  Pycas,  wife  of  James  Pycas,  about  forty-four  years 
of  age,  deposed  that  she  being  at  Stephen  Frenches  door  in 
Grinsted,  there  being  then  also  present  John  Turner,  Gilbert 
Sackvylle,  Gent.,  Robert  Fryer,  Edmund  Tomson,  Robert 
Payne,  Evans  Find,  Henry  Cropper,  John  Cotty,  Edward 
Matthew,  Richard  Knight,  Alexander  Mydelton,  and  Jone 
Grame,  the  conversation  passed  as  set  out  in  the  letter : 
adding  that  Turner  spoke  the  words  very  vehemently :  she 
added  "  I  hope  my  Lord  of  Buckhurst  will  take  nothing  away 
from  us  wrongfully."  "  No,  I  warrant  you,"  said  Mr.  Sacke- 
vyll,  "there  is  never  a  right  further  from  you ;"  and  then  she 
related  a  further  talk  with  Mr.  Sackevylle,  who  did  not  deny 
that  the  words  were  used.  (Signed  by  the  above  six  jus- 
tices, and  also  by  Richard  Shelley,  Laurens  Levat,  and  Henry 
Bartlet.) 

Henry  Cropper  of  Bramblety,  servant  to  Mr.  Pycas,  con- 


AND    SEDITION    IN    SUSSEX,    1579.  143 

firmed  his  mistress:  as  did  also  other  servants, viz.  JohnCotty, 
Edward  Marten,  Richard  Knight,  Alexander  Mydelton,  and 
Jone  Greme. 

John  Turner,  gentleman,  aged  thirty-eight  years  (unsworn), 
stated  that  by  virtue  of  a  letter  of  attorney  by  John  Farnham, 
Esq.,  to  Gilbert  Sackvyll  and  himself,  jointly  and  severally,  to 
make  livery  and  seizin  of  the  chantry  and  chapel  of  Bramblety 
to  Lord  Buckhurst,  they  came  to  a  green  between  Stephen 
Frenche's  house  and  the  chapel,  intending  to  make  the  deli- 
very to  Robert  Fryer  to  his  lordship's  use,  in  the  presence  of 
Evans  Flud,  Edmund  Tomson,  and  Robert  Payn,  but  were  set 
upon  by  Cotty,  Matthew,  Cropper,  and  others  ;  and  after  some 
blows  Turner,  seeing  Katherin  Pycas  coining  towards  them 
in  great  haste,  and  others  following  her  with  staves  and  other 
weapons,  Turner  and  his  party  departed  from  the  green  to  a 
lane  a  little  beneath  Frenche's  house,  and  then  Catherine 
Pycas  asked  Turner  "what  have  you  to  do  here?  and  will 
you  shew  your  authority  ?  "  Whereupon  he  referred  to  the 
deed  and  grant  to  Lord  Buckhurst,  and  the  letter  of  attorney 
to  deliver  seizin.  They  then  asked  how  Mr.  Farnam  came  by 
it?  and  he  said  by  the  Queen's  Majesty's  letters  patent. 
Then  she  said  that  her  title  was  good,  and  that  she  had  proved 
it  before  the  Queen's  Majesty's  commissioners.  Whereupon 
Turner  answered  that  if  her  title  were  good,  that  which  he 
did  could  do  her  no  hurt,  and  wished  her,  if  her  title  were 
good,  to  shew  it  to  Lord  Buckhurst  by  her  counsel ;  and  he 
thought  if  her  title  fell  out  better  than  his  lorship's,  she  would 
find  that  favor,  that  he  would  not  shew  her  She  said  that 
she  would  shew  it  to  my  lord  and  my  lord's  betters,  and  to 
them  that  would  not  be  afraid  to  shew  it  him,  and  that  it  was 
but  a  private  thing,  and  that  my  lord  would  stop  a  poor  man's 
living.  Turner  then  said  "  there  is  a  better  way,"  and  then 
went  into  a  field,  and  she  remained  in  the  lane,  and  then  went 
again  after  Turner  and  his  friends  with  her  company  with 
staves.  Turner  asked  her  what  she  made  in  that  ground, 
and  she  said  it  was  her  land,  and  Turner  said  it  was  Henry 
Payne's  during  his  lease,  and  she  answered,  he  should  not 
enjoy  it,  and  bid  her  men  drive  them  out,  and  follow  them,  "you 
Berkshire  gentleman,  you  think  to  make  me  stoop  to  you,  but 
I  will  never  do  it:"  whereunto  he  answered,  "  no,  good  gossip, 


144        THE  CHANTRY  OF  BRAMBLETYE,  ETC. 

I  mean  it  not,"  and  so  departed  homeward  and  returned 
not. 

Gilbert  Sackfyle,  aged  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  said  he  was 
not  present  near  Frenche's  door  where  the  words  were  sup- 
posed to  be  spoken,  but  he  did  hear  the  portion  about  it 
not  being  further  from  her,  if  her  title  were  good.  And 
afterwards  meeting  with  her  again,  she  said  "  we  may  thank 
you  for  all  this,"  and  further,  "  will  not  you  say  as  yonder 
Jack  hath  saith?"  "What  is  that?"  "Marry,"  said  she,  "he 
said  my  Lord  of  Buckhurst  is  above  the  Queen,"  whereupon 
Sackville  answered  "  he  has  too  much  wit  to  say  so."  "  And 
will  not  you  say  so  ?"  quoth  she  twice  together  :  "  No,  marry, 
will  I  not,"  said  he :  but  whether  she  said  that  the  words 
were  concerning  the  Queen,  that  the  Lord  Buckhurst  was 
above  the  Queen  in  this  respect,  he  knew  not. 

John  Fryer  confirmed  the  memorandum  of  the  conversation 
as  set  down  by  Turner  a  few  clays  after  the  discourse. 

Edmund  Tompson  denied  that  those  words,  nor  were  the 
like  spoken  in  his  presence,  and  he  was  near  enough  to  hear ; 
and  Payne  and  Flud  confirmed  him. 

The  Council,  however,  were  not  so  much  frightened  as  the 
Sussex  magistrates,  and  accordingly  no  notice  appears  in  the 
minutes  of  the  letter  or  of  the  sedition  ! 


.H.ianmm.tec 


gcDiresi  TTIRAWSinPTl5  ©F  M&^ISI&M.  AIBilBBITo 


'. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM ; 

WITH  SOME  PARTICULARS  RELATING  TO  ITS  ORIGIN 
AND  HISTORY. 

BY  THE  REV.  GEORGE  MILES  COOPER. 


PARTLY    BEAD    AT    THE   NEWHAVEN   MEETING,    SEPTEMBER,    1856. 


To  the  lover  of  picturesque  antiquity  the  ruined  Abbey  of 
Bayham  presents  remains  more  interesting  perhaps  than  those 
of  any  other  monastic  establishment  in  the  county  of  Sussex. 
Of  that  county  it  is  just  within  the  limits,  being  situate  in 
the  parish  of  Frant,  but  so  near  to  Kent  as  to  have  part  of  its 
domain  in  the  adjoining  parish  of  Lamberhurst.  Surrounded 
by  watery  glades  and  scenery  of  the  deepest  repose,  it  well 
deserves  its  ancient  name  of  "  Begham,"  which  has  been  in- 
terpreted to  mean  "  an  abode  encircled  with  streams  as  with 
a  garland,"  the  Saxon  "  beag"  or  "beg"  signifying  a  chaplet  or 
crown.  Begham  was  afterwards  changed  to  Begeham,  Beig- 
ham,  and  finally,  Bayham.  A  footpath  leads  the  visitor  by 
the  side  of  a  rill  which,  being  first  headed  back  so  as  to  form 
a  narrow  pretty  piece  of  water  edged  with  lofty  trees,  after- 
wards finds  its  way  to  the  meadows  below  in  a  devious  rapid 
course,  here  and  there  diversified  by  a  tiny  waterfall.  This 
stream  once  turned  the  abbey  mill,  which  stood  near  to  the 
main  edifice,  but  has  long  since  entirely  disappeared.  Cross- 
ing what  was  formerly  the  mill-dam,  you  find  yourself  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  ruins,  which  stand  in  the  pleasure-grounds 
belonging  to  the  Marquis  of  Camden's  modern  mansion,  and 
constitute,  an  antiquary  may  perhaps  be  excused  for  thinking, 
their  most  attractive  ornament. 

Among  the  most  conspicuous  parts  remaining  are  a  few 
arches  of  the  refectory,  and  portions  of  the  dormitories,  with 

ix.  19 


140    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

a  fractured  stair  that  led  to  them.     Beneath  may  be  seen  the 
ruins  of  certain  small  apartments,  roofed  over  by  very  massive 
vaults  somewhat  rudely  constructed :    these  were  the  cells 
wherein  the  recluses  passed  their  waking  hours  in  solitary 
silence,  or  in  the  stated  exercises  of  private  devotion.  Around 
an  open  court,  of  which  the  cells  and  dormitories  form  the 
south  side,  appear  to  have  been  cloisters  for  their  daily  walk ; 
and  on  the  north  side  stands  the  abbey  church,  or  such  parts 
of  it  as  have  escaped  destruction,  the  south  wall  being  still 
very  lofty,  and  in  some  danger  of  falling,  were  it  not  for  the 
shores  and  braces  by  which,  in  addition  to  the  ancient  but- 
tresses, such  a  catastrophe  is  carefully  sought  to  be  averted. 
Entering  in  at  the  west  end,  one  is  struck  with  the  apparent 
narrowness  of  the  nave  in  proportion  to  its  length  and  height, 
the  extreme  measurement  from  east  to  west,  including  the 
chancel,  being  257  feet,  and  the  height,  from  the  ground  to 
the  plate-beams  of  the  roof,   50 ;    whilst  its  width  is  only 
24  feet.     It  is  crossed  by  a  transept  of  S6  feet  in  length,  and 
their  intersection  was  formerly  surmounted  by  a  central  tower 
supported  by  clustered  pillars,  highly  ornate  and  elegant ;  of 
these  three  out  of  four  are  yet  in  tolerable  preservation,  but 
one  has  fallen  to  utter  decay.     The  general  character  of  the 
architecture  is  that  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  situation  of  this  abbey  is  low  and  damp,  the  moisture 
arising  from  the  rushy  winding  streamlets  in  its  vicinity  being 
so  great  as  to  render  the  turf  of  the  lawn  adjacent  little  better 
than  moss.  Beautiful  even  in  desolation,  it  must  have  been 
singularly  beautiful  in  its  complete  state,  and,  from  its  sylvan 
and  sequestered  position,  well  suited  for  the  purposes  of 
religious  retirement  and  contemplation. 

This  monastery  owed  its  immediate  erection  to  Sir  Robert 
de  Turneham,  a  distinguished  soldier  of  Richard  I.,  who 
appears  to  have  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  favour  both  with 
that  heroic  monarch  and  his  ignoble  successor.  Weaver,  in 
his  Funeral  Monuments,  p.  liv.,  speaking  of  the  foundation  of 
Begham,  quotes  some  rugged  lines  (which  he  attributes  to 
Robert  of  Gloucester,  but  which  are,  in  fact,  taken  from  a 
rhythmical  history  in  an  anonymous  MS.  of  a.d.  1448,  in  the 
College  of  Arms)  to  show  that  de  Turneham,  after  many  acts 


THE    PREMONSTRATENSIAN    ABBEY    OF    BAYIIAM.  147 

of  valour,  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the  Saracens,  and  was 
pathetically  lamented  by  his  royal  master. 

"  Kobart  of  Turnham  with  his  Fauchion, 
Gan  to  cracke  many  a  crown." 

"  But,"  adds  Weaver,  "  he  was  so  busy  in  cracking  the 
Sarasins'  crownes,  that  he  tooke  the  lesse  heede  (methinkes) 
of  his  owne,  for  then  and  there  he  was  slaine,  together  with 
Robert  de  Bellemont,  surnamed  Blanchmaines,  Earle  of  Lei- 
cester, and  other  noble  warriours,"  whose  loss  King  Richard 
is  made  to  lament  in  some  more  verses. 

This  affecting  narrative,  however,  so  far  as  concerns  our 
founder,  proves  to  be  a  mere  poetic  fiction ;  for  Sir  William 
Dugdale,  who  derived  his  information  from  authentic  records, 
relates  in  plain  prose  that  de  Turneham  came  safe  back  from 
the  Holy  Land,  bringing  with  him  "the  King's  harness"; 
that  he  was  active  in  raising  means  for  the  ransom  of  Richard 
from  his  captivity  in  Germany,  towards  which  ransom  he  was 
himself  excused  from  contributing  on  account  of  his  zealous 
exertions,  and  partly  (it  may  be)  because  of  his  personal 
favour  with  the  King ;  that  he  was  afterwards  employed  in 
many  important  offices,  being  several  times  sheriff  of  Surrey 
(and  once,  we  may  add,  of  Sussex) ;  and  finally,  that  he  died 
in  peace,  full  of  years  as  well  as  honours,  in  the  thirteenth 
year  of  King  John.  However  truly,  therefore,  the  poet  of 
Gloucester  may  sing  the  fate  of  the  white-handed  Earl  of 
Leicester  and  other  heroes,1  it  is  certain  that  this  man  of  the 
red  hand  returned  to  England ;  and  to  him,  as  we  shall  see, 
our  abbey  was  indebted,  not  strictly  for  its  first  origin,  but  for 
its  site  and  name,  together  with  some  other  valuable  additions 
to  its  endowments. 

A  remarkable  passage  in  the  military  career  of  this  valiant 
knight  is  related  by  the  same  laborious  and  accurate  writer, 
Sir  William  Dugdale  {Baronage,  i.  662).  In  an  expedition 
against  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  Sir  Robert,  he  tells  us,  had  the 
command  of  half  the  galleys ;  and  upon  the  capture  of  that 
island  with  its  emperor,  he  was  associated  with  Sir  Richard 

1  Among  the  warriors  at  this  time  with       subsequently  patroness  of  the  Abbey  of 
Richard  is  mentioned  Sir  Robert  Sakevile,       Begham. 
whose  son  Jordan  married  Ela  de  Dene, 


148    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

de  Caunvill  or  Camvill  in  the  government  of  the  place.  Soon 
after,  upon  the  death  of  de  Camvill  at  the  siege  of  Aeon,  he 
became  sole  governor  of  Cyprus,  and,  raising  a  considerable 
force,  gave  battle  to  a  new  emperor,  whom  he  conquered  and 
hanged  upon  a  gallows. 

Perhaps  it  was  some  feeling  of  compunction  for  such  deeds 
of  violence  which  led  him,  after  his  return  to  England,  to 
direct  his  thoughts  towards  religious  foundations.  The  glory 
of  his  exploits  could  not  hide  from  him  the  danger  of  blood- 
guiltiness  ;  and,  like  many  others  of  his  order  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances, he  strove  to  quiet  the  misgivings  of  conscience 
by  establishing  houses  consecrated  to  God,  the  solemn  services 
performed  in  which  might  (it  was  conceived)  avail  for  his 
future  benefit. 

Besides  contributing  largely  to  the  establishment  of  Begham, 
Sir  Robert  was  the  sole  founder  of  Cumbwell  Abbey,  in  the 
neighbouring  parish  of  Goudhurst,  a  house  assigned  to  the 
canons  of  St.  Augustine.  It  was  dedicated  to  St.  Mary 
Magdalen,  and  at  the  dissolution  granted  to  Sir  John  Gage, 
when  its  clear  income  wras  £80.  17a'.  b^d.  Part  of  the  build- 
ing, used  as  a  farmhouse,  was  standing  in  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  but  was  then  finally  demolished. 

The  principal  seat  of  this  family  seems  to  have  been  at 
what  is  now  called  Thorneham,  in  Kent,  a  parish  not  far 
from  Maidstone,  in  the  lathe  of  Aylesford,  where  the  ruins  of 
their  ancient  castle,  seated  on  a  rising  ground,  may  still  be 
seen. 

The  manner  in  which  two  small  houses  of  Premonstraten- 
sian  monks,  at  Brockley  in  Deptford,  and  at  Otteham  in  the 
parish  of  Hailsham,  were  brought  together  at  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and  formed  into  one  community  at  Begham, 
will  be  found  already  narrated  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Sussex 
Archaeological Collections,  p.  155.  Both  were  in  circumstances 
of  penury,  and  both  desirous,  very  naturally,  of  bettering  their 
condition ;  and  in  consequence,  as  it  would  seem,  of  their 
complaints,  Ela  de  Saukeville,  daughter  of  Ralph  de  Dene,  the 
founder  of  Otteham,  joined  with  Sir  Robert  de  Turneham,  the 
patron  of  the  Deptford  monastery,  in  consolidating  these  two 
kindred  fraternities,  and  in  effecting  their  joint  settlement  at 
Begham.     In  the  case  of  Otteham,  the  canons  loudly  pro- 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    149 

claimed  their  poverty;  and  at  a  very  early  period  of  that 
abbey's  existence  (about  a.d.  1190),  Richard  de  Brade  had 
given  them  permission  to  remove  the  seat  of  their  monastery 
to  his  church  at  Hellingly,  or  to  any  other  part  of  his  pro- 
perty which  they  might  prefer ;  but  they  wisely  declined  to 
make  a  change  which  would  have  left  them  still  dependent 
for  subsistence  upon  their  own  unaided  resources.  In  the 
case  of  Brockley,  I  do  not  find  the  same  complaint  of  insuf- 
ficient means  actually  expressed ;  but  their  speedy  migration 
sufficiently  indicates  that  they  were  dissatisfied  with  their 
position,  and  desirous  to  exchange  it  for  a  better.  Ela  ob- 
tained the  right  of  advowson  to  the  new  abbey,  which  con- 
tinued with  her  descendants,  the  Sackvilles,  till  its  suppres- 
sion. From  this  fact  it  seems  a  natural  inference  that  the 
endowments  of  the  house  at  Otteham  exceeded  in  value  those 
of  Brockley,  unless  indeed  the  patronage  were  conceded  to  the 
lady  from  other  considerations  of  which  we  have  no  distinct 
mention. 

Of  the  possessions  belonging  to  Otteham  an  account  is 
given  in  the  volume  of  these  Collections  just  referred  to :  it 
will  only  be  necessary  here  to  notice  the  portion  which  the 
monks  of  Deptford,  who  owed  their  institution  in  good  mea- 
sure to  the  Turnham  family,  contributed  to  the  common 
stock,  with  some  acquisitions  subsequent  to  the  union.  The 
manor  of  Brockley,  their  original  endowment,  consisted  of  the 
farm  now  called  Hither  or  Upper  Brockley,  near  ~Ne\v  Cross, 
in  the  parish  of  Deptford,  and  of  that  which  is  now  Forest 
Place,  alias  Brockley  Farm,  in  the  parish  of  Lewisham.2  It 
appears  to  have  been  given  by  the  Conqueror  to  Gilbert  de 
Maminot,  whose  great-grandson  Walchelin  deMaminot  granted 
it  to  Michael  de  Tuneham  for  an  annual  rent  of  xijc/.,  Michael, 
in  consideration  of  this  grant,  paying  down  40s.,  and  be- 
coming his  feudatory  tenant — "  homo  meus."  This  Walchelin 
married  Juliana  Countess  of  Brockley,  and  relict  of  Hugh 
Bigod ;  and  to  the  Countess  Juliana,  after  the  death  of  her 
second  husband,  Michael,  with  the  consent  of  his  nephew 
Stephen,  sold  it  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  her  to  found 
there  a  religious  house,  about  the  end  of  Henry  II. 's  reign 

"  Hasted's  Kent. 


150    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

or  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Richard  I.  Her  charter 
of  foundation  is  preserved  in  the  Monasticon : — "  Know  all 
men,  sons  of  our  Holy  Mother  the  Church,  as  well  present  as 
to  come,  that  I  Juliana,  Countess  of  Brocele,  do  give,  grant, 
and  confirm,  for  the  salvation  of  my  soul  and  for  the  souls  of 
my  father  and  mother  and  of  my  lords  Hugh,  Bigoth,  and 
Walkelin  Maminot  and  of  all  my  ancestors,  for  a  perpetual 
alms  to  God  and  St.  Mary  of  Brocele  and  the  brethren  of  the 
Preraonstratensian  order  there  serving  God,  all  the  land  of 
Brocele  with  its  appurtenances  in  wood  and  plain,  in  arable 
and  pasture,  meadow  and  marsh,  roads  and  paths,  which 
Michael  de  Turneham  sold  to  me,  as  his  free  gavilikinde  and 
stockikinde,  to  found  there,  with  consent  of  his  nephew 
Stephen  de  Turneham,  a  house  of  religion,"  &c,  with  other 
property  granted,  which  she  goes  on  to  describe.  The  monks 
were  afterwards  confirmed  in  their  possession  by  Geffrey  de 
Say,  who  had  married  Alice,  sister  and  coheir  of  the  above- 
mentioned  Walchelin,  and  so  became  patron  of  the  convent 
and  lord  of  the  barony  in  which  it  stood.  There  is  also  a 
deed  whereby  Geffrey's  son,  of  the  same  name,  confirms  a 
grant  to  these  monks  made  by  his  father  and  "  Aliz  "  his 
mother,  with  the  consent  of  Gilbert  Bishop  of  Rochester,  of 
the  church  of  St.  Nicholaus  of  Grenewich,3  with  all  its  appur- 
tenances, during  their  stay  at  Brockley. 

It  was  about  the  year  1200,  that  Sir  Robert  de  Turneham 
assigned  his  manor  of  Begham  to  be  the  seat  of  an  abbey 
dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  when  both  he  and 
Ela  de  Saukeville  gave  their  formal  sanction  to  the  transfer 
to  this  place  of  the  Premonstratensian  canons,  previously 
settled  at  Brockley  and  Otteham.  At  first  the  abbey  was 
called  Beaulieu,4  from  the  beauty  of  its  situation ;  but  this 
title  was  soon  merged  in  the  more  familiar  name  of  Begham, 
or  Begeham.  Besides  the  manor  and  land  which  thus  afforded 
to  these  vagrant  monks  "  a  local  habitation  and  a  name,"  the 
pious  knight  added  other  valuable  donations,  proofs  of  his 
munificence  and  good  will.     He  first  confirmed  all  the  grants 

3  The  parish  in  which  the  old  town  of  monks  to  Begham,  and  granting  them  a 
Deptford,  then  called  West  Grenewich,  full  right  of  property  with  their  brethren 
was  situate.  of  Brockley  in  all  its  possessions,  speaks 

4  The  charter  of  Robert  de  Turneham,  of  it  as  "  Abbatia  que  dicitur  Beuliu." 
authorizing  the  removal  of  the  Otteham 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    151 

which  Michael  dc  Turneham,  his  uncle,  had  made  to  Brockley, 
viz.,  the  lands  of  Blechlinden,  Faukrige,  Wichilinden,  Winbrig, 
Estelrige,  Matefeld,  and  what  was  then  known  as  Nicholas' 
Land.5  The  four  last  had  been  previously  bestowed  upon 
Michael,  by  Richard  de  WotrmgBbensi(Waterin^dur^,inKent), 
for  services  rendered  in  Normandy  and  England,  Michael 
agreeing  to  be  "  his  man,"  and  giving  him  a  certain  palfrey 
which  had  been  sent  (missum),  and  a  sword :  and  the  grant 
of  them  by  Michael  to  Brockley  was  afterwards  confirmed  by 
Hamo  de  Wotringeberia.6  Sir  Robert  added  of  his  own  gift, 
the  land  of  Kingswode,  in  Sandrigg,7  which  he  bought  of 
William  de  Kaio ;  that  which  he  held  at  Rokeland  (in  Wart- 
ling)  of  the  monks  of  St.  Martin's  de  Bello,  subject  to  a 
quit  rent  of  5s.  at  Michaelmas,  in  lieu  of  every  service ; 
certain  lands  also  at  Grimbroc,8  held  by  him  of  the  monks 
of  St.  Pancras,  in  Lewes,  with  a  similar  reservation  of*  2s. 
yearly ;  and  that  which  he  purchased  of  Gunnora9  and  her 
sons,  in  Sandrigg  near  the  abbey,  subject  to  the  same  quit- 
rent.  To  these  were  added  the  manors  of  Rokely,  Grimbroc, 
and  Childhurst  (alias  Gildhurst  and  CMttlekurst10),  with  the 
men,  rents,  and  all  appurtenances,  accompanied  by  an  entire 
relinquishment  of  all  rights  which  he  either  had  or  might 
have  in  them,  or  his  uncle  before  him.  In  this  deed  is  dis- 
closed a  trait  of  character  creditable  to  our  valiant  knight : 
death  had  not  extinguished  his  love  of  that  royal  master  for 
whom  he  had  fought,  and  whose  captivity  he  had  laboured 
so  assiduously  to  abridge.  All  these  fair  lands  and  many 
privileges  were  given  for  the  soul  of  the  good  King  Richard  : 

5  Blechenden  Farm  and  Matfield,  both  Crimbroc,  must  mean  the  modern  Cran- 
in  Brenchley,  and  Wimbridge,  near  Bay-  lroo7c,  of  which  Bayham  possessed  the 
ham,  still  retain  their  ancient  appellations  manor  (see  Tanner,  page  215).  It  was 
slightly  altered.  granted  to  Robert  de  Turneham  and  his 

6  Add.  MSS.  6037,  Carta?  162  and  164.  heirs,  when  Robert  was  prior,  to  be  held 
In  the  reign  of  Henry  II.   (a.d.  1154-  in  fee  and  hereditarily. 

1 189)  this  Richard  de  Wotringaberia  held  9  Gunnora — Two  ladies  of  this  name 

two  knights'  fees  in  that  place  of  Walter  occur  in  our  Sussex  monastic  documents: 

dc  Metluana,  who  held  the  same  of  the  one,  the  wife  of  William  dc  Cahaignes,  the 

King  in  capite.     (Libr.  Rubr.  Scac.  f.  84,  family  connected  with  Horsted  Keynes  ; 

cited  by  Hasted.)  the  other  of  Sir  Walter  de  Letton,  a  be- 

7  Now  King's  TollFarm,  and  Sandhurst  nefactor  of  Michelham  Priory  (see  Sussex 
Farm,  near  the  abbey.  I  am  indebted  to  Arcli.  Coll.  VI.  p.  135).  The  former  is 
J.  W.  Roper,  Esq.,  of  Frant,  for  kindly  probably  here  meant. 

assisting  me  in  several  of  these  identill-  10   Now  Chilthurst,  in   the  parish   of 

cations.  Wartling,  part  of  which  is  the  site  of  a 

8  Grimbroc  (Greenhroolc  f)   otherwise       church  lately  erected  at  Bodle  Street. 


152    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

to  which  grateful  dedication,  loyalty  first,  and  then  domestic 
affection,  prompted  him  to  add — "  for  the  salvation  also  of 
my  Lord  King  John  and  his  children,  for  my  own  salvation, 
and  for  the  souls  of  all  my  predecessors  and  successors." 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life,  Sir  Robert  presented  King  John 
with  "  two  horses  of  price,"  for  a  confirmation  of  the  grants 
made  by  himself  and  others  to  the  canons  of  Begham,  which 
that  monarch  accordingly  gave  in  two  charters :  the  one  con- 
firming to  them  the  possession  of  the  Brockley  foundation, 
dated  at  Merlberg  (Marlborough),  March  17,  in  the  9th  year 
of  his  reign  (a.d.  1207);  the  other  comprising  the  Otteliam 
property,  dated  at  Cnapp,  6th  April,  1210.  Lastly,  the  gifts 
of  Robert,  his  brother,  and  his  uncle  Michael,  are  confirmed 
by  Stephen  de  Turneham,  with  other  land  at  Waldelintune 
(Whatlington  ?)  and  Nodingeford,  or  Hodingeford — for  it  is 
thus  diversely  transcribed ;  and  one  virgate  in  Oxney. 

Upon  these  ample  foundations  our  abbey  began  to  rise ; 
but  the  progress  of  the  building  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
rapid,  notwithstanding  the  zeal  of  its  powerful  friends,  and 
the  active  exertions  of  the  brethren.  It  is,  indeed,  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  edifices  erected  on  such  a  scale,  with  so  much 
attention  to  ornament  as  well  as  solidity,  usually  occupied  a 
long  period  in  their  construction.  In  the  present  instance 
we  have  evidence  that  about  a.d.  1234.  which  must  have  been 
several  years  after  the  commencement  of  the  work,  it  was 
still  in  progress.  A  declaration  of  indulgence  was  then  issued 
by  Edmund,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  with  a  view  to  aid  in 
raising  the  funds  necessary  for  its  completion.  An  indulgence 
was,  in  those  days,  one  of  the  most  efficacious  methods  of 
opening  the  purse-strings  of  the  faithful.  The  Primate  ex- 
presses himself  in  the  following  form  :— "  Edmund  by  the 
mercy  of  God  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  &c,  Trusting  in 
the  merits  of  all  the  saints,  we  offer  to  all  who  have  confessed 
their  sins  and  are  truly  penitent,  and  who,  out  of  the  good 
bestowed  upon  them  by  God,  shall  have  contributed  some- 
what from  a  feeling  of  piety  towards  the  construction  of  the 
church  of  the  Blessed  Mary  of  Begeham,  or  shall  have  visited 
that  place  for  the  purpose  of  offering  up  their  prayers,  a  re- 
laxation of  forty  days  from  the  penance  in  joined  upon  them  : 
But  we  will  not  that  any  preacher  be  admitted  by  these  our 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSTAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    153 

letters.  Given  at  Mallinge,11  October  2nd,  in  the  9th  year  of 
onr  Pontificate." 

In  this  instrument  we  have  revealed  to  us  one  of  the 
powerful  influences  by  which  those  elaborate  and  elegant 
structures  were  raised,  which  were  once  the  glory  of  our  land, 
and  the  indiscriminate  destruction  of  which  it  is  impossible 
not  to  lament,  with  whatever  advantages  it  may  have  been 
attended. 

Meanwhile,  accumulations  of  property  began,  and  went  on 
for  a  long  series  of  years  to  the  increase  of  our  abbey's  per- 
manent revenue,  in  spite  of  the  statutes  of  mortmain,  often 
amended  and  still  eluded  by  the  clergy,  then  the  sole  admi- 
nistrators of  the  law,  and  to  whose  ingenious  devices  for  this 
purpose  some  of  its  most  refined  subtleties  are  said  to  have 
owed  their  origin.  Pieces  of  land,  houses,  and  money-rents, 
generally  in  the  neighbouring  parishes,  with  names  often 
difficult  and  sometimes  impossible  now  to  identify,  were 
acquired  by  gift,  advantageous  purchase,  or,  more  rarely,  by 
exchange,  as  the  opportunities  presented  themselves  which  are 
sure  to  occur  to  a  perpetual  incorporation. 

Besides  the  documents  printed  in  the  Monasticon,  there  is 
in  the  Ashmolean  Museum  a  collection  of  autograph  charters, 
and  other  writings  relating  to  Bay  ham,  the  deposit  of  Anthony 
Wood,  the  biographer  of  Oxford  Worthies,  and  himself  one 
of  their  number — a  man  studious  of  the  past,  and  warmly 
attached  to  his  university.  There  are  also  in  the  British 
Museum,  the  ancient  chartulary  of  this  abbey,  which  narrowly 
escaped  entire  destruction  in  1731,  by  fire  at  Westminster, 
and  an  abridged  transcript  of  it,  made  under  the  direction 
of  Sir  Edward  Deering.  These  preserve  many  memorials 
which  throw  at  least  a  partial  light  upon  the  early  history  of 
the  abbey,  and  by  a  skilful  restoration  of  the  scorched  leaves, 
the  original  manuscript  is  in  most  parts  legible.  Omitting 
what  would  be  a  repetition  of  matter  already  published  in 
connection  with  Otteham,  I  will  avail  myself  of  these  sources 
of  information  so  far  only  as  to  notice  the  most  material  par- 
ticulars relating  to  Begham. 

11  The  archbishop  was  at  that  time,  I  Lewes,  of  which  see  the  Rev.  E.  Turner's 
presume,  staying  at  his  college  of  Bene-  account,  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  V.  127, 
dictine  Canons  at  South  Mailing,  near       etc. 

ix.  20 


154    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BATHAM. 

A  confirmatory  charter  of  Edward  II.,  dated  at  "  Mersefeld," 
23rd  Sept.,  1326,  assures  to  the  canons  a  privilege  originally 
granted  by  Henry  III.,  but  hitherto  not  used,  of  holding  a 
market  every  Thursday  in  their  manor  of  "  Rokelaunde,"  and 
an  annual  fair  to  last  three  days,  viz.,  the  vigil,  feast,  and 
morrow  of  St. John  Baptist  (June  23 — 5),  "provided  that 
the  said  market  and  fair  should  not  prove  hurtful  to  other 
markets  and  fairs  in  the  neighbourhood."  By  a  second  deed 
of  like  nature,  dated  at  "  Wodestok,"  6th  June  (but  without 
mention  of  the  year),  he  confirms  the  grant  by  Sir  John  de 
Wanton  of  the  possession  and  use  of  the  common  and  briary 
of  Ferenthe12  {Frant);  also  a  grant  by  Richard  Earl  of  Clare, 
of  pannage  for  twenty  hogs  in  the  south  part  of  his  forest  of 
"  Tonebrug."  The  De  Clares  were  then  settled  at  Tollbridge, 
the  town  and  castle  of  which  they  obtained  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  in  exchange  for  their  ancestral  castle  of  Brion, 
in  Normandy ;  and  this  Richard  seems  to  have  been  the  third 
of  that  name,  who  married  Amicia,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  and  eventually  heir  to  all  that  earldom,  and  died 
a.d.  1206. — Baronage,  i.  206. 

In  Lamberhurst,  lands  called  Sutham  and  Wyntercroft, 
were  given  by  John  de  la  Burne ;  certain  meadows  by  Adam 
de  Eernethe,  lying  between  the  street  which  led  from  the 
village  towards  the  abbey,  the  granges  which  belonged  to  the 
parson  of  Lamberhurst,  and  land  belonging  to  Jordan  de 
Petterigg  of  the  tenement  of  Tonge.13  "  Symon  le  Puer  de 
Peperlonde"  granted  a  path  of  20  feet  on  the  eve  of  Palm 
Sunday,  a.d.  1242,  being  "the  year  in  which  Earl  Richard, 
brother  of  the  king  {Henry  III.),  returned  from  the  Holy 
Land."  The  canons  possessed  also  in  the  same  place,  lands 
called  le  Rere,  at  Sharpeshull,  names  still  retained  in  Rear- 
wood  and  Sharp's  Hill,  near  the  abbey.  The  name  de  Lind- 
regge  appears  in  these  deeds,  derived  from  what  is  still  called 
Lindridge  Farm,  in  Lamberhurst,  one  member  of  which  family, 
born  in  1566,  is  honourably  mentioned  by  Dr.  Harris  {History 
of  Kent,  i.  172)  as  the  author  of  "  a  stone  causey"  there,  which 

12  Probably  meant  for  "  Fern  ethe,"  a  is  a  witness  to  one  charter  and  a  donor 

large  part  of  Frant  at  the  present  day  in  another. 

continuing  to  be  an  uncultivated  com-  13  There   is  still   a   Tonges  Wood   in 

mon.     "  Ferenland,"  i.  e.  Fcrnland,  after-  Lamberhurst,  and  a  farm  so  named  in 

wards  occurs;  and  Adam  de  "Fernethe"  Hawkhurst. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    155 

used  to  bear  his  name.  A  grant  is  mentioned  as  made  "  in 
Easter  week,  the  year  after  King  Henry,  son  of  King  John, 
crossed  the  straits  (transfretavit)  to  Gascony." 

At  Mattefeld,  now  Matfield  Green,  in  Brenchley,  18  acres 
of  land,  with  one-third  of  a  messuage  there  belonging  to  him, 
were  given  by  William,  son  of  Alexander  de  Mattefeld,  the 
canons  paying  him  four  marks  sterling  for  compensation  {in 
gersumam).  In  what  is  now  called  Lewis  Heath,  Horsmonden, 
John  de  Grotherd,  rector,  gave  a  manor  to  provide  for  one 
chaplain  who  should  celebrate  divine  service  in  the  church  of 
Horsemonden  and  the  chapel  of  "  Leues-hothe."  In  Wythi- 
ham,  Sibilla  de  Icclesham,  widow  (great-grand-daughter  of  the 
founder  of  Otteham),  about  a. d.  1250  granted  land  and  all 
the  tenements  of  the  peasants  {rusticormn)  which  she  there 
possessed,  for  the  support  of  one  canon,  who  should  celebrate 
divine  rites  for  her  and  for  the  souls  of  her  ancestors. 
Abraham  de  Benstede  gave  all  his  land  of  Hordene  (a  farm 
in  Goudhurst)  with  the  men  belonging  to  it,  viz.  Ailward  le 
Wade,  Hamon  de  Plustlingehurst,  William  the  miller,  Chris- 
tiana daughter  of  Ailwin,  and  William  le  Pier  point,  to  which 
gifts  3,9.  M.  rent  was  afterwards  added  by  Matilda  de  Bende- 
stede  in  her  widowhood.  Other  donations  were,  the  land  of 
Hodingeford,  being  a  fourth  part  of  a  knight's  fee,  by  Robert 
de  Glotingeham ;  two  acres  of  land  near  the  abbey  by  Emma 
de  Creuquer  (Creuecceur) ;  land  in  "  Westkeckenham "  (by 
which  afterwards  appears  to  be  meant  Echingham)  by  Adam 
son  of  Edicius  de  Westkeckenham ;  with  lands  and  a  share 
in  a  mill  at  Rokeland,  by  Guido  de  Mortemer  and  Reginald 
GifFard  respectively. 

In  the  chartulary  is  a  mandatory  letter  from  William, 
Abbot  of  Dureford,  to  the  Lord  William  Arblaster  (Arcuba- 
listarius)  of  Guildford,  charging  him  and  his  heirs  to  be 
answerable  to  the  abbot  and  convent  of  Begham  for  \2d.  of 
annual  rent  from  the  date  affixed — March  10,  1236 ;  and 
William  de  Lingmere  gave  one  goshawk  (espervarium) 14  as 
the  annual  rent  which  Richard  de  Herstbrige  used  to  pay 
him  every  feast  of  St.  James  (July  25)  for  his  land  of  Herst, 
in  the  parish  of  Hellinglegh,  with  the  homage  of  the  said 
Richard. 

14  Spelman  says,  that  by  the  Salic  law  the  penalty  for  stealing  one  was  120s, 


156    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

Detached  portions  of  land  and  tenements  acquired  by  the 
monastery  commonly  became  absorbed  in  the  principal  estates; 
and  all  distinct  mention  of  them  ceasing,  the  valuation  of  the 
abbey  property  a.d.  1527,  when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Wolsey,  comprises  the  whole  under  a  few  general  heads.  In 
that  valuation  the  manor  of  Pepingbury  (Pembury)  is  men- 
tioned, where  they  had  two  farms,  Pepingbury  magna  and 
Pepingbury  parva  alias  Bowridge  ;15  these,  with  the  advowson 
of  the  church,  land  called  Crockhurst  in  Brenchley,  and  various 
other  tenements,  were  the  gift  of  Simon  de  Wahull,  afterwards 
confirmed  by  Walter,  his  son  and  heir,  and  by  Richard  de 
Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester  and  Hereford,  the  lord  of  the  barony. 
Hasted  affirms,  that  among  the  gifts  of  Simon  were  a  mill  at 
Pembury,  another  at  Elvindeune,  the  meadow  of  Penderigg, 
and  the  land  of  Reddene  in  Brenchley,  as  well  cultivated  as 
waste.  Prom  the  same  valuation  it  appears  that  they  held 
the  manors  of  Priston  and  Excette,  rents  and  lands  at  Cove- 
hurst  and  Coding  in  Brightling,  marsh  land  at  Luddenham, 
the  rectories  of  Newington  and  Harden,  and  also  a  property 
called  "  Lamporte  in  Borne/' 

This  last  was  half  a  hide  of  land,  the  gift  of  Thurstan, 
son  of  Gilbert  de  Hodinges,  to  Otteham,  soon  after  the 
foundation  of  that  abbey :  its  situation  can  only  be  conjec- 
tured from  its  name.  Thirty  years  ago  there  was,  at  what 
is  called  "  the  Wish "  in  East  Bourn,  close  to  the  sea,  a 
stagnant  rushy  pool  of  considerable  size,  partly  supplied  by 
the  drainage  of  the  neighbouring  fields,  partly  by  salt  water 
oozing  through  the  shingle  by  which  its  mouth  was  closed. 
Vestiges  of  it  are  yet  visible,  though  it  has  since  been  itself 
drained  and  cultivated.  This  the  late  Mr.  Davies  Gilbert 
believed  to  be  the  remains  of  a  Roman  navale,  or  wet  dock, 
for  the  accommodation  of  their  vessels,  which  that  enter- 
prising people  had  formed  artificially,  in  the  absence  of  any 
natural  harbour  on  that  part  of  the  coast.  There  is  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  East  Bourn  was  a  Roman  station 
of  note.  The  remains  of  a  villa  were  discovered  some 
years  ago  at  the  back  of  the  sea-houses,  in  a  field  belonging 

15  Now  called  Great  and  Little  Hawk-  years  since  by  the  lateW.Woodgate,  Esq., 
well.  With  the  former  was  connected  an  who  built  with  the  materials  the  present 
old  moated  mansion,  pulled  down  many       Townhall  of  Tunbridge. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    157 

to  the  family  of  Willard.  In  this  part  of  "Borne,"  now 
known  as  Meads  (anciently  "  Medesey,"  low  grassy  lands  or 
islets  near  the  sea),  and  not  far  from  the  "  Landport,"  I  am 
disposed  to  place  the  gift  of  Thurstan.16 

Occasionally  we  meet  with  particulars  of  an  exchange, 
which  may  in  part  explain  apparent  discrepancies  in  the 
different  statements  of  abbey  property.  Thus  Richard,  Abbot 
of  Beghain,  quitclaimed  to  Thomas,  Abbot  of  Robertsbridge, 
seven  acres  and  a  half  with  five  "  deywercis17  of  land "  in 
Walderne,  for  so  much  of  the  wood  called  Blakestocke  in 
Hellingle,  on  the  Sunday  before  the  feast  of  St.  Barnabas  the 
Apostle  {June  11)  a.d.  1296;  and  "Rikeward"  of  Helling- 
legh  gave  twenty  acres  of  marsh  in  exchange  for  the  moiety 
of  the  mill  in  that  place,  which  belonged  to  the  abbot  and 
convent,  covenanting  on  the  part  of  himself  and  his  heirs  not 
to  raise  the  water  in  the  mill-pond  above  its  usual  level,  nor 
do  anything  else  which  might  damage  the  meadows  adjoin- 
ing.18 

Benefactions  conferred  upon  our  abbey  had  sometimes 
special  objects  in  view,  expressly  stated.  In  the  case  of  a  few 
earlier  and  greater  benefactors,  the  perpetual  right  of  pre- 
sentation to  a  canonry  was  stipulated  for,  as  by  Jordan  de 
Saukevile  (about  1220),  and  earlier  still,  by  Ralph  de  Brade 
(about  1190,  before  the  removal  from  Otteham).  We  have 
recorded  too  the  formal  admission  of  Wybert  Brade  grandson 
(nepotis)  of  the  latter  by  Jordan,  Abbot  of  Otteham,  with  an 
acknowledgment  that  upon  Wybert's  avoidance  of  his  canonry, 
Ralph  and  his  heirs  had  the  right  to  present  to  the  abbot  and 
convent  another  fit  person  suited  to  their  order  {ordini  nostro 
congruam),  whom  they  promise  to  receive  with  kindness  and 
make  a  canon  according  to  their  custom  {ad  custamentum^  nos- 
trum), and  so  in  succession  for  ever.     Henry,  son  of  Reginald 

16  Landport,  near  Lewes,  was  probably  to  be  meant  a  "  day's  work"— so  much  as 
so  termed  from  a  cause  slightly  different,  a  good  workman  (here  a  wood-cutter) 
it  being  in  early  times  a  sort  of  inland  could  accomplish  in  a  day.  As  applied 
harbour  which  'stood  far  up  what  was  to  ploughed  land,  this  would  be  about  an 
then  a  muddy  estuary,  and  still  retains  acre. 

the  name,  though  no  longer  appropriate.  18  "  Ita  quod  ego  vel  hseredes  mei  non 

17  "Dejicerca  terrcs."  Ducange  gives  exaltabimus  stagnum  aliter  quam  solet 
passages  in  which  this  word  occurs,  but  esse,  neque  aliquid  aliud  faciemus  per 
no  explanation  beyond  "modus  agri."  quod  pratum  predictorum  canomcormn 
To  me  it  seems  nothing  more  than  the  deterioretur." 

barbarous  Latin  by  winch  was  intended 


158    THE  PREM0NSTRATENS1AN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

de  Winchelse,  gave  5s.  3d.  annual  rent,  which  Roger  the  son 
of  Harold  used  to  pay  him  for  marsh-land  at  Hyam  {Hie/ham), 
"  to  find  one  lamp  perpetually  burning  upon  the  high  altar 
of  their  church ;"  and  William  Sarp  granted  a  house  and  land 
in  Sandrigg,  which  Ralph  the  merchant  held  before  him,  "  for 
charity  to  be  dispensed  at  the  abbey-gate,"  giving  exclusive 
right  over  the  said  tenement  to  the  person  who  for  the  time 
being  should  fill  the  office  of  "portarius."19  Sometimes  re- 
servation was  made  of  what  in  conventual  language  was 
styled  a  corrody — an  allowance  of  food  or  money  for  the  main- 
tenance either  of  the  donor  himself  or  some  needy  dependant. 
So  Richard  de  Wichilinden  gave  all  his  land  of  Wichilinden 
for  a  grant  of  food  and  clothing,  in  sickness  and  in  health,  as 
long  as  he  pleased  to  remain  as  a  servant  in  their  house ;  and 
William  de  Richerville,  land  in  Exsete,  saving  the  right  of  his 
lord,  Henry  de  Hertefeld,  for  a  corrody  in  their  house  "  as 
long  as  he  should  live." 

The  fullest  and  best  account  of  one  of  these  grants  with 
which  I  have  anywhere  met,  was  made  to  Simon  Payn,  who, 
by  a  charter  still  preserved  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  had 
given  to  the  canons  2s.  rent  paid  him  by  Andrew  Croichuke, 
for  three  acres  of  land  in  Eriston.  His  benefactions,  however, 
must,  one  would  suppose,  have  been  much  more  than  this 
trifling  amount  of  rent,  for  the  helps  conceded  to  him  and  his 
family  by  the  society  are  unusually  large  and  stated  with 
great  particularity.  As  a  very  complete  specimen  of  its  kind, 
and  as  showing  also  the  prices  of  various  articles,  this  grant 
may  perhaps  be  allowably  given  entire. 

"  We  Richard,  Abbot  of  Begham,  and  the  convent  of  that 
place,  have  granted  to  Symon  Payn  of  Friston  and  Emma  his 
wife  the  corrodies  of  two  canons  to  be  received  in  our  Abbey 
of  Begham  as  long  as  they  shall  live ;  that  is  to  say,  Every 
day  two  loaves  of  convent  bread  and  two  of  black  bread ;  two 

19  "  That  this  officer,"  says  Dr.  Burn,  be  a  stepping-stone  to  the  abbacy.  I  think 

"  was  not  the  janitor  or  porter,  seemeth  it  evident  from  this  charter  that  the  officer 

probable,  for  that  clivers  have  been  pro-  in  question  was  the  same  as  was  other- 

moted  to  be  abbots  from  that  office"  (Eccl.  wise  called  "eleemosynarius,"  the  almoner, 

Law,  ii.  487) ;   but  then,  his  conjecture  the  canon  who  superintended  the  distri- 

that  the  portarius  was  one  who  "  took  bution  of  the  daily  dole  at  the  abbey -gate, 

care  of  the  carriages  and  such  like,"  seems  as   well   as   of    the   alms   given   on   the 

not  to  elude  his  own  difficulty,  for  this  founder's  day,  obits,  and  other   solemn 

office  also  was  of  too  menial  a  nature  to  anniversaries. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OE  BAYHAM.    159 

flagons  of  convent  beer  and  one  of  household  beer  {cervisice 
familiaris) ;  and  for  the  further  supply  of  their  table  {in  corn- 
pan  agium)  they  shall  have  every  year  two  fat  pigs  of  the  value 
of  6s.,  one  fat  ox  {bovetham)  or  cow,  value  6s.  &d.,  one  thousand 
red  herrings  and  thirty  mackerel  {mulvellos)  worth  4s.,  half  a 
cwt.  {dimidium  pondus)  of  cheese  4s.  For  potage,  4  bushels 
of  wheat  meal  {farina)  or  8  of  oats  value  2(k/.,  two  bushels 
of  conventual  peas  12t/.,  two  bushels  of  coarse  salt  {grossi 
sails)  5d.,  for  clothing  20s.,  and  for  shoes  3s.  Two  cartloads 
of  straw,  and  six  of  wood,  to  be  brought  at  a  convenient  time 
to  their  residence  ;  a  suitable  dwelling  (habitaculum  sujjicicns), 
and  pasture  for  one  cow  with  our  own  cows.  Moreover  to 
Henry  their  son,  designed  for  holy  orders  {clerico  contrecto), 
his  maintenance  of  our  charity  at  the  abbey-gate,  so  that  if 
his  health  allow  he  may  minister  to  us ;  but  the  two  younger 
sons  we  will  put  into  some  mechanical  office  within  the  bounds 
{cepta)  of  our  abbey  until  they  shall  have  learned  to  support 
themselves.  To  the  two  daughters  of  Simon  by  his  first  wife, 
Constance  and  Godiva,  we  will  give  each  one  mark,  and  to  the 
two  by  the  second  wife,  Agnes  and  Alice,  two  marks  each,  in 
satisfaction  of  all  demands  {pro  omnibus  demandis).  We  have 
also  remitted  to  the  said  Symon  a  debt  due  to  us  of  fifteen 
silver  marks,  and  have  paid  for  him  to  his  creditors  as  follows : 
to  Henry  le  Wyte  of  Seford  40s.,  to  William  de  la  Slade  42s., 
to  William  le  Plattere  42s.  To  the  observance  of  all  which 
things  we  bind  ourselves  upon  the  faith  of  our  religion  and 
under  the  penalty  of  100s.  to  be  paid  to  the  fabrick  of  the 
cathedral  church  of  Chichester.  Given  at  Begham  in  our 
chapter  on  the  day  of  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul  in  the  18th 
year  of  King  Edward  {Jan.  25,  1290)." 

In  making  these  concessions  our  canons  seem  usually  to 
have  had  a  sharp  eye  to  their  own  interest,  securing  some 
valuable  reversion  by  taking  upon  themselves  a  temporary 
charge.  Sometimes  they  were  granted  to  old  servants,  as  in 
the  case  of  Walter  Crop,20  who,  upon  condition  of  his  con- 
tinuing in  their  service,  had  a  life-grant  of  the  allowance 
customarily  made  to  one  free  servant  {libero  servienti) — the 

20  This  name,  now  unknown,  was  once  marsh-land  given  to  the  Abbey  of  Otte- 

very  common   in   Hailsham.      William,  ham  about  1200. — Sussex  Arch.  Collec- 

Robert,  and  John,  occur  in  the  Nonaj  tiotis,  V.  158. 
Returns    (a.d.  1340)  ;   and   Alwin   held 


160    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

said  Walter  solemnly  promising  upon  the  holy  gospels  that 
his  chattels  "  moveable  and  immoveable,  had  or  to  be  had," 
should  pass  at  his  decease  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Abbey 
of  Begham,  "  any  will  of  his  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 
The  same  prudent  foresight  shows  itself  in  other  instances. 
They  bought  a  considerable  portion  of  land  of  Adam  Fitz- 
Walwyn  for  30s.,  with  half  a  seme  of  wheat  given  to  his  wife 
and  one  sheep  to  his  son  ;  they  permitted  Gregory  de  Rokesle, 
citizen  of  London,  to  celebrate  divine  rites  in  the  chapel  {ora- 
torio) which  he  had  built  in  their  parish  of  "  Westgrenewiz," 
but  reserved  to  their  own  church  all  the  oblations  which  might 
be  offered  in  it.  The  deed  is  dated  at  Begham  on  St.  An- 
drew's day  (Nov.  30)  1283. 

Now  and  then,  important  services,  clone  or  expected, 
obtained  privileges  somewhat  resembling  a  corrody,  and 
designed  to  be  not  only  a  reward  for  the  past,  but  a  sort  of 
retaining  fee  for  the  future.  Thus  we  find  the  abbot  and 
convent  granting  to  Master  Eustace  de  Wroteham,  "for  ser- 
vices of  importance  done  and  to  be  done  "  in  their  behalf,  an 
annual  pension  of  4  marks,  with  the  additional  undertaking 
that  whenever  he  wished  to  seek  relaxation  from  business  and 
refreshment  in  their  house,  they  would  reasonably  assign  a 
competent  lodging  and  other  things  for  himself  and  his  two 
horses  and  the  servants  in  attendance  upon  him,  and  be 
chargeable  with  his  expenses.21  A  similar  grant  is  made  in 
1275  to  Master  William  de  Tonebrig  (Tunbridge).  These 
probably  were  their  legal  advisers  for  the  time  being. 

Great  was  the  apprehension  felt  by  the  "  religious  "  of  any 
interference  on  the  part  of  other  ecclesiastics,  with  the  interests 
of  their  house,  or  their  own  influence  in  its  vicinity.  An 
Indian  tribe  scarce  guards  its  hunting-ground  with  keener 
jealousy  against  the  encroachment  of  rivals.  In  the  ancient 
chartulary  is  an  agreement  between  the  abbots  of  the  Cister- 
cian and  Premonstratensian  orders,  that  no  person  belonging 
to  either  order  should  build  a  place  or  abbey  {locum  vel  abha- 
iiam)  within  four  leagues  of  an  abbey  belonging  to  the  other. 
A  nunnery  {mansio  sororum)  might  not  be  nearer  than  two 

21  Quandocumque  ad  monasteriuin  nos-  bus  equis  suis  et  famulis  sibi  servientibus 
trura  spaciandi  causa  declinare  voluerit  ratiouabiliter  assignabimus  et  impendc- 
locum  competeutem  et  csetera  sibi  et  duo-       mus" — no  date. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    1C1 

leagues.  Neither  was  to  exact  or  receive  tithes  of  the  pro- 
perty or  labours  of  the  other.  It  is  also  stipulated  that  neither 
should  receive  any  monk  or  novice  belonging  to  the  other 
order  without  mutual  consent :  perhaps  the  easy  distance 
between  Bay  ham  and  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Robertsbridge 
rendered  this  part  of  the  compact  in  their  case  particularly 
desirable.  In  a  conveyance  also  of  certain  lands  in  Withyham 
by  Thomas  Abbot  of  Begham  (about  the  year  12C0)  to 
Roger  de  Home,  power  was  given  to  the  latter  to  alienate 
it  at  pleasure  "  except  to  places  or  men  of  religion  or  to 
Jews  "  (then  held  in  great  abhorrence),  where  we  see  the 
same  exclusive  principle  of  keeping  their  own  vicinage  to 
themselves. 

There  are  recorded  in  this  same  chartulary  numerous  acts 
of  manumission,  whereby  the  monks  conferred  freedom  upon 
their  villein  tenants.  To  attribute  to  the  villenage,  which  so 
extensively  prevailed  in  this  country  during  the  early  Norman 
reigns,  the  odious  features  of  slavery  in  its  more  unmitigated 
forms,  would  be  a  great  mistake.  It  certainly  involved  a 
curtailment  of  personal  liberty  extremely  abhorrent  to  our 
modern  notions ;  for  villeins  were  "  ascripti  glebce"  bound  to 
the  soil,  from  which  they  could  not  be  removed  without  their 
lords'  consent,  and  with  which  they  were  transferred  from  one 
owner  to  another.  But  they  had,  on  the  other  hand,  certain 
rights  in  that  soil,  and  were  allowed  to  derive  from  it  a  com- 
petent maintenance.  And  though  in  strictness  all  the  chattels 
of  the  villein,  whatever  property  he  might  have  accumulated, 
were  considered  as  belonging  to  his  lord,  yet  such  extreme 
right  was  seldom  enforced,  and  never  without  general  repro- 
bation. It  does  not  appear  that  in  England  this  humble  class 
of  dependents  was  treated,  as  a  class,  with  injustice  or  cruelty. 
Happily  the  master's  interest  came  in  aid  of  his  humanity : 
he  would  naturally  desire  to  see  those,  upon  whose  strong 
arms  he  must  depend  for  the  cultivation  of  his  estate,  and  the 
fulfilment  of  his  military  service  due  to  the  king,  at  least  in 
as  effective  condition  as  his  horses  or  his  oxen,  and  not  indis- 
posed to  do  him  service.  But  the  advance  of  society  became 
at  length  too  great  to  permit  the  continuance  of  this  servile 
condition.  Charters  of  enfranchisement,  which  had  always 
been  occasionally  granted  for  services  rendered,  or  for  a  price 

ix.  -1 


1G2    THE  PREMONSTRATENSTAN  ABBEY  OE  BAYHAM, 

paid,  and  sometimes,  doubtless,  from  more  noble  and  disin- 
terested motives  of  religion  and  humanity,  grew  more  and  more 
frequent,  until  at  length  all  remains  of  villenage  disappeared 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.22 

As  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  were  probably  amongst  the 
most  considerate  and  indulgent  of  masters,  so  there  is  reason 
to  believe  they  were  among  the  greatest  promoters  of  manu- 
mission, not  only  by  their  persuasions,  but  by  their  example. 
The  large  number  of  charters  for  the  emancipation  of  villeins 
found  in  these  records  of  Bayham  is  a  proof  that  our  canons 
took  their  part  in  forwarding  this  good  work ;  and  in  the 
great  change  thus  effected,  we  may  hope  they  were  rewarded 
by  finding  free  labour  more  pleasant  and  more  profitable  than 
the  reluctant  services  of  their  old  bond-tenants. 

The  income  of  this  house  in  1291,  arising  from  its  tem- 
poralities, was  reckoned  only  at  £37.  2s.  4:d.  In  the  valua- 
tion then  made  for  Pope  Nicholas'  Taxation,  it  stands  as 
follows : — 

Apud  Friston  cum  Grang'  de  Lese  (Rotulo  Originali  Lose) 
Marisk  apud  Avlesham  ...... 

Begeham     .         .  .  .  .  .  .         . 

Bokeland  cum  Childhurst  and  Coveling 

Oteham       ......... 

Tolton  (E.  O.  Telitou)  now  Tilton  .... 

Hellingelegh  cum  Coteford     ...... 

Ketenham    ......... 

Summa  £31.  2s.  \tl. 

But  they  had  several  churches  belonging  to  the  monastery, 
the  emoluments  of  which,  after  deducting  the  stipends  of  the 
vicars,  would  make  a  considerable  addition  to  their  revenues. 
From  the  above  date  to  its  final  suppression  I  find  no  further 
statement  of  income;  but  in  1526,  when  this  abbey  with 
several  other  minor  houses  was  granted  to  Cardinal  Wolsey 
for  the  foundation  of  his  two  colleges  at  Oxford  and  Ipswich, 
it  was  estimated  altogether  at  £152.  9s.  k\d.  In  the  interim 
it  will  appear,  from  the  details  of  some  visitations  to  be  noticed 

-  One  deed  of  manumission  may  serve  Giles  son  of  Simon  de  Swintoun  for  100s. 

for  a  specimen. — "John,  A.  of  Bm,  &c.  of  silver  first  paid  into  our  hands." — 

We  do  release  from  servitude  Philip,  son  (Tdton  and  Sherrington  are  both  in  Sel- 

of  Alan  de  Teletoun,  our  native  serf,  and  meston  parish.) 
his  chattels,  and  do  quitclaim  him  with 


£ 

s. 

(I. 

6 

15 

4 

6 

0 

0 

2 

0 

0 

12 

0 

0 

2 

10 

2 

a 

6 

8 

2 

10 

2 

2 

0 

0 

THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    163 

hereafter,  that  the  canons  were  often  in  pecuniary  difficulties, 
perhaps  from  bad  management,  rather  than  insufficiency  in 
their  endowments. 

A  lease  is  preserved  in  the  Ashmolean  collection,  dated 
January  28,  1522 — and  it  must  have  been  one  of  the  last 
granted  by  ihe  convent — whereby  Richard  Abbot  of  Begham 
lets  to  Thomas  Wyllard,  of  Lamberhurst,  "  a  house  called  the 
Owlhouse,23  togydder  with  certen  lancles  and  ij  petts  [i.e.  pits] 
and  certeyn  wodlandes  lying  round  about  the  same  house." 
The  boundaries  are  specified  with  much  minuteness  :  amongst 
which  are  mentioned  "  a  carrying-way  used  for  colys" — pro- 
bably charcoal  for  the  ironfounderies,  "  a  gate  callyd  Yengate" 
— "Yen"  being  perhaps  a  corruption  for  wen,  wain,  or  wagon  ; 
also  Tonges-wood  and  Tonges-gate  near  the  abbey,  a  name 
which  again  savours  of  the  forge.  This  lease  is  for  twenty-one 
years,  at  a  rent  of  "  eyght  shillynges  and  one  henn  every  yeere 
at  the  feste  of  the  Byrth  of  our  Lord  god;"  with  the  usual 
covenants  for  distress  and  re-entry  in  default  of  payment : 
Wyllard  being  bound  to  "  Kep  and  make  all  manner  of  clau- 
sell,"  i.  e.  fencing  about  the  house,  wood,  and  land. 

In  the  same  collection  is  a  folio  volume  in  MS.  containing 
a  detailed  account  of  the  proceedings  of  Richard  Redman, 
then  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  whose  visitations  of  the  Abbey  of 
Dureford  have  been  adverted  to  by  Mr.  Blaauw.24  In  some 
places  it  is  defective,  and  of  what  remains  parts  are  illegible 
from  decay  and  discoloration,  with  the  additional  disadvan- 
tage of  a  difficult  character  of  writing  and  contractions.    This 

Til 

prelate,  who  was  Abbot  of  Schappe  (Shap)  in  Westmoreland, 
as  the  commissioner  appointed  by  the  Abbot  of  Premonstre, 
made  several  visitations  of  the  houses  belonging  to  the  Pre- 
monstratensian  order  in  the  province  of  England.  The  par- 
ticulars of  eight  such  visitations  to  Bayham  are  recorded  in 
this  book,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  and  last,  they 
are  very  fully  given.  The  bishop  usually  took  with  him  as 
his  assessor  Robert  Bedale,  the  prior  of  his  own  abbey.  The 
programme  of  his  journey  is  in  every  instance  given  with 
much  precision,  the  exact  hour  of  his  anticipated  arrival  at 
the  monastery  to  be  visited,  and,  in  one  instance,  the  phrase 

23  This  farm  retains   its   aucient   aud  '2i  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  VIII.  87. 

curious  name. 


104    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OE  BAYHAM. 

"  not  having  dined "  {impransi)  is  significantly  added  as  a 
hint  to  his  entertainers — the  hour  of  dinner,  or  the  hour  of 
supper,  "  at  sundown  or  thereabouts."  The  days  also  for 
instituting  his  inquiries  into  the  state  of  the  society  and  of 
declaring  his  decisions  {interrogare  et  definite)  are  exactly 
marked  out ;  where  he  is  to  lodge,  and  at  whose  expense — at 
Rochester  or  Ashford,  in  his  way  to  Begham  from  St.  Rhade- 
gund's  near  Dover,  at  the  cost  of  the  abbot  of  the  latter 
monastery — at  Lewes  in  his  journey  onward  to  Dureford  his 
expenses  are  to  be  defrayed  by  the  Abbot  of  Begham — at 
Arundel  by  the  Abbot  of  Tichfield — at  Wynchester  by  the 
Abbot  of  Dureford.  In  four  instances  he  enters  our  county 
at  Begham  and  leaves  it  at  Dureford,  the  extreme  east  and 
west  limits,  where  the  Premonstratensian  canons  were  sta- 
tioned, like  the  outposts  of  the  monastic  host  of  Sussex ;  in 
two  the  direction  is  reversed ;  and  in  one  altogether  wanting. 
One  specimen  of  such  a  "  Progressus  Visitationis  "  has  been 
already  given,25  and  supersedes  the  necessity  of  adding  one 
here.  But  of  the  condition  in  which  the  bishop  found  things 
at  Begham,  and  the  steps  he  took  for  their  amendment,  it 
may  be  desirable  to  state  summarily  what  the  visitor  relates 
at  considerable  length,  that  we  may  judge,  so  far  as  the  in- 
vestigations of  one  inquirer  may  enable  us,  who  certainly  had 
no  prejudice  against  his  own  order,  nor  any  wish  to  magnify 
their  failings,  what  foundation  there  was  for  the  general  out- 
cry against  these  institutions  on  the  score  of  immorality  at 
the  time  of  their  suppression.  It  must  be  owned  that  in  the 
present  case  the  reports  upon  the  whole  are  not  very  favour- 
able, the  visitor  finding  more  to  censure  than  to  commend ; 
but  every  one  knows  how  readily  the  characters  are  run  down 
of  those  who,  from  whatever  cause,  have  become  unpopular. 
The  unfortunate  have  few  friends — 

"  Quid 

Turba  Kemi  ?    Sequitur  fortunam,  ut  semper,  et  odit 

Damnatos." 

I.  The  first  Visitation  appears  to  have  been,  not  by  Bishop 
Redman,  but  by  the  Prior  of  Hales  Owen,  and  took  place  in 
July,  1478.  The  result  has  disappeared,  probably  with  one 
of  the  missing  leaves  of  the  volume ;  but  we  are  told  that  the 

25  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  VIII.  p.  91. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    105 

abbot  was  at  that  time  Robert  Hertley;  the  brethren,  Thomas 
Cotyngham  formerly  Abbot,  William  Fawkley,  Robert  Wester, 
Richard  Bexley,  William  Thornton,  John  Drakes,  Thomas 
Willns,  and  Richard  Greg  a  novice  not  yet  professed. 

II.  On  the  second  occasion,  September,  1482,  the  name  of 
the  abbot  is  obliterated ;  four  of  the  former  monks  have  dis- 
appeared, and  their  places  are  supplied  by  John  Dale  sub- 
prior,  Thomas  Fyscher,  William  Maskyn,  and  Thomas  Gren- 
mche.  Bishop  Redman,  who  is  now  visitor,  finds  matters  in 
great  disorder,  three  "apostates"26  he  excommunicates  forth- 
with, the  number  of  residents  is  insufficient  for  the  perform- 
ance of  divine  service  by  day  and  night ;  wherefore  he  most 
strictly  enjoins  the  abbot  to  call  together  the  canons  and  in- 
crease their  number,  that  there  may  be  at  least  six  present 
every  day  in  the  convent.  The  buildings  he  sees  {pcculariter 
conspicimus)  in  utter  ruin,  so  that  without  immediate  and 
diligent  repair  the  whole  were  in  danger  of  falling  to  the 
ground  :  whereupon  he  lays  his  commands  upon  the  abbot, 
on  pain  of  deposition,  that  with  all  speed  and  by  every  means 
in  his  power  he  should  labour  unceasingly  to  repair,  rebuild, 
and  maintain  the  dormitory,  refectory,  bakehouse,  hall,  and 
other  parts  of  the  fabric.  At  the  same  time  he  commends 
him  for  his  indefatigable  and  successful  efforts  to  discharge 
many  pecuniary  obligations  incurred  by  the  monastery  owing 
to  the  negligent  administration  of  his  two  predecessors  in 
office,  and  for  his  foresight  in  providing  grain  and  stock  of 
various  kinds  for  the  use  of  the  community. 

III.  When  he  comes  again  in  July,  1488,  some  new  names 
appear  in  the  list  of  monks — Thomas  Studley,  Thomas  Pres- 
ton, William  Leeds,  and  John  Egglisfeld,  the  abbot  being 
Robert  Naysh.    Divine  service  is  still  incompletely  performed, 

2,5    "Apostatee" — offending    brethren,  and  the  chapter  general.  We  beseech  you 

generally  removed  from  their  own  monas-  therefure  kindly  to  undertake  this  charge, 

tery  to   another  of  the  same  order  for  holding  ourselves  bound  in  any  similar 

purposes  of  correction.     The  following,  case  to  requite  you  with  a  grateful  return 

marked  "Formula"  in  the  margin  of  the  {in  casu  consimili  ad  grata:  vicissitiuliii/s 

chart ulary,  was   the  form   of  their   dis-  tenearnur  repensivam).     We  send  him  to 

missal :  "  L.,  Abbot  of  B.,  to  the  vene-  you   sufficiently   clothed,    and   give  you 

rable  Abbot  of  C,  health,  &c.     Brother  power  by  these  presents  to  hear  his  con- 

N.,  his  faults  requiring  it,  is  sent  (emissus  fession  and  give  him  absolution  of  his  sins 

extat)  to  your  church  by  the  Fathers  and  whilst  he  shall  continue  in  your  society." 

Lord  Abbots  visiting  our  church  by  au-  (Add.  MSS.  C037,  f.  43.) 
thority  of  the  Lord  Abbot  of  Premonstre 


166    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

owing  to  the  fewness  of  the  canons.  Wherefore  the  visitor 
issues  his  mandate  that  the  Lord  Abbot  should  increase  their 
number  by  recalling  such  as  were  serving  in  country  cures 
{seculo  celebr antes),  and  forbids  him  to  license  any  for  the 
future  to  such  cures,  excepting  only  of  churches  belonging  to 
the  monastery.  "And  whilst  he  faithfully  and  laudably 
manages  all  temporal  matters  without  (/oris),  that  Martha 
also  may  study  within  with  Mary  [tit  Martha  studeat  eciam 
intus  cum  Maria),  that  divine  service  may  be  duly  celebrated 
day  and  night,  we  charge  all  the  brethren  that  they  be  obe- 
dient to  him  and  his  subprior,  shewing  them  clue  reverence, 
and  never  without  their  permission  going  beyond  the  enclo- 
sures {septa)  of  the  monastery  or  beyond  the  cloisters,  on 
pain  of  being  considered  apostates  {sub  pen  a  apostatarum) ;  so 
that  by  their  new  and  better  mode  of  life  the  ill  report  of 
them  at  present  spread  on  all  sides  may  be  removed."  John 
Egglisfeld,  who  had  been  guilty  of  striking  one  of  his  brethren 
but  had  submitted  to  penance,  is  declared  to  be  absolved  and 
restored.  Then  follow  some  strictures  upon  excess  of  ap- 
parel : — "  We  forbid  moreover  all  the  brethren  of  the  said 
church  to  use  in  their  house  unsightly  and  foppish  shoes  or 
boots  after  the  fashion  of  the  laity  {deformitate  et  curiositate 
sotularium  et  caligarum  ad  modum  laicorum  domo  uti),  but  as 
becomes  religious  persons  altogether  to  avoid  such  vanities  on 
pain  of  the  greater  excommunication."  The  abbot,  finally, 
is  commended  for  his  good  management  in  paying  off  £20  of 
the  debts  left  by  his  predecessors,  though  still  burdened  to 
the  extent  of  £100;  and  for  his  sufficient  provision  of  grain 
and  animals  for  the  year's  consumption. 

IV.  On  the  next  similar  occasion,  in  October,  1491,  there 
are  graver  offences  to  call  for  reprehension ;  some  new  names 
appear  in  the  list  of  canons,  viz.  John  Falde,  John  Maynard, 
John  Marston,  and  John  Hilton,  in  the  place  of  others  re- 
moved ;  and  Thomas  Cotyngham  is  again  abbot. 

Brother  Thomas  Studley  is  accused  of  incontinency,  and, 
being  summoned  before  the  visitor,  denies  the  truth  of  the 
charge ;  but,  because  he  could  not  readily  and  lawfully  clear 
himself,  a  suitable  punishment  is  imposed  upon  him,  viz. 
xl  days  of  the  heavier  penance  {gravioris  culpe)  (which  com- 
prised "  thrusting  into  a  monastery,  branding,  fustigation,  or 


THE    PREM0NSTRATENS1A.N    ABBEY    OF    BAYIIAM.         107 

imprisonment/'  according  to  Linwood,  p.  321),  and  after  its 
completion,  removal  to  the  monastery  of  Newhonse,  an  abbey 
of  the  same  order  in  Lincolnshire,  for  three  years,  which 
banishment,  because  of  the  perversity  of  his  manners,  was  to 
be  continued  till  the  next  provincial  chapter.     He  was  also 
forbidden,  on  pain  of  perpetual  imprisonment,  thenceforth  to 
frequent  the  place  where  the  offence  {nephas)  aforesaid  was 
alleged  to  have  been  committed,  as  long  as  the  suspected 
female  continued  there,  or  to  hold  any  conversation  with  her 
for  the  time  to  come.     The  visitor  then  goes  on  : — "  We  give 
the  strictest  injunctions  to  the  subprior  of  the  said  church,  as 
he  values  his  salvation,  to  correct  the  excesses  of  the  brethren, 
and  if  any  will  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  corrected  by  him, 
them  let  him  take  care  to  report  to  the  Lord  Abbot.     More- 
over  we   will  that  they  all  arise  by  night  {noctuanter)  to 
matins,  otherwise  on  the  same  day  following  let  them  strictly 
fast  on  bread  and  water  {in  pane  et  aqua  jejunient).     We 
farther  injoin  that  every  day  they  be  careful  to  say  the  matin 
lauds  {matutinas)  of  the  blessed  Mary,  with  the  other  hours, 
on  pain  of  contempt.     All  manner  of  pursuit  of  game  (omni- 
nwdas  venationes)  and  wanderings  abroad  [cdicubi  discursus) 
by  night  or  day,  we  prohibit  on  pain  of  the  greater  excom- 
munication ;    and  all  eating  or   drinking  in  the  houses  of 
secular  persons  within  a  league  of  the  monastery,  on  pain  of 
xx  days  heavy  penance.     We  order  also  that  the  abbot  shall 
not  easily  permit  or  license  those  under  his  authority  (sub- 
ditos)  to  travel  about  the  country  {circumvagare).     We  also 
strictly  charge  every  brother  within  and  without  the  house, 
on  pain  of  contempt,  to  provide  himself  a  cape  (capam),  that 
all  may  be  able  to  serve  the  Lord  and  to  appear  in  public  in 
one  uniform  habit.     Although  the  abbot  by  his  praiseworthy 
foresight  has  added  to  the  yearly  revenues  of  the  monastery 
to  the  value  of   50   marks,   yet    he  has   also  by   his  good 
management  redeemed  the  whole  of  the  debts  {eciam  miiversa 
dehita  sagaciter  redemit).     With  grain  in  sufficient  measure, 
and  with   animals   of  either  sex,  the  house  is   abundantly 
furnished." 

V.  The  next  visitation  took  place  in  June,  1494,  when 
Cotyngham  is  once  more  deposed,  and  Robert  Naysh  again 
abbot.     Studley  has  come  back  from  his  relegation  to  New- 


168    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.  - 

house,  and  the  only  new  name  is  that  of  Thomas  Depford, 
novice  and  professed.  This  is  a  maiden  assize,  nothing  is  to 
be  censured,  and  the  good  bishop  in  jubilant  strains,  blesses 
and  dismisses  the  assembly.  "All  things"  (says  he)  "within 
and  without  are  arranged  in  orderly  manner  [ordinate  dispo- 
nuntur)  by  the  laudable  providence  of  the  said  abbot,  and 
with  our  benediction  bestowed  we  briefly  conclude  our  visita- 
tion. And  whereas  at  his  creation  (in  creatione)  the  said 
abbot  was  involved  in  very  heavy  debts,  yet  now  more  money 
is  due  to  him  than  he  owes  to  others,  and  this  notwithstand- 
ing the  different  burdens  in  many  ways  laid  on  him  by  the 
buildings  and  tenements  belonging  to  the  monastery." 

VI.  In  October,  1497,  his  tone  is  changed,  and  grave  re- 
prehension again  deemed  necessary.  Richard  Bexley  is  now 
abbot,  two  new  names  appear  among  the  resident  canons — 
Thomas  Ledes  and  Thomas  Gregg,  with  three  fresh  novices — 
Thomas  Stoure,  Roger  Mattyng,  John  Rrynkley.  The  visitor 
now  finds  that  Thomas  Preston  has  often  gone  out  at  night 
to  suspicious  places,  and  to  a  woman  of  doubtful  reputation, 
called  Agnes  Skynner ;  upon  being  charged  with  which,  he 
asserts  that  he  has  corrected  his  fault.  But  on  a  fuller  in- 
quiry of  the  brethren,  the  bishop  learns  that  no  penance  has 
has  been  enjoined  on  him  for  it,  for  which  omission  being  re- 
quired to  clear  themselves,  they  plainly  show  that  the  accused 
was  by  no  means  corrected.  "  Wherefore"  (says  the  bishop) 
"we  sentenced  him  to  undergo  the  penance  due  to  graver 
offences  for  xl  days  in  the  monastery  of  Croxton  (an  abbey  of 
the  order  in  Lincolnshire),  and  thither  to  go  forthwith,  to  re- 
main there  for  the  space  of  seven  years,  unless  in  the  interim 
it  should  mercifully  be  otherwise  determined  concerning  him. 
There  moreover  we  found  Thomas  Studeley,  an  apostate,  whom, 
for  his  apostacy,  sitting  before  our  tribunal  we  pronounced  to 
be  both  suspended  and  excommunicated.  But  one  William 
Ledes  a  canon  cited  (as  his  superior  alleged)  before  us,  but 
not  appearing,  we  present  do  now  cite  by  our  decree,  and 
farther  we  do  strictly  charge  the  Lord  Abbot,  as  he  would  pre- 
serve his  obedience  inviolate,  duly  to  cite  or  cause  to  be  cited 
the  aforesaid  Thomas  before  us  in  the  monastery  of  Croxton 
on  the  morrow  of  St.  Peter  ad  vincula  next  to  come,  there  to 
undergo  what  justice  exacts  and  requires.     For  the  rest  we 


THE    PREMONSTRATENSIAN    ABBEY    OF    BAYIIAM.  109 

command  the  Lord  Abbot  that  the  number  of  the  canons  be 
increased  with  all  possible  speed,  in  order  that  divine  worship 
may  be  more  quickly  performed  {celerius  agaticr).  To  the 
same  abbot  we  have  given  our  commands  about  coarse  bread 
(de  pane  g rosso) ;  in  other  respects  we  do  not  find  many 
things  there  amended.  But  though  the  abbot  has  not  malt 
for  brewing,  except  as  occasionally  provided  (in  brasia  non 
habeat  nisi  ex  provisione),  yet  with  wheat  and  other  grain  lie 
is  sufficiently  furnished,  beasts  and  all  other  fatted  animals 
being  in  praiseworthy  abundance."27 

VII.  Upon  occasion  of  the  seventh  visitation  in  1500,  we 
have  this  preface  : — "  But  here  the  aforesaid  Reverend  Father, 
resting  at  pleasure  in  the  city  of  Exeter,  and  deliberating 
already  in  his  own  mind  upon  his  intended  visitation  of  the 
other  monasteries  belonging  to  our  order,  resolves  to  begin  his 
progress  on  the  Sth  of  September  at  Hunnington  "  (Honiton). 
Then  follows  the  plan  of  his  movements  through  Tichneld  to 
Dureford  and  Bay  ham. 

At  Begeham,  on  the  29th  September,  he  happily  feels  no 
need  to  prolong  his  inquiry;  he  finds  a  sufficiency  of  every- 
thing, and  no  complaints  are  brought  before  him.  "  But " 
(he  adds)  "  for  the  laudable  providence  of  the  same  abbot,  we 
are  bound  to  render  due  thanks  to  God  to  the  utmost  of  our 
power.  The  church  of  the  convent  also,  which  at  the  creation 
of  the  said  abbot  was  dilapidated  and  hampered  (circumligatd) 
exceedingly  with  a  load  of  debt,  we  now  find  freed  from  every- 
thing of  the  kind.  Of  animals  moreover  and  grain  an  ample 
store  has  been  provided  for  the  year."  Only  one  new  canon 
appears  in  the  list — John  Garnthorpe,  and  one  novice — Roger 
Burton,  Bexley  continuing  as  abbot. 

It  is  well  to  conclude  with  this  very  satisfactory  "deflnitio"; 
and  I  am  almost  glad  that  of  the  next  visitation, 

VIII.,  made  in  1503,  both  the  scheme  of  progress  and 
result  of  the  investigation  are  lost.  Bexley  is  still  abbot,  and 
the  monks  this  time  without  any  change ;  even  Tom  Studley, 
who  seems  to  have  been  the  black  sheep  of  the  flock,  remains 
marked  as  "  apostate,"  and  such  we  must  be  content  to  leave 

27  "Animalibus  ac  omnibus  aliis  alti-       beasts,  fWls,  or  fishes,  kept  up  and  fatted, 
libus  satis  laudabiliter  prorisis."     Aliilia       — Vet.  Glos. 
are    Failings,     any    creatures,    whether 

ix.  22 


170    THE  PREMONSTRATENSTAN  ABBEY  OF  BATH  AM. 

him.  But  with  his  single  exception,  it  is  pleasant  to  think 
that,  whatever  may  have  been  the  faults  of  our  canons,  they 
at  least  had  the  grace  to  reform  them  upon  the  admonition  of 
their  right  reverend  visitor.  What  more  indeed  can  be  said 
of  the  wisest  and  best  ?  for  the  best  are  only  they  that  have 
the  fewest  faults,  and  the  wisest  those  who  see  their  errors 
and  amend  them. 

From  these  curious  documents,  it  appears  that  the  inmates 
of  a  monastery  Avere  sometimes  a  more  fleeting  community 
than  the  fellows  of  a  college  in  one  of  our  modern  universities. 
The  changes,  considering  the  smallness  of  the  body  in  which 
they  took  place,  are  remarkable.  The  number  of  resident 
members  of  the  house  was  on  the  average  nine,  including 
novices  and  apostates — the  latter  sometimes  not  properly 
belonging  to  it,  but  sent  thither  for  a  time  from  some  other 
convent  as  a  punishment  for  transgression.  Yet  in  the  twenty- 
five  years  which  intervened  between  the  first  and  last  visita- 
tions, no  fewer  than  twenty-seven  different  individuals  formed 
part  of  this  small  staff,  enough  to  change  the  whole  exactly 
three  times  in  that  period  of  time.  It  would  look  as  if  the 
White  Canons  shifted  from  place  to  place,  as  their  services 
were  wanted  in  their  different  houses  or  secular  cures.  The 
frequent  change  of  abbots  also  is  worthy  of  note,  five  persons 
filling  the  office  in  the  above  period;  as  well  as  the  facility  with 
which  they  were  created,  deposed,  and  reinstated.  Thomas 
Cotyngham  had  been  abbot  previously  to  the  first  visitation, 
which  found  him  deposed;  we  see  him  restored  in  1491,  and 
again  deposed  in  1494.  Robert  Naysh,  his  predecessor  in 
1488,  disappears  in  1491,  succeeds  him  in  1494,  and  is  him- 
self succeeded  by  Bexley  in  1497.  We  may  also  notice  in 
the  cases  of  Thomas  Grenwich,  Thomas  Depford,  Thomas 
Ledes,  and  Roger  Mallyng,  the  custom  so  prevalent  among 
ecclesiastics  of  dropping  their  family  name,  and  assuming  in 
its  stead  that  of  the  place  of  their  nativity;  of  which  we  have 
well-known  instances  in  the  two  famous  Williams — of  Wyke- 
ham  and  Waynflete. 

I  cannot  learn  of  any  public  transactions  of  importance  in 
which  the  abbots  of  Begham  took  a  prominent  part ;  they 
seem  rather  to  have  shunned  notoriety  than  courted  it.  In 
Rymer  (i.  pt.  1,  p.  101)  is  a  bull  of  Pope  Honorius,  a.d.  1227, 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    171 

which  must  have  been  issued  in  consequence  of  some  appli- 
cation, not  otherwise  known,  from  the  abbot  of  that  day,  beg- 
gino-  to  be  excused  from  taking  any  part  in  the  business  of 
the  papal  commissions  in  this  country. 

"A  Bull  of  Exemption." 

"  Honorius  Bishop,  servant  of  the  servants  of  God,  to  our 
beloved  son  the  Abbot  of  Begham,  health  and  apostolical 
benediction. 

"  Thou  hast  humbly  entreated  us  that,  Whereas  thou  hast 
no  skill  in  law,  and  by  the  tumult  of  judicial  proceedings 
{strepitu  judiciorum)  it  happens  that  repose  for  holy  contem- 
plation is  in  thee  impeded,  we  would  deign  to  exempt  thee 
from  the  trouble  (sollicitudine)  of  our  commissions.  We 
therefore,  acceding  to  thy  entreaties,  by  the  authority  of  these 
presents,  indulge  thy  devotion,  so  that  thou  mayest  not  be 
held  bound  to  proceed  according  to  our  commissions  which 
in  future  may  happen  to  be  addressed  to  thee,  though  they 
make  no  mention  of  any  indulgence  of  this  nature.  Be  it 
lawful  therefore  for  no  man  to  infringe  this  writing  (paginam) 
of  our  concession,  or  with  rash  boldness  to  go  contrary  to  it. 
But  if  any  one  shall  presume  to  attempt  this,  let  him  know 
that  he  will  incur  the  indignation  of  Almighty  God  and  of  the 
blessed  apostles  Peter  and  Paul. — Given  at  the  Lateran,  3  ka- 
lends of  June,  in  the  eleventh  year  of  our  pontificate." 

Upon  one  occasion  indeed,  in  the  year  1454,  Thomas,  Abbot 
of  Begham,  acting  as  commissioner  for  the  Abbot  of  Premon- 
stre,  held  an  assembly  of  certain  English  abbots  of  the  order 
in  his  abbey  of  Begham,  and  they  jointly  convened  a  general 
chapter  to  meet  at  Northampton  in  the  summer  of  that  year.28 
But  in  general  they  do  not  appear  to  have  engaged  actively  in 
such  affairs,  and  in  one  instance  are  recorded  not  to  have  been 
present,  either  in  person  or  by  proxy,  at  the  meeting  held  at 
Lincoln  in  July,  1310.29  Laurence  was  at  that  time  abbot, 
who  resigned  his  office  upon  a  visitation  by  the  abbot  of 
Lan^don  in  1315,  and  it  may  be  presumed  had  shown 
remissness  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.30  In  1478  the 
house  appointed  the  prior  of  Schappe,  Robert  Bedale,  to  be 

23  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  VIII.  81.         Christi  College,  Cambridge,  referred  to  in 
39  Hid.  71.  the  Monasticon. 

!"  MS.  No.  59,  in  Library  of  Corpus 


172    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

their  proctor,  with  full  powers  to  act,  discuss,  determine, 
agree,  or  disagree,  in  their  behalf,  in  all  matters  brought 
before  the  provincial  chapter  appointed  to  be  holden  in  the 
summer  at  Notyngham  before  Bishop  Redman.  This  instru- 
ment is  given  at  length  in  the  Ashmolean  MS.,  from  which 
we  have  already  quoted  so  largely.  Upon  the  whole  we  may 
infer  that  our  abbots  were  too  much  enamoured  of  their 
pleasant  retirement  to  leave  it  without  strong  reluctance ; 
and  though  Nottingham  was  not  then  what  it  is  now,  it  is  no 
great  matter  of  wonder  that  "  Beaulieu"  was  more  to  their 
taste  than  a  busy  town  and  a  bustling  assembly.  Our  abbots 
were  modest  men,  and  some  of  them,  as  we  have  just  had 
proof,  not  very  highly  gifted  with  faculties  of  government  and 
administration  ;  they  might  be  conscious,  therefore,  of  their 
incapacity  to  make  a  figure  in  the  general  chapter  of  the 
order. 

It  is  said  in  this  same  MS.  that  the  abbey  had  five  churches. 
That  of  West  Greenwich  (or  Deptford)  was  part  of  the 
foundation  of  Brockley,  as  the  church  of  Hellingiy  was  of  the 
foundation  of  Otteham,  before  the  union  of  the  two  houses 
at  Begham.  The  latter  was  the  gift  of  Richard  and  Randulph 
(or  Ralph)  Brade,  owners  of  the  valuable  property  still  known 
as  "The  Broad,"  in  that  parish,  and  was  given  sometime 
during  the  episcopate  of  Seffrid,  the  second  Bishop  of  Chiches- 
ter of  that  name,  which  lasted  from  1180  to  1204.  It  is 
interesting  to  trace  in  these  records  the  rise  of  a  parish  church. 
First,  we  find  mentioned  the  dedication  of  the  structure  by 
this  prelate,  and  its  endowment  by  one  of  the  Brade  family, 
at  its  first  erection,  or  perhaps  at  its  re-edification  in  a  better 
style  on  the  site  of  some  meaner  fabric.  "  I,  Nicolas,  eldest 
son  of  Ralph  Brade,  when  Bishop  Seffrid  the  second  dedicated 
the  church  of  Helling,  endowed  the  same  with  twelve  dena- 
rates31  of  land  belonging  to  my  freehold,  of  which  William  de 
Meriefeld  is  tenant,  because  there  was  no  other  person  there 
who  would  endow  it ;  and  the  bishop  urgently  asked  for  an 
endowment,  lest  so  excellent  a  work  should  to  some  extent 
be  deprived  of  its  right."    Next  we  have  two  other  members 

31  Denarata.     Cowell  explains  this  to       from  rent  (denarius),  as  Dejiverca,  from 
be  an  acre;  if  so,  may  not  this  clenomi-       labour? 
nation   have  arisen   in  very  early  times 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BATH  AM.    173 

of  the  same  family,  with  the  consent  and  aid  of  the  bishop, 
putting  the  monks  into  possession  of  the  newly  erected  church. 
"  We  Seffrid  Bp.  of  Chichester,  on  the  presentation  of  Rike- 
ward  and  Randolph  Brade,  have  admitted  the  abbot  and 
canons  of  Otehani  to  the  church  of  Helling,  and  have  cano- 
nically  instituted  them  in  the  same,  whereof  we  will  that  they 
perpetually  possess  the  fruits,  saving  the  rights  of  our  church 
of  Chichester,  and  saving  also  a  reasonable  vicarage,  whence 
the  chaplain,  who  upon  the  presentation  of  the  abbot  shall 
minister  in  the  same,  may  be  able  to  derive  an  honest  main- 
tenance." 

The  church  of  Hailsham,  which  also  belonged  to  them, 
was  about  a  century  later  the  subject  of  a  vehement  and 
protracted  litigation.  In  the  Episcopal  Register,  C.  84,  at 
Chichester,  the  whole  case  is  recited  in  full  in  a  declaration 
made  by  Gilbert  de  Sancto  Leofardo,  the  bishop,  William 
(de  Bracklesham)  the  dean,  and  the  chapter  of  the  cathedral 
church.  From  this  instrument,  dated  1296,  it  appears  that  a 
dispute  had  long  before  arisen  between  the  abbot  and  convent 
of  Beghani  on  the  one  part,  and  Master  de  Blockendon  on  the 
other,  about  the  church  or  chapel  of  Haylesham :  the  former 
alleging  that  it  was  a  chapel  belonging  to  them  and  depend- 
ent upon  their  church  of  Heliingle,  the  latter  denying  these 
premises,  and  asserting  that  he  was  rector  of  the  church  of 
Haylesham.  Of  the  grounds  on  which  these  conflicting  claims 
were  supposed  to  rest  no  evidence  appears  here  or  (so  far  as 
I  can  find)  elsewhere ;  not  the  least  explanation  being  given 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  church  of  Hailsham  originated, 
beyond  the  assertion  of  the  canons,  which  was  probably  the 
truth,  that  it  was  an  offset  from  their  mother  church  at  Hel- 
lingly.  Many  tedious  processes  at  law  had  been  instituted 
without  arriving  at  any  satisfactory  result.  To  complicate 
matters,  Blockendon  had  died  during  the  proceedings,  as  also 
had  "Dominus  Bogonus  de  Clare,"  who  succeeded  to  his 
claim  upon  the  rectory ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Chichester  holding 
with  them  that  the  church  at  Hailsham,  as  from  ancient  time 
a  mother  and  parish  church,  ought  to  be  governed  by  a 
secular  rector,  a  fresh  suit  was  instituted  in  the  Court  of 
Canterbury.  A  compromise,  however,  was  at  last  effected, 
all  parties  agreeing  to  refer  the  matter  in  question  to  the 


174    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

arbitration  of  the  archbishop,  and  peaceably  to  abide  by  his 
decision.  The  primate  consents  to  undertake  the  business, 
and  after  duly  weighing  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  and 
invoking  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  pronounces  judg- 
ment as  follows  : — "  Imprimis,  That  the  church  of  Haylesham 
with  all  the  rights  belonging  to  the  rectory  thereof,  as  of  a 
chapel  of  the  church  of  Helyngle  and  dependent  thereon, 
shall  remain  for  the  future  in  full  right  with  the  abbot  and 
convent  of  Begham  and  their  successors,  to  be  holden  to 
their  own  uses  for  ever,  and  the  church  or  chapel  itself  of 
Haylesham  we  '  esc  abundanti '  appropriate  to  the  same  ;  saving 
a  perpetual  vicarage  in  the  said  church  or  chapel,  the  vicar 
whereof  and  his  successors  shall  be  fully  entitled  to  all  the 
oblations  made  therein  and  all  the  obventions32  of  the  altar 
of  the  same,  including  the  small  tithes."  Reservation  is  then 
made,  to  the  abbot  and  convent  of  immunity  from  paying 
tithes,  and  to  the  ordinary  of  his  authority.  The  vicar  for  the 
time  being  was  required  to  associate  with  himself  a  priest- 
vicar  (unum  presbiterum  secundarium)  duly  qualified  to  assist 
him  in  reading  and  singing  in  the  church,  and  for  his  help  in 
the  parish,  to  be  maintained  at  his  expense.  He  was  to  find 
wax  for  lights  around  the  great  altar,  with  the  sacramental 
bread  and  wine,  and  incense  for  burning.  The  monks,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  bound  to  keep  in  repair  the  granges  and 
other  buildings  attached  to  the  rectory  ;  to  store  and  thrash 
out  the  great  tithes  and  the  produce  of  their  demesne  lands 
in  their  own  barns  and  nowhere  else  ;33  to  repair  the  chancel 
and  rebuild  it  if  fallen  down.  They  were  also  to  find  in  the 
church  itself,  when  needful,  books  and  ornaments,  for  the  safe 
custody  of  which  the  vicar  was  (except  in  the  case  of  un- 
avoidable accident)  to  be  responsible,  as  also  for  moderate 
repairs  in  the  binding  and  covering  of  the  books,  and  for  the 
mending  and  washing  of  the  vestments.  The  vicar  was  further 
to  provide  rushes  in  summer  and  the  canons  straw  in  winter 
for  the  church  and  chancel.  Finally,  the  right  of  presenting 
to  the  vicarage,  when  vacant,  is  assigned  to  the  abbot  and 

33  Obvention  differed  only  from  oblation  — (Vide  Burn,  Eccle.  Laic,  iii.  19.) 

in  being  a  more  comprehensive  term,  in-  ^  I  can  conjecture  no  other  reason  for 

eluding  all  the  customary  offerings  to  the  this  restriction  than  that  it  woidd  oblige 

priest  at  the  four  principal  festivals  and  them  to  keep  the  buildings  in  good  con- 

at  the  celebration  of  the  occasional  offices.  dition. 


THE  BREMONSTRATENSTAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    175 

convent,  and  all  former  proceedings  and  judgments  touching 
the  matters  in  dispute  are  solemnly  annulled ;  and  thus  was 
terminated  this  long  litigation. 

There  are  two  presentations  to  this  vicarage  recorded  in 
the  Chartulary  :  one  dated  Wednesday  after  the  Feast  of  Pope 
Gregory,  1288,  when  Abbot  Richard  presented  to  Gilbert, 
Lord  Bishop  of  Chichester,  William  de  Templo  to  be  chaplain 
to  the  vicarage  of  Haylesham — which  presentation  might 
perhaps  be  the  immediate  cause  of  the  contention  so  tardily 
settled;  the  other,  dated  February  2,  1307,  when  Laurence, 
Abbot  of  Begham,  presented  John  Fyndon  to  be  instituted  by 
Bishop  John  de  Langton. 

Provision,  it  will  be  observed,  was  made  for  strewing  the 
earthen  or  paved  floor  of  Flailsham  church  with  straw  or 
rushes,  according  to  the  season  of  the  year ;  and  in  some' 
copious  extracts  from  old  parish  account-books  in  the  city  of 
Norwich,  with  which  I  have  been  favoured,  I  find  numerous 
entries  for  pea-strnw  used  for  such  strewing.  It  is  well  known 
that  houses  also  were  littered  in  the  same  way  ;  and  the  reader 
will  remember  that  in  Simon  Payn's  corrody  two  cartloads  of 
straw  were  allowed  annually,  to  be  applied  probably  to  this 
use.  Residences  of  the  highest  rank  were  not  above  the 
necessity  of  such  homely  accommodation.  Hentzner,  in  his 
Itinerary,  says  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  presence-chamber  at 
Greenwich,  "The  floor,  after  the  English  fashion,  was  strewed 
with  hay?  And  in  Newton's  Herball  to  the  Bible,  mention 
is  made  of  "  sedge  and  rushes,  the  whiche"  (says  that  old 
writer)  "  manie  in  this  countrie  doe  use  in  sommer-time  to 
strewe  their  parlors  or  churches,  as  well  for  coolness  as  for 
pleasaunt  smell."34  If,  however,  we  may  trust  to  an  epistle, 
wherein  Erasmus  gives  an  account  of  this  practice  to  his 
friend  Doctor  Francis,  physician  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  I  am 
afraid  it  will  appear  that,  the  rushes  being  seldom  thoroughly 
changed,  and  the  habits  of  those  days  not  very  cleanly,  the 
smell  soon  became  anything  but  pleasant,  and  would  horrify 
the  members  of  a  modern  sanitary  commission.  He  speaks 
of  the  lowest  stratum  of  rushes  (the  top  only  being  renewed) 

34  The  species  preferred  was  the  Acorns  forth  an  odour  resembling  that  of  the 
or  Calamus  aromaticus,  the  sweet-scented  myrtle.  In  the  absence  ot  this,  inferior 
flag  or  rush,  which,  when  bruised,  gives       kinds  were  used. 


170    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

as  remaining  unchanged  sometimes  for  twenty  years  !  a  recep- 
tacle for  beer,  grease,  fragments  of  victuals,  and  other  abomi- 
nations too  unsavoury  to  be  mentioned.  To  this  filthiness  he 
ascribes  the  frequent  pestilences  with  which  the  people  were 
afflicted ;  recommending  the  entire  banishment  of  rushes  and 
a  better  ventilation.  {Epist.  B.  Erasmi,  Lond.  1642,  p.  1140.) 
In  a  more  artificial  form,  as  woven  into  mats  and  hassocks, 
rushes  still  retain  an  inoffensive  and  useful  place  in  our 
churches  and  houses. 

But,  though  few  are  ignorant  of  this  ancient  custom,  it 
may  not  perhaps  be  so  generally  known,  that  the  strewing 
of  churches  grew  into  a  religious  festival,  dressed  up  in  all 
that  picturesque  circumstance,  wherewith  the  old  church  so 
well  knew  how  to  array  its  ritual.  Remains  of  it  linger  to 
this  day  in  remote  parts  of  England.  In  Westmoreland, 
Lancashire,  and  districts  of  Yorkshire,  there  is  still  celebrated, 
between  haymaking  and  harvest,  a  village  fete  called  "  The 
Rush-bearing."  Young  women  dressed  in  white,  and  carrying 
garlands  of  flowers  and  rushes,  walk  in  procession  to  the 
parish  church,  accompanied  by  a  crowd  of  rustics  with  flags 
flying  and  music  playing.  There  they  suspend  their  floral 
chaplets  on  the  chancel  rails,  and  the  day  is  concluded  with  a 
simple  feast.  The  neighbourhood  of  Ambleside  was  until 
lately,  and  may  be  still,  one  of  the  chief  strongholds  of  this 
popular  practice ;  respecting  which  I  will  only  add,  as  a  curious 
fact,  that  up  to  the  passing  of  the  recent  Municipal  Reform 
Act,  the  town-clerk  of  Norwich  was  accustomed  to  pay  to 
the  subsacrist  of  the  cathedral  an  annual  guinea  for  strewing 
the  floor  of  the  cathedral  with  rushes  on  the  Mayor's  Day, 
from  the  western  door  to  the  entrance  into  the  choir :  this  is 
the  most  recent  instance  of  the  ancient  usage  which  has  come 
to  my  knowledge. 

A  third  church  belonging  to  Begham  was  that  of  Pembury, 
the  gift  of  Simon  de  Wahull :  being  sufficiently  near  to  the 
abbey,  it  was,  sometimes  at  least,  served  by  one  of  the  resident 
members.  In  the  five  last  of  the  visitations  above  noticed, 
extending  from  1488  to  1503,  Thomas  Willus  is  mentioned 
in  the  list  of  canons  as  "  Vicar  of  Pepyngbury  "  ;  and  a  path 
still  exists  known  as  "  The  Priest's  Path,"  leading  through  the 
woods  of  Bayham  to  Pembury  church,  often  trodden,  doubtless, 
by  his  feet. 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    177 

Their  fourth  and  fifth  churches  I  cannot  name  with  cer- 
tainty ;  but  as  they  are  said  in  the  Abstract  of  Property,  a.d. 
1526,  to  have  then  possessed  the  great  tithes  of  Newington 
and  Mardcn,  they  were  probably  patrons  also  of  the  churches 
at  those  two  places. 

Like  other  owners  of  property  in  those  unsettled  times,  the 
abbots  of  Begham  were  involved  in  many  suits  at  law  which 
are  recorded  in  the  Chartulary.  Seven  compositions  occur 
between  the  abbot  of  Begham  and  various  other  abbots  and 
priors  with  whom  he  was  at  issue  {secum  discordantes) ;  and 
also  eleven  agreements  "  made  in  the  King's  Court  at  West- 
minster" between  the  abbot  and  divers  other  litigants ;  but 
the  particulars  are  of  little  present  interest.  One  case,  how- 
ever, related  more  fully  than  the  rest,  affords  proof  that  land- 
lords in  those  days  well  knew  how  to  adopt  stringent  mea- 
sures towards  refractory  tenants,  and  could  serve  writs  of 
ejectment  more  Hibernico,  when  milder  methods  of  treatment 
were  found  inefficacious.  It  runs  thus  : — "  Solomon  Abbot 
of  Begham,  &c.  Upon  occasion  of  a  certain  court-service  of 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester  which  his  bailiff  had  unjustly  exacted 
of  our  tenants  in  villenage  at  Bertele,35  within  our  manor  of 
Begham,  whence  we  were  drawn  into  a  plea  in  the  court 
aforesaid,  contrary  to  the  tenor  of  our  charters ;  after  many 
vexations  we  have  compromised  matters  in  this  way  {quievi- 
mus  sub  hac  forma),  that  we  have  removed  Richard  Browning, 
Henry  the  Wyse,  and  Doucea  le  Swan,  from  their  residences 
(mansionibus)  and  lands  : — But  amongst  these  (tenants)  was  a 
son  of  disobedience,  of  hard  and  stiff-neck  {filius  inobedientice 
dura  cervicis  et  obstinatai),  Matthew  Scot  by  name,  who 
would  not  remove  from  our  land,  affirming  that  he  was  free ; 
but  by  pulling  down  the  houses  in  which  he  dwelt  we  expelled 
this  person  from  our  villicate  (villicatu),  whilst  to  the  rest  we 
assigned  cottages  and  small  portions  of  land  (mahsiunculte 
et  portiuncula  terrarum).  Moved  however  at  length  with 
compassion  for  the  poverty  of  the  said  Matthew  Scot  we  ap- 
pointed this  remedy  {tale  apposuimus  medicamen),  To  wit  that 
he  coming  into  full  court  at  Begham,  on  the  Thursday  next 
before  the  Feast  of  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  in 

38  Bartley  is  the  present  name  attached       wood,  all  within  a  mile  of  the  abbey.  The 
to  a  mill,  a  cottage,  and  a  considerable       MS.  transcript  has  BerJcele  in  error. 

ix.  23 


178    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM. 

the  26th  year  of  the  reign  of  King  Edward,  should  altogether 
renounce  his  right,  if  he  had  any,  in  the  tenement  which  he 
sometime  held  of  us  in  villenage  at  Berteleye — which  he 
having  accordingly  done,  the  same  abbot,  moved  by  pity  and 
piety,  not  by  reason  of  his  renunciation,  hath  caused  50s. 
sterling  to  be  paid  to  the  said  Matthew,  and  discharged  him 
from  further  attendance  on  the  court  in  respect  of  his  land 
(ipsttm  de  terra  sua  abire  dimisit)." 

The  Abbey  of  Bayham  was  visited,  it  would  seem,  by  King 
Edward  I.  on  June  21st,  1299  (Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  II.  p.  144), 
but  certainly  by  King  Edward  II.  on  Monday,  August  27th, 
1324  (Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  VI.  p.  44),  on  his  way  to  Roberts- 
bridge.  Another  visitor,  of  great,  though  not  royal,  celebrity 
in  his  day,  Richard  de  la  Wych,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  after- 
wards known  as  Saint  Richard,  is  said  to  have  made  some 
stay  at  Begham ;  and  such  was  his  reputation  for  sanctity, 
that  the  bed  on  which  he  lay  was  supposed  to  retain  certain 
miraculous  qualities  of  a  healing  nature  (Sussex  Arch.  Coll. 
1.  p.  168).  The  abbots  appear  to  have  taken  but  little  part 
in  matters  of  public  business,  with  the  sole  exception  of 
acting  occasionally,  in  conjunction  with  other  ecclesiastical 
and  lay  owners  of  property,  on  the  coast  of  East  Sussex,  as 
commissioners  for  maintaining  the  embankments  whereby  the 
levels  were  guarded  against  inundations  of  the  sea. 

Some  members  of  the  founder's  family  chose  this  abbey, 
hallowed  doubtless  to  their  minds  by  the  recollections  of 
many  generations,  as  a  last  resting-place  for  their  mortal 
remains.  Sir  Thomas  Sackvile,  son  of  Sir  Andrew  by  his 
second  wife  Joane  Burgess,  who  died  11th  Henry  VI.  (a.d. 
1433),  in  a  will  dated  December  1st,  1432,  expresses  his 
desire  to  be  buried  in  the  church  of  Bayham.36  Richard 
Sackvile  also,  son  of  Humphrey  by  his  wife  Katherine, 
daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Brown,  who  was  treasurer  of  the 
household  to  King  Henry  VI.,  was  interred,  we  are  told,  in 
the  Lady  Chapel.  Others  probably  of  their  early  patrons 
and  benefactors  were  deposited  within  the  consecrated  walls, 
whose  names  have  perished  with  their  tombs. 

From  various  sources  I  have  culled  the  names  and  dates 

36  "  Ego  T.  Sakevile  miles  de  comitatu      Ecclesia  de  Beigeham." 
Sussexiensi  volo    me   sepultum   esse  in 


THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OF  BAYHAM.    179 


of  ten  abbots,  besides  the  six  (marked  *),  which  are  given 
from  Hasted  in  the  Monasticon. 


ABBOTS   OF   BEGEHAM. 


A.  D. 

Jordan,  1st  Abbot  of  Otteham,  translated  to  be  1st  Abbot 

of  Begham  about        ....                  .              1200 

Reginald      .... 

1221—1252 

John    ..... 

.     1257 

Thomas        .... 

.     1265 

John    ..... 

.     1272 

Richard        .... 

1283—1296 

Laurence  (resigned  in  1315) 

.    1307,1315 

Lucas  de  Coldone 

.     1315 

Solomon       .... 

1352 

*  Robert  Erendesbury 

1405 

*John    ..... 

1413 

*Thomas  Cottyngham 

1454 

*Robert  Hertley 

1478 

*Eobert  Naysh 

1488 

Thomas  Cottyngham,  again  abbot  ii 

l 

1491 

Eobert  Naysh,  restored 

1494 

*Kichard  Bexley     . 

.  1497— 

William  Lameden,  who  surrendered 

to  th 

e  kino 

•  in     . 

1526 

No  seal  of  Bayham  is  known  to  exist ;  a  very  minute  frag- 
ment only,  insufficient  to  convey  any  idea  of  the  whole,  except 
that  its  form  was  oval,  remains  in  the  Record  Office. 

In  the  year  1526,  this  house,  with  several  other  minor 
monasteries,  was  granted  by  Henry  VIII.  to  the  magnificent 
Wolsey,  for  his  intended  foundations  at  Oxford  and  Ipswich. 
Among  the  Burrell  papers  (Add.  MSS.  5706,  p.  50)  is  the 
copy  of  an  Inquisition  taken  at  East  Grinstead  on  the  19th 
July,  17th  Henry  VIII.  before  Thomas  Heron,  Esq.,  upon 
the  oath  of  Edmund  and  John  Alfrey,  Robert  DufTell,  Richard 
Cole,  Thomas  Cottleford,  John  Attwell,  and  nine  other  jurors, 
apparently  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  true  value  *of  the 
a  obey  property,  preparatory  to  this  grant.  There  were  at 
the  time  of  its  suppression  five  canons  only,  in  addition  to 
the  abbot,  who  were  drafted  off  by  the  cardinal  to  other 
houses  of  the  same  order,  on  the  authority  of  a  bull  issued 
by  Clement  VII. 

Notwithstanding  the  odium  which  conventual  establish- 
ments had  generally  incurred  at  the  time  of  their  dissolution, 
they  carried  with  them,  in  their  fall,  the  sympathies  of  many 


180    THE  PREMONSTRATENSIAN  ABBEY  OE  BAYHAM. 

who  were  personally  interested  in  their  continuance.  The 
tradesmen  with  whom  they  dealt,  the  artisans  whom  they 
employed,  the  traveller  who  found  shelter  and  hospitality 
beneath  their  roof,  the  poor  who  shared  the  dole  at  the  abbey- 
gate — " quos  sportula  fecit  arnicas"  these  were  all  incensed 
at  the  sudden  and  entire  cessation  of  advantages  which  had 
been  so  long  enjoyed.  The  histories  of  that  period  inform 
us  how  greatly  the  public  peace  was  disturbed  by  crowds  of 
beggars,  who  had  been  thrown  upon  their  own  resources  by 
the  abolition  of  the  monasteries.  In  the  case  of  Bayham 
such  strong  feelings  were  excited,  that  more  than  one  tu- 
multuary attempt  was  made  to  replace  the  ejected  canons  by 
force  in  their  abbey.  Some  records  of  those  transactions 
have  already  appeared  in  these  volumes  (VII.  221),  but  to 
the  documents  cited  by  Mr.  Blaauw  I  will  here  add  the  brief 
account  given  by  Grafton  :37 — "  You  have  heard  before  how 
the  cardinal  suppressed  many  monasteries,  of  which  one  was 
called  Begham,  in  Sussex,  the  which  was  verie  commodious 
to  the  countrey :  but  so  befell  the  cause  that  a  riotous 
company,  disguised  and  unknowne,  with  painted  faces  and 
visors,  came  to  the  same  monasterie,  and  brought  with  them 
the  chanons,  and  put  them  in  their  place  againe,  and  pro- 
mised them  that  whensoever  they  rang  the  bell,  they  would 
come  with  a  great  powrer  and  defend  them.  Thys  doinge 
came  to  the  eare  of  the  king's  counsayle,  which  caused  the 
chanons  to  be  taken,  and  they  confessed  the  capitaynes, 
which  were  imprisoned  and  punished."  Being,  of  course, 
speedily  and  with  little  difficulty  put  down,  those  abortive 
efforts  could  produce  no  other  effect  than  to  render  the  condi- 
tion of  the  poor  monks  more  destitute  than  it  might  otherwise 
have  been. 

Upon  the  great  cardinal's  disgrace,  in  1530,  the  estates 
reverted  to  the  crown ;  and  Sir  William  Burrell  says,38  "  In  a 
book  in  the  office  of  the  surveyor-general  of  crown  lands,  I 
find  an  annual  rent  of  £16.  13s.  M.  issuing  out  of  the  manor 
and  priory  (abbey)  of  Otham,  allotted  as  part  of  the  jointure 
of  Queen  Katherine."  This,  however,  was  in  fact  a  part  of 
the  possessions  of  the  suppressed  Priory  of  Michelham,  being 

3?    Chronicle,    p.    382,    new    edition,       Esq. 
obligingly  commuuicated  by  W.D.Cooper,  is  Add.  MSS.  5706,  p.  211. 


THE    PREMONSTRATENSIAN    ABBEY    OF    BAYIIAM.         181 

a  rent-charge  anciently  assigned  to  the  canons  of  that  house 
by  the  abbey  of  Begham,  in  settlement  of  some  conflicting- 
claims. — Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  V.  163,  n.  22. 

With  the  crown  the  abbey  property,  in  part  at  least,  re- 
mained, according  to  Sir  William  Burrell,  till  the  25th  year 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  by  a  writ  of  privy  seal  all  that 
part  of  it  which  was  in  Sussex,  and  then  left  in  the  Queen's 
hands,  was  granted  to  Theophilus  Adams,  of  London,  gentle- 
man, and  Robert  Adams,  citizen  and  grocer,  to  be  had  and 
held  to  their  own  private  use  and  that  of  their  heirs  and 
assigns.  But  in  the  Monasticon  it  is  said  that  Elizabeth 
granted  Bayham  to  Anthony  Brown,  Viscount  Montague.  I 
know  not  how  to  reconcile  these  two  statements,  unless  by 
supposing  that  the  grant  to  Viscount  Montague,  of  the  site 
and  a  portion  of  the  estates,  was  first  made,  and  then  what 
remained  was  assigned  to  the  Messrs.  Adams.  Certain  it  is 
that  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed  in  1714,  enabling 
Ambrose  Browne  to  sell  the  manor  of  Begham,  which  then 
passed  into  the  possession  of  John  Pratt,  Esq.,  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, in  the  county  of  Kent,  sergeant-at-law,  and  afterwards 
Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench,  whose  son  became  the 
first  Earl  Camden  and  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England. 
In  this  family  the  property  has  since  continued,  the  present 
owner  being  grandson  to  the  illustrious  Chancellor. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF  WALTER 
GALE,  SCHOOLMASTER  AT  MAYFIELD,  1750. 

EDITED  BY  E.  W.  BLENCOWE,  ESQ. 


In  two  former  volumes  of  our  Archaeological  work  we  were 
enabled  to  publish  extracts  from  the  journals  of  a  country 
gentleman  and  a  country  clergyman,  who  lived  in  Sussex 
about  the  middle  and  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
These  genuine  records  give  us  considerable  insight  into  the 
social  and  moral  character  of  the  different  classes  to  which 
they  belonged.  We  are  now  enabled,  through  the  kindness 
of  Mr.  Ross,  the  mayor  of  Hastings,  to  present  to  the  public 
another  record  of  the  same  nature,  but  of  a  later  date  by  nearly 
a  century,  in  the  shape  of  the  Diary  of  a  Schoolmaster  in  a 
country  parish,  which  carries  our  sphere  of  observation  among 
a  different  and  much  more  extensive  class,  and  completes,  as 
it  were,  the  picture  of  Sussex  manners  and  habits  in  the  days 
that  are  past. 

This  diary  was  found  by  Mr.  Ross,  spread  out  in  a  garden 
at  Hastings  to  be  dried  for  the  purpose  of  lighting  fires.  By 
him  the  papers  were  rescued  from  the  flames,  and  kindly 
communicated  to  the  Society. 

On  Friday,  the  29th  of  June,  1750,  there  were  assembled 
in  parochial  conclave,  in  the  church  of  Mayfield,  the  vicar 
and  six  more  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  parish,  the 
trustees  and  managers  of  a  free-school  recently  founded 
and  endowed  there,  and  then  and  there  did  they  proceed  to 
appoint  Walter  Gale  the  schoolmaster,  his  qualifications 
being,  as  is  recorded  in  one  of  the  parish  books,  that 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  of  known 
affection  to  the  present  establishment  in  church  and  state, 
understanding  the  grounds  and  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion,  of  sober  life  and  conversation,  of  a  meek  and  humble 
behaviour,  having  a  good  government  over  himself  and  his 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF    WALTER    GALE.       183 

passions,  a  frequenter  of  the  holy  communion,  possessing  a 
genius  for  teaching,  writing  a  good  hand,  and  understanding 
arithmetic  well :  amongst  other  duties  he  was  to  be  particu- 
larly careful  of  the  manners  and  behaviour  of  the  poor  children 
committed  to  his  care.  To  these  rules  were  subscribed  the 
names  of  John  Gorman,  vicar;  the  mark  of  John  Kent  x, 
Edward  Sawyer,  Samuel  Baker,  John  Diplock,  Ansell  Day, 
and  John  Russell. 

There  is  something  very  interesting  in  the  wise  and  care- 
ful way  in  which  the  duties  of  a  schoolmaster  are  enforced 
in  the  rules  of  many  of  our  old  grammar-schools.  "  He 
shall  be  a  man,"  say  the  statutes  of  the  school  of  St.  Mary 
Ovcry,  passed  in  1614,  "of  a  wise,  sociable,  and  loving 
disposition,  not  hasty  or  furious,  nor  of  any  ill  example ;  he 
shall  be  wise,  and  of  good  experience  to  discern  the  nature  of 
every  child,  to  work  upon  the  disposition  for  the  greatest 
advantage,  benefit,  and  comfort  of  the  child,  ever  proposing 
to  clear  up  and  put  life  and  spirit  into  the  capacity  and 
memory ;  love,  patience,  diligence,  gentleness,  and  moderate 
desire  of  praise  in  the  scholars."  And  Archbishop  Harsnett, 
in  founding  his  school  at  Chigwell,  in  Essex,  1629,  says  : — ■"  I 
publish  the  true  intentions  of  my  heart,  that  I  more  affection- 
ately desire  that  the  poor  scholars  of  my  schools  be  nurtured 
and  disciplined  in  good  manners,  than  instructed  in  good  arts  ; 
and  therefore  I  charge  my  schoolmasters,  as  they  will  answer 
it  to  God  and  to  good  men,  that  they  bring  up  their  scholars 
in  the  fear  of  God  and  reverence  to  all  men." 

No  such  happy  accident  as  that  which  caused  the  ample 
foundation  of  the  schools  at  Wickwar,  in  Gloucestershire,  in 
1684,  had  ever  occurred  at  Mayfield.  No  poor  boy,  appren- 
ticed, as  young  Hosea  was,  to  a  weaver  of  that  place,  in  carry- 
ing, according  to  custom  on  a  certain  day  in  the  year,  a  dish 
called  whitepot  to  the  bakers,  let  it  fall  and  broke  it,  and,  fearing 
to  face  his  mistress,  ran  away  to  London,  where  he  prospered, 
and,  remembering  his  native  village,  founded  the  schools  there 
which  bear  his  name.  No  William  Jones  was  there,  who,  if 
the  traditions  of  Monmouth  be  true,  left  that  place  to  become 
a  shopboy  to  a  London  merchant  in  the  time  of  James  I.,  and 
by  his  good  conduct  rose  first  to  the  counting-house,  and 
then  to  a  partnership  in  the  concern  ;  and,  having  realized  a 


184  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

large  fortune,  came  back  in  the  disguise  of  a  pauper,  first  to  his 
native  place,  Newland,  in  Gloucestershire,  from  whence,  having 
been  ill  received  there,  he  betook  himself  to  Monmouth,  and 
meeting  with  kindness  among  his  old  friends,  he  bestowed 
£9000  in  founding  a  free  grammar-school.1 

The  salary  of  the  Mayfield  schoolmaster  was  only  £16 
a  year,  which  was  subsequently  increased  by  the  bequest  of 
a  house  and  garden,  which  let  for  £18  a  year.  There  were 
none  of  those  perquisites,  so  common  in  old  grammar- 
schools,  by  which  the  scanty  fortunes  of  the  masters  were  in- 
creased, and  the  boys  instructed  in  the  humanities,  as  in  the 
Middle  School  at  Manchester,  where  the  master  provided 
the  cocks,  for  which  he  was  liberally  paid,  and  which  were 
to  be  buried  up  to  their  necks  to  be  shied  at  by  the  boys 
on  Shrove  Tuesday  and  at  the  Feast  of  St.  Nicholas,  as  at 
Wyke,  near  Ashford.  No  Mr.  Graham  had  bequeathed  a 
silver  bell  to  Mayfield,  as  he  had  done  to  the  school  at  Wreay, 
in  1661,  to  be  fought  for  annually,  when  two  of  the  boys,  who 
had  been  chosen  as  captains,  and  who  were  followed  by  their 
partisans,  distinguished  by  blue  and  red  ribbons,  marched  in 
procession  to  the  village  green,  where  each  produced  his  cocks; 
and  when  the  fight  was  won,  the  bell  was  appended  to  the  hat 
of  the  victor,  to  be  transmitted  from  one  successful  captain  to 
another.2  There  were  no  potation  pence,  wrhen  there  were 
deep  drin  kings,  sometimes  for  the  benefit  of  the  clerk  of  the 
parish,  when  it  was  called  clerk's  ale,  and  more  often  for  the 
schoolmaster,  and  in  the  words  of  some  old  statutes,  for  "  the 
solace  of  the  neighbourhood:"  potations  which  Agnes  Mellers, 
a  vowess,  the  widow  of  a  wealthy  bellfounder  of  Nottingham, 
endeavoured,  in  some  degree,  to  restrain,  when  she  founded 
the  grammar-school  in  that  town  in  1513,  by  declaring  that 
the  schoolmaster  and  usher  of  her  school  should  not  make  or 

1  See  Carlyle's  Concise  Description  of  place.  The  parties  were  in  want  of  an 
the  English  JEndoived  Grammar  Scliools,  adept  in  putting  on  the  spurs :  he  was 
from  whose  book  all  the  cases  alluded  to  recognised  by  an  acquaintance,  who  ex- 
are  taken.  claimed  "  Here  comes  a  Berwick  man  ; 

2  Cock-fighting  was,  in  fact,  the  great  he  knows  how  to  do  it." — Cock-fighting 
national  amusement,  particularly  in  the  is  now  legally  a  misdemeanour ;  and  on 
north  of  England,  and  Berwick-upon-  the  15th  of  April,  at  the  Liverpool  Police 
Tweed  was  among  the  places  most  cele-  Court,  James  Clark,  a  publican  in  Hough- 
brated  for  it.  The  grandfather  of  a  friend  ton  Street,  was  fined  £5  and  costs  for 
of  the  editor's,  some  ninety  years  ago,  permitting  cock-fighting  in  his  house. — 
was  travelling  in  the  north  of  England,  Times,  April  20,  1857. 

when  a  cock-fighting  was  about  to  take 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  185 

use  any  potations,  cock-fightings,  or  drinkings,  with  his  or  their 
wives,  hostess  or  hostesses,  more  than  twice  a  year.  There 
were  no  "  delectations  "  for  the  scholars,  such  as  the  barring 
out  of  the  schoolmaster,  which  Sir  John  Deane,  who  founded 
the  grammar-school  at  Witton,  near  Northleach,  to  prevent  all 
quarrels  between  the  teacher  and  the  taught,  determined 
should  take  place  only  twice  a  year,  a  week  before  Christmas 
and  Easter,  "  as  the  custom  was  in  other  great  schools."  No 
unhappy  ram  was  provided  by  the  butcher,  as  used  to  be  the 
case  at  Eton  in  days  long  by,  to  be  pursued  and  knocked  on  the 
head  by  the  boys,  till  on  one  occasion  the  poor  animal,  being 
sorely  pressed,  swam  across  the  Thames,  and,  rushing  into  the 
market-place  at  Windsor  followed  by  its  persecutors,  did  such 
mischief,  that  this  sport  was  stopped,  and  instead  thereof  it  was 
hamstrung,  after  the  speech  on  Election  Saturday,  and  clubbed 
to  death.  None  of  these  humanizing  influences  were  at  work 
at  Mayfield :  there  was  not  even  the  customary  charge  of  5s. 
to  each  boy  for  rods — a  painful  tax  to  the  scholar  who  needed 
their  reforming  influence,  but  still  more  so  to  him  who  was 
too  good  ever  to  require  it. 

No  such  rules  as  those  in  force  at  the  free  grammar-school 
of  Cuckfield  prevailed  at  Mayfield.  They  were  not  taught 
"  on  every  working  day  one  of  the  eight  parts  of  reason,  with 
the  word  according  to  the  same,  that  is  to  say,  Nomen  with 
Amo,  Pronomen  with  Amor,  to  be  said  by  heart ;  nor,  as  being 
a  modern  and  a  thoroughly  Protestant  school,  were  they  called 
upon  before  breakfast  upon  a  Eriday  to  listen  to  a  little  piece 
of  the  Pater  Noster  or  Ave  Maria,  the  Credo  or  the  verses 
of  the  Mariners,  or  the  Ten  Commandments,  or  the  Eive  Evils, 
or  some  other  proper  saying  in  Latin  meet  for  babyes."  Still 
less,  as  in  the  case  of  the  grammar-school  at  Stockport,  did 
any  founder  will  "  that  some  cunning  priest,  with  all  his 
scholars,  should,  on  Wednesday  and  Eriday  of  every  week, 
come  to  the  church  to  the  grave  where  the  bodies  of  his 
father  and  mother  lay  buried,  and  there  say  the  psalm  of  De 
Profundis,  after  the  Salisbury  use,  and  pray  especially  for  his 
soul,  and  for  the  souls  of  his  father  and  mother,  and  for  all 
Christian  souls."  Neither  did  the  trustees,  that  they  might 
sow  the  seeds  of  ambition  in  the  minds  of  the  scholars, 
ordain,  as  was  done  at  Tunbridge  and  at  Lewisham,  "  that  the 

ix.  24 


186  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

best  scholars  and  the  best  writers  should  wear  some  pretty 
garland  on  their  heads,  with  silver  pens  well  fastened  there- 
unto, and  thus  walk  to  church  and  back  again  for  at  least  a 
month:"  a  ceremony  which  in  these  days  would  infallibly 
secure  for  them  all  sorts  of  scoffings,  and  probably  a  broken 
head. 

Walter  Gale,  the  object  of  the  choice  at  Mayfield,  and  the 
writer  of  the  journal  from  which  the  following  extracts  are 
taken,  was  not  such  an  one  as  Joseph  Moxon,  who,  having 
acted  as  waiter  at  his  father's  inn  at  Market  Bosworth,  was 
placed  by  the  patron  of  the  school  there  at  the  head  of  it, 
despite  of  all  his  own  earnest  remonstrances  and  protestations 
of  incompetency.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  a  sort  of  universal 
genius  :  he  could  turn  his  hand  to  almost  anything ;  and,  in 
addition  to  his  scholastic  functions,  he  was  a  land-measurer,  a 
practical  mathematician,  an  engraver  of  tombstones,  a  painter 
of  public-house  signs,  a  designer  of  ladies'  needlework,  and  a 
maker  of  wills. 

When  the  people  of  Chorley,  in  Lancashire,  built  their 
schoolhouse,  they  recorded  this  their  resolution,  that  no 
schoolmaster  or  minister  who  might  hereafter  be,  should,  for 
"diverse  great  causes,  inhabit  therein;"  the  real  "great  cause" 
being,  as  was  afterwards  explained,  that  the  wives,  and  children 
begotten  in  such  habitation,  might  become  chargeable  to  the 
parish.  This  difficulty,  as  far  as  Walter  Gale  was  concerned, 
was  obviated  by  the  selection  of  a  single  man,  who  dwelt 
with  his  mother  at  a  place  called  Coggin's  Mill,  near  Mayfield. 
The  school  at  first  was  held  in  a  place  partitioned  off  from 
the  church.  A  schoolroom  was  afterwards  built,  which  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  "  all  superfluity  of  too  curious  works  of  detayle 
and  busie  mouldings  being  layd  apart,  was  edified  of  the  most 
substantial  stuffe  of  stone,  lead,  glass,  and  iron."3 

Immediately  upon  his  appointment,  Master  Gale  began  to 
keep  a  journal,  and  among  his  earliest  notices  we  find  the 
following  account  of  a  dream,  which,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter, 
was  never  realized  : — 

"Tuesday,  14th. — 1  dreamt  last  night  that  I  should  be 
advantageously  married,  and  be  blessed  with  a  fine  offspring, 

3  Such  are  the  injunctions  for  building  Eton   College  given  by  its  royal  founder 
Henry  VI. 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  187 

and  that  I  should  live  to  the  age  of  81,  of  which  time  I  should 
preach  the  gospel  41  years ;  this  I  conceived  in  my  sleep  was 
a  prophetical  dream,  which  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  grant, 
together  with  ability  to  perform  that  holy  function,  becoming 
the  state  to  which  I  thought  1  was  wonderfully  raised.  Amen!" 

The  writer  of  the  diary  had  been  an  officer  of  excise,  and 
had  been  dismissed  for  reasons  which  may,  upon  further 
acquaintance  with  him,  be  easily  guessed  at,  and,  notwith- 
standing his  high  aspirations,  was  anxious  to  be  restored  to 
his  former  office.  In  a  letter  written  some  time  after  his 
appointment  to  a  Mr.  Price,  requesting  him  to  use  his  influ- 
ence for  that  object,  he  gives  the  following  account  of  his  new 
situation.     He  says  : — 

"Dec,  1749. — The  many  vicissitudes  of  fortune  which  I 
have  experienced  since  my  being  discharged  from  the  office 
would  constitute  a  pretty  good  history ;  so  that,  passing  over 
these  circumstances,  I  take  the  freedom  to  inform  you  that  I 
am  now  at  the  head  of  a  little  free  school  at  Mayfield,  in  this 
county,  which  is  famous  for  being  the  repository  of  several 
notable  relicks  of  antiquity,  of  which  the  principal  one  is  a  pair 
of  tongs  with  which  the  inhabitants  affirm,  and  many  believe 
it,  that  St.  Dunstan,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  had  his 
residence  at  a  fine  ancient  dome  in  this  town,  pinched  the 
devil  by  the  nose  when,  in  the  form  of  a  handsome  maid,  he 
tempted  him.  What  made  it  more  terrible  to  this  sightly 
tempter  was,  that  the  tongs  happened  to  be  red  hot,  and  it 
was  one  that  St.  Dunstan  made  use  of  at  his  forge,  for  it 
seems  that  the  archbishop  was  a  blacksmith  as  well  as  a 
saint." 

"  Sunday,  3rd  Jan. — I  came  to  Hothly  and  attended  divine 
service,  which  was  performed  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Porter. 
Text,  St.  Matthew,  5th  chap.,  19th  verse.  The  subject  of  his 
discourse  kept  very  close  to  the  sense  and  words  of  the  text, 
and  seemed  to  be  but  little  less  than  a  comment  thereon,  and 
tended  to  nothing  more  than  to  shew  that  those,  who  by  their 
lives'  example,  precepts  and  commands  should  teach  others  to 
break  the  commandments  of  God,  should  be  called  the  least 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  viz.,  be  excluded  for  ever  therefrom, 
it  being  a  more  heinous  offence  to  corrupt  others  than  to  live 
loosely  ourselves." 


1S8  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

The  importance  of  attending  to  sermons  and  of  taking  down 
notes  of  the  preacher's  words  was  more  thought  of  in  the  days 
of  old  than  at  present.  In  the  rules  of  many  an  old  grammar- 
school  this  duty  and  practice  are  strictly  enjoined  both  on 
schoolmasters  and  scholars. 

"  15. — I  posted  a  note  for  Verral,  to  desire  him  to  send  me 
to-morrow,  Bishop  Beveridge's  Great  Necessity  and  Advantage 
of  Publique  Prayers  and  Frequent  Communion,  and  Burket's 
Poor  Man's  Help,  which  books  are  for  Mr.  Newington's  son 
Zebulon,  at  Withernden. 

"Wednesday,  6th. — Mr.Hassell  the  conjuror  came  to  school, 
and  brought  with  him  a  map  which  he  had  made  of  a  farm 
belonging  to  Colonel  Fuller.  We  went  together  at  noon  to 
Elliott's,  where  he  treated  me  with  a  quartern  of  gin,  and 
I  gave  him  a  dinner  at  Coggin's  Mill.  Having  dined  the  con- 
juror, we  returned  to  Elliot's,  where  he  treated  me  as  before. 
I  wrote  the  title  of  his  map,  and  at  four  o'clock  we  went  to 
Beale's  to  the  clubb ;  at  six  I  went  to  the  school  and  finished 
his  map,  and  he,  as  a  satisfaction,  promised  me  half-a-crown. 
At  nine  he  returned  to  Heathfield,  carrying  with  him  my 
Little's  Introduction  to  Astrology.  He  gave  me  directions  to 
write  to  Mr.  White  of  Rotherfiekl,  to  demand  Raleigh's  History 
of  the  World,  which  he  had  in  his  hands." 

The  profession  of  a  conjuror  a  hundred  years  ago  was  by 
no  means  uncommon,  nor  does  it  seem  to  have  been  thought 
a  discreditable  one.  A  person  of  the  same  name  was  in  full 
practice  as  a  cunning  man  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Tunbridge 
Wells  very  recently.  One  of  the  best  known  of  his  craft  was 
a  man  of  the  name  of  Saunders,  of  Heathfield,  who  died  about 
fifty  years  ago.  He  was  a  respectable  man,  and  at  one  time 
in  easy  circumstances ;  but  he  neglected  all  earthly  concerns 
for  astrological  pursuits,  and,  it  is  said,  died  in  a  workhouse. 

"  11th. — Master  Eastwood  came  to  the  school :  he  invited 
me  to  the  Oak,  and  treated  me  with  a  mugg  of  fivepenny. 

"  14th. — I  found  the  greatest  part  of  the  school  in  a  flow, 
by  reason  of  the  snow  and  rain  coming  through  the  leads. 
The  following  extempore  verse  I  set  for  a  copy  : — 

'  Abandon  every  evil  thought, 
For  they  to  judgement  will  be  brought.' 

In  passing  the  Star  I  met  with  Mr.  Eastwood ;  we  went  in 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYl'IELD.  189 

and  spent  2d.  apiece.  Fitness  the  miller  was  there,  from 
whom  I  learnt  that  twenty  drops  of  the  spirits  of  hartshorn  in 
half  a  quartern  of  gin,  will  drive  an  ague :  he  affirmed  that  it 
had  driven  his  many  a  time. 

"Dec.  1st. — Gathered  some  prime  rosses,  which  for  beauty 
and  fragrancy  came  but  little  short  of  those  gathered  in  Aprill ; 
it  appeared  that  they  might  have  been  gathered  a  week  sooner. 

"  Master  Kent  came  to  Coggin's  Mill,  and,  in  computing 
the  charitable  contributions  given  to  make  an  establishment 
for  the  school,  we  made  out  £371,  besides  many  that  are  not 
applied  for. 

"  19th. — I  called  at  Mr.  Goodman's  to  know  how  long  he 
would  have  the  boys  be  from  school  at  Christinas.  He  con- 
sidered that  it  was  a  bad  time  for  business,  and  ordered  them 
a  fortnight  now  and  three  weeks  at  Bartholomew  Tide. 

"  20th. — I  went  to  Mr.  Sawyer's  with  the  key  of  the  school, 
and  stopt  and  smoaked  a  pipe  of  tobacco.  One  of  his  daugh- 
ters said  that  she  expected  a  change  in  the  weather,  as  she 
had  last  night  dreamt  of  a  deceased  person."4 — This  super- 
stition still  lingers  in  the  Weald  of  Sussex. 

"  21st,  St.  Thomas  Day. — I  began  to  paint  Turner's  sign  ; 
went  to  church  and  attended  prayers,  which  being  finished,  I 
went  to  the  school  where  we  were  followed  by  Mr.  R.  Baker 
and  his  lady  and  Master  Kent,  who  ordered  Stephen  Parker 
the  sexton,  who  kept  the  doors,  to  let  some  of  the  dollers  in, 
which  being  clone,  he  distributed  the  cash,  I  taking  the  account 
of  the  receivers;  we  found  the  number  to  be  108." 

This  old  custom  of  going  a  gooding  on  St.  Thomas's  Day  is 
wearing  out.  It  was  very  common  in  the  south-eastern  coun- 
ties of  England,  and  still  prevails  in  the  town  of  Lewes  and 
some  of  the  neighbouring  parishes.  It  is  confined  to  women, 
who  formerly,  in  return  for  the  alms  which  they  received,  used 
to  present  their  benefactors  with  sprigs  of  evergreens,  probably 
to  deck  their  houses  with  at  the  ensuing  festival. — (Brand's 
Popular  Antiquities?) 

"  Returning  to  Coggin's  Mill,  I  found  old  Fitness  there,  who 


4  Among  the  rules  of  the  school  at  Papist  nor  Puritan,  of  a  grave  behaviour 

Chigwell,  in  Essex,  which  was  founded  and  sober  and  honest  conversation,  no 

in  1629,  it  was  declared  that  "  the  master  tippler  or  haunter  of  alehouses,  and  no 

must  be  a  man  of  sound  religion,  neither  puller  of  tobacco." 


190  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  0¥ 

wanted  me  to  go  with  hmi  to  witness  a  will  which  he  had  in 
his  pocket,  in  which  his  uncle  had  given  him  all  the  moveables 
at  the  mill.  It  was  drawn  up  in  a  foolish  manner  by  Browne 
of  Rype.  The  old  man  came  and  signed  the  will,  the  witnesses 
being  Master  Weston  and  his  wife,  both  of  whom  signed  with 
a+. 

"  22nd. — Fitness  called  at  our  house  on  his  return.  I  en- 
deavoured to  persuade  him  to  get  his  uncle  to  sign  a  new  will, 
looking  upon  the  other  as  good  for  nothing,  which  he  pro- 
mised to  do. 

"  26th. — I  began  to  draw  the  quilt  belonging  to  Mr.  God- 
man. 

"  30th. — I  finished  the  bed-quilt  after  five  days'  close  appli- 
cation. It  gave  satisfaction,  and  I  received  10s.  6d.  for  the 
drawing.  Mr.  Godman  did  not  say  he  thought  it  too  much, 
but  that  'twas  a  pretty  deal  of  money. 

"As  I  returned  home  at  6  o'clock  I  observed  the  planets  in 

this  order : — 

*  Mars, 
jit 

Jupiter. 

Venus. 

D  Luna. 

"  They  made  a  fine  appearance,  and  the  sky  being  clear  the 
whole  celestial  sphere  appeared  in  perfect  harmony. 

"Jan.  1st,  1751. — I  was  at  the  Rev.  Richard  Porter's,  and 
continued  there  this  day,  and  posted  for  him  a  translation 
from  Longinus  of  Sappho,  which  he  had  anew  translated  into 
Sapphic  verse,  to  the  sound  time  and  metre  with  the  original 
Greek. 

"  2d. — I  went  to  Hammond's,  and  drank  with  him  a  bottle 
of  beer  and  two  drams.  I  invited  him  to  the  butcher's,  and 
treated  him  with  a  mugg  of  beer.  Master  Dumbrell  came  in ; 
we  went  to  Gurrs,  where  he  spent  Is.,  and  I  went  home  to 
bed. 

"  I  was  informed  at  Mast.  Hammond's  that  Mast.  Dum- 
brell, having  been  catched  by  Ditchers  in  his  wife's  chamber, 
was  obliged  to  give  a  bond  of  £30  before  he  was  permitted 
to  leave  the  room. 

"  Wednesday,  3d. — I  went  to  the  butcher's,  to  call  him  to 
go  to  Chalvington,  but  he  being  drunk,  the  journey  was  de- 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  191 

ferrcd.  1  met  with  Mr.  Vine  and  Mr.  Price,  who  treated  me 
with  a  quartern  of  brandy  and  a  mugg  of  ale. 

"4th. — I  past  accounts  with  Widow  Cane,  £1.  13s.  Od. ; 
Mr.  Thatcher,  £1. 10s.  Od. ;  and  Mr.  Markwick,  £1.  17s.  Od. : 
this  money  was  in  full  for  their  tombstones ;  and  I  desired 
the  favour  of  Mr.  Goldsmith  to  employ  me  in  painting  the 
Commandments,  a  thing  they  intend  to  have  done  in  their 
church. 

"  Sunday,  7th. — Gave  my  attendance  at  divine  service. 
Two  o'clock,  I  went  to  the  Star,  at  Heathfield,  where  I  found 
the  conjuror,  and  spent  2>\d.  with  him. 

"  8th. — Began  my  school  at  noon.  I  waited  on  Miss  Anne 
Baker,  of  whom  I  received  a  neckerchief  to  draw. 

"  10th. — Came  to  the  church,  Mr.  Newington's  boy,  at 
Withernden,  who  brought  me  the  unhappy  tidings  that  my 
sister  was  very  ill,  and  that  I  was  desired  to  go  there  that  day. 
I  dismissed  the  scholars,  and  went  to  Withernden. 

"  I  found  my  sister  extremely  indisposed,  and  unlikely 
to  live.  I  was  informed  by  my  sister  Stone  that  she  had 
miscarried  the  Sunday  before,  and  had  had  a  very  ill  time 
of  it.  Mr.  Harvey,  Chancellor  Jordan's  curate  at  Burwash, 
had  been  there  the  night  before,  and  had  administered  the 
sacrament  to  her.  I  stayed  there  that  night,  and,  my  sister 
being  somewhat  better,  she  ordered  me  to  tell  my  mother  to 
come  to  her. 

"  11th. — My  cousin,  John  Vine,  came  to  me,  and  brought 
with  him  Camden's  Britannia  and  a  parcel  of  Ephemerises ; 
he  was  so  good  as  to  stay  with  me ;  we  went  to  Mr.  Moon's, 
and  supped  there,  and  spent  the  evening  in  very  agreeable  chat. 

"  Sunday. — I  set  out  for  Withernden.  My  sister  was  still 
extremely  ill.  I  told  them  in  discourse  that  on  Thursday 
last,  the  town  clock  was  heard  to  strike  3  in  the  afternoon 
twice,  once  before  the  chimes  went,  and  a  2d  time  pretty 
nearly  a  \  of  an  hour  after.  There  were  present  at  the  time 
in  the  school,  Mr.  Sawyer,  Mastr.  Kent,  Cousin  Vine,  and 
mvself,  who  all  observed  it.  The  strikes  at  the  2d  striking 
seemed  to  sound  very  dull  and  mournfully ;  this,  together 
with  the  crickets  coming  to  the  house  at  Laughton  just  at  our 
coming  away,  I  look  upon  to  be  sure  presages  of  my  sister's 
death.     At  4  p.m.  I  was  called  up  by  my  mother,  who  said 


192  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

that  my  sister,  having  took  a  composing  draught,  had  lain 
down  in  an  insensible  condition,  and  she  feared  that  she 
would  never  wake  ;  at  7  I  set  out  for  Mayfield,  when  my 
sister,  to  our  general  griefs,  seemed  just  expiring.  Finished 
drawing  Miss  Anne's  handkerchief,  and  carried  it  home  to  her, 
receiving  Is.  for  my  labour.  Miss  Patty,  her  sister,  gave  me 
a  pair  of  shoes  to  draw  in  diamonds. 

"  Met  with  Mr.  Roberts,  who  invited  me  in,  and  gave  me  a 
dram  and  a  pint  of  mild. 

"  18th.  Harry  came  with  the  unwelcome  news  of  my  sister's 
death,  11  p.m.  I  met  Mr.  Roberts,  who  invited  me  in,  and 
gave  me  a  dram. 

"  22d. — I  set  out  to  attend  my  sister's  funeral.  Bands 
were  supplied  to  every  one  of  the  near  relations,  and  gloves  to 
every  one  who  attended,  as  also  red  and  white  wine.  Next 
to  the  corpse  followed  my  brother  Newington  and  Joe,  then 
my  brother  and  sister  Stone,  then  Mr.  Joseph  Newington  and 
his  wife,  Dr.  Newington  and  his  wife,  Mr.  Benj.  Newington 
and  his  wife,  Mr.  J.  Newington  and  myself.  There  was  a 
sermon  preached  on  the  occasion  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hailley, 
The  text  was,  '  Keep  innocency,  and  take  heed  to  the  thing 
that  is  right,'  &c.  The  sermon  being  ended,  we  conducted 
the  corpse  to  the  grave,5  in  the  before-mentioned  order. 
We  being  prodigiously  cold,  went  to  the  Bear,  and  refreshed 
ourselves. 

"  26th. — I  was  informed  by  my  mother  that  I  had  been 
called  upon  last  night  by  a  man  from  Hailsham.  He  proved 
to  be  Master  Ley  from  Brighthelmstone  :  we  went  to  Peerless, 
where  he  'spent  5d.  and  I  9d.  I  put  into  his  hands  my  best 
wigg  to  be  buckled,  which  he  said  would  come  to  2s.  6d.  I 
paid  him  a  Is.  towards  the  work  to  be  done  to  my  wigg." 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  such  stipulation  with  Master 
Gale  as  that  in  force  at  the  school  at  Lewisham,  "  that  the 
schoolmaster  should  not  follow  vain  and  gaudy  fashions  of 
apparel,  and  wear  long-curled  or  ruffin-like  hair;"  nor  were 
the  boys  of  Mayfield,  as  was  the  case  there,  forbidden  to  wear 
long-curled,  frizzled,  or  powdered  or  ruffin-like  hair,  or  to  cut 
it  in  such  sort  or  manner  that  both  the  beauty  of  their  fore- 

5  The  grave  is  on  the  north   side  of      about  in  a  line  with  the  end  wall, 
the  chancel,  about  six  rods  therefrom, 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFTELD.  193 

heads  might  be  seen  and  that  the  hair  should  not  grow  longer 
than  above  one  inch  below  the  tips  of  their  cars. 

"  Monday,  5th. — Being  very  wet  in  going  to  town,  I  went 
into  Peerlesses  to  dry  up,  and  spent  2d.  Here  wras  Satan, 
who  affirmed  that  his  father  voided  a  worm  out  of  his  mouth 
upwards  of  5  ells  long.  He  said  he  would  produce  a  woman 
in  the  town  who  would  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  assertion. 

"Sunday,  11th  Feb. — Gave  attendance  at  divine  service, 
4th  chap,  of  St.  John,  24th  verse.  He  gave  an  historical  ac- 
count of  our  Saviour's  conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman ; 
he  then  made  an  explanation  of  Jacob's  ladder,  and  he  found 
great  fault  with  some  of  his  auditors  that  they  did  not  attend 
prayers  on  holy  days. 

"15th. — Master  Kent  and  Mr.  M.  Baker  came  to  the  school. 
They  discoursed  with  me  of  the  number  of  scholars  I  would 
teach  for  £16  per  ann.  Master  Kent  proposed  24,  but  after 
much  debate  the  number  was  fixed  at  21,  the  third  part  of 
which  are  supposed  to  be  writers. 

"  27th. — This  being  Shrove-Tuesday,  I  went  to  Halland  to 
the  Nursery.  This  being  the  day  for  the  rearing  of  the  sign, 
I  found  several  people  there,  and  I  took  my  dinner  with  them. 

"Wednesday,  2Sth. — It  being  extremely  cold,  I  went  to 
Peerless  and  bought  a  quartern  of  anniseed  and  borrowed  a 
prayer-book  to  go  to  church  :  at  noon  I  returned  the  book, 
and  spent  2\d.  Went  to  Mr.  Baker's,  and  did  the  drawing 
for  Miss  Anne's  handkerchief,  and  took  for  my  reward  a  pint 
of  strong. 

"Sunday,  4th. — I  took  the  conjurors  dividers  to  Heathfield, 
and  I  left  them,  the  conjuror  not  being  at  home.  Returned 
to  Mayfield,  accompanied  part  of  the  way  by  my  Cousin  Vine  : 
we  came  to  the  conclusion,  if  the  weather  remained  fine,  about 
a  journey  to  Bourn,  and  we  agreed  both  of  us  to  put  off  our 
schools  on  that  day." 

A  singular  specimen  of  a  schoolmaster  was  his  Cousin  Vine, 
and  one  strongly  tinctured  with  the  superstitions  of  the  times. 
He  is  said  to  have  made  it  part  of  his  duty  to  instruct  his 
scholars  principally  on  the  power  and  malevolence  of  Satan. 
One  of  his  pupils,  who  survived  till  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  used  to  relate  how  that  he  thought  Satan  had  his  dwell- 
ing among  the  tombs  in  Heathfield  Churchyard,  and  that  he 

ix.  25 


194         EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

often  expressed  a  wish  that  he  would  show  himself  in  the  day- 
time, thinking  that  Master  Vine,  with  his  forty  scholars,  would 
be  able  to  drive  him  once  and  for  ever  out  of  the  parish. 

"  9th. — I  went  to  Heathfield  and  met  with  John  Vine,  who 
had  neglected  to  put  off  his  scholars,  and  raised  some  weak 
excuses  against  going. 

"  5th  March. — Master  Thos.  Merchant,  at  Little  London, 
came  into  the  school  to  confer  about  painting  the  Command- 
ments at  their  church.  I  made  the  price  two  guineas,  which 
he  had  no  objection  to.  I  went  to  Heathfield,  and  went  to 
the  Star  and  met  Master  Starr  there,  who  was  drinking  with 
an  old  soldier  and  Welch  Bess,  his  odiously  swearing  trull. 

"  10th. — Being  disappointed  of  my  Bourn  journey,  I  set  out 
for  Laughton  after  drinking  a  quartern  of  gin,  and  came  to 
Whitesmiths,  where  was  a  hurley  bolloo  about  Mr.  Plummer's 
ftiow  a  custom-house  officer)  having  seized  a  horse  loaded  with 
3  anchors  of  brandy,  which  was  carried  off  by  him  and  two 
soldiers,  and  afterwards  stabled  at  Parishe's ;  John  Willard 
and  Wm.  Bran  being  there,  followed  and  overtook  them,  and 
prevailed  with  them  to  go  back.  Parish  took  the  seized  horse 
and  put  it  into  Martin's  stable." 

Two  years  only  before  this  occurred  a  special  commission, 
at  the  head  of  which  that  great  judge  Sir  Michael  Porster 
presided,  had  been  sent  to  Chichester  to  try  seven  smugglers 
for  the  murder  of  two  custom-house  officers  under  circum- 
stances of  atrocity  too  horrible  to  be  related.  They  were 
convicted,  and,  with  the  exception  of  one  who  died  the  night 
before  the  execution,  they  were  all  executed  and  hanged  in 
chains  in  different  parts  of  Sussex.  A  company  of  foot  guards 
and  a  troop  of  horse  attended  to  prevent  all  chances  of  rescue, 
so  thoroughly  were  the  feelings  of  great  numbers  of  the  people 
enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  smugglers.  Seven  more  were  tried 
and  convicted  at  the  following  assizes  at  East  Grinstead  for 
the  barbarous  murder  of  a  poor  fellow  named  Hawkins,  who 
was  suspected  of  giving  information  against  them,  and  who 
was  literally  flogged  to  death,  and  for  highway  robbery.  Six 
of  them  were  executed.  Most  of  them  belonged  to  the  cele- 
brated Hawkhurst  gang,  who  were  the  terror  of  the  counties 
of  Kent  and  Sussex.  Three  more  were  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey 
for  joining  with  sixty  others  in  breaking  open  the  custom-house 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  195 

at  Poole,  and  taking  away  a  quantity  of  tobacco  which  had 
been  seized  and  deposited  there.  They  were  executed  at 
Tyburn.  The  place  called  Whitesmith  was  celebrated  for  its 
nest  of  smugglers  long  after  this  time.  It  has  been  stated,  by 
a  person  who  took  the  office  of  overseer  of  a  neighbouring 
parish  about  forty  years  ago,  that  one  of  the  outstanding  debts 
of  the  previous  year  was  due  to of  Whitesmith,  a  well- 
known  smuggler,  for  "  two  gallons  of  gin  to  be  drunk  at  the 
vestry"  ! 

There  were  places  of  deposit  for  the  smuggled  goods,  most 
ingeniously  contrived,  in  various  parts  of  Sussex.  Among 
others,  it  is  said,  was  the  manorial  pound  at  Falmer,  under  which 
there  was  a  cavern  dug,  which  could  hold  100  tubs  of  spirits; 
it  was  covered  with  planks,  carefully  strewed  over  with  mould, 
and  this  remained  undiscovered  for  years. 

In  the  churchyard  at  Patcham  there  is  an  inscription  on  a 
monument,  now  nearly  illegible,  to  this  effect : — 

.Sacreti  to  tfje  Jlemorg 

of  Daniel  Scales,  who  was  unfortunately  shot,  on  Thursday 
Evening,  Nov.  7th,  1796. 

Alas  !  swift  flew  the  fatal  lead, 

Which  pierced  through  the  young  man's  head. 

He  instant  fell,  resigned  his  breath, 

And  closed  his  languid  eyes  in  death. 

All  you  who  do  this  stone  draw  near, 

Oh  !  pray  let  fall  the  pitying  tear. 

From  this  sad  instance  may  we  all 

Prepare  to  meet  Jehovah's  call. 

The  real  story  of  his  death  is  this.  Daniel  Scales  was  a 
desperate^ smuggler,  and  one  night  he,  with  many  more,  was 
coming  from  Brighton,  heavily  laden,  when  the  excise  officers 
and  soldiers  fell  in  with  them.  The  smugglers  fled  in  all 
directions  ;  a  riding-officer,  as  they  were  called,  met  this  man, 
and  called  upon  him  to  surrender  his  booty,  which  he  refused 
to  do.  The  officer,  to  use  the  words  of  the  editor's  informant, 
a  very  respectable  man  and  neighbour,  who  in  early  life  was 
much  engaged  in  such  transactions,  knew  that  "  he  was  too 
good  a  man  for  him,  for  they  had  tried  it  out  before ;  so  he 
shot  Daniel  through  the  head." 

Sir  John  Deane,  the  founder  of  the  Grammar  School  at 


196  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

Wilton,  near  Nortlileach,  declares,  in  one  of  his  statutes, 
"  Because  nothing  that  is  perpetual  is  pleasant,  I  will  that  the 
schoolmaster  shall  have  liberty,  in  every  year,  to  absent  him- 
self for  thirty  days,  to  recreate  himself."  A  sentiment  in 
which  Master  Gale  entirely  concurred. 

"  Sunday,  1 8th. — I  gave  attendance  at  divine  service  morn- 
ing and  afternoon.  Meeting  afterwards  with  Mr.  Cates,  he 
invited  me  home  with  him,  with  which  I  complied,  and  par- 
took of  an  entertainment,  which  consisted  of  cherry  brandy, 
elderberry  wine,  &c.  I  smoked  two  pipes  of  tobacco,  and 
left  his  house  soon  after  sunset. 

"  26th.- — Mr.  Rogers  came  to  the  school,  and  brought  with 
him  the  four  volumes  of  Pamela,  for  which  I  paed  him  46'.  Qd., 
and  bespoke  Duck's  Poems  for  Mr.  Kine,  and  a  Caution  to 
Swearers  for  myself.  He  wanted  to  borrow  of  me  the  three 
volumes  of  Philander  and  Silvia,  which  I  promised  to  lend 
him.  I  went  to  Mr.  Baker's  for  the  list  of  scholars,  and 
found  him  alone  in  the  smoaking-room ;  he  ordered  a  pint  of 
mild  beer  for  me,  an  extraordinary  thing.  Left  at  Mr.  Rogers' 
the  three  volumes  of  Love  Letters  from  a  Nobleman  to  his 
Sister. 

"  Sunday,  April  1st. — Gave  attendance  at  divine  service. 
Text,  '  Lazarus,  come  forth.'  He  remarked  that  Lazarus  lived 
thirty  years  at  Bethany  after  he  was  raised,  a  living  monu- 
ment of  this  great  miracle  of  our  Saviour. 

"The  passing-bell  at  this  church  was  rung  from  2  till  3 
o'clock,  for  Mr.  Baker,  at  Hamsall. 

"  Sunday,  15th. — Noon.  Gave  attendance  at  divine  service, 
and,  by  God's  grace,  to  all  the  duties  of  this  part  of  the  day 
and  year. 

"  Sunday,  22d. — Came  to  Hoathley.  There  being  no  ser- 
vice there,  by  reason  that  Mr.  Porter  was  gone  to  Chayley,  to 
officiate  for  his  uncle,  who  was  indisposed. 

"  26th. — I  set  off  for  Brighthelmstone,  and  came  at  noon 
to  Mailing-street,  and  went  to  the  Dolphin.  Kennard  told 
me  that  Burton's  successor  had  had  a  great  many  scholars, 
but  that  their  number  began  to  decrease,  by  reason  of  his 
sottishness,  and  he  offered,  if  their  dislike  of  him  should  in- 
crease, to  let  me  know  of  it.  The  rain  elearing  off  at  three 
o'clock,  I  set  out  for  Brighthelmstone,  passing  through  South- 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  197 

over,  but  being  advanced  on  the  bills,  the  rain  returned,  and 
drove  me  for  shelter  under  a  thin  hawthorn  hedge,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  return  to  Grover's,  where  I  drank  tea,  and  dis- 
coursed merrily,  but  innocently,  with  his  wife,  notwithstanding 
which,  Grover  was  so  indiscreet  as  to  shew  some  distaste  at 
it,  and  to  have  great  difficulty  to  keep  his  temper. 

"  Sunday,  6th. — I  went  to  church  at  Hothley.  Text  from 
St.  Matthew :  '  Take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat, 
and  what  shall  we  drink,  or  wherewithall  shall  we  be  clothed,' 
and  I  went  to  Jones',  where  I  spent  2d.,  and  here  came  Tho- 
mas Cornwall,  and  treated  me  with  a  pint  of  twopenny. 

"  10th. — 1  finished  diamonding  two  heel-bands  and  three 
hind-quarter  pieces  of  a  pair  of  shoes  for  Squire  Baker's  lady. 

"May,  1750,  13th  Sunday. — I  heard,  on  my  arrival  at 
Coggin's  Mill,  that  Mr.  Godman  had  died  the  day  before. 
Gave  my  attendance  at  church.  Service  was  performed  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Delves  (text,  Acts  xxiv.  v.  25),  who  made  an 
excellent  discourse.  On  Wednesday,  the  hearse  with  the 
corpse  of  Mr.  Godman  set  out  from  the  vicarage,  to  be  de- 
posited in  the  Horsted  chancel  in  that  church  (Eramfield). 

"19th. — Mr.  James  Kine  came;  we  smoaked  a  pipe  to- 
gether, and  we  went  and  took  a  survey  of  the  fair ;  we  went 
to  a  legerdemain  show,  which  we  saw  with  tolerable  appro- 
bation. AVent  to  Waghorne's,  to  leave  my  serge  German 
breeches,  they  being  too  big  for  me. 

"  26th. — Old  Kent  came,  and  I  went  with  him  to  Mr. 
Baker ;  they  said  they  should  have  a  ragged  congregation  of 
scholars,  who  should  sit  together  in  the  new  gallery,  and  that 
they  should  insist  on  my  sitting  with  them :  to  this  I  did  not 
assent. 

"  Sunday,  27th. — I  set  out  with  Mr.  Cates  for  Buxted,  and 
we  came  to  Hartfield  at  eleven,  and  went  and  dined  with 
Mr.  Martin  on  a  neck  of  mutton  and  a  pudding-cake ;  after 
dinner  we  were  entertained  with  two  bowls  of  milk-punch, 
and  then,  with  Mr.  Ball,  Mr.  Martin,  and  their  wives,  we  set 
out  for  Witheyham.  They  went  with  the  intent  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  curate,  who  was  not  at  home.  We  procured  the 
keys  of  the  church  and  vault,  and  then  we  went  to  Spencer's, 
where  we  had  a  large  bowl  of  milk-punch,  which  cost  us  6ci. 


198         EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

each  :  when  we  had  finished  it,  we  separated  to  our  respective 
homes.     I  came  to  Mayfield  at  11  o'clock. 

"  May  28th. — Gave  attendance  at  a  cricket-match,  played 
between  the  gamesters  at  Burwash  and  Mayfield,  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  latter. 

"  Friday,  29th.— St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  I  went  to  the  fair 
at  Wadhurst.  Took  a  turn  in  the  fair,  where,  on  sweethearts 
and  maidenheads,  I  laid  out  2d. 

"  30th. — I  found  myself  this  morning  with  an  unusual  chil- 
liness in  every  part  of  my  body,  attended  with  such  a  pain  in 
my  limbs  that  made  it  very  difficult  for  me  to  stand  upright ; 
at  1  o'clock  I  went  to  Peerless,  and  had  a  Id.  worth  of  gin, 
to  warm  my  stomach ;  at  4,  I  went,  as  before,  and  bought 
a  quartern.  7  o'clock,  I  finished  drawing  a  waistcoat  for 
Mr.  Baker ;  I  carried  it  home,  and  received  2s.  from  his  lady 
for  my  work. 

"  31st. — Mr.  Baker  told  me  I  had  not  enough  for  drawing 
his  waistcoat,  and  he  gave  me  5s.  for  my  further  satisfaction, 
and  for  measuring  his  hop-garden.  At  11,  Mr.  Baker,  his 
lady,  Miss  Patty  Baker,  and  Mr.  Samuel,  set  out  for  Bristol ; 
at  6  o'clock  I  finished  a  poem  on  Mr.  Baker's  journey,  which 
I  showed  to  Mr.  Keats,  and  it  met  with  his  approbation. 

"  June  1st. — I  dismissed  the  scholars,  finding  myself  indis- 
posed, and  went  to  Mr.  Mascalls,  where  they  assured  me  I 
had  caught  the  measles. — Sunday,  3d.  As  they  did  not  come 
out  by  last  night's  sweating,  I  went  to  Dr.  Maynard,  with  an 
intent  to  be  blooded ;  but  he  dissuaded  me,  affirming  that 
though  the  measles  had  not  made  their  appearance,  yet  he 
could  feel  them  within  the  skin,  ready  to  come  out ;  a  few 
made  their  appearance  about  the  temples  in  the  afternoon. — 
4th.  The  distemper,  now  came  on  apace,  so  that  I  prepared 
for  bed,  and  went  to  it  almost  blind.  My  mother  and  Mary 
Cornwall  sate  up  with  me.  Finding  myself  extremely  ill,  I 
sent  to  Frantfield  Street,  with  word  to  my  brother  Stone  of 
my  illness,  to  pray  him  to  come  to  me,  intending  to  make  my 
will  and  appoint  him  my  executor. 

"  6th. — My  brothers  Newington  and  Stone  came  to  see  me, 
and  my  cousin  Ellis  and  his  wife,  and  about  this  time  the  dis- 
temper came  to  its  height.  I  gave  an  old  German  serge  coat 
for  my  godson.    At  11,  I  sent  Mascall  to  town  for  a  pint  of 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  199 

white  wine,  sugar,  and  mace,  which  cost  2s.  Tried  to  com- 
pose myself  this  night  to  rest,  but  found  it  impossible ;  when 
I  shut  my  eyes,  every  thing  seemed  to  be  inverted  in  a  strange 
huddling  confusion. 

"  13th. — Sent  Mary  to  her  brother's  for  a  neck  of  mutton, 
and  went  down  stairs  for  an  hour  or  two.  Mr.  Cates  came, 
and  showed  me  a  newspaper  with  the  verses  on  Mr.  Baker's 
going  to  Bristol.  The  bread  growing  very  bad,  I  gave  Mary 
Cornwell  the  greatest  part  of  a  loaf. 

"  Sunday,  17th. — Gave  attendance  at  divine  service  fore 
and  after  noon. 

"Sunday,  July  1st. — Set  out  with  Mr.Kine  and  Mr.Wynsch, 
in  a  body,  to  Withyham.      We  came  there,  and  took  a  survey 
of  the  vault  of  the  church,  in  which  were  many  coffins,  some 
of  them  in  a  ruinous  condition.    Here  is  deposited,  in  a  brass 
case,  the  heart  of  a  young  lady,  who  died  in  France,  of  whom 
nothing  was  brought  home  but  her  heart.    We  next  went  into 
the  chancel,  in  which  is  an  incomparable   fine    monument, 
erected  to  the  former  Duke  and  Dutchess  of  Dorset  and  their 
13  children;  the  surviving  children  are  represented  as  hold- 
ing an  olive-branch  in  their  hands,  those  deceased  a  death's 
head.     On  the  north  side  of  this  monument  kneels  the  Duke 
in  his  armour,  and  a  commanding-staff  in  his  right  hand. 
On  the  south  side  the  Dutchess,  in  her  boddice  and  a  dress 
used  in  those  times ;  and  on  the  top  their  eldest  son,  lying 
nearly  supine,  with  a  skull  held  on  his  left  knee,  and  resting 
himself  on  his  elbow.     Having  finished  our  remarks,  we  dis- 
missed the  clerk  with  a  shilling,  and  gave  our  attendance  at 
church.     Having  discharged  our  reckoning,  9  p.m.  we  set  out 
for  Penshurst,  and  put  up  at  the  Leicester  Arms,  the  keeper 
of  which  is  clerk  of  the  parish,  who  provided  us  with  seat- 
room  at  the  church.    The  service  there  being  ended,  we  re- 
paired to  the  park,  and  took  a  view  of  the  external  part  of  the 
house  belonging  to  that  ancient  family  of  the  Sidneys,  and 
examined  every  creek  and   corner,  in    search  of  something 
curious.     We  returned  to  the  Leicester  Arms,  and  sent  up  a 
man  to  know  if  we  could  see  the  inside  of  the  place ;  being 
told  we  could,  we  went  to  the  house,  and  found  the  gates 
open,  and  the  porter  attending,  as  if  he  expected  persons  of 
the  first  rank.     However  great  his  disappointment  might  be, 


200         EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

we  were  introduced  to  a  genteel  woman,  who  shewed  us  the 
house,  in  which  we  saw  more  rarities  than  I  can  recount ;  I 
shall  therefore  only  remark,  that  on  coming  away  we  gave  her 
2s.  6d." 

A  great  gap  occurs  here  in  the  manuscript,  many  of  the 
leaves  having  been  lost,  and  when  the  diary  is  resumed,  it  is 
clear  that  things  had  not  gone  on  well  with  some  of  the  trus- 
tees and  Master  Gale,  old  Master  Kent  leading  on  the  attack 
upon  the  schoolmaster. 

"1758.  Tuesday,  25th  April. — I  met  the  old  man  in  the 
town,  who,  without  any  provocation  on  my  part,  or  saying  a 
word  to  him,  loaded  me  with  opprobrious  language,  and  told 
me  the  report  of  the  town  was,  that  I  was  a  drunken,  saucy, 
covetuous  fellow,  and  concluded  with  his  opinion,  that  I  had 
neither  good  breeding  or  honesty.  In  answer,  I  disallowed 
the  report  the  old  man  charged  upon  the  town ;  I  allowed 
there  might  be  a  little  truth  in  my  being  covetuous,  but  as  to 
drunkenness  and  sauciness,  it  was  utterly  false. 

"  May  6th. — I  sent  to  Mr.  Kine,  of  Ticchurst,  the  following 
letter : — 

" '  My  deare  Friend, — I  was  sometime  ago  told  that  the 
gentlemen  of  Ticehurst  were  intent  upon  fixing  a  salary  for  a 
charity  school.  If  such  a  scheme  should  be  revived,  and  it 
should  be  worth  acceptance,  I  intend  to  make  them  the  hum- 
ble offer  of  my  services,  and  I  should  be  obliged  to  you  to 
sound  the  disposition  of  those  gentlemen  you  may  fall  in  with, 
especially  Mr.  Medlicott  and  Mr.  Noakes ;  who  can  tell  but 
their  estates  are  put  into  their  hands  for  some  such  good  pur- 
pose as  this  ?  It  may  appear  odd  to  you,  that,  being  the 
master  of  a  school,  I  should  seek  after  another.  It  is  true  I 
might  save  myself  that  trouble,  if  I  could  be  mean-spirited 
enough  to  put  up  with  all  the  indignities  offered  me  by  my 
antagonist,  old  Kent,  a  bare  recital  of  which  would  fill  a 
volume  in  folio.  So  far  as  you  can  be  serviceable  in  it,  I 
make  no  doubt  but  you  will ;  should  it  ever  be  in  my  power 
to  make  good  this  kindness,  I  shall  esteem  myself  happy  in 
doing  it. 

"  '  From,  deare  friend,  yours  sincerely.' 

"  10th. — Received  a  testimony  of  a  death  in  our  family 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  201 

within  a  twelvemonth,  and,  by  the  appearance  of  it,  I  suppose 
it  to  be  myself. 

"  1 5th. — I  left  the  following  letter  for  Mr.  John  Langham: — 

"  'This  is  humbly  to  intreat  the  favour  that  you  will  please, 
at  the  first  agreeable  opportunity,  to  know  of  Mr.  Tapsell, 
whether  he  shall  make  any  alteration  in  his  furnace  clerks ;  if 
he  should,  please  to  inform  him  that  it  is  my  desire  to  serve 
him  in  that  capacity.  The  reason  for  endeavouring  to  leave 
Mayfield,  is  on  account  of  some  disagreeable  alterations  the 
trustees  are  making  in  the  school. 

"  'Sir,  your  very  humble  servant.5 

"  27th. — I  was  told  this  day  that  old  Kent,  by  reason  of 
his  having  been  treated  by  his  cousin  John  Collins,  yesterday, 
at  the  Star,  got  very  drunk,  at  12  o'clock  at  night,  which 
occasioned  him  to  be  absent  from  divine  service  this  day 
forenoon. 

"  Saturday,  29th. — Went  to  Beale's,  to  read  the  newspaper. 
Mr.  Olive  said  that  he  and  Samuel  Young,  last  Saturday  night, 
were  with  old  Kent,  at  the  Forge,  and  that  he  paid  his  reckon- 
ing freely;  that  towards  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  had 
him  home,  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  old  woman's  scolding, 
they  staid  drinking  a  bottle  or  two  of  the  old  man's  beer,  and 
left  him  on  the  bed  extremely  drunk. 

"August  2. — The  Wadhurst  gentlemen  came  to  play  a 
cricket  with  those  of  Mayfield,  when  the  former  beat  the  latter 
by  106. 

"Sunday,  Sept.  17th. — The  old  man  met  the  children,  and 
heard  some  of  them  say  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

"  Dec.  14th. — The  two  old  men,  Kent  and  Edwards,  came  to 
school,  and  attended  while  the  boys  went  through  the  Expo- 
sition and  Catechism,  and  also  reading  the  prayers.  I  delivered 
to  him  the  abstract  I  had  made  of  the  Christian  Schoolmaster 
Instructed ;  he  promised  to  return  it  to  me  in  a  little  time. 

"  Sth  Jan.  1759. — Left  at  Ruth  Levett's  a  pair  of  stays  of 
my  mother ;  on  coming  away,  she  told  me  that  she  was,  the 
Saturday  before,  at  old  Kent's ;  whilst  she  was  there,  old 
Sawyer  came  in,  to  whom  old  Kent  said  he  might  take  away 
his  book  again,  meaning  my  manuscript ;  that  the  old  woman 
had  read  it  over  to  him,  and  that  it  was  the  nonsense 

ix.  26 


202  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF 

that  ever  was  •  and  thereupon  they  put  the  question,  '  What 
is  to  be  clone  with  him?'  to  which  the  old  woman  replied, 
that  '  the  quarter  sessions  were  not  over.5  By  what  was  here 
said,  she  supposed  that  something  was  intended  to  be  done 
against  me  by  those  old  men  at  the  quarter  sessions. 

"  Saturday,  7th. — I  set  out  for  Frantfield  fair,  with  a  roast- 
ing pig  for  my  sister  Stone.  Came  to  her,  and  there  drank 
tea  with  the  incomparable  Miss  Foster. 

"  22d  of  July. — I  was  seized  with  the  rheumatism.  Dr. 
Duplock  came,  and  as  the  pain  affected  the  loins,  he  bled  me 
in  the  foot. 

"  24th. — Left  off  school  at  2  o'clock,  having  heard  the 
spellers  and  readers  a  lesson  apiece,  to  attend  the  cricket 
match  of  the  gamesters  of  Mayfield  against  those  of  Lindfield 
and  Chailey. 

"  28th. — My  foot  being  tender  with  bleeding,  I  did  not  go 
to  church. 

"  August  2d. — Having  taken  three  pills,  I  sent  to  Peerless 
for  a  Id.  worth  of  warm  ale. 

"13th. — Having  taken  3  pills,  I  sent  for  a  Id.  of  warm 
ale,  which  I  took  to  Mother  Keats'  and  eat  with  it  a  hot  roll. 

"  July  2d. — I  went  with  Master  Freeman  to  Wadhurst ;  we 
went  to  the  Queen's  Head,  where  we  had  a  quartern  of 
brandy.  I  went  to  the  supervisor's  house,  and  returned  to 
the  Queen's  Head,  and  had  three  pints  of  fivepenny,  between 
myself  and  3  others ;  we  set  out  together  at  8  o'clock,  and 
being  invited  to  a  mugg  of  mild  beer,  we  went  in  to  Mr. 
Walters'.  We  left  him  with  a  design  to  cross  the  fields  through 
Mepham's  Gill ;  but  it  being  extremely  dark,  we  kept  not  long 
the  right  path,  but  got  into  the  road,  which,  though  bad,  we 
were  obliged  to  keep,  and  not  being  able  to  see  the  foot- 
marks, I  had  the  mischance  of  slipping  from  a  high  bank,  but 
received  no  hurt.  Old  Kent  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
above  journey,  and  told  it  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Downall,  in  a  false 
manner,  much  to  my  disadvantage ;  he  said  that  I  got  drank, 
and  that  that  was  the  occasion  of  my  falling,  and  that,  not 
being  contented  with  what  I  had  had,  I  went  into  the  town 
that  night  for  more. 

"  5th  Nov.  Powder  Plot. — Attended  divine  service,  and 
returned  to  dinner  at  my  friend  Fielder's  house,  where  I  par- 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  203 

took  of  a  handsome  entertainment.  The  text  was  2d  Sam. 
22d  chap.  40th  verse.  The  minister  divided  his  discourse 
into  three  heads  : — 1st,  he  spoke  of  the  benefits  vouchsafed  to 
this  nation  by  Divine  Providence ;  2d,  the  thanks  we  ought 
to  give  for  so  great  blessings  ;  3dly,  he  expatiated  on  the  wily 
intrigues  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  whose  constant  endeavour  it 
was  to  extinguish  the  whole  community  of  Protestants,  who 
are  the  true  followers  of  the  doctrines  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles  ;  and,  in  conclusion,  he  admired  and  wondered  at  the 
incorrigibleness  of  the  Jacobites,  their  aptness  to  rebel,  and 
their  blind  zeal  in  adhering  to  the  principles  of  Popery  and 
superstition. 

"April  10th. — My  mother,  to  my  great  unhappiness,  died 
in  the  83rd  year  of  her  age,  agreeable  to  the  testimony  I  had 
of  a  death  in  our  family  on  the  10th  of  May  last. 

"  13th. — Having,  by  the  assistance  of  Master  Weston,  got 
24  men  together  to  carry  my  mother  to  Frantfield,  we  set  out 
and  passed  through  the  town,  and  came  to  Luff's  about  noon. 

1  spent  Is.  on  them,  and  we  reached  my  brother  Stone's  about 

2  o'clock.  We  put  the  coffin  into  the  parlour,  and  went  to 
Cripps',  at  the  Greyhound,  where  I  treated  them  with  bread, 
beer,  and  tobacco,  8s.  6V.,  and  with  cheese,  2*.  0>d.  After  pay- 
ing them  2s.  Gd.  each,  they  returned  to  Mayfield. 

"  14th. — I  went  to  Mr.  Whately's  and  paid  him  85.  Qd.  for 
reading  the  service  and  breaking  the  ground." 

Master  Gale,  having  reason  to  believe  that  his  enemy  old 
Kent  intended  to  inform  against  him  as  being  an  unlicensed 
teacher,  having  gone  round  the  parish  and  called  upon  his 
neighbours  to  certify  to  his  good  qualities,  "  his  attachment  to 
church  and  state,  his  sober  life  and  conversation,"  the  last  of 
whom  was  old  Mr.  Diplock  of  the  Moat,  with  whom  he  took 
part  in  a  bottle  of  strong  beer,  in  due  time  received  his  license, 
which,  omitting  the  preamble,  ran  as  followeth : — 
"To  our  beloved  in  Christ  Walter  Gaile,  of  the  parish  of 
Mayfield,  in  the  Deanery  of  South  Mailing  aforesaid, 
greeting. 

"  Whereas  you  have  been  recommended  to  us  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  ministers  and  churchwardens  and  many  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  the  parish  of  Mayfield,  as  a  person  of  a 
sober  and  virtuous  life,  and  of  sound  morals,  and  well  qualified 


204  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

to  teach  and  instruct  youth  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
whereby  we  are  inclined  to  have  a  favourable  regard  unto  you; 
we  therefore  by  these  presents  grant  unto  you  the  said  Walter 
Gaile,  in  whose  fidelity  we  greatly  confide,  our  license  and 
faculty  to  teach  and  instruct  the  youth  of  the  parish  of  May- 
field,  as  a  schoolmaster  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 

"  Given  under  the  seal  of  our  office  this  sixteenth  day  of 
April,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-seven. 
(Signed)  "John  Butterworth, 

Doctor  of  Laws,  Dean  and  Commissary,  &c.  &c." 

"  I  was  called  upon  by  Bassett,  who  came  to  quarrel  with 
me  on  account  of  my  correcting  his  boy  for  some  enormous 
crimes  he  had  been  guilty  of,  all  which  he  foolishly  denied  at 
first,  and  insisted  upon  it  that  his  boy  was  unjustly  corrected; 
yet  in  the  end  he  confessed  everything  that  the  boy  was  beat 
for. 

"11th  May. — Dick  Pentecost  was  sent  to  school  to  be 
taught  free,  notwithstanding  the  list  was  full  before,  by  the 
order  of  old  Kent,  for  no  other  reason  than  his  father  was  poor. 
T  told  him  I  had  enow  without  him,  and  he  might  tell  the  old 
man,  that  when  I  had  two  of  his  family  I  had  as  many  as  were 
appointed. 

"  29th. — The  old  man  entered  the  school  with  George 
Wilmhurst  and  Eliz.  Hook,  and  said  they  should  be  taught 
free.  I  asked  him  how  many  I  was  to  teach  free;  without  any 
further  ado,  he  flew  into  a  violent  passion.  Among  other 
abusive  and  scurrilous  language,  he  said  I  was  an  upstart, 
runnagate,  beggarly  dog  ;  that  I  picked  his  pocket,  and  that  I 
never  knew  how  to  teach  a  school  in  my  life.  He  again  called 
me  upstart,  runnagate,  beggarly  dog,  clinched  his  fist  in  my 
face,  and  made  a  motion  to  strike  me,  and  declared  he  would 
break  my  head.  He  did  not  strike  me,  but  withdrew  in  a 
wonderful  heat,  and  ended  all  with  his  general  maxim,  '  The 
greater  scholler,  the  greater  rogue.5 

"  30th. — I  told  Mr.  Dungate  of  my  entering  on  the  assistant 
hop  business  at  Rotherfield  with  the  approbation  of  Mr.  Baker, 
of  which  he  also  approved.  I  then  delivered  a  paper  which 
ran  thus  : — 

" '  Whereas  the  deplorable  situation  of  the  schollers  of  the 
free  school,  arising  from  their  being  confined  in  a  close  room 


WALTER    GALE,    SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYEIELD.  205 

with  a  charcoal  fire,  hath  been  made  to  appear,  it  is  thought 
absolutely  necessary  to  do  something  whereby  the  pernicious 
vapour  which  arises  thence  may  be  vented  and  carryed  off,  for 
which  purpose  a  cupola  has  been  proposed ;  it  appears  by  an 
estimate  that  the  charge  will  amount  to  £3.  3s.;  it  is  proposed 
to  raise  that  sum  by  subscription.' 

"  3rd  Sept. — Set  out  as  hop  assistant  for  Rotherfield,  and 
surveyed  the  short  ride. — 4th.  The  ride  being  of  extraordinary 
length,  I  made  it  my  practise  to  ride,  having  the  use  of  a  mare 
of  which  Mr.  Tucker  had  the  keeping  of  in  the  forest,  and 
given  to  me.  I  set  out  on  horseback,  surveying  till  I  came  to 
Mr.  Bridge's,  who  entertained  me  well.  I  staid  there  from 
9  till  10,  and  then  set  out  for  Green  Hedges ;  and  on  my  re- 
turn, in  riding  down  Enting  Hill,  at  a  very  steep  part  of  the 
hill,  for  want  of  a  crupper  to  the  saddle,  my  weight  drove  it 
down  to  the  mare's  withy,  which  occasioned  it  to  turn  round, 
and  me  thereby  to  fall  to  the  ground.  I  unfortunately  sprained 
my  wrist  in  a  horrible  manner,  and  broke  a  rib  on  my  right 
side,  which  came  against  a  stony  bank.  As  soon  as  I  could 
make  a  shift  to  rise,  I  took  advantage  of  the  rising  ground  to 
mount  again,  and  rode  forward  to  Dowgates,  and  left  the  mare 
with  Master  Wickens,  finding  myself  incapable  of  getting  off 
or  on,  and  returned  to  my  lodgings  at  Rotherfield. 

"  5th. — Finding  myself  much  worse  than  I  was  overnight, 
I  rose  with  extream  difficulty,  and  dressed  myself,  and  bathed 
my  wrist  with  a  fomentation  of  pot  liquor  and  bran. 

"  8th. — I  was  encouraged,  by  finding  my  pains  in  my  right 
side  considerably  abated,  to  walk  on  the  forest,  where  I  found 
Mr.  Tucker  hunting  the  warren  for  a  stray  rabbit.  We  went 
together  to  Mr.  White's  to  breakfast,  and  afterwards  we  sate 
down  with  the  alderman  and  drank  of  raisin  wine — very  good! 

"  3rd  Oct. — I  came  to  Mayfield  and  found  in  the  church- 
porch  the  two  Wilmshursts  and  Geo.  Richardson,  who  through 
James's  too  mild  treatment  was  got  to  be  master.  I  ordered 
him  into  the  school,  and  took  the  management  myself.  I  was 
told  by  Mr.  Downer  that  the  day  before  James  had  been  so 
indiscreet  as  to  suffer  Richardson's  boy  George  to  bring  beer 
into  the  school,  and,  old  Kent  coming  in  before  the  mug  was 
out,  the  boy  asked  him  to  drink;  thereupon  he  fell  into  a  great 
heat,  and  drove  the  boy  out  of  the  school." 


206         EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF 

Such  a  circumstance  as  this  would  probably  not  have  oc- 
curred had  the  liberal  rule  in  force  in  several  old  grammar- 
schools  prevailed  at  Mayfield,  that  the  boys  should  have  an 
hour  from  three  o'clock  till  four  for  their  drinkings. 

"20th.— I  was  called  into  the  little  chamber  over  the  club- 
room   and  there  I  found  Mr.  Baker,  Mr.  Dowgate,  old  Sawyer 
and  old  Kent,  who  said  that  '  I  spent  my  time  in  reading 
printed  papers  to  the  neglect  of  the  children ;  he  said  that  I 
was  covetous,  and  undertook  to  do  other  persons'  business  to 
the  neglect  and  detriment  of  the  school ;  that  the  children  did 
not  improve,  and  that  he  would  get  an  old  woman  for  2d  a 
week  that  would  teach  them  better.'     I  answered  that  '  many 
of  them  vyere  extremely  dull,  and  that  I  would  defie  any  per- 
son  that  should  undertake  it  to  teach  them  better.'     He  then 
said  ;  that  I  got  money  so  fast  that  I  was  above  my  business 
and  it  made  me  saucy,  and  that  I  had  been  always  discharged 
from  every  place  where  I  had  any  employment,  unless  it  was 
from  old  Mary  Weston's,  and  he  did  not  know  whether  I  had 
been  sent  from  there  or  no.'     I  answered  that  '  he  was  again 
mistaken,  that  I  was  not  above  my  business,  but  carefully 
discharged  it;  nor  could  I  be  called  saucy  for  defending  the 
.ruth   and  that  he  was  grievously  out  in  affirming  that  I  had 
been  discharged  from  the  places  I  had  served,  for  contrariwise 
1  met  with  advancement  on  leaving  every  one  of  them  ' " 

Those  who  have  had  experience  in  the  teaching  the  youths 
of  Sussex,  will  probably  agree  with  Mr.  Gale  in  his  estimate 
of  their  natural  intelligence,  in  which  they  certainly  are  in- 
ferior to  the  children  of  the  north  of  England.  Henry 
tfexwyx,  and  Johanne  his  widow,  who  founded  a  school  at 
Manchester  m  1524,  give  as  their  reason  for  so  doing  that 
the  children  of  the  county  of  Lancaster  have  pregnant  wits, 
but  that  they  have  for  the  most  part  been  brought  up  rudely 
and  idly,  and  not  in  virtue,  cunning,  erudition,  literature  or 
good  manners.  ' 

The  remainder  of  Master  Gale's  diary  is  lost.     It  was  pro- 
bably very  voluminous,  for  he  held  his  place  till  1771   lone 
after  his  great  adversary,  old  Kent,  was  laid  in  his  grave 
Whether  he  fell  in  consequence  of  pressure  from   without 
such  as,  in  1631,  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  of  Chester,  who  were  called  upon  »  to  appoint  a  new 


WALTER    GALE,  SCHOOLMASTER    AT    MAYFIELD.  207 

master  instead  of  old  Mr.  Hawarde,  who  was  inefficient,  and 
young  William,  who  was  idle  and  neglectful,"  will  probably 
never  be  known.  This  much,  however,  is  certain,  that  at  a 
meeting  held  on  the  18th  of  October,  1771,  it  was  resolved 
mem.  con., 

"That  the  schoolmaster,  Mr. Walter  Gale,  be  removed  from 
the  school  for  neglecting  the  duties  thereof,  and  that  he  have 
notice  to  leave  the  same  the  next  quarter-day. 

(Signed)  "  Roger  Challice,  Vicar. 

John  Duplock. 

John  Wood. 

t.  huett  dungate. 

Thos.  Maynard." 
And,  on  the  10th  April,  1772, 

"It  was  ordered  that  Mr. Gale,  the  old  schoolmaster,  be  not 
paid  his  salary  due,  till  he  has  absolutely  put  the  schoolhouse 
in  such  a  condition  as  to  the  form  of  it  as  it  was  at  the  time 
of  his  entering  upon  such  house. — Agreed  to  ncm.  con" 

Two  or  three  years  ago  a  friend  of  the  editor  visited  the 

school  of in  no  distant  or  obscure  part  of  England ; 

and,  observing  some  deep-coloured  stains  upon  the  oaken 
floor,  inquired  the  cause.  He  was  told  that  they  were  occa- 
sioned by  the  leekage  of  a  butt  of  Madeira  which  the  master 
of  the  grammar-school,  who  had  grown  lusty,  not  having 
had  for  some  time  any  scholars  who  might  afford  him  the 
opportunity  of  taking  exercise,  employed  himself  upon  a  rainy 
day  in  rolling  up  and  down  the  schoolroom  for  the  purpose 
of  ripening  the  wine  and  keeping  himself  in  good  condition. 
It  may  be  satisfactory  to  know  that  this  ceremony  has  ceased, 
and  that  the  school  in  question  is  now  carrying  out  worthily 
and  well  the  objects  for  which  it  was  founded. 


NOTES   ON 
THE   CHURCH   OF   ST.  MARGARET,   BUXTED. 

BY  THE  REV.  HENRY  ROSEHURST  HOARE. 


This  venerable  building  occupies  a  sheltered  nook  in  Buxted 
Park,  in  the  shade  of  surrounding  trees.  In  the  olden  time, 
when  the  parishioners  were  few,  their  habitations  probably  were 
scattered,  in  spaces  reclaimed  from  the  forest  or  the  moor,  so 
that  their  church  found  a  place  for  itself  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  manor-house ;  and  still  it  stands  alone,  unap- 
proached  by  any  dwelling  save  the  adjacent  hall.  Like  many  of 
its  sister  buildings,  it  presents  traces  only  of  its  former  beauty; 
but  these  may  be  noted  before  they  pass  away,  possessing  as 
they  do  somewhat  of  historical  interest. 

The  Church  of  Buxted,  dedicated  to  St.  Margaret,  was  till 
lately  a  peculiar  of  the  diocese  of  Canterbury,  but  is  now  in 
the  archdeaconry  of  Lewes,  and  in  the  deanery  of  South 
Mailing.  The  patronage  of  the  rectory  still  belongs  to  the 
archbishop.  To  this  was  appended  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  Uckfield  ("  Buckstede  cum  Capella  de  Okingfield,"  ac- 
cording to  the  Lambeth  Register)  •  but  some  years  ago  this 
was  detached  and  made  a  distinct  parish. 

Ground  Plan. — This  building  consists  of  nave,  north  and 
south  aisles,  chancel,  north  transept,  west  tower,  north  and 
south  porches.  Excepting  the  chancel,  it  is  mainly  in  the 
Early-English  style  of  the  date  1250;  but,  as  many  of  the 
ancient  features  have  been  destroyed,  it  is  more  difficult  to 
judge  accurately  of  the  period  of  erection. 

Dimensions. — 

K«™  LT^'  B„readth-  Length.        Breadth. 

^ave    ,      •         •     65.6       .     25.  8      North  aisle         .     47  4       .       9.7 


Chancel      .  .     40.6       .     20.10 

Transept    .         .     17. 4       .     14.10 


South  aisle         .     63.  .     14.8 

Tower       .         .     16.8       .     15.3 


CHURCH     Of    ST.    MARGARET,    BUXTE1). 


'209 


Nave. — The  nave  is  divided  into  four  bays  :  on  the  north  the 
piers  are  alternately  circular  and  octagonal;  those  on  the  south 
all  circular.  The  capitals  are  moulded,  and  the  arches  worked 
with  plain  chamfers.  On  the  north  is  a  clerestory  of  three 
square-headed  windows  of  three  lights.  The  roof  is  of  high 
pitch  externally  :  within  it  is  partially  ceiled,  and  has  moulded 
tie-beams  carried  on  braces  and  wall-pieces.  The  entrance  to 
the  tower  is  by  an  arch  with  semi-octagonal  jamb- shafts. 

North  Aisle. — The  original  windows  are  gone ;  those  now 
inserted  are  of  the  square-headed  Tudor  style,  of  two  lights 
cinquefoiled,  one  on  each  side  of  the  porch,  and  one  at  the  west 
end.     The  roof  slopes  to  the  nave-wall. 

Font. — The  font  is  in  the  north  aisle  between  the  entrance 


and  the  west  window  :  it  consists  of  a  square  bowl  carried  on 
four  detached  shafts  and  a  central  stem,  upon  a  low  plinth. 

South  Aisle. — The  windows  are  similar  to  those  on  the 
north ;  at  the  west  end  is  a  small  cinquefoiled  light  for  the 
vestry.  The  doorway  is  of  later  date  than  the  wall.  The 
roof  is  a  separate  span,  coved  internally,  and  divided  by  pur- 
lines  and  moulded  ribs. 

North  Transept. — The  north  aisle  opens  by  an  arch  into  the 
transept :  the  north  window  is  large  and  of  good  proportions, 
but  the  mullions  and  tracery  have  been  destroyed :  the  date 
is  of  the  Early  Decorated  period,  judging  by  the  label  mould- 
ing outside  and  inside.  Of  the  east  window  there  are  traces 
on  the  outside.      This   transept  has  been  used  as  a  family 

IX.  ~' 


210  CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED. 

chapel,  for  in  the  east  wall  is  a  trefoil-headed  piscina,  well 
moulded,  with  a  shelf  in  the  upper  part.  The  inner  moulding 
is  a  roll  with  a  square  fillet,  and  the  trefoil  curves  outwards  : 
the  label  is  pedimented,  and  the  basin  channelled  in  six  grooves, 
now  mutilated. 

The  transept  has  double  buttresses  at  the  angles,  and  a 
chamfered  stringcourse,  joining  that  of  the  chancel :  the  gable 
is  coped,  with  a  socket  at  the  top  for  the  cross. 

Chancel. — The  chancel  is  large  and  of  good  proportions, 
and  doubtless  had  a  fine  appearance  in  the  days  of  its  perfec- 
tion. The  north  side  is  lighted  by  three  windows :  two  of 
them  are  of  three  lights,  trefoiled,  the  centre  light  reaching  to 
the  top  of  the  arch.  The  window  between  these  is  a  single 
light,  unfoiled ;  within  the  sill  on  the  inside  rises  the  arch  of 
the  priest's  door.  On  the  south  side  are  two  windows,  each 
a  single  light ;  that  to  the  eastward  is  cinquefoiled,  the  other 
plain. 

The  east  window  is  large,  and  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Early 
Decorated  period.  It  is  of  five  lights,  trefoiled ;  above  each 
light  is  a  pointed  trefoil,  and  above  these,  ten  quatrefoils,  four, 
three,  two,  and  one  ;  those  in  the  two  lower  rows  are  elongated 
in  the  lower  foil.  The  mouldings  are  of  two  orders.  The 
window  is  low  in  proportion  to  its  width,  and  has,  as  also  the 
others,  the  label  moulding  of  the  scroll  form  both  on  the  ex- 
terior and  interior. 

There  are  no  remnants  of  stained  glass,  excepting  two  or 
three  quarries  with  leaves  outlined. 

In  the  south  wall  is  a  handsome  piscina,  6  ft.  6  in.  high, 
3ft.  2in.  wide;  it  has  jamb-shafts, with  moulded  caps  and  bases; 
these  latter  are  carried  on  bunches  of  flowers,  with  leaves 
spreading  on  each  side. 

The  arch  is  cinquefoiled,  with  a  label  of  the  roll  and  fillet, 
pedimented. 

Adjacent  to  the  piscina  is  a  wide  depressed  arch,  formerly 
the  canopy  of  the  sedilia  :  at  first  sight  it  seems  like  a  recessed 
tomb,  but  recent  repairs  have  brought  out  traces  of  three  seats, 
graduated.  It  is  unusual  to  find  a  canopy  thus  embracing 
three  seats  without  division.1     The  altar  steps  abut  upon  the 

1  This  canopy  is  noticed  in  the  Handbook  of  English  Ecclesiology,  p.  59. 


CHURCH     OF    ST.   MARGARET,    BUXTED. 


211 


eastern  jamb  :  the  jambs  and  areli  are  of  the  scroll  moulding  ; 
the  arch  is  crocketed  like  the  piscina,  and  within,  it  is  seven- 
foiled  by  broad  cusps  with  round  finials. 


A  stringcourse  of  the  scroll  shape  is  carried  along  the 
chancel  on  each  side,  cut  away  from  the  east  wall :  a  cham- 
fered string  undercut  runs  round  the  exterior.  The  coping  of 
the  gable  is  carried  on  hip-knobs  of  figure-heads,  and  ends 
with  a  finial  in  place  of  the  cross. 

The  date  of  this  chancel  marks  the  rise  of  the  Decorated 
style-;  for  it  is  recorded  that  the  builder  was  Sir  John  de  Lewes, 
rector  of  the  parish,  in  the  year  1292. 

My  authority  is  Sir  William  Burrell's  MSS.,  probably  from 
the  Lambeth  Register,  particularly  that  of  Archbishop  Peck- 
ham,  to  whose  primacy  the  date  in  question  belongs. 

It  is  important  to  note  the  details  of  those  buildings  the 
dates  of  which  are  known,  as  they  are  guides  by  which  we 
may  judge  in  cases  of  uncertainty. 

The  original  internal  framework  of  the  roof  does  not  remain: 
it  is  coved  in  stucco,  ornamented  with  panelling  of  squares, 
enclosing  circles  with  central  bosses ;  fleurs-de-lis  occupy  the 
angles.  Along  the  cornice,  in  each  panel  is  an  urn,  from 
which  run  festoons  of  leaves  and  bunches  of  fruit ;  tradition 
tells  that  these  are  intended  to  represent  the  hop-plant,  and 


212 


CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED. 


that  this  stucco  work  was  a  thank-offering  of  Dr.  Saunders, 
rector  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  in  consideration  of  an 
abundant  yield  of  hops. 

Here  is  an  old  miserere,  or  litany-desk,  with  a  seat.  The 
uprights  of  the  desk  are  finished  with  poppy-heads. 

South  Chantry. — At  the  east  end  of  the  south  aisle  is  a 
modern  building  containing  the  seats  belonging  to  the  hall. 
The  east  window,  pointed,  and  of  three  lights,  is  filled  with  a 
picture  in  stained  glass,  of  the  Ascension,  as  a  memorial  of 
the  late  Earl  of  Liverpool,  who  died  in  1852.  On  a  scroll  of 
brass  beneath  :  "  In  vitro  supra  picto  in  memoriam  optimi 
Patris  Caroli  Cecilii  Cope,  Comitis  Liverpool,  Monumentum 
pise  recordations  et  luctus  fieri  fecerunt  liberi  ejus.  a.d.  1853." 

North  Porch. —The  label  of  the  outer  doorway  rests  on 
mutilated  figures  of  angels,  holding  shields  curved  inwards : 
that  on  the  east  side  of  the  arch  (and  perhaps  the  other)  for- 
merly held  a  plate  of  metal,  of  which  the  outline  and  rivet- 
holes  only  remain ;  the  plate  was  doubtless  graven  with  an 
inscription  or  coat  of  arms.  The  cornice  of  the  roof  is  em- 
battled, with  a  stringcourse  below,  at  the  angles  of  which 
are  heads  pierced  for  spouts,  and  in  the  centre  a  curious  piece 
of  carving— the  half  length  of  a  woman,  holding  a  churn  in 
the  left  hand,  and  the  handle  in  the  right;  this  is  evidently 
intended  as  the  Rebus  of  the  Alchorne  Family,  of  whom  pre- 


Rebus. 


sently.     Though  it  does  not  quite  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the 
rebus,  which  require  that  all  the  syllables  of  the  name  should 


CHURCH    OF    ST.   MARGARET,    BUXTED.  213 

be  indicated,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  churn  is  the  in- 
tended emblem  of  the  second  syllable  of  Al-chorne.  Probably 
a  member  of  the  family  built  the  porch,  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII. 

On  each  side  is  a  single  light,  now  blocked.  The  inner 
doorway  is  of  Early  English  character ;  on  the  eastern  jamb  is 
a  small  cross  patee  incised,  probably  a  dedication  cross,  sup- 
posed to  mark  the  spot  sprinkled  with  oil  on  the  day  of 
consecration.  A  small  cross  of  different  outline  occurs  on  the 
south  doorway  at  Laughton,  and  on  one  of  the  piers  in  New 
Shoreham  Church. 

Tower. — This  presents  a  good  design  for  an  Early  English 
tower;  it  has  three  stages,  the  highest  of  rather  smaller 
dimensions  than  those  below  :  the  first  is  flanked  by  two  pairs 
of  buttresses ;  and  at  the  north-east  angle  is  a  circular  stone 
staircase  to  the  second  stage.  On  the  north  and  south  sides 
there  is  in  the  first  and  second  stage  a  single  lancet ;  on  the 
west  side  a  doorway,  above  it  a  circular  window,  cinquefoiled; 
and  above  this,  in  the  middle  stage,  a  blocked  lancet :  the 
belfry  windows  above  consist  of  a  plain  circle  on  each  side, 
without  traces  of  having  been  foiled.  The  spire  is  rather  low, 
constructed  with  shingles  of  oak  ;  the  broaches  at  the  angles 
are  more  effectively  managed  than  is  usual  in  this  district. 

Bells. — The  peal  consists  of  six,  of  good  tone  and  weight; 
three  of  them  bear  "William  Hull  made  mee,  1686,"  in  one 
of  which  sixteen  coins  are  fixed.  The  others  are  of  later  date, 
made  by  Tester  and  Pack,  of  London,  1757,  1761,  one  of 
which  thus  records  : — 

"  At  proper  times  my  voice  I  raise, 
And  sound  to  my  subscribers'  praise." 

In  this  steeple  there  is  a  dangerous  accumulation  of  sticks 
and  twigs,  left  by  the  jackdaws,  which  in  case  of  fire  would 
quickly  cause  the  flames  to  spread  beyond  control. 

Church  Chest.— An  oak  chest,  probably  used  for  the  church 
vestments,  still  remains;  it  is  of  large  size,  rude  workmanship, 
and  of  great  age,  doubtless  coeval  with  the  church.  In  front, 
just  below  the  lid,  is  a  row  of  trefoil  heads,  chamfered,  similar 
in  shape  to  those  on  the  font ;  between  them  are  rude  eight- 
foiled  rosettes.  The  front  feet  have  sunk  trefoils  ;  and  along 
the  centre  of  the  lid  is  a  triple  roll-moulding ;  the  lid  is  par- 


214  CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUSTED. 

tially  decayed,  seeming  to  have  been  exposed  to  the  weather. 
The  lock  has  a  long  slip  of  iron  turning  into  a  staple  on  the 
hd  at  each  end,  but  this  seems  of  later  date ;  there  are  no 


Church  Chest. 


traces  of  hinges  on  the  lid,  only  holes  at  each  corner  as  if  for 
bolts,  and  tenons  fitting  into  mortises.  The  chest  for  a  long 
time  stood  in  a  corner  of  the  tower,  serving  as  the  sexton's 
depository ;  but  it  has  been  taken  out  and  cleaned,  and  is  to 
be  placed  in  the  vestry. 

Yew-tree. — "Whilst  commenting  on  the  antiquities  of  Art,  it 
may  not  be  amiss  to  note  this  specimen  of  Nature's  antiquities. 
A  noble  old  yew-tree  stands  north-east  of  the  chancel,  mea- 
suring 23  feet  4  inches  in  circumference.  It  is  probably 
coeval  with  the  church.  There  was  a  protective  statute  of 
Edward  I.,  forbidding  the  felling  of  trees  in  churchyards— 
a.d.  1307,  35  Edw.  I.  "  Ne  Rector  arbores  in  cemeterio 
prostern at . ' ' — White's  Selborne. 

Monumental  Remains. — The  memorials  of  the  dead  in  this 
church  need  themselves  recording  now,  for  they  are  gradually 
decaying,  and  several  have  already  passed  away.  The  most 
ancient  is  that  in  the  chancel,  of  Sir  John  de  Lewes,  rector, 
and  builder  of  the  chancel,  on  a  slab  of  Sussex  marble,  bearing 
a  sunken  floriated  cross;  round  the  edge  is  an  inscription  in 
Lombardic  capitals,  which,  with  the  cross,  was  formerly  filled 
with  brass.  Most  of  the  letters  are  now  obliterated,  and  the 
copy  preserved  is  evidently  incorrect. 

"cStre  Soljan  tie  SLete  fjtct  git— fut  {qui?)  rest  Chamt, 
ttlltxz  tt—Eumt  cum  Pcrsomu  fut— ©urn  to  I'aumc  ettt 
rattcu 


CHURCH    OF    ST.   MARGARET,    BUXTED.  215 

Near  to  this  slab  is  the  fine  brass  of  Britellus  Avenel, 
rector.  At  the  intersection  of  the  arms  of  a  fine  floriated 
cross,  is  an  ogeecl  quatrefoil,  enclosing  the  half  figure  of  a 
priest  in  eucharistic  vestments ;  the  ground  is  diapered.  At 
the  points  of  the  cross  are  triple  leaves ;  the  stem  is  similarly 
adorned.  Round  the  edge  of  the  slab  is  a  narrow  rim  of 
brass  containing  the  inscription,  with  the  symbols  of  the 
Evangelists  at  the  corners.     The  inscription  ran  thus  : — 

"HHc  jacct  ©ominus  Britellus  kernel,  quonoam  Hector 
lEcclcsia*  tie  Bucltstetic,  qui  olnit  in  jjtsto  <£auct£e  Jftartae 
fHacjoalenae,  anno  Domini  mtllcssimo  ecc?  ♦♦♦♦,*  ©eus- 
%mzn" 

When  the  above  copy  was  taken,  the  former  part  of  the 
date  remained,  and  this  too  is  now  gone,  together  with  the 
prayer ;  all  the  rest  is  perfect.  Mr.  Hussey,  in  his  Churches 
of  Sussex,  assigns  it  to  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III. ; 
but  I  should  judge  it  to  be  earlier.  This  is  figured  in  Mr. 
Boutell's  Monumental  Brasses. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  chancel  is  a  slab  commemorating 
Christopher  Savage  and  his  son  Robert,  rector;  a  brass 
i plate,  with  the  following  inscription  : — 

"$crc  Igetlj  cjraucn  [untirr]  tijgs  stoon,  Sffore  Safcage  uotfj 

jHcsh  anti  Boon: 
Bout.  Jjitn  sone  foas  ^crsone  fjere,  more  tfjan  xxiiii  p_cere: 
tost  ffiotigs  sone  borne  of  a  fHaptie,  to  Xfforc  Sc  Boot. 

ijim  sone  forcsaioe, 
Efjat  omt  of  tljts  toorltjc  oeu  nasseo  us  fro,  jgr[ajnt  tlju 

mercy;  to  us  also.    &mcn/' 

No  date  accompanies  these  rugged  rhymes ;  probably 
Robert  Savage  was  rector  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

On  a  slab  formerly  in  the  chancel  (possibly  under  the  floor 
of  the  south  chantry),  "E.  L.  1657."  Edward  Lyndsay,  son 
of  Richard  Lyndsay,  Esq.,  of  Buxted  Place. 

In  the  north  aisle,  a  small  half  figure  in  brass,  of  a  priest 
holding  a  chalice,  mutilated.  Near  to  this  is  the  matrix  of 
another  small  brass  figure.  According  to  the  Burrell  MSS., 
there  were  formerly  in  this  aisle-.—"  ©ominus  ©eoniciuS  &lon, 
qui  omit  XT  ©ecemner,  1485."    As  also,  "  ©f  pur  cljarote 


210  CHURCH    OF    ST.   MARGARET,    BUXTED. 

prag  for  tfjc  sottle  of  Eoomas  Smitij  of  Bueksteoc  in  tfje 
(Counts  °f  Sussex  ISsquger  antr  &nne  jig  SEife,  foincfj 
Stomas  cxeessoctJ  nx  xxbti  "Dag  of  ©ctoocr,  in  Sin*  Mm 
1558  j  njijose  soul  3c$u  partion." 

In  the  south  aisle,  a  slab  bearing  a  brass  shield  with  a 
stag  salient,  the  arms  of  Warnett  (though  without  the  fret- 
work over  it  belonging  to  that  coat)  j  this  was  doubtless  the 
slab  which  formerly  bore  the  inscription  in  brass  : — "  ©rate 
pro  antmaous  Sofjannts  SHarnett,  Benous,  unius  Soctorum 
tie  jFurniuaii  |nn,  qui  onitt  xhii  oic  ©etout\  &M.  I486,  et 
Joljanrae  uxoris  ejus  qua?  ob+  bit0  oie  |unii  ^n.  ®om*  X496+ 
quorum  animauus  propittetur  ©eus-    &men/5 

These  were  the  Warnetts  of  Hempstead,  in  Framfield,  a 
portion  of  which  estate  lies  on  the  Buxted  side  of  the  boundary 
stream. 

On  a  slab  in  this  aisle  are  the  matrices  of  the  figures  of  a 
man  and  woman,  and  of  a  plate  for  inscription.  It  was  pro- 
bably this  which  recorded,  "  Johannes  Attewelle  et  Isabella 
uxor  ejus  ...  12  die  men.  Maii  An.  Dom.  1438,  quorum." 

A  portion  of  the  brass  of  Thomas  Smith  is  preserved  at  the 
rectory  ;  also  fragments  of  two  small  figures  in  brass,  a  Priest 
and  a  Knight,  which  were  found  in  the  rectory  barn. 

In  the  south  chantry  are  tablets  and  hatchments  to  the 
families  of  Waldo,  Medley,  and  Jenkinson,  and  various  others 
of  late  date  in  the  church. 

The  following  shields  are  drawn  in  the  Burrell  MSS.,  as 
formerly  belonging  to  this  church,  though  no  account  is  given 
of  them. 

1.  Six  lions  rampant. — Egles  of  Copwood.  The  heiress  of 
this  family  married' Richard  Beard  Streatfeild,  Esq.,  of  Chid- 
dingstone,  in  Kent. 

2.  Three  fleurs  de  lis,  and  three  on  a  chief.— Saunders. 

3.  A  cross  flory. 

4.  Three  leopards'  faces. 

5.  A  stag  salient,  over  it  fretwork. — Warnett  of  Hemp- 
stead. 

6.  On  a  bend  between  two  unicorns'  heads  erased,  three 
lozenges. — Beverley. 

Ecclesiastical  Notices.— The  payments  of  this  church  were 


CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED.  217 

as  follows  = — On  the  Taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  21  Edward  I. 

J1292,  Ecclesia  de   Boxsted  cum  Capell,  48    marks.     At  a 

!  valuation  of  the  deanery  of  South  Mailing,  in  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.,  Buxtcd  paid  the  sum  of  32s. 

The  rector  of  Buxted  was  bound  to  find  a  sub-deacon  for 

'the  collegiate  church  of  Mailing,  and  to  pay  him  annually 
the  sum  of  40s.  On  account  of  this  charge,  the  rector  was 
to  be  excused  any  other  payment  than  synodals  and  the  dean's 
procurations.2     The  value  of  this  rectory  in  the  King's  Books 

'is  £37.  5*.  2Jf/.     The  yearly  tenths,  £3.  Us.  6^. 

A  grant  was  made  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  the 
year  1292,  to  John  de  Lewes,  Rector,  of  two  acres  on  the 
waste  of  Crowburgh,  on  a  place  called  "  Scherche,"  near  Gelde- 
regge  (Gildridge),  to  found  a  chapel  and  cemetery,  in  compensa- 
tion of  one  acre,  where  a  chapel  formerly  stood,  according  to 
Archbishop  Peckham's  Register. 

"  1585,  17th  October  (28th  Elizabeth),  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
died,  possessed  of  this  advowson,  leaving  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Roger  Earl  of  Rutland,  his  daughter  and  heir. 

"  1608,  19th  April,  Thomas  Earl  of  Dorset  died  seized  of 
the  advowson. 

"1624,  28th  March,  Richard  Earl  of  Dorset  died  seized 
of  the  advowson." — Burr  ell  M8S. 

Betters.— The  Parish  Register  begins  in  the  year  1567  : 
the  earlier  books  contain  some  curious  entries  of  parochial 
incidents  already  published  in  Vol.  IV.  of  the  Collections, 
pp.  251-5  ;  where  our  readers  will  find  notices  of  William 
Burners,  the  parish  clerk,  a  "  very  rare  singer,"  who  died  in 
1558  ;  of  Richard  Bassett,  the  old  clerk  and  sexton,  not  a  rare 
singer,  who  died  in  1666;  of  the  presentation  of  Walter 
Cushman  the  Romanist,  for  sacrilegious  conduct,  and  his  subse- 
quent reconciliation,  June  2nd,  1588  ;  and  of  the  combination 
of  the  parishioners  for  the  better  observance  of  the  sabbath,  ra 
which  they  agreed  that  the  parish  feast  (commonly  called 
"  Yon  faull")  shall  be  kept  upon  St.  James's  Day,  except  it 
fall  upon  Sunday,  and  then  it  must  be  kept  on  the  next  day. 

I  This  was  signed  2nd  Januarv,  1613. 

Hospital.— Of  the  old  Hospital  of  William  Heron,  Lord  de 

2  See  Vol.  V.  of  the  Collections,  p.  137. 

28 


218  CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED. 

Say,  there  seems  to  be  no  record  left,  nor  am  I  able  to  trace 
its  history  in  the  parish.  Dugdale  gives  the  following  notice 
of  its  foundation :— "  William  Heron,  Lord  de  Say,  by  his 
testament  bearing  date  October  30th,  1404  (6th  Henry  IV.), 
appointed  that  Sir  Robert  Pebelow,  parson  of  Westbourne', 
Sir  Piers,  vicar  of  Bourne,  feoffees  of  the  Brewose  his  lands,' 
which  fell  to  Elizabeth  Lady  Say  his  wife,  by  inheritance' 
should  deliver  all  those  lands  unto  her  next  heir,  on  the  Brewose 
his  side,  charging  them  as  they  would  answer  at  the  day  of 
doom,  to  compleat  an  hospital  which  was  begun  at  the  church 
of  Buckstead,  of  six  or  four  poor  men  at  least ;  and  a  chantry 
priest  to  govern  them  there,  the  priest  to  have  for  his  support 
ten  marks  per  annum."3 

Charities. — A  bequest  was  made  in  the  year  1573  by 
Mrs.  Anne  Smith  (probably  daughter  of  Thomas  Smith,  whose 
tomb  has  been  noticed),  to  the  poor  of  Lewes,  Hove,  and 
Buxted,  for  the  details  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  rector 
the  Rev.  H.  Kingsmill :  it  is  entitled  "An  Abstract  of  an  In- 
denture, between  Tho.  Pownde  in  the  county  of  Suthrey 
(Surrey),  Esq.,  on  one  part,  and  Will.  Morley  of  Glynde,  and 
Anth.  Stapleye  of  Framfield,  on  the  other.  Dated  Nov  20th 
1573,  in  the  15th  of  Queen  Elizabeth." 

"  Anne  Smythe  in  her  widowhood  deviseth  and  appointeth 
by  her  will,  an  yearly  annuity  of  six  pounds,  135.  M.  to  be 
tor  ever  granted  (out  of  the  farme  of  Wyke  {alias  Upwyke)  in 
the  county  of  Sussex),  unto  certain  poor  of  the  several  towns 
and  parishes  of  Lewes,  Hove,  and  Buxtede,  to  commence  im- 
mediately after  her  death." 

The  abstract  further  records,  that  Thomas  Pownde  being 
seized  of  the  reversion  of  the  farm  of  Wyke,  sold  the  said 
reversion  after  the  decease  of  the  said  Anne  Smythe,  upon  con- 
dition that  the  said  farm  was  discharged  from  this  annuity    To 
release  the  annuity  Thos.  Pownde  granted  to  William  Morley 
Anthony  Stapley,  and  their  heirs,  a  like  annuity  of  £6  13s  4?d 
upon  the  manors  of  Wilting  and  Hollington  in  Sussex,  to  be 
paid  at  the  feasts  of  Michaelmas  and  Lady  Day     "  To  pav  &c 
to  the  churchwardens  of  Buxted,  £1.  6s.  8d.,to  be  distributed 
yearly  upon  Ash-Wednesday  among  eight  of  the  most  impo- 
tent oi  the  poor,  i.e.,  to  each  person  .3*.  4d. ;  and  in  case  this 

3  Dugdale'.s  Baronage,  vol.  i.  p.  730;  Tanner,  Notitia  Monastica,  p.  565. 


CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED.  219 

annuity  is  not  paid  within  two  months  after  due,  then  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  William  Morley  and  Ant.  Stapley  to  enter  and 
distrain  in  the  said  manors,"  &c. 

John  Langworth,  D.D.,  by  his  will,  dated  1st  November, 
1613,  gave  a  legacy  of  50s.  to  the  poor  of  Buxted.4 

There  are  other  charities  of  later  date  in  the  parish. 

List  of  Rectors. — a.d.  1292,  Sir  John  de  Lewes.  1320  (?), 
Britellus  Avenel.  1352,  John  de  Harewell,  resigned  (?). 
1352,  John  de  Severle,  inducted  6th  March.  Robert  Savage, 
rector  twenty-four  years.  1535,  William  Levett.  1545, 
Richard  Collier. 

1554,  Alban  Langdale,  D.D.,  instituted.  He  was  deprived 
as  a  recusant,  in  1559  :  Thomas  Fawton,  B.D.  (or  Ffawdon) 
was  instituted  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in  Langdale's  place,  but  he 
appears  to  have  died  the  same  year. 

1573,  John  Langworth,  D.D.  (20th  March). 

1581,  Henry  Monuques.  1589,  William  Attersoule  (?). 
1613,  William  Smart. 

1620,  6th  June,  John  Titchborne,  D.D.,  presented  by  John 
Langworth,  Esq.,  of  Ringmer.5 

It  appears  that  Christopher  Swale,  D.D.,  was  collated  to 
the  rectory  in  the  same  year  by  Archbishop  Abbot ;  and  on 
this  collation  a  dispute  arose  between  Tichbourne  appellant, 
and  Swale  respondent :  it  came  by  appeal  before  Sir  John 
Hayward,  Knight,  and  Thomas  Eden,  the  King's  Delegates, 
who  found  the  church  to  be  filled  by  Tichbourne ;  dated 
6th  June,  1621. 

1638,  Dr.  Bernard.  He  is  said  to  have  been  chaplain  to 
Archbishop  Laud,  but  this  is  doubtful.  In  the  Rebellion 
he  was  deprived,  and  supplanted  by  Stephen  Street,  seques- 
trator. 

1661,  Robert  Middleton,  M.A.,  buried  7th  February,  1673. 

1673,  February,  Anthony  Saunders,  D.D.,  chaplain  to 
Archbishop  Sheldon,  chancellor  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and 
rector  of  Acton,  co.  Middlesex.  He  rebuilt  the  rectory  (or 
a  portion  of  it),  as  appears  by  the  initials  A.  S.  on  one  of 
the  window-cornices,  the  date  1694  on  another.  He  also 
founded  a  school  in  Uckfield  for  twelve  boys,  six  of  Buxted, 

4  Burrell  MSS,  prs>sentat.  Job.  Langworth  de  Ringmere 

5  Lambeth  Register,  Bun-.  MSS.  "  Ad       Arm.  pro  bac  vice  indubitati  patroni." 


220 


CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED. 


arid  six  of  Uckfield,  endowing  it  with  lands  in  both  parishes 
He  was  buried  13th  January,  1719. 

1719,  Robert  Wake,  M.A.,  fourth  son  of  Sir  William  Wake 
Bart,  (who  died  Jan.  1692) ;  probably  of  the  family  of  Wake' 
ot  Courteenhall,  co.  Northampton.  He  was  afterwards  dean 
oi  Booking,  in  Essex.6 

1724,  William  Clarke,  M.A.  He  resigned  in  1768  and 
died  21st  October,  1771. 

1768,  4th  November.  Edward  Clarke,  B.D.,  succeeded  his 
E ™  He  died  24th  November,  1786.  He  was  father  of 
Hr.  Edward  Daniel  Clarke,  the  well-known  traveller  Of  these 
distinguished  men  notices  are  given  in  Horsfield's  History,  i. 

Apart  from  the  history  of  the  manor,  other  families  claim  a 
passing  notice. 

The  family  of  Alchorne,  already  mentioned,  have  for  a  long 
time  been  resident  in  this  parish.  They  were  originally  seated 
at  the  manor  of  Alchorne  in  Rotherfield,  where,  according  to 
documentary  evidence,  they  held  lands  in  the  reign  of  King 
John.  A  branch  of  the  family  settled  in  Kent.  Philipott 
the  antiquary  of  that  county,  mentions  "Alchorne,  the  cradle 

f  ia»?    ™?n  °f  Wh°se  famil?  was  at  Alchorne  in  Rother- 
neld.        The  period  of  their  early  residence  in  Buxted  is 
uncertain:  it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  fifteenth  century 
feeveral  of  their  descendants  remain  in  the  district      Mr 
Alchorne,  of  Harlands  Farm  in  Uckfield,  informs  me  that  the 
family  formerly  possessed  the  farms  of  Grovehurst,  Puckstye 
and  Maypole,  m  Buxted,  the  last  of  which  is  still  in  his  pos- 
session     Arms  :  Argent,  a  buck's  head  cabossed  sable,  a  chief 
indented  of  the  last.     Crest:  a  human  heart  gules,  ducally 
crowned  or,  between  a  pair  of  wings  argent 

The  manor  of  Hendall  in  Buxted  was  in  early  times  the 
seat  of  the  Westons,  a  branch  of  the  Wistonnestons  or  Wistons 
of  Wiston,  afterwards  of  the  Popes,  who  intermarried  with 
them;   after  whom  a  branch  of  the  Pelhams  resided  there 

hSkfS  f      ^Tf  CentUry:     Mr-  Lower'  t0  whom  I  am 
indebted  for  the  following  notices  of  the  last-named  family 

has  furnished  me  with  a  sketch  of  the  pedigree  of  Weston,  by 

63LHcoL  87C7°UeCti0n'  Add-  MSS-'  f0U°  ?  Villare  Cantianum,  p.  68. 


CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTEU.  221 

which  it  seems  probable  that  an  heiress  of  this  family  married 
a  Pelham. 

Thomas  Pelham,  Esq.,  was  of  Hendall,  and  afterwards  of 
Laughton.  He  died  February  1,  1516,  7  Henry  VIII.  He 
had  four  sous,  John,  Thomas  (ob.  ccelebs),  William,  who  suc- 
ceeded his  eldest  brother  John  in  the  inheritance  of  Laughton, 
and  Anthony,  who  inherited  the  Buxted  estate ;  also  two 
daughters,  Catherine,  married  to  Thomas  Morley  of  Glynde, 
and  Joan,  who  died  unmarried. 

Anthony  Pelham,  Esq.,  of  Hendall,  died  November  22, 1 566, 
9  Elizabeth,  leaving  by  Margaret  his  wife  Herbert  Pelham  his 
son  and  heir,  aged  twenty.  Herbert  Pelham  married  Eliza- 
beth, second  daughter  of  Thomas  West,  Lord  La  Warr,  and 
died  31st  July,  1625,  1  Car.  I.,  leaving  two  sons,  Herbert, 
ancestor  of  the  Pelhams  of  Swineshead,  co.  Lincoln,  and 
Thomas,  who  founded  the  house  of  Pelham  of  Compton 
Valence,  co.  Dorset. 

The  old  mansion  of  Hendall  has  been  modernised,  but  still 
retains  its  Elizabethan  character  in  the  gables  and  windows. 
The  cellars  are  extensive,  and  there  are  traces  of  underground 
passages  from  the  house. 

In  the  Nonce  Returns  of  1341,  "it  was  estimated  upon  the 
oath  of  John  de  Schodwell,  Ralph  de  Nywenham,  Oliver 
Taillour,  and  Richard  at  Donne,  parishioners  of  the  church  of 
Boxstede,  that  the  ninth  of  sheaves  is  worth  per  annum  £20, 
and  the  fleeces  and  lambs  6s.  Sd.  And  thus  the  sum  is 
£20.  6s.  Sd.  And  although  the  church  of  Boxstede  is  taxed 
at  £32,  the  aforesaid  jurors  declare  that  the  messuage  of  the 
rectory  there,  with  its  enclosed  garden  and  curtilage,  together 
with  the  lands  and  woods  which  belong  to  the  church  as 
glebe,  is  worth  one  hundred  shillings  a  year ;  and  the  tithe 
of  hay  is  worth  sixty  shillings  a  year ;  and  the  tithe  of  mills 
£1.  6*.  8c/.;  and  the  tithe  of  milk,  calves,  hens,  sucking-pigs, 
geese,  hemp  and  tares,  with  the  oblations  and  herbage,  is 
£2.  6s.  Sd.  And  that  all  the  aforesaid  things  amount  to  the 
extent  of  the  tax  of  the  church  of  Boxstede.  Thus  is  the 
total  sum  as  aforesaid  £32,  and  equal  to  the  taxation  of  the 
church." 

It  only  remains  to  note  concerning  this  church,  that  it  is 
well  worthy  of  a  complete  restoration,  which  we  hope  may  be 


222  CHURCH    OF    ST.  MARGARET,    BUXTED. 

accomplished  at  no  distant  period.  When  we  consider  how 
many  relics  of  past  ages  have  perished,  it  should  be  our  care 
to  preserve  those  that  yet  remain  :  they  are  each  one  of  local 
interest,  and  in  the  aggregate,  of  national  value.  The  parish 
church  is  a  link  between  the  present  and  the  past — a  legacy 
from  ancient  benefactors  intended  for  the  benefit  of  all.  If, 
as  Mr.  Ruskin  suggests,  in  his  Lamp  of  Memory*  "  the  man- 
sion may  be  made  to  tell  its  history/'  certainly  the  church 
may  do  the  same ;  and  while  the  one  is  of  interest  to  a  few, 
the  other  is  so  to  many.  We  seem  to  see  the  various  groups 
who  trod  the  footworn  pavement,  and  took  their  accustomed 
places ;  and  we  are  curious  to  know  what  was  the  tenor  of 
their  lives.  The  contrast  may  strike  us  when  we  compare  the 
busy  comers  and  goers  of  the  present  day  with  those  who 
seldom  went  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  forest  home ;  but 
the  thought  follows,  in  how  many  points  they  were  as  we  are. 
The  font  and  the  tomb  tell  of  the  bounds  of  human  life ;  we 
trace  the  varied  circumstances  of  joy  and  sorrow  which  marked 
the  path  between  them,  and  confess  that  all  were  our  brethren, 
though  they  lived  in  a  less  favoured  age.  We  may  well  gather 
up  whatever  things  true  and  of  good  report  those  ages  bore, 
like  wild  flowers  on  a  ruined  wall ;  and  learn  perhaps  some 
useful  lessons,  when  we  thus  pause  to  look  back,  and  trace 
out  the  memories  of  times  long  passed  away. 

8  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture. 


NOTES  RESPECTING  HALNAKER,  BOXGROVE,  &c. 

FROM   A  SURVEY  TEMP.  QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 
BY  MARK  ANTONY  LOWER,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


Our  member  Evelyn  Philip  Shirley,  Esq.,  M.A.,  having 
kindly  placed  at  the  Society's  disposal  a  MS.  relative  to 
Halnaker  and  other  manors  in  the  same  locality,  I  have 
selected  such  entries  from  the  14  folios  of  which  it  consists 
as  appear  to  be  worthy  of  preservation  in  the  Collections. 
The  MS.  is  entitled— 

"  &  .Sttruaye  taken  by  the  Commaundemente  of  the  Highe 
and  mightie  Prince,  Thomas,  Duke  of  NorfT.  Earle  Marshall 
of  Englond  of  the  Mannors,  Landes,  Rents,  Parkes,  Warrens, 
Psonages  and  other  Hereditaments  ftbllowinge.  Begonne  the 
xxvth  daye  of  September,  Anno  xij°  Eliz — R'.  By  us  Robte 
Harrys  and  John  Dobbes,  servaunts  to  the  said  Duke." 

It  contains,  I.  "Halnaker  mannor"  with  the  " ffreeholders 
of  Halnaker,  Woodcoote,  Strethampton,  and  Westerton  ; 
among  the  tenants  are  Thos.  Coverte,  T'heires  of  Sir  William 
Shelley,  Thos.  Boyer,  gent.  —  Scroope,  Esqr.  Henry  Marvyn, 
Esq.  T'heires  of  Thos.  Bushoppe,  William  Paget,  Esq.  William 
Devenish,  gent.  Anthonie  Vicompte  Montague,  and  theDeane 
and  Chapiter  of  Chichester.  All  the  freeholders  are  assessed 
at  a  money  payment,  except  in  two  or  three  instances.  John 
Legard  for  "  certaine  londes  in  Westerton  "  pays  annually  a 
Broao  ^rroixi;  Thos.  Bushoppe's  heirs  pay  one  paire  of 
(^UtitC  SpurrrS  for  knight's  service  for  the  manor  of  Hunston 
— a  sub-infeudation  ;  and  one  or  two  others  contribute  a  "  lb. 
of  peper."  II.  Copieholders  of  Halnaker  (sometimes  spelt 
Halfenaked)  Woodcoote,  Westerton,  and  Compton ;  among 
these  appears  Sir  Thomas  Palmer,  knt.,  who  holds  at  will 


224        NOTES    RESPECTING    HALNAKER,    BOXGROVE,    ETC. 

30  acres  called  the  "  Redd  vynes "  at  the  rent  of  66s.  Sd. 
III.  The  demeanes  of  Halnaker,  Robert  Palmer,  gent,  pays 
£3;  and  Thos.  Roffe  for  his  "wyndmyll"  £7. 10s.  or  30  quar- 
ters of  "  oots  "  as  the  lord  may  elect.  Sir  Thos.  Palmer  pays 
for  the  "  ffearmc  of  the  Scyte  of  the  mannor  of  Wooclcoote 
and  its  demeanes"  £10.  6s.  Sd.;  and  John  Peryn  (or  Perrier) 
for  the  farm  of  the  demeanes  of  Strethampton  £30  annually. 
The  annual  value  of  the  manor  and  its  sub-infeudations  is 
four-score  and  five  pounds,  seventeen  shillings,  three  pence 
halfpenny  farthing.  IV.  "  Instructions  towchinge  the  man- 
no1-  of  Halnaker.  and  the  members  of  the  same." 

"  jHK  that  the  Mannor  howse  of  Halnaker  standeth  in  the 
Parke  thereof,  and  ys  dystaunte  from  Chichester  iij  myles  and 
from  Arundell  vj  myles ;  the  same  ys  watered  wth  ij  wells, 
onely  one  of  them  being  wthin  the  walls  of  the  said  howse, 
and  the  other  nere  adiovninge  wthout  the  walls. 

"  The  Parke  thereof  conteyneth  by  est  iiij  myles  Compasse 
vvch  may  yerely  sustaine  viijc  (eight  hundred)  Deare,  with  some 
provicon  of  haie  in  winter  yf  maste  ffayle ;  and  there  be  at 
this  Survaye  viijc  Deare  as  yt  is  enfourmed  us. 

md  that  wthin  half  a  furlonge  of  Halnaker  parke  pale  on  the 
west  side  thereof  lyeth  a  parke  called  Goodwoode  Parke ;  and 
by  the  Northest  parte  thereof  lyeth  one  other  Parke  called 
Shelhurst  parke,  distaunte  from  Halnaker  pale  one  quarter  of 
a  myle.  And  on  the  North  side  of  that  pale  lyeth  one  other 
parke  called  Estden,  halfe  a  myle  dystaunte.  *  *  *  *  In 
the  woods  called  the  Weestwood  and  the  Haselette,  Shovelers 
and  Herons  have  lately  breed  and  some  Shovelers  breed  there 
this  yeere.  *  *  md  The  soyle  of  the  said  parke  is  a  sweet 
and  short  feede  best  for  Deare  and  Sheepe." 

Up  to  this  period  lords  of  manors  in  some  instances  claimed 
a  feudal  and  proprietary  interest  in  the  homines  or  peasantry ; 
and  perhaps  the  last  manumission  from  serfdom  in  England 
was  that  of  the  three  brothers  Gorringe,  bondmen  of  the 
manor  of  Falmer  in  the  reign  of  James  I.1  The  survey  before 
us  states,  "  There  be  no  costome  or  bounde-men  thereunto  re- 
gardaunt  or  belonging  that  we  understand  of." 

"  The  late  chappell  of  St.  Rooks"  is  incidentally  mentioned. 
This  stood  on  the  lofty  elevation  still  called  Rooks  Hill,  near 

1  See  Notes  and  Queries,  Vol.  I. 


NOTES    RESPECTING    HALNAKER,    BOXGROVE,    ETC.         225 

the  remarkable  circular  earth-work  called  the  Trundle,  in  the 
parish  of  Singleton.  The  dedication  was  probably  to  St. Roche 
the  Confessor. 

V.  Boxgrove  Manor,  freeholders  there;  including  Thomas, 

Lord  Buckhurst, St.  John,  gent.,  the  Dean  and  Chapiter 

of  Chichester,  the  late  hospitall  of  St.  Jeames  in  the  este  Sub- 
berbes  of  the  cytye  of  Chichester,  the  late  hospitall  of  St. 
Marie  in  Chichester,  the  mayor  of  Chichester,  Thos.  Bowyer, 
gent.,  John  Ryman,  gent.  VI.  Copyholders  in  Boxgrove. 
VII.  Among  the  tenants-at-will  in  Boxgrove  are  Sir  Thos. 
Palmer  for  the  profits  of  the  dove-house  and  200  acres  of 
heath-ground,  &c;  and  William  Devenyshe  for  the  "fTearme 
of  the  parsonage  of  Boxgrave,  the  tythe  coorne,  woolle,  and 
lambs  wch  answereth  yerely  lx  quarters  barley  and  xl  quarters 
wheate ;  the  barley  rated  at  viiis.  the  quarter,  and  the  wheate 
at  xiijs.  vrd.  the  quarter ;  delivered  at  the  barne  doore,  amount- 
ing to  Lli.  xhjs.  iiijc/.,  besydes  iiij/e.  he  payeth  to  the  vycare 
for  his  pencon  yerely,  and  all  other  ordynary  and  extra- 
ordynary  charges."  VIII.  Among  those  holding  leases  are 
named  Thos.  Stempe  and  Thos.  Starre  "  for  the  fTearme  of 
parte  of  the  Scyte  of  the  late  Pryorye  and  one  great  barne  or 
highall,  and  demeane  landes." 

The  Rev.  William  Turner,  vicar  of  Boxgrove,  informs  me 
that  "  the  family  of  Stempe  (or  Stampe  as  the  name  is  now 
spelt)  are  mentioned  in  the  earliest  documents  relating  to  the 
parish,  and  have  left  it  only  about  twelve  months  ago.  They 
retain  a  house  and  some  little  land."  This  name  was  formerly 
widely  spread  in  both  divisions  of  the  county,  which  indicates 
an  early  settlement  of  the  family  in  Sussex,  and  renders  it 
probable  that  they  sprang  from  the  ancient  Norman  family  of 
Estampes. 

"  The  proffet  of  one  ffaire  there  holden  on  St.  Blase's  day 
woorth  yerely  xs."  The  church  of  Boxgrove  is  dedicated  to 
St.  Mary  and  St.  Blaise,  and  hence  the  fair.  St.  Blaise's  day 
is  fixed  in  the  Roman  calendar  on  Feb.  3,  but  by  the  altera- 
tion of  the  style  Feb.  14,  on  which  day  the  fair  still  continues 
to  be  held,  being,  I  think,  the  earliest  annual  fair  in  the 
county. 

IX.  "  Instructions  towchinge  the  mannor  of  Boxgrove,  &c. 
fH5*  the  Scyte  of  the  late  Pryorie  walled  round  about  \vth 

ix.  29 


226 


NOTES    RESPECTING    HALNAKER,    BOXGROVE,    ETC. 


bricke  and  stone  wth  divers  ruynous  howses,  viz. :  one  em- 
ployed for  A  Brewhowse,  one  for  A  Barne  to  laie  the  Tythes 
growinge  uppon  the  demeanes  and  tennants  londe,  one  stable 
for  xx11.6  Geldings,  one  Dove-house  wh  is  letten  to  Sr  Thomas 
Palmer  in  charge  for  jij/t.  yerely  rente,  certayne  rowmes  above 
and  under  where  may  be  made  wth  some  paynes-taking  CC 
quarters  of  malte  yerely,  and  chambers  sufficient  to  laie  and 
kepe  ye  same.  But  there  is  no  Cestrall  (cistern  ?)  to  steepe 
the  Barly,  yet  one  kyll  to  drye  malte,  whereuppon  may  be 
dryed  v  Combes  at  one  tyme,  and  that  day  by  daye  conse- 
quently. And  there  ys  one  well  thereunto  adioyninge  of  v 
ffadome  deepe  w=h  serveth  by  pypes  under  the  Grounde." 

"  The  parishe  churche  nowe  was  sumtyme  the  Churche  of 
the  late  pryory  there,  covered  wth  Hor[sham]  stone  ;2  and  so 
be  the  most  parte  of  the  other  howses  excepte  the  barne  wh 
ys  covered  wth  Shingles.  md  the  parsonage  ys  Impropriate 
whereunto  do  belonge  all  the  Tythes  wthin  Boxgrave,  Hal- 
naker,  Strethampton,  Croker's  Hill,  and  Esthampnett.  And 
the  Lord  is  patrone  of_  the  vicaredge,  endowed  to  wch  vicar- 
edge  belongeth  a  mancon  house  decaied,  lyinge  one  the  west 
syde  of  the  waie  leading  from  Boxgrave  to  Halnaker.  *  *  *  * 
md  that  the  cheiffe  house  of  Halnaker  and  the  late  Pryorie  of 
Boxgrave  lye  wthin  the  halfe  hundred  of  Boxe,  to  wh  hundred 
are  suiters  the  hamletts  of  Boxgrove,  Halnaker,  Crocklane, 
Esthampnett,  Merston,  Runton,  Woodcoote,  Strethampton, 
Westerton,  and  the  Tenements  of  the  Mannor  of  Walton  y'4 
do  apperteine  to  Willm  Dawtrie,  Esq.  *  *  Md.  There  are  noe 
Boundemen  belonging  to  this  Mannor. 

"Sum  of  the  yerely  valewe  of)  .  7.  .      .. ,    , 

both  the  Mannors  aforesaid,  j  CCXXX1X^- 1X5-  9*  ob  qr- 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  the  ancient  parish  church  of 
Boxgrove  was  identical  with  the  priory  church  :  the  document 
before  us  dissipates  that  doubt.  I  may  add  that  the  vicarage 
of  Boxgrove  was  endowed  with  the  great  tithes  of  the  parish 
by  Lady  Mary  Morley  (afterwards  Countess  of  Derby)  in  the 
year  1704.  That  benevolent  lady  also  founded  and  endowed 
twelve  almshouses  in  the  village. 

2  The  MS.  is  slightly  defective  here,  hut  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  word  Horsham 
being  meant. 


SADELESCOMBE   AND   SHIPLEY, 

THE    PRECEPTORIES    OE    THE    KNIGHTS 

TEMPLARS  IN  SUSSEX. 

BY  W.  H.  BLAATJW,  ESQ.,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


Although  the  two  Preceptories  held  in  Sussex  by  "  the 
Master  and  Brethren  of  the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,5 
have  left  no  local  traces  in  stately  buildings  or  illustrious  names, 
yet  the  importance  of  the  Order  calls  for  some  detail  of  their 
possessions  in  the  county. 

Of  all  the  religious  orders  sanctioned  by  the  Church  01 
Rome,  the  fate  of  none  is  more  remarkable  than  that  of  the 
Knights  Templars;  who  united  the  enterprise  of  the  camp  to  the 
self-denying  discipline  of  the  cloister.  Although  their  career 
was  brief,  lasting  only  194  years,  they  gained,  by  the  splendour 
of  their  exploits,  a  wider  and  more  permanent  fame  than  other 
orders  have  in  much  longer  periods  ;  and,  after  being  fostered 
by  the  enthusiasm  and  bounty  of  admiring  nations,  this  shining 
light  of  Christendom  was  abruptly  quenched  in  ignominious 
gloom.  Countless  wealth  enabled  its  Grand  Master  to  rank 
with  princes,  and  its  chief  officer  in  England  to  sit  in  Parlia- 
ment ;  while  fresh  troops  of  these  military  pilgrims,  on  the 
recurrence  of  every  spring  and  summer,  left  their  homes 
equipped  for  the  wars  of  Syria. 

Their  lands  paid  no  tithes  to  the  church,  and  no  aids  to  the 
sheriff.  No  interdict  could  suspend  the  religious  services  of 
their  churches ;  and  by  the  special  favour  of  popes,  no  one 
could  lay  violent  hands  on  any  who  took  refuge  in  them,  with- 
out incurring  excommunication.  In  1256,  Pope  Alexander 
had  expressly  confirmed  to  the  English  Templars  all  their 
privileges,  even  though  "  they  had,  by  negligence  or  forbear- 


228 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 


ance  frequently  omitted  to  use  them  {propter  negligentiam  seu 
simphcitatem  uti  mullotiens  omisistis). "— (Rymer,  Feed.) 

For  the  superintendence  of  the  numerous  manors  and  farms 
belonging  to  the  Order  all  over  England,  the  Master  of  the 
lemple  m  London  issued  directions  to  the  country  establish- 
ments, which,  from  the  letters  commencing  formally  with 
precipimus  tibi,  acquired  the  name  of  preceptories.  At  the 
head  of  each  of  these  a  knight,  entitled  Preceptor,  resided  on 
the  spot  as  steward ;  and  in  this  manner  the  preceptories  of 
feadelescombe  m  the  rape  of  Lewes,  and  of  Shipley  in  the 
rape  of  Bramber,  were  early  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  Order 
by  pious  founders. 

The  members  of  the  Order  were  knights,  serving  men  (ser- 
viettes), and  chaplains.  In  these  preceptories,  many  a  knight 
ot  Last  and  West  Sussex  had  the  opportunity  of  occupying 
himself  m  the  management  of  the  landed  property,  and  of 
preparing  himself  by  military  exercises  for  the  Crusades  of 
the  Lion-hearted  Richard  and  Edward  I.  Their  servino--men 
could  there  be  trained  to  arms  before  following  the  knights  to 
war,  and  there  the  wounded  or  aged  warrior  might,  in  his 
retirement,  impart  his  skill  and  experience  to  stronger'hands 
lo i  what  length  the  privileges  of  the  Templars  extended 
may  be  authentically  seen  by  the  enumeration  of  them  before 
a  jury  of  knights  specially  elected  {milites  ad  hoc  electi)  to  hear 
and  determine  upon  their  claims  in  the  time  of  Edward  I. 

Ihis  jury  of  knights  was,  no  doubt,  a  grand  assize;  an  ex- 
traordinary jury  so  called,  instituted  by  Henry  II.  to  diminish 
the  frequency  of  trials  by  battle  or  combat,  a  measure  most 
likely  due  to  the  advice  of  his  Justiciary,  Ralph  Glanvill,  whose 
Iractate  De  Legibus  Anglia  contains  a  minute  description  of 
the  mode  of  proceeding.  The  sheriff,  pursuant  to  a  writ  for 
the  purpose,returned  four  knights  of  the  county,  and  they  chose 
twelve  others  to  be  associated  with  them.  Trials  by  juries 
ol  this  kind  have  taken  place  within  recent  times,  in  certain 
actions,  which  were  abolished  about  twenty  years  ago 

Ihe  Templars,  by  their  attorney  Roger  de  Alkare,  formally 
claimed  for  al  the  Brothers  of  the  Temple  and  their  lieges  to 
now  all  their  lands  of  every  description  absolutely  free,  "  with 
f*  ,  sak\tIwl  and  te*h  infangenthefr  and  utfanqenthefr, 
hamsohne,  crithburg,  UodwitKfludewitliJrithewyte,  frentioyte 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  229 

hengwyte,  leynoyte,  flemenefrith,  murder  and  larceny  {murdro 
et  latrocitiio)  forestall,  ordel,  and  orest." 

The  above-mentioned  privileges  were  in  the  nature  of  re- 
galia.    The  terms  by  which  they  are  designated,  though  most 
of  them  are  not  of  unfrequent  occurrence,  are  hardly  capable 
of  precise   explanation,  the  glossarists  differing  about  their 
meaning.     They  were  antiquated  at  that  time,  and  there  is 
even  reason  to  thmk  several  of  them  had  become  obscure. 
However,  sok  and  sak  may  be  taken  to  mean  a  soke  or  juris- 
diction, with  a  court  for  administering  justice  and  keeping  the 
peace  among  those  within  its  limits.     Thol,  though  often  said 
to  signify  exemption  from  toll,  cannot  be  so  understood  here, 
as  such  an  exemption  is  afterwards  specially  mentioned.     It 
would  rather  seem  to  have  meant  a  right  of  imposing  tolls  of 
some  kind,  and  may  import  the  privilege  of  having  a  market. 
Them  may  have  been  an  authority  over  villains  or  serfs  beyond 
what  a  lord  ordinarily  had,  or,  according  to  another  significa- 
tion of  the  word,  a  right  to  call  on  suspected  persons,  to  show 
how  they  became  possessed  of  goods  supposed  to  have  been 
stolen.     Itifangenthefr  and   Utfangenthefr  were  a  right  to  try 
thieves  taken  within  the  soke,  whether  they  belonged  to  it  or 
not.     Hamsohne  imports  the  immunity  of  a  dwelling-house, 
and  here  probably  meant  authority  to  punish  offenders  that 
violated  it,  and  also  a  right  to  violate  it  for  the  ends  of  justice. 
Crithburg  probably  the  same  as  Grithbrech,  which  was  a  breach 
of  the  peace.      Blodwith,  Fludewith,   Frithewyte,  Frentwyte, 
Hengioyte,  and  Leyrwyte,  are  to  be  found  in  the  glossaries, 
but  with  unsatisfactory  attempts  to  explain  them;  it  may 
however  be   stated  generally,  that  they   were  fines  for  the 
various  offences  indicated  by  their  names  :  ivyte  being  a  fine 
to  the  king  over  and  above  the  bote,  were,  or  compensation  to 
the  injured  person.     Flemenefrith  was  probably  either  the 
offence  of  harbouring  outlaws  or  other  fugitives  from  justice, 
or  else  the  right  to  their  goods.     The  word  is  found  variously 
spelt :  a  more  correct  form  is  Flemenafermth,  which  seems  to 
have  the  former  meaning.     Forestall,  a  word  of  divers  signifi- 
cations, may  have  here  meant  some  kind  of  obstruction  to 
justice.'     Ordel  was  the  trial  by  ordeal ;  and  Orest  was  that 
by  battle  or  combat,  a  kind  of  legal  duel :  it  is  a  word  of  rare 
occurrence,  and  is  sometimes  written  ornest.     The  effect  of  the 


230 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 


numerous  privileges  specified  in  the  claim  was  to  give  the 
Templars  judicial  authority  in  regard  to  the  various  offences 
above  mentioned,  and  to  empower  them  to  employ  the  ordeal 
and  combat  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  modes  of  trial. 

They  also  claimed  "to  be  quit  from  all  amerciaments  {miseri- 
cordiis),  from  all  scot  mdgeld  of  the  king's  sheriffs,  and  from 
all  aids  {aumliis)  of  kings,  sheriffs,  and  all  people,  from  murage 
and  ladage  and  carucage,  danegeld,  horngeld,  and  from  military 
levies  [de  exercitibus)  and  wapentac,  scuiage  and  tallage,  lest- 
age,  stallage,  shire  and  hundred  pleas,  and  causes  of  actions 
(querehs),  and  wards  and  wardepeny,  averpeny  and  hundredpeny, 
brugauelpeny  and  thythyngpeng" 

These  payments  and  duties,  from  which  the  brethren  claimed 
exemption,  were  chiefly  in  the  nature  of  taxes  of  various  kinds 
some  general  and  others  local ;  the  rest,  with  few  exceptions^ 
were  prerogatives  of  the  crown.     Only  very  extensive   pro- 
prietors were  liable  to  them  all.     The  names  of  most  of  them 
sufficiently  indicate  their  natures.     Murage  was  a  contribution 
tor  the  repair  of  walls.     Hidage  and  Carucage  were  land-taxes 
of  so  much  per  hide  and  per  plough  respectively.     Danegeld 
was  a  tax  towards  the  defence  of  the  coasts  from  the  Northern 
pirates.     It  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  abolished  in 
the  reign  of  King  Stephen.     Homgeld  is  said  to  have  been  a 
payment  for  cattle  in  a  forest.     The  occurrence  of  the  word 
Wapentac  between  "  exercitibus  "  and  "  scutagiis  "  is  remark- 
able and  suggests  the  meaning,  once  ascribed  to  it,  of  a  muster 
of  the  militia  of  a  division  so  called.     Tallage  was  a  species 
of  tax  :  Lestage  and  Stallage  were  tolls.     Pleas  and  Causes  of 
Action  may  have  had  reference  to  the  duty  of  freemen  to  give 
attendance  at  the  county  and  hundred  courts,  and  to  serve  on 
juries  of  different  kinds.      Wards  were  watchmen,  and  Warde- 
peny a  payment  for  maintaining  them.     Averpeny  was  probably 
a  commutation  for  work  by  beasts  of  draught  and  burden 
that  the  king  might  require  when  he  travelled.     Brugauel-peny 
has  not  been  discovered  elsewhere,  yet  it  no  doubt  meant  the 
same  as  what  has  been  termed  Borghalpani,  Boreghalpani 

Borughalpam,  Borwhalpeny,  Borethalpeny,Bortha]peny,Brode- 
halpeny,  and  Boardhalfpeny ;  which  last  word  has  been  ex- 
plained by  Spelman  and  others  as  if  it  were  the  original  to 
signify  a  payment  for  setting  up  tables,  boards,  and  stalls  in 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  231 

fairs  and  markets  ;  but  this  is  hardly  admissible,  and  the  pay- 
ment should  rather  be  some  borough  tax  or  fine  answering  to 
Hundredpeny,  and  Tithingpeny.  It  is  not  clear  whether  the 
latter  part  of  the  term  was  originally  peny  or  halfpeny,  for  the 
spelling  Brugauelpeny  suggests  that  the  word  may  have  been 
primarily  Burg  (or  Borg)-gavel-peny,  i.e.,  Borough-tax-peny. 
Such  a  term  would,  after  the  elision  of  the  v  (a  practice  once 
very  common  when  this  letter  occurred  between  two  vowels, 
see  Notes  and  Queries,  vol.  iv.  pp.  55  and  213),  have  easily 
become  contracted  into  Borgalpeny,  and  then  have  assumed  any 
of  the  forms  above  mentioned.  There  was  a  "Bagavel"  formerly 
paid  at  Exeter  towards  reparations.  However,  Borg,  Brug, 
&c,  in  this  instance  may  not  be  for  Burg,  a  borough  town, 
but  for  Borh  or  Borg  (also  corrupted  into  borough),  a  pledge 
or  surety  ;  and  Borg-gavel-peny  may  have  been  a  contribution 
to  the  common  fine,  once  very  general,  and  still  payable  in 
some  places,  on  a  view  of  frankpledge  ;  and  the  Hundredpeny 
and  Tithingpeny  may  have  been  a  payment  of  a  similar  kind  ; 
for  we  read  in  Eleta,  and  in  the  Statute  of  3  Edw.  I.  c.  18,  of 
common  fines  in  counties ;  and  these  were  probably  assessed 
and  collected  by  hundreds,  and  also  by  tithings,  where  the 
latter  divisions  existed. 

"And  from  all  works  {operibus)  of  castles,  parks,  and 
closed  bridges  {pontium  clausuris),  and  from  all  carriage, 
loading  and  water  transport  (carreio  summagio  et  navigid), 
and  from  the  construction  of  royal  edifices,  and  from  all 
manner  of  forced  labour  (operacione);" — and  they  claimed  "  all 
waifs  in  their  fees,  freedom  from  all  tolls  in  all  markets,  and 
at  all  fairs,  and  in  every  journey  by  roads  or  sea  throughout 
all  the  kingdom  of  England,  and  the  chattels  of  all  their  men 
if  condemned  for  any  crime  whatever." 

This  catalogue  of  privileges  and  exemptions  shows  with  how 
formidable  a  burden  of  duties  the  less  favoured  portion  of 
the  community  was  loaded ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  there  was 
so  general  an  appetite  for  similar  exemptions,  that  it  required 
strong  measures  to  reserve  them  solely  to  the  Templars.  The 
claim  appears  to  have  been  made  at  the  assizes  held  at 
Chichester  on  the  morrow  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  1279,  in 
the  7th  year  of  Edward  I.  The  verdict  of  the  jury  of  knights 
given  on  oath  was  that  "  the  Templars  have  enjoyed  all  these 


232  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

liberties,  with  some  exceptions,  namely,  that  they  are  not 
free  nor  ought  they  to  be  free  from  pleas  in  the  king's  courts 
of  justice;  that  their  tenants  in  Compton,  in  the  rape  of 
Pevensey,  are  bound  to  attend  the  hundred  of  Tottenore, 
and  to  come  to  a  view  of  frankpledge  twice  a  year ;  that  the 
Baron  of  Arundel  receives  an  amercement  for  crime ;  that 
their  tenants  in  the  vill  of  Lewes  pay  and  ought  to  rank 
with  the  men  of  the  said  vill  as  to  what  related  to  the 
crown."  The  jury  declared  the  Templars  to  have  usurped 
nothing  from  the  king,  but  they  add  that  "they  receive  under 
their  protection  men  who  are  not  their  tenants,  nor  hold  any- 
thing under  them,  nor  belong  to  their  fee,  and  that  they  accept 
yearly  payment  from  them  for  such  protection ;  which  men 
moreover  wear  the  cross  of  the  Templars  upon  their  tabards, 
and  pass  free  from  all  toll  through  the  kingdom  of  England, 
and  appropriate  other  houses  and  curtilages  upon  the  fees  of 
others,  not  their  own,  and  fix  up  crosses  upon  those  houses 
and  fees."  They  are  accordingly  prohibited  from  extending 
their  protection  to  others  than  their  own  men. — (Cotton.  MS. 
NeroE.  vi.  f.  165.) 

The  claim  of  privileges  immediately  follows,  in  the  MS. 
Chartulary,  the  report  of  a  trial  at  the  Chichester  assizes  re- 
pecting  some  land  at  Compton,  on  which  the  judges  declined 
to  adjudicate,  as  a  charter  of  Henry  III.  had  been  pleaded  by 
the  Templars,  and  the  case  was  remitted  to  the  king's  courts 
at  Westminster ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  gross 
abuse  of  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the  Templars  prevailed  in 
other  counties,  as  well  as  in  Sussex,  and  was  a  fraud  both 
upon  the  king  and  other  landowners.  A  remarkable  act  of 
Parliament  was  therefore  passed  in  1285  (Statute,  13  Edw.  I. 
cap.  33)  to  put  an  end  to  it. 

"  Inasmuch  as  many  tenants  erect  crosses,  or  permit  them 
to  be  erected,  in  their  tenements  to  the  prejudice  of  their 
lords,  in  order  that  the  tenants  may  be  able  to  defend  them- 
selves against  the  capital  lords  of  the  fees  by  the  privilege  of 
the  Templars  and  Hospitallers,  it  is  enacted  that  such  tene- 
ments shall  be  forfeited  {incurrantuf)  to  the  capital  lords  or  the 
king  in  the  same  manner  as  is  elsewhere  provided  concerning 
tenements  alienated  in  mortmain." 

Sadelescombe. — There  has  been  a  singular  confusion  with 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  233 

respect  to  the  locality  of  the  Preceptory  of  Sadelescombe, 
arising  from  there  being  two  places  of  similar  name  in  Sussex. 
The  one  is  a  parish  near  Battle,  in  the  rape  of  Hastings,  now 
called  Sedlescombe  or  Selscombe,  where  the  Preceptory  of  the 
Templars  has  been  erroneously  placed  ;  and  it  forms  a  curious 
perplexity,  that  it  appears  by  the  MS.  Pleas  of  the  King's 
Bench  (9  Hen.  III.  Mich.  rot.  18, wrongly  referred  to  as  rot.  28 
by  Tanner's  Notitia)  that  in  the  year  1225  the  advowson  of 
the  church  of  Sedlescombe  was  actually  claimed  by  the  Prior 
of  the  Hospital  of  Jerusalem.  The  verdict  of  the  jury  on  that 
occasion  confirmed  this  right,  inasmuch  as  the  last  persona 
ecclesie,  Roger,  who  had  become  a  monk  ^reddidit  se  religioni) 
at  Lewes  and  was  then  dead,  had  been  admitted  on  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  said  prior,  who  had  since  rightfully  presented 
John,  and  was  entitled  to  recover  the  presentation  against 
Robert  Basac. 

As  the  Hospitallers  afterwards  succeeded  to  the  possessions 
of  the  Templars  at  the  other  place,  Sadelescombe,  the  two 
Orders  and  their  property  seem  to  have  been  too  easily  looked 
upon  as  identical,  and  mistakes  grounded  upon  the  error  may  be 
observed  in  Dugdale's  Monasticon,  vi.  817  ;  Tanner's  Notitia, 
p.  562;  and  Horsneld's  History  of  Sussex,  pp.  180,  525. 
Mr.  Hussey,  in  his  Sussex  Churches,  p.  259,  rightly  conjectures 
the  true  locality,  but  misnames  "Jeffery  Lacy"  as  the  original 
benefactor,  and  makes  no  mention  of  the  private  chapels  at 
Sadelescombe  and  Shoreham. 

Sadelescombe  (four  miles  N.W.  from  Brighton),  where 
the  Preceptory  of  the  Templars  really  was  situated,  is  an 
extensive  manor  within  the  parishes  of  Newtimber,  Hurst, 
Twineham,  and  Bolney ;  and  it  can  be  indisputably  proved 
that  Geoflfry  cle  Say,  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, held  under  the  Earls  de  Warenne  this  manor  and  much 
other  land  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  continued  in  his 
family  to  the  time  of  Edward  II.  (Inquis.  p.  Mort.)  In  1295 
William  de  Say  held  the  manor  of  Westgrenewich  in  Kent  and 
the  manor  of  Hammes  in  Sussex.  In  1322  Geoffry  de  Say 
and  Idonea  his  wife  held  in  Sussex  the  manor  of  Hammes  Say 
and  the  enclosed  park  of  Cokfeud  (Cuckfield).  Among  the 
places  to  which  John  Earl  de  Warenne  made  his  memorable 
claim  bv  exhibiting  his  sword  in  1279  were  "Hammes,  Newe- 
ix.    "  30 


234  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

timbre,  Sadelescombe."  The  first  gift  made  "  to  the  Brothers 
of  the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,"  was  of  the  whole 
manor  of  West  Grenewiche  in  Kent ;  and  as  this  was  wit- 
nessed by  Roger  Fitz-Alan,  who  was  mayor  of  London  in  1213 
and  1214,  the  date  is  thus  fixed. 

A  few  years,  however,  after  the  death  of  Geoffry  in  1214, 
his  son,  of  the  same  name,  substituted  by  exchange  for  this 
gift  of  his  father  "  the  whole  manor  of  Sadelescombe,  with 
the  service  of  Matthew  de  Cumbe,"  to  be  held  by  the  Templars 
"  freely,  quietly,  and  wholly,  that  is,  in  wood  and  plain,  in 
meadows  and  pastures,  in  waters  and  mills,  in  pools,  fish- 
ponds and  fisheries,  in  roads  and  paths,  and  in  all  other  things 
and  places  which  belong  to  the  said  manor  of  Sadelescombe, 
without  any  service,  custom,  or  secular  exaction."  This  deed 
must  have  been  dated  between  1226  and  1230,  having  been 
witnessed  by  Peter  de  Rupibus,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Wil- 
liam Earl  of  Salisbury,  William  Earl  of  Arundel,  Earl  Alberic 
de  Vere,  William  Brigerre,  Peter  Eitz  -Herbert,  Robert  son  of 
the  Earl  Robert  de  Vere,  John  Fitz-Hugh,  John  de  Bassinge- 
burne,  Engelram  de  Say,  and  Master  Helyas  de  Suthwerke. 
In  October,  1230,  this  founder  of  the  Sussex  Preceptory  died 
in  Gascony,  well  fitted  by  a  life  of  honourable  enterprise 
(during  which  he  had  risked,  and  for  a  long  time  lost,  all  his 
possessions  as  one  of  the  twenty -five  Barons  of  Magna  Charta), 
to  know  and  esteem  the  Templars,  on  whom  he  bestowed  this 
manor  of  Sadelescombe.  His  sons  Geoffry  and  William,  each 
in  a  separate  charter,  confirmed  the  grant  before  the  same 
witnesses,  the  latter  explaining  that  he  did  so  at  the  request 
{ad  peticionem)  of  his  son  and  heir  Geoffry,  and  formally 
devoting  himself  {cum  corpore  meo),  perhaps  for  future  sepul- 
ture among  them,  to  the  warlike  brotherhood  (f.  265).  The 
charter  of  Geoffry  de  Say,  giving  the  manor  of  Sadelescombe, 
was  successfully  produced  in  court  at  Westminster,  "  a  month 
after  Easter,"  1237,  by  Stephen  de  Andern,  as  attorney  for 
"  Brother  Robert  de  Saunford,  Master  of  the  Soldiery  of  the 
Temple  in  England,"  and  acknowledged  as  valid  by  his 
grandson  and  heir,  William  de  Say,  on  receipt  of  40s.  fine 
(f.  269). 

As  these  and  many  other  documents  relating  to  the  Templars 
were  collected  and  arranged  in  1442,  by  Robert  Botill,  prior 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  235 

of  their  successors  the  Hospitallers,  and  are  now  among  the 
Cotton  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  where  they  are  marked 
Nero  E.  vi.,  it  will  be  sufficient  for  the  future  references  in 
the  present  memoir  to  indicate  only  the  pages  of  this  great 
Chartulary. 

As  the  land  was  within  the  feudal  territory  of  William  de 
Warenne,  the  fifth  Earl  of  Surrey,  his  sanction  to  this  gift  of 
"  the  vill  of  Saclelescombe  to  God,  the  Blessed  Mary,  and  the 
Brothers  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,"  was  not  only  duly  given 
in  the  presence  of  Nicholas  de  Kenet,  Osbert  GhTard,  Hugh 
de  Playz,  Ralph  de  Clive,  Michael  de  Punninghe,  William  de 
Stuteville,  William  de  Mortimer,  Adam  de  Kailly,  and  others, 
but  he  added  a  grant  of  his  own  of  40-5.  from  his  tolls  {de 
meo  ce?isu)  at  Lewes,  to  be  annually  paid  to  the  Templars  on 
the  feast  of  St.  Michael.  The  witnesses  to  this  gift,  dated  at 
Lewes,  were  Ralph  de  Warrenne,  Jordan  de  Bloseville,  Philip 
de  Cheney  {Querceto),  Hugh  de  Pierpoint,  and  a  brother  of 
the  Templars,  Acelyn  of  Roden  (f.  265).  W.  de  Warenne 
confirmed  also  to  the  Templars  the  messuage  of  William  de 
Abbendon  and  his  wife  Mabilla,  in  the  town  of  Lewes,  paying 
\2d.  rent;  and  after  they  had  ceased  to  hold  it,  Benedict  the 
cordwainer  took  it,  on  condition  of  not  alienating  it  in  any 
way.  Robert  de  Pierpoint,  then  seneschal,  Simon  de  Echyng- 
ham,  Richard  de  Cumbe,  W.  de  Mouncell,  and  the  Dean 
Geoff ry  of  the  Temple,  were  witnesses  (f.  266). 

An  establishment  thus  securely  based,  naturally  attracted 
additions  from  other  benefactors,  and  nearly  at  the  same  time 
Simon  le  Counte  {Simon  Comes),  "moved  by  divine  grace," 
gave  the  church  of  Suthwike  {Soutkwick,  near  Shoreham),  after 
the  death  of  his  brother  William,  in  the  presence  of  GeofTry 
Bishop  of  Ely  (1225-29),  Evrard,  chaplain  of  the  Abbess  of 
Barking,  the  Monk  Humfrey,  Simon  David  de  Midleton,  and 
others.  To  the  seal  of  John  le  Counte's  confirmatory  charter 
the  Bishop  of  Chichester  was  a  witness  (f.  265).  The  same 
Simon  le  Counte  also  gave  the  church  of  Wodemancote,  with 
all  its  appurtenances,  "  to  God  and  the  Brothers  of  the  Tem- 
ple," before  the  same  witnesses.  "  With  the  assent  of  William, 
the  parson  of  the  church  of  St.  Julian  of  Kyngeston,  he  gave 
to  his  kinsman  Robert,  clerk,  a  third  part  of  the  land  and 
of  the  sheaves  of  tithes  of   Suthwik,  Kyngeston,    Brambre- 


236  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

dene,  and  Broc,  in  a  deed  witnessed  by  (among  others)  John 
Tresgoz  and  his  brother  Henry,  Walter  de  Tresgoz,  Symon 
de  Middleton,  John  le  Counte  and  his  brother  Philip,  John  de 
Andringeton"  (f.  266). 

In  the  rape  of  Bramber,  Alan  Trenchemere,  "  for  the  souls 
of  himself,  of  his  father  and  mother,  and  of  all  his  friends 
living  and  dead,"  gave  to  the  Templars  some  land,  with  a 
saltpan  extending  from  the  door  of  his  house  at  Schorham  to 
the  sea.  The  witnesses  to  this  grant  were  Philip  de  Hastings, 
Richard  de  Hastings,  and  Jordan  his  esquire  {armigero  suo), 
William  Trenchemere,  and  others.  On  the  Templars  establish- 
ing a  private  chapel  here,  complaints  arose  from  the  foreign 
Abbot  of  Florent,  that  "  this  oratory,  constructed  within  the 
parish  of  his  church  at  Schorham,  which  is  situated  in  the 
port  of  the  sea,  was  contrary  to  his  privilege."  Inasmuch, 
however,  as  the  Pope  Alexander  III.  (1159-1181)  had  given 
to  the  Templars  full  license  to  build  and  maintain  a  church 
and  chantry  on  their  own  lands,  the  abbot  agreed  that  the 
chapel  should  be  upheld  where  it  was,  but  on  condition  that 
the  Templars  should  collect  no  tithes,  and  should  not  admit 
the  parishioners  to  the  daily  services  or  to  burial,  but  that, 
after  hearing  mass  in  their  own  parish  church,  they  were  per- 
mitted on  solemn  days  and  Sundays  to  resort  for  devotion  to 
the  chapel  to  hear  votive  masses  [missas  votivas),  while  pas- 
sengers and  strangers  only  were  allowed  to  make  voluntary 
oblations  there  (f.  151).  This  is  a  curious  instance  of  the 
jealousy  with  which  the  rights  of  the  Church  were  guarded 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  Temple. 

We  afterwards  find  in  an  indenture  {scripto  bipartite),  dated 
in  London,  at  Easter,  1253,  Rocelin  de  Foss,  Master  of  the 
Temple  in  England,  granting  a  lease  to  William  Bisshop  of 
Stanninges  and  Dionysia  his  wife,  for  their  lives,  of  the  mes- 
suage at  Schorham  held  by  Matilda  of  the  Temple,  at  the  rent 
of  20s.  a  year,  with  covenants  to  sustain  and  keep  in  repair 
the  houses  and  chapel  existing  there,  and  with  fines  at  their 
deaths.  To  this  deed  Hugh  Waldefare,  Philip  de  Holeburn, 
John  de  Beauchamp,  William  le  Mercer,  Finian  de  Schorham, 
John  de  Swele,  Peter  of  the  Wood,  and  others  were  witnesses 
(IT.  152,  266). 

One  of  the  Templars  here,  Alan  de  St.  George,  appears  to 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  237 

have  purchased  by  three  silver  marcs  the  freedom  of  Jocelin 
de  la  Westende  from  William  Earl  de  Warenne,  who,  how- 
ever, bound  him  to  continue  his  burgage  dues  in  Schorham 

(f.  267). 

After  the  transfer  of  this  property  to  the  Hospitallers,  we 
find  that,  from  some  unstated  motive,  they  soon  relinquished 
it.  On  February  10th,  1325,  "  Thomas  Larchier,  the  humble 
Prior  of  the  Holy  Hospital  of  Jerusalem,  with  the  assent  of 
his  Brothers,"  granted  in  their  chapter,  at  Clerkenwell,  near 
London,  "the  messuage  called  the  Temple  with  a  certain 
chapel  in  it,"  to  be  held  for  ever  by  "  the  Prior  and  Brothers 
of  the  Order  of  the  Blessed  Mary  of  Mount  Carmel  of  New 
Shorham,"  renouncing  all  manner  of  right  or  claim  to  it  in 
their  favour. 

The  next  benefactor  recorded  was  Walter  le  Wrenge,  who 
gave  "  to  God,  the  Blessed  Mary,  the  Master  and  Brothers  of 
the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  all  the  land  and  its 
appurtenances  which  he  formerly  held  in  Farncombe,  of  the 
parish   of  P  ogham"  (Patcham),  and  confirmed  the   gift  by 
his  seal,  before  the  witnesses,  Sir  Luke  de  Poyninges,  Sir 
Robert    de  Cokesfelde,   Henry   de  Wayvell,   John  de  Pier- 
pounde,  Andrew  de  Sonde, William  de  Perchinge,Walter  leFre, 
Robert  de  Cauteys,  Ralph  de  Wylecombe,  Adam  Wyghare, 
and  others  (f.  266) ;  and  the  same  persons  attested  another 
confirmatory    charter    as    to    this    "  land    in    Farncombe, 
near  Sadeliscombe"  (f.  267).     The  exact  description  of  the 
locality  in  these  deeds  is  quite  decisive,  and  it  must  have 
been  of  these  lands  that  a  lease  for  five  years  from  Michael- 
mas,  1272,   had   been  granted  by  Walter   de   Farncombe, 
probably  the    same   person  who,  after   giving  them  to  the 
Templars,    dropped   this   territorial  designation,  and   called 
himself  Walter  le  Wrenge.      The  lease  bound  the  tenant, 
Thomas  Belhoumme,  to  pay  annually  lOs.Sd.  "to  the  Pre- 
ceptor of  the  House  of  the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple  of  Sadelles- 
combe,"  and  to  the  lessor  5s.,  and  a  weekly  supply  of  half  a 
bushel  of  wheat  and  half  a  bushel  of  barley,  with  a  prohibition 
against  assigning  the  lease  to  any  monastic  house  or  to  Jews 
{domibus   religionum   et   Judceis) — Madox,   Formulare  Angl. 
p.  136.     One  apparently  of  the  same  family,  Pay  en  Wrenge, 
with  all  his  family  and  his  tenement  in  Dorkyng,  was  given  as 


238  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

"  his  native"  by  William  Earl  de  Warenne,  to  the  Templars, 
as  testified  by  Robert  de  Pierpoint,  then  Seneschal,  Simon  de 
Hechyngham,  Richard  de  Cumbe,  William  de  Moncell,  and 
others  (ff.  267,  154). 

In  Heghstede  (Isted),  in  the  parish  of  Bolne  [Bolney], 
Matthew  de  la  Cumbe  had  given  his  half  yardland  "  as  held 
of  the  manors  of  Sadeliscumbe  of  the  Templars,"  to  his  brother 
Richard,  who  renounced  all  his  right  in  favour  of  them.  To 
these  and  some  other  deeds  relating  to  this  land,  there  are 
witnesses,  whose  names  are  connected  with  Sussex  families 
and  localities ;  John  de  Pierpounde,  Richard  de  Benedfield, 
Richard  de  Sondikot,  Walter  de  Brandreth,  Matthew  de 
Epseleye,  Walter  and  Robert  le  Waps,  Walter  de  Radyng- 
dene,  Bartholemew  de  Bolnee,  William  de  la  Honiwode,  Hugh 
de  Heghstede,  Humfray  de  Gatewyk,  and  others.  Among 
other  deeds  is  one  of  Matthew  de  la  Cumbe  giving  freedom 
from  all  claims  of  villanage  {racione  nativitatis  aut  servitutis) 
to  his  tenant  Richard,  the  son  of  William  of  the  Court  of 
Heghestede  (ff.  267,  8,  9). 

All  the  above  documents  are  classed  in  the  Chartulary  under 
the  heading  of  "Prioi*atus  eccles — Sadelescomde/'  for  the  Pre- 
ceptories  of  the  Templars  became  priories  under  the  discipline 
of  the  Hospitallers.  There  is  one  extraordinary  instrument 
among  them,  which  appears  to  have  come  from  a  foreign  arch- 
bishop, in  which  the  Templars  (it  would  seem,  of  Sussex)  are 
advised  to  admit  a  married  lady  into  their  Order,  her  own 
husband  acting  as  the  messenger. 

"  Reception  of  Johanna  Chaldese  as  a  sister  of  the  Templars. 
To  the  very  dear  to  him  in  Christ,  S.  Master  of  the  Brothers 
of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  in  England,  Azo  Archbishop 
greeting  in  the  Lord.  Know  that  Johanna  the  wife  of  the 
bearer  of  this  present  letter,  Richard  de  Chaldese,  knight, 
who  by  the  grace  of  God  has  proposed  to  submit  herself  to 
the  yoke  of  the  rule  of  the  Temple,  although  worn  out  by  age 
{se  jugo  regule  Templi  subdere  p?vjjosuit  licet  confecta  senio), 
insomuch  that  no  sinister  suspicion  can  henceforth  arise 
concerning  her,  has  promised  in  the  presence  of  my  officers  to 
preserve  her  chastity,  and  has  promised  finally  that  she  shall 
submit  to  the  rule  of  the  Temple ;  wherefore  we,  desirous  of 
bearing  our  testimony  to  the  truth,  have  thought  it  right  to 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  239 

certify  this  to  you  with  my  letters  hanging  outside  {cum  Uteris 
meis  extra  pendentibui)" — f.  266. 

We  have  no  explanation  of  who  the  lady  was,  nor  where 
she  was  admitted  to  live  as  a  Templar. 

Upon  the  violent  seizure  of  Sadelescombe  by  King  Edward 
the  Second,  a  valuation  was  made  of  the  property  by  the  King's 
orders.  This  took  place  on  the  spot  before  Walter  de  Ged- 
dynge,  sheriff  of  Sussex,  on  the  Sunday  before  the  feast  of  St. 
Valentine,  February,  130S.  The  jury  were  John  de  Dene,  John 
le  Post,  Andrew  de  Sonde,  Adam  le  Fraunk,  Robert  de  Hales, 
Robert  Santys,  Paulin  de  Nitimber,  Walter  le  Shepherd, 
John  Sieth,  John  Scrace,  William  de  Risbrigge,  and  Walter 
Tenereday ;  who  on  their  oaths  made  a  return  that  the  Tem- 
plars had  on  last  Christmas  Day  at  Sadelescombe  a  messuage, 
with  a  curtilage  and  garden,  valued  at  5s.  a  year ;  163^  acres 
and  1  rood  of  arable  land,  valued  at  4d.  an  acre,  sum  54s.  Id.; 
9  acres  arable  land,  valued  at  Id.,  sum  9d.  ;  sheep  pasture, 
worth  20s.;  a  windmill,  worth  13s.  4>d. ;  other  property  at 
Hechstecl  in  the  vill  of  Bolne,  at  Blakefeld  in  the  vill  of  Bale- 
combe,  belonging  to  Sadelescombe,  all  held  by  them  from  the 
ancestors  of  GeofFry  de  Say  and  of  Earl  Warenne  in  fee ;  a 
messuage  at  New  Rchorham  luith  chapel;  a  messuage  at  Lewes ; 
the  said  Brothers  also  had  at  Farnecombe  in  the  vittof  Pecham, 
15  acres.  "  The  total  of  the  annual  value  of  the  above-named 
was  £20.  5s.  §\d.,  and  no  more."  All  was  then  in  the  hands 
of  the  King  (f.  272).  At  the  same  time  the  manor  of  Sade- 
lescombe was  reported  as  of  £23. 13s.  %\d.  annual  value,  com- 
prising a  hall  (una  aula),  two  granges,  an  oxshed,  a  stable,  a 
cowshed,  a  garden,  a  pipe  of  cider  price  4s.,  herbage  3s.  M. 

When  the  King's  purposes  of  confiscation  became  more 
developed,  he  sent  down,  a  few  months  later,  two  commis- 
sioners, John  de  Foxlee  and  William  Merre,  to  collect  more 
detailed  reports  of  the  value,  certified  by  juries.  The  inquiry 
was  held  at  Horsham  on  Thursday,  the  feast  of  the  Beheading 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  (August  29,  1308);  and  perhaps  the 
choice  of  the  day,  hitherto  kept  by  the  Templars  in  honour  of 
their  patron  saint,  had  a  peculiar  omen  and  significance.  The 
unusual  number  of  twenty-one  jurymen  (among  whom  are 
John  Ottehale,  Philip  de  Heyworth,  John  atte  Helegrove, 
Ralph  de  Sugge worth,  Walter  de  Brenteregge)  appear  on  the 


240  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

record,   and  report   the   Templars   as    having   possessed    at 
Sadelescombe  170  acres  of  arable  land  at  6d.  per  acre  annual 
value,  6  acres  meadow  at  ISd.,  pasture  for  16  oxen  valued 
at  12d.  each,  for  300  ewes  at  2d.,  for  100  hoggets  at  Id.,  and 
for  150  lambs  at   Id.,  as  well  as  common   pasture  for  200 
sheep  in  the  manor,  valued  at  id.  each.     The  record  then 
enumerates  the  free  tenants  of  sundry  messuages :  at  Shore- 
ham  valued  at  20s.,  and  suit  of  court  I2d.;  at  Lewes  at  I2d.; 
and  at  Heghstede  altogether  rated  at  79s.  Id.     The  customary 
dues    {custumarid)    are    detailed,   such    as   "Robert   Sewyne 
holds  a  messuage  and  half  a  yardland  valued  at  lid.,  and 
renders   2  bushels  of  salt  4<d.,  and  he  owes  work  for  three 
days  a  week,  except  during  four  weeks  in  autumn,  each  work 
valued  at  Id. ;  he  must  plough  one  acre,  valued  at  6d. ;  and 
find  an  ox  to  draw  his  lord's  timber  five  times  a  year."      The 
total  value  of  these  and  other  similar  services  is  put  at  101s. 
a  year.     Among  the  tenants  of  cottages,  which  vary  from 
lOd.  to  2s.  a  year,  amounting  in  all  to  9s.  3d.,  is  one  bound 
to  work  two  days  a  week,  except  four  weeks  in  autumn,  his 
work  reckoned  at  Id.  a  day.    A  valuation  is  then  given  of  the 
live  and  dead  stock,  and  household  furniture  of  the  Templars 
at  Sadelescombe : — 

36  qrs.  6  b.  barley  at  4s.  per  quarter,  10  qrs.  oats  at  2s.,  hay 
6s.  8d.,  a  horse  10s.,  12  oxen  at  12s.  each,  4  bullocks  at  8s. 
each,  163  sheep  at  \8d.,  357  ewes  at  14^.,  125  hoggets  at  10^. 

Two  casks  and  1  pipe  of  cider  at  9s.  the  cask,  a  lead  6s., 
2  brass  pots  10s.,  2  pipkins  I2d.,  2  dishes  3s.,  a  basin  10^.,  i 
1  crater  3d.,  1  tripod  and  1  andiron  6d.,  1  chest  12^.,  3  tables 
with  trestles,  and  1  form  and  1  chair  2s.,  1  hempen  towel, 

1  handwiper  (manutergd)  12d.,   1  mazer  cup  2s.,   3  empty  i 
casks,  3  barrels  3s.,  4  vats  and  1  tub  and  2  kneading-troughs 
(alveas  ad pistrinam)  3s.,  1  sieve  Id.,  1  mortar  and  mustard-  I 
mortar  Id.,  1  axe,  2  shovels,  2  spades  10^.,  1  iron  firefork  I 
{furcamferream  ad  ignem)  Id.,  1  kettle  I8d.,  1  tub  for  chop- 
ping malt  {her am  pro  brasia  sectandd)  3d.,  2  winnows  2s., 

2  sacks  and  2  choppers  and  4  sieves  and  1  riddle  8d.,  1 
bushel  and  1J  bushel  6d.,  2  ploughs  with  coulter  and  share 
and  other  apparatus  4s.,  3  harrows  3d.,  2  waggons  3s.,  2 
ladders  6d.,  1  cinder-wheel  {ciner ,  rotat)  2d.,  2  dung  forks 
and  2  sheaf  forks  2d.,  40  hurdles  20</.,  6  wattles  for  sheep  2s. 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  241 

utensils  for  dairy  (uteris  ad  day  her)  6d.,  3  ganders  and  geese 
3s.,  8  capons  ~\8d.,  2  cocks  and  12  hens  20d.,  6  pieces  of 
bacon  at  lOd.  each,  2  pieces  of  timber  2s. 

There  were  also  35  acres  sown  at  6s.  per  acre,  valued  at 
£10.  10s. 

The  above  catalogue  represents  the  occupation  of  the 
Templars  as  farmers  and  housekeepers,  with  no  approach  to 
luxury.  The  following  articles  belonged  to  their  chapel  at 
Sadelescombe ;  and  they  seem  always  to  have  carefully  pro- 
vided for  divine  service  in  their  private  chapels,  wherever  they 
had  property,  even  where  it  was  so  small  as  at  Shoreham  : — 

1  cup  10s.,  2  pair  of  vestments  6s.  Sd.,  1  missal  20s.,  1 
temporal  and  sanctorum  10s.,  2  handwipers  and  1  tin  vial 
(fol  de  stac/no)  (id.,  1  Salter  (sic)  12d.,  1  tin  buckett  (sic)  for 
holy  water  Id. 

The  jurors  reported  the  total  value  of  the  manor  of  Sadeles- 
combe as  £20.  Ibd. 

The  total  value  of  all  the  goods  found  there  as  £75. 10s.  Id. 
—Add.  MSS.  6165. 

There  were  other  benefactions  in  East  Sussex  which  the 
Templars  enjoyed,  and  which  seem  to  have  been  managed  by 
the  Preceptor  of  Sadelescombe. 

On  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  1279,  Ralph,  son  of  Richard 
Brahecope  of  Compton,  on  the  death  of  his  ancestor,  acknow- 
ledged the  right  of  the  Templars  to  87^  acres  of  land  in 
Compton,  in  the  parish  of  Eerles,  before  the  King's  Justices 
|  Itinerant  at  Chichester,  and  with  the  Lords,  William  Maufe, 
William  de  Echingham,  Robert  Lyueth,  Knights,  W.  Daus, 
W.  de  Compton,  as  witnesses  (f.  164). 

Theobald  de  Englescheville,  having  received  the  manor  of 
1  Compton,  worth  100s.  a  year,  in  the  hundred  of  Tottenore, 
I  from  King  Henry  III.,  "  his  eschaet  from  the  lands  of  the  Nor- 
|  mans,"  had  given  it  to  the  Brothers  of  the  Temple;  a  transfer 
which,  a  jury  in  aftertimes  intimated,  was  made  without  any 
I  authority  known  to  them  (nesciunt  quo  warranto)  (f.  166). 

This  grant  was  disputed  at  the  assizes  held  by  John  de 

,  Reygate,  at  Chichester,  on  the  morrow  of  the  feast  of  St.  John 

I  the  Baptist,  1279.      Roger  the  son  of  Gilbert  de  Compton 

;  sued  the  Templars  respecting  a  virgate  and  half  of  land,  of 

which  he  asserted  that  his  own  grandfather  Jordan  had  seizin, 

ix.  31 


242  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

and  that  the  Templars  never  had  seizin.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  defendants  pleaded  that  Theobald  Englescheville  had  in 
fact  seized  Robert  de  Saunford,  Master  of  the  Temple,  and 
the  Brothers  of  the  Temple,  in  this  fee,  and  they  produced  in 
court  a  copy,  certified  by  the  King  Edward  I.  (Windsor, 
Nov.  2,  1279),  of  the  grant  enrolled  in  Chancery,  by  which 
King  Henry  III.  had  given  (Windsor,  May  16,  1247),  to 
Theobald  de  Englescheville,  the  manor  of  Tinewyk,  and  all 
the  land  held  by  Luke,  son  of  John  in  Appetreford,  in  the 
parish  of  Hambton,  and  all  his  land  in  the  parish  of  Ferles, 
on  the  tenure  of  presenting  the  King  and  his  heirs  for  ever,  a 
pair  of  gold  shoes  at  the  sacrament  at  Easter,  every  year,  in 
lieu  of  all  service  (f.  ]  64).  It  was  upon  the  production  of 
this  royal  grant,  that  the  justices  referred  it  to  the  courts  at 
Westminster,  and  the  elaborate  claim  of  privileges,  already 
detailed,  was  made. 

It  was  not  long  after  taking  Compton  into  the  King's  hands, 
that  the  Sheriff  of  Sussex,  Walter  de  Gedding,  summoned  a 
jury  to  ascertain  its  yearly  value.  On  the  Tuesday  after 
St.  Valentine's  feast,  February,  1308,  Osbert  Giffard,  Simon 
de  Warbelton,  Richard  de  Seles,  Thomas  de  Sheryngton,  and 
others,  jurymen,  reported  that  the  Templars  held  on  the  pre- 
ceding Christmas  in  Compton,  a  messuage,  with  garden  and 
curtilage,  valued  at  3s.  a  year ;  73J  acres  1  rood  arable  land, 
described  as  lying  between  the  messuage  and  the  hill,  worth 
I2d.  an  acre ;  6  acres  at  3d.,  5^  acres  at  Id.,  pasture  for  oxen 
at  5s.,  and  for  sheep  25s.,  rent  from  free  tenants  10s.  l\d., 
amounting  to  a  total  of  £6.  8s.  They  recorded  the  origin  of 
the  title  from  the  gift  of  Henry  III.,  and  that  the  Templars 
had  been  bound  in  consequence  to  support  a  chaplain  to  cele- 
brate divine  service,  and  to  pray  for  the  souls  of  King  Henry, 
Queen  Alianora,  and  their  benefactor  Theobald  Englechville' 
m  a  certain  chapel  on  the  lands ;  which  the  Templars  had 
fulfilled,  and  done  at  Sadlescombe  (f.  164). 

As  in  the  case  of  Sadelescombe,  a  similar  but  more  de- 
tailed valuation  was  taken  a  few  months  later,  before  the 
King's  Commissioners  at  Horsham,  August  30,  1308  {Add 
MSS.  6165,  p.  355.)  Robert  le  Husiere,  Osbert  Giffard' 
Henry  Gilebert,  Walter  Colekyn,  Robert  de  Birche,  Nicholas 
Garlaunde,  Thomas  le  Heye,  John  de  Gissyngham,  Hamo  le 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  243 

Neem,  Simon  de  Seldemerse,  Richard  atte  Delve,  and  Reginald 
de  Compton,  were  sworn  as  the  jury,  as  to  what  the  Templars 
held  in  the  hundred  of  Tottenore,  in  the  rape  of  Pevensey. 
The  free  tenants  named  are  Gilbert  Copedrage,  rendering 
10s. ;  and  Osbert  Giffard,  who  appears  as  juryman  on  both 
occasions,  paying  1  lb.  of  pepper,  price  I2d.:  these  tenants  and 
Simon  de  Warbelton  owed  suit  to  the  court  of  Compton. 

In  the  live  and  dead  stock,  the  barley  is  valued  at  4s.  a 
quarter,  oats  at  2s.,  beans  at  3s.  4d.,  peas  at  2s.  Sd.,  vetches 
at  2s.  Sd.  On  the  land  sown  with  wheat,  the  growing  crop 
(vestura)  was  estimated  at  5s.  per  acre. 

There  were  2  draught  horses  20s. ;  13  oxen,  4  bullocks,  at 
6s.  Sd.  each;  297  sheep  at  I6d.  each;  2  ploughs,  2  waggons 
out  of  repair  2s. ;  26  hurdles  for  the  fold  ISd.,  2  wattles  for 
the  sheep  Sd.,  and  some  others  implements  for  agriculture. 

The  same  jury  also  returned  the  value  of  what  the  Templars 
had  possessed  in  the  hundred  of  Langebrugge  at  Berewyk. 
Brunnyng  Randolph  and  six  other  tenants  held  each  a  mes- 
suage there  with  a  rood  of  land,  paying  5s.  a  year,  and  suit 
of  court  valued  at  6d. — "  Total  rent  of  Berewyk  40s.,  and  16 
hens  worth  2s." 

Total  of  the  portion  of  the  Temple  in  Compton  and  Berewyk, 
£8.  15s.  %±d. 

Total  of  the  value  of  all  goods  found  in  Compton, 
£57.  14s.  0±d. 

There  was  also  a  separate  valuation  taken  at  Berewyk  on 
the  Tuesday  after  the  feast  of  St.  Valentine  (Feb.  1308),  on 
the  oaths  of  Osbert  GifFord,  Simon  de  Warbeleton,  Richard 
de  Seles,  Gilbert  Copedragh,  Thomas  de  Sheryngton,  and 
others.  The  property  of  the  Templars  at  Berewyk  was  recog- 
nised as  having  been  the  gift  of  Walter  Fitz-Geffrey,  and 
valued  at  46s.  lid.  a  year  (f.  151). 

The  Hospitallers,  when  recording  in  1485  the  former  pos- 
sessions of  the  Templars,  enumerate  Sadelescombe  under 
the  head  of  the  Preceptory  of  Cressing  Temple,  in  Essex 
(Monast.  vi.  834) ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  the  whole  dis- 
trict was  under  such  superintendence  for  the  purposes  of  visi- 
tation. Its  subsequent  history  has  been  so  much  misrepresented 
by  various  authors,  that  it  may  be  well  to  continue  it  onwards 
on  the  authority  of  the  documents  in  the  Chartulary. 


244  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

The  account  rendered  by  the  King's  officer,  Henry  Cob- 
ham  junior,  of  the  receipts  from  the  manor  of  Sadelescombe 
during  the  year  1312-13,  shows  that  he  had  received 
£4  15*.  8d.  from  it,  with  the  "  hameletts"  Heghsted,  Shorham 
and  Lewes  ;  30*.  from  the  mill  and  some  land ;  £12  4*  Z\d 
from  barley,  oats,  sheep,  wool,  hoggets'  skins,  and  garden  ;  and 
kA.  15*.  from  the  customary  labour;  and  that  on  the  other 
hand  he  had  paid  to  a  chaplain  for  divine  service  in  the 
chapel  of  the  manor  at  Sadelescombe,  to  pray  for  the  souls  of 
the  benefactors,  40*.,  as  the  Templars  used.  The  manor  and 
all  the  chattels  were  then,  by  the  direction  of  the  King's  writ 
(Westminster,  Nov.  28th,  1313),  given  up  to  Albert,  Grand 
Master  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  and  to 
Leonard  de  Tybertis,  Prior  of  the  same  (f.  271). 

John  Earl  de  Warenne,  within  whose  feudal  territory  the 
manor  was  situated,  took  the  opportunity  of  deriving  advan- 
tage from  this  transfer;  and  accordingly  he  came  forward  to 
claim  again  as  a  founder,  not  willing  to  see  his  grants  disposed 
of  to  others  without  his  assent.  It  is  certain  that  he  contrived 
to  keep  he  proceeds  of  Sadelescombe  for  his  own  benefit,  or 
that  of  his  family,  though  a  legal  transfer  of  it  had  been 
effected  by  Parliament.  Even  in  1338  the  records  of  the 
Hospitallers  denote,  that  among  the  property  of  the  Templars 
not  delivered  into  their  hands  was  "the  manor  of  Sadeles- 
SSft  °c™V*i  ^  the  Earl  Warenn,  worth  100  marcs 
(LQ6.  8*)  a  year  (p.  213,  in  the  Rev.  L.  B.  Larking's  inte- 
resting Knyhh  Hospitallers,  lately  published  bv  the  Camden 

J  ?'7w  6arlhad  then  als0  quartereahis  illegitimate  son, 
Sir  John  de  Warenne,  upon  them:  "to  brother  John  de  Warenn 

of^il1  TSi^d^rSSarieS'  ^  °rder  ^rpreceptum) 
of  his  father,  Earl  de  Warenn,  5  marcs  a  year  more  than  the 
other  brothers  receive  "  (pp.  29,  208,  in  the  same  work) 

On  February  23,  1326,  an  indenture,  the  earliest  French 
document  m  the  Chartulary,  was  sealed  at  London  b  tween 
the  Earl  and  the  Prior  of  the  Hospitallers,  "pur  le  manoir 
de  Sadelescombe,"  in  which  he  r ecites  his  grant  of aU  That 
belonged  to  the  Templars  to  Thomas  de  Nerford  (his  second 
son  by  Matilda  de  Nerford),  who  had  sublet  I  to  JohTcle 
±5rewose  In  consequence  of  the  statute  (17th  Edward  II ) 
giving  all  possessions  «  que  jadis  furent  au  Maitre  et  freres  de 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  245 

l'Ordre  de  Chivalerie  du  Temple  en  Angleterre"  to  the  Hos- 
pitallers, in  order  to  be  free  from  all  suits,  a  payment  of  £200  is 
agreed  to  be  made  on  the  next  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 
(f.  270). 

The  object  of  the  earl  was  to  secure  a  profitable  interest  to 
his  son  ;  and,  although  the  manor  was  acknowledged  to  be  the 
right  of  the  hospital,  yet  it  seems  to  have  been  understood 
that  the  earl's  son  should  be  admitted  as  tenant  on  very  easy 
terms.  A  grant  of  the  manor  of  Sadelescombe  was  made  by 
Philip  cle  Thame,  prior  of  the  hospital  at  Clerkenwell,  on  the 
Thursday  before  the  Feast  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  1342,  "  to 
the  noble  man  Thomas  Nerford,  Knight,  and  the  Lady  Alicia 
his  wife,  for  all  their  lives,  on  the  service  of  rendering  one  rose 
flower  to  the  prior  annually  on  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist." The  witnesses  to  this  were,  John  de  Ifeld,  Andrew 
Peverell,  Roger  Leukenor,  Hugh  de  Baucy,  Knights  ;  Thomas 
de  Weyvill,  Nigell  de  Broc,  and  John  de  Vilers.  Another 
deed  of  the  same  date  appoints  persons  to  give  seizin  of  the 
manor,  and  all  the  goods  and  chattels  in  the  manor,  to  the 
grantees  (f.  269). 

Thomas  de  Nerford,  his  wife  Alicia,  and  their  son  William, 
received  also  in  the  following  year,  1343,  other  lands  at 
Farncombe  in  the  vill  of  Peccham  (Patcham)  from  W.  de 
Sadelescombe,  who  had  acquired  them  from  Walter  de  Pec- 
cham, late  parson  of  the  church  of  Terrynge.  This  appears  to 
have  also  been  the  property  of  the  Templars ;  and  the  grant 
was  dated  at  Sadelescombe  before  witnesses,  John  Pierpoient, 
Richard  Ladman,  John  Vilers,  Walter  Pakyn,  Walter  de  Erlee, 
Robert  Pepelon,  and  others  (f.  270). 

The  Inq.  p.  Mort.  1344,  shows  Thomas  de  Nerford,  Chivaler, 
died  seized  of  the  manor;  and  in  that  dated  1397-8,  Richard 
Earl  of  Arundel  is  found  to  have  died  seized  of  it  in  1393;  on 
whose  execution  it  fell  into  the  King's  hands. 

The  next  document,  "  an  Inquest  taken  for  the  manor  of 
Sadelescombe,"  records  the  grant  of  Philip  de  Thame,  and  the 
death  of  Thomas  de  Nerford,  and  afterwards  that  of  Alicia,  who 
had  granted  the  manor  to  Richard,  the  late  Earl  of  Arundel, 
who  had  held  it  at  the  will  of  John  de  Radyngton,  the  late 
prior,  and  of  Walter  Grendon,  then  prior;  and  the  earl  having 
no  other  right,  the  manor  by  his  forfeiture  is  declared  to  be  the 


246  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

right  of  the  Hospital.  In  pursuance  of  this  the  King  directed 
John  Brook,  his  eschaetor  in  Sussex,  to  restore  to  theHospital 
what  had  been  forfeited  by  the  earl,  Westminster,  May  11, 
1397  (f  270);  and  in  the  possession,  therefore,  of  the  Hospi- 
tallers it  remained  until  the  general  suppression  of  that  Order. 

There  is  no  allusion  in  the  Nonce  to  the  Hospitallers  having 
any  property  in  "  Nytymbre." 

The  only  trace  of  any  additional  gifts  to  the  Hospitallers  is 
a  small  one  of  a  virgate  of  land  in  Burewadescote  {Burivash  ?) 
granted  by  Gilbert  Marshal  in  the  presence  of  John  de  Has- 
tinges  and  others  (f.  270). 

After  thus  detailing  the  history  of  the  Sadelescombe  Pre- 
ceptory,  we  may  turn  to  West  Sussex,  where  we  shall  find  the 
Preceptory  of  Shipley — or,  as  it  was  variously  spelt,  Scaplei, 
Chapeley,  Schapeley,  Eschepelei — of  much  earlier  date,  and 
endowed  with  greater  benefactions.  We  may  trace  the  sources 
and  particulars  of  its  property,  and  may  afterwards  follow  with 
interest  the  sad  story  of  the  suppression  of  the  Order,  and,  as 
far  as  the  contemporary  annals  enable  us,  may  exemplify  it  by 
the  individual  fate  of  the  last  Preceptor  of  Shipley. 

Being  situated  within  the  feudal  territory  of  William  de 
Braose,  his  confirmation  of  any  gift  to  a  religious  order  was 
necessary ;  and  in  his  deed  we  have  the  narrative  that  Richard 
de  Harcourt — who  had  received  the  vill  and  church  of  Hes- 
chapelia  from  William's  father,  Philip  de  Braose  (paternal 
uncle  of  Richard  and  Philip  de  Harcourt),  in  exchange  for 
Washington,  which  appears  as  the  domain  of  William  de 
Braose  in  Domesday — had  given  them  to  his  brother  Philip 
de  Harcourt,  Dean  of  Lincoln,  and  that  Philip  had  freely  given 
them  to  the  Templars. 

The  grant  of  Philip  de  Harcourt  runs  thus: — "Moved  by 
the  words  of  the  Gospel,  '  Give  unto  Caesar  what  are  Caesar's, 
and  unto  God  what  are  God's,'  and  excited  by  the  grace  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  I  give  and  grant  to  God,  and  to  the  Blessed 
Mary,  and  to  the  Soldiers  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  for  ever, 
in  perpetual  alms,  a  certain  portion  of  the  earthly  lands  which 
God  has  granted  me  to  possess  in  this  world,  namely,  the 
land  of  Heschapelia,  with  all  its  appurtenances,  and  the  church 
of  the  said  vill." 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  247 

To  the  deeds  of  gift  and  confirmation  (which  must  have 
jbeen  made  between  a.d.  1125-30)  the  same  witnesses  appear : 

| Hugh  de  Combe,  Norman  de  Combe,  Simon  le  Counte, 

(Nicholas,  and  William  Bernehus,  and  Tristin,  a  Brother  of  the 
Temple  (p.  148).  Pope  Honorius  II.  (Dec.  21, 1124— Feb.  14, 
11130)  having  ascertained  that  the  diocesan  bishop  had  agreed 
to  this  grant,  certified  to  the  Master  and  Brothers  of  theTemple 
I  their  canonical  and  oeaceful  possession  of  the  church  and  vill 
of  Shepeleia  (f.  148)1  . 

The  pious  and  generous  founder  of  Shipley,  Philip  de  Har- 
'  court,  was  a  member  of  an  ancient  Norman  family.    His  grand- 
i  father  had  assumed  the  name  of  Harcourt,  and  his  father, 
Robert  le  Fort,  had  built  the  castle,  which  still  in  its  ruins 
i  bears  his  name.     His  elder  brother  Richard,  Sire  de  Renne- 
ville,  was  himself  a  Templar,  and  inl  150  founded  a  preceptory 
',  on  his  estate,  where  he  was  buried.   {Did.  de  la  Noblesse,  par 
M.  de  la  Chenaye  Desbois,  4to,  1770-8.)     By  his  faithful 
adherence  to  Henry  II.,  both  when  Duke  of  Normandy  and 
afterwards  as  King,  Philip's  name  is  found  frequently  associated 
in  the  same  documents  with  that  of  his  sovereign,  and  in  1146 
with  that  of  the  Empress  Maud.  {Rot.  Scacc.  Norm.  n.  lxx.) 
I  He  was  the  third  son  of  Robert  de  Harcourt  and  Coleta 
d'Argouges,  and  continued  Dean  of  Lincoln  several  years  after 
the  g°rant  of  Shipley,  as  well  as  being  Archdeacon  of  Evreux. 
On  the  death  of  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury  (December,  11 39), 
Henry  endeavoured,  without  success,  to  make  Philip  his  suc- 
:  cessor  in  that  see ;  but  shortly  afterwards  his  influence  pre- 
1  vailed  in  obtaining  for  him  the  bishopric  of  Bayeux,  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Bishop  Richard  (a  baseborn  son  of  Robert 
Earl  of  Gloucester),  April  3,  1142.     He  went  to  Rome  m 
1144  for  the  Papal  sanction,  and  was  present  at  the  coro- 
nation of  his  friend  Henrv  II.  at  Westminster,  in  1154,  and  at 
the  translation  of  the  bodies  of  the  Dukes  Richard  I.  and  II 
at  Fescamp,  in  1162.     We  shall  presently  see  his  grant  of 
Sumpting  church,  in  1156,  to  the  Templars  ;  and  his  liberality 
was  also  great  to  many  Norman  monasteries,  and  to  his  own 
cathedral  of  Bayeux,  where  he  founded  three  prebends,  and 
which  he  began,  in  1155,  to  rebuild,  after  a  destructive  fire. 
{Gallia    Christiana,    folio    173  5,    t.    xi.    page    360.)       His 
niece  Beatrice  having,  bv  some  tragical  event  not  explained 


248  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

to  us  by  chroniclers,  been  killed  by  a  nephew  of  Philip 
de  Colombieres,  the  bishop  exacted,  as  a  compensation,  a 
liberal  gift  to  the  Abbey  of  Plessis  by  Philip's  brother, 
Roger  Bacon,  chevalier,  who  held  a  fief  near  Bayeux,  before 
he  allowed  Philip  to  make  his  peace  in  the  presence  of  the 
King.  On  the  same  occasion  he  compelled  Philip  to  return 
some  church  property  that  he  had  taken.  One  of  the  strangest 
incidents  of  his  candidature  for  the  bishopric  of  Salisbury, 
appeared  some  years  later;  when,  either  by  compulsion  of  law, 
or  by  motives  of  conscience,  he  publicly  restored  to  Jocelin, 
the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  "  an  arm  covered  with  golden  plates, 
and  adorned  with  precious  stones,  carried  away  from  the 
treasury  at  Sarum,  and  paid  him  10  marcs;  and  so  the  dis- 
pute between  them  entirely  ceased."  This  was  certified  by 
Hugh,  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  at  Rheims,  in  the  presence 
of  the  precentor  and  two  archdeacons  of  each  see,  and  com- 
municated to  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York. 
(D'Anisy's  Archives  du  Calvados,  ii.  pp.  153,  441,  and  477.) 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  was  some  sainted  relic : 
respecting  the  acquisition  of  such  articles  a  peculiar  morality 
was  often  prevalent.  After  an  active  life,  he  died  February 
1163,  and  was  buried  on  the  north  side  of  the  entrance  of 
his  own  cathedral  of  Bayeux. 

Returning  from  this  biographical  digression  on  the  import- 
ant founder  of  Shipley  Preceptory,  who  has  hitherto  been 
nearly  unnoticed  in  local  history,  the  account  of  its  subse- 
quent fortunes  may  be  continued. 

There  were  conflicting  claims  put  forward  by  the  neigh- 
bouring monks  of  Sele,  which  it  was  necessary  for  the  Tem- 
plars to  compromise  in  order  to  enjoy  peaceable  possession  of 
Shipley  ;  but  in  the  year  1181,  William  de  Braose,  in  person, 
arranged  terms  between  the  Temple  and  Sele.  The  latter 
yielded  to  the  Temple  all  the  tithes  and  assarts  at  Cnapp,  in 
the  parish  of  Shepeley,  beyond  the  river  towards  the  north, 
and  received  as  their  portion  the  tithes  of  the  ancient  demesne 
of  Shepeley,  and  of  Richard  the  Huntsman,  which  they  held 
of  old,  and  4s.  customary  rent  from  the  church  of  Shepeley. 
This  agreement  was  witnessed  at  the  time  by  Laurence,  the 
prior  of  Sele,  and  the  Brother  William  de  Matenvill,  before 
Philip  de  Braose,  William's  brother,  Philip  son  of  William, 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  249 

i  Roger  dc  Braose,  William  clc  Weston,  Hugh  son  of  Buci, 
Robert  tie  Smiting,  Robert  chaplain  of  Sele,  and  others 
(f.  148).  It  was  also  agreed,  in  pursuance  of  a  letter  from 
f  Pope  Gregory  VIII.  (Nov.  8,  1187)  to  the  prior  of  Merton, 
the  dean  and  archdeacon  of  St.  Paul's,  London,  and  others, 
1  that  if  any  monk  of  Sele  should  perform  divine  service  in 
the  chapel  dc  la  Cnappe,  he  should  pay  all  obventions  to 
the  church  of  Shipley,  and  receive  from  the  Preceptor  of  the 
Templars  a  free  remuneration ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Temple  agreed,  for  the  love  of  peace,  to  pay  to  Sele  Gs.  a  year 
on  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  in  the  house  of  the 
Temple  at  Shipley,  or  on  the  morrow  at  Sele  (f.  148). 

William  dc  Braose,  in  another  deed,  confirmed  the  grant 
of  five  acres  in  front  of  the  port  of  Brembre,  given  to  the 
Temple  by  his  mother  Anor,  from  her  dower,  for  the  soul  of 
her  husband  Philip ;  and  Henry  de  Harecourt  was  a  witness 
to  this  deed  (f.  149). 

On  a  complaint  of  the  Templars  that  the  rector  of  West- 
grenestede  had  unjustly  deprived  the  church  of  Shipley  of 
tithes,  the  Pope,  Boniface  VIII.,  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century  authorised  the  Prior  of  Lewes  to  hear  and  determine 
the  controversy  (f.  149). 

Another  dispute  having  arisen  as  to  the  boundaries  of  the 
parishes  of  Shipley  and  Horsham,  an  amicable  agreement  was 
made  on  the  vigil  of  St.  Michael,  a.d.  1247,  between  Robert 
de  Samford,  Master  of  the  Temple  in  England,  and  the  Bro- 
thers of  the  Temple  at  Shepeley,  on  one  part,  and  Alicia  de 
Bissepeston,  then  prioress  of  Rusper,  and  her  fellow-nuns,  on 
the  other  part,  in  the  presence  of  Brother  John  de  ITamedon, 
then  preceptor  of  Shepeley,  and  Brother  William  the  chaplain, 
Philip  dean  of  Storketon,  Robert  vicar  of  Horsham,  Reginald 
de  Hegton,  Godfrey  de  Horsham,  and  many  others.  From 
the  north  of  the  hedge  dividing  the  lands  and  tenements  of 
the  Temple  and  the  wood  of  W.  de  Breuse  of  Crochurste,  as 
far  as  the  land  of  William  de  Essington,  called  Twinham,  was 
to  remain  to  Horsham,  and  all  south  to  Shipley ;  sealed  by 
Sir  Robert  vicar  of  Horsham,  Sir  Robert  priest  vicar  of  Won- 
ham,  Stephen  de  Fishebourne,  and  others  (f.  149). 

We  learn  the  name  of  another  preceptor  of  Shipley,  Richard 
Aranch  {AvrancJtc,  or  perhaps  Argcnccs^  a  Norman  family  near 

ix.  32 


250  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

Lisieux),  in  a  deed  dated  "  in  the  year  next  after  the  feast  of 
St.  Michael  after  the  death  of  Ralph  (de  Warham)  Bishop  of 
Chichester"  (who  died  Sept.  14, 1222),  agreeing  to  a  lease  for 
five  years  of  all  the  land  of  the  Templars  at  Seleborne,  for  40s. 
annual  rent,  and  2  marcs  ready  money,  to  Roger  Charlecote. 
This  was  done  with  the  assent  of  Alan  Marcel,  Master  of  the 
Temple  in  England,  and  witnessed  by  Peter  the  chaplain,  Ra- 
nulph,  Gilbert,  and  Robert,  all  brothers  of  the  Temple,  James 
de  Norton,  and  others  (f.  150). 

Other  benefactors  followed.  David  Puhier  gave  the  Tem- 
plars of  Shipley  three  acres  of  the  assart  of  his  wood  in  Ruf- 
field,  and  pasture  for  a  horse  and  six  beasts  in  his  wood 
(f.  150);  five  acres  were  given  by  Hugh  Buzi  and  his  wife 
Matilda,  as  witnessed  by  Mathew  de  Apsele,  and  William  the 
chaplain  of  Findone  (f.  150) ;  John  de  Weston  made  a  grant, 
confirmed  by  his  son  William,  and  his  nephew  Walter,  of  land 
at  Berewyk,  in  his  manor  of  Hecton,  for  the  soul  of  King 
Henry,  witnessed  by  Geoffrey  Fitzpiers  Earl  of  Essex  (who  had 
married  the  heiress,  Beatrice  de  Say),  Bardoph  de  Bruwer, 
Hugh  clerk  of  the  Temple,  Richard  de  Mucegros,  Wymund 
de  Craucumbe,  Gervase  de  Sparkeford,  &c.  (f.  150). 

When  the  day  of  confiscation  came,  an  extent  was  soon 
taken  of  the  yearly  value  of  the  tenements  and  ecclesiastical 
benefices  "  in  the  manor  of  Shepeley  "  held  by  the  Templars. 
On  the  Monday  before  the  Feast  of  SS.  Perpetua  and  Feli- 
citas  (March  7,  1308)  the  jurors  at  Shepleley,  William  atte 
Dene,  John  atte  Lee,  Philip  atte  Gate,  Ralph  le  —  (sic),  Ralph 
atte  Hulle,  William  le  Iremonger,  Simon  cle  Lotenhurst,  John 
Poyntell,  William  de  Penebrugge,  Richard  atte  Nasche,  and 
Richard  le  Gor,  reported  that  the  Templars  had  held  on  the 
preceding  Nativity  of  our  Lord  in  the  manor  and  its  members, 
namely,  Dorkyng,  Wodemanecote,  and  Suthwyk,  a  messuage 
with  a  garden  and  curtilage  in  Shepeley,  valued  at  4s.  yearly, 
52  acres  arable  land  in  the  places  called  Wilfield  and  Lam- 
bardeslond  at  4d.  per  acre,  total  1 7s.  4d. ;  in  the  places  called 
Ty ntesfordfeld,  Santeresfeld,  Shepeliesfeld,  Huny poute,  Mulfeld, 
Garston,  and  Shypenefeld,  160  acres  arable  land  at  3d.  per  acre, 
total  40s.,  1  acre  meadow  at  I2d.,  8s.  in  hay  and  pasturage, 
18  acres  wood,  the  pasturage  worth  2d.  per  acre,  total  3s. 
The  underwood  was  not  sufficient  for  the  fencing  on  the  manor: 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  251 

the  pannage  worth  4s.  Free  tenants  paid  10s.  6d.,  villains 
'20s.  4>d.;  fowls  and  dues  ipnerd)  18<£,  works  23s.,  suit  of  court 
2s. ;  at  Dorking  2s.  rent. 

The  church  of  Shepeley,  for  their  own  use,  was  worth  20 
marcs  a  year ;  the  advowsons  of  Wodemanecote  and  Suthwyk 
taxed  respectively  at  10  marcs  and  15  marcs.  The  church 
was  recognised  as  the  gift  of  Robert  de  Harecourt,  given 
him  by  William  de  Braose,  an  ancestor  of  William  de  Braose, 
.then  alive,  in  pure  alms,  and  "rendering  as  service  to  him, 
fencing  four  perches  of  the  paling  {palicii)  of  the  park 
of  Knep,  from  the  timber  of  the  said  William";  a  certain 
ancestor,  whose  name  is  not  remembered  {non  occurrit),  of 
John  Earl  de  Warenne,  had  given  the  rent  at  Dorking ;  Wil- 
liam le  Counte,  ancestor  of  the  heirs  of  Thomas  de  Hantyng- 
tote,  had  given  Wodemancote  and  Suthwyk.  The  Templars 
had  given  to  Robert  de  Burstowe,  for  his  services  fulfilled,  and 
as  long  as  he  could  serve,  for  ever,  his  food  at  the  table  of  the 
esquires  (victum  suum  ad  mensam  scutiferorum),  in  the  house 
of  the  Brothers  of  Shepeley,  and  10s.  a  year  for  his  clothes, 
to  be  given  him  by  whomsoever  should  be  Preceptor  of  the 
house  (f.  152). 

It  is  pleasant  to  meet  with  this  comfortable  provision  for 
their  old  servant,  but  when  the  property  of  the  Templars  was 
"  taken  into  the  king's  hands,"  it  may  well  be  feared  that  it 
was  discontinued. 

The  royal  commissioners,  John  de  Foxlee  and  William 
Merre,  summoned  a  jury  of  the  rape  of  Bramber,  to  ascertain 
fully  the  yearly  value  of  Shipley  ;  which  met  at  Horsham,  on 
the  feast  of  the  Beheading  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  August  29, 
1308.  {Add.  MSS.  6165,  p.  360.)  The  jurymen  were  Wil- 
liam de  Clothale,  William  de  Doure,  Ralph  de  Gatewyke, 
Robert  Michel,  John  de  Wantelee,  Geoffrey  le  Boteler,  Wil- 
liam Merrue,  John  atte  Compe,  John  de  Gatewyke,  Walter  le 
Fraunkeleyn,  Mathew  de  Apselee,  John  le  Eyr,  John  Virly, 
John  atte  Hulle,  Henry  Barnekneppe,  and  John  Smethe,  six- 
teen in  number;  and  the  same  jury  seems  to  have  also  exa- 
mined into  the  value  of  Sumpting.  The  report  of  the  number 
and  value  of  the  acres,  belonging  to  the  Master  and  Brothers 
of  the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple,  corresponds  nearly  with  that 
made  in  March  ;  but  the  messuage,  with  its  curtilage  and  gar- 


252  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

den  adjacent,  is  valued  now,  for  easement  of  the  bouses,  at  5#. 
instead  of  at  4s.  Some  curious  details  are  given  of  the  ser- 
vices due  from  free  tenants.  One  Ralph  atte  Hull  pays  Ss.  a 
year,  and  Q>d.  for  attendance  at  the  manor-court  every  three 
weeks,  and  for  service  by  reapers  in  autumn  on  one  day,  with 
food  supplied  by  the  lord  (ad  cibum  Domini) ;  and  he  must 
provide  a  man  to  mow,  fed  twice  a  day  by  the  lord ;  the  ser- 
vice is  valued  at  2d.  John  Malynsessone  held  20  acres  arable 
and  2  of  meadow,  paying  2s.  rent ;  attendance  on  court  twice 
a  year  3c/.,  with  services,  so  as  to  make  the  value  10s.  lid. 
"  There  was  also  a  villain  {nativus),  William  Waldere,  holding 
half  a  yardland,  paying  4s.  Aid.,  giving  two  hens  at  Christmas 
as  dues  (de gavelle)  3d.,  10  eggs  at  Easter  Id.,  and  bound  to 
find  4  men  at  the  biddings  of  the  lord  (ad  precarias  Domini)1 
in  autumn  for  one  day  twice,  the  service  valued  at  4c/.,  and 
he  shall  do  two  averages  (averagia,  work  done  by  the  tenants' 
cattle,  averia)  worth  2d.,  and  when  the  average  is  thus  done, 
he  shall  have  half  a  loaf  at  Advent,  and  he  shall  harrow  for 
one  day,  fed  by  the  lord,  value  Qd. ;  total  of  rent  and  services, 
5s.  3^c/."  Godfrey  de  Noteham  held  on  the  same  tenure. 
William  Lambard,  holding  a  ferling2  of  land  at  23c/.  rent, 
was  bound  to  work  twenty-one  days,  valued  at  \\d.  a  day, 
between  June  24  and  Michaelmas,  and  if  he  mow  was  to 
have  dinner  (prandium)  twice  a  day  from  the  lord,  and  to  do 
two  bederepes  in  the  autumn,  fed  by  the  lord,  value  2c/.,  and 
to  do  one  average,  so  that  he  may  return  home  the  same  day, 
and  shall  have  a  loaf,  service  valued  at  l-|c/.,  and  he  must  har- 
row at  1c/.,  fed  by  the  lord;  total  rent  and  services,  5s.  Ofc/. 
Ralph  Walder  and  William  atte  Wodegate  held  on  the  same 
terms.  William  le  Erenshe  held  a  house  (coferiam)  and  8 
acres  for  his  services,  and  9c/.  rent,  and  was  obliged  to  work 
fourteen  days,  and  also  do  one  bederepe  in  the  autumn,  fed  by 
the  lord.  William  le  Shepper  and  William  le  Partrick  held 
tenements  on  similar  conditions,  while  William  le  Lokere  for 
his  holding  had  to  work  two  days  in  autumn,  without  food 

1  On  the  lord's  biden  days,  or  lederepe;  Canterbury,  as  to  the  laud  of  a  tenant, 

so  many  days'  work  at  harvest  time,  to  be  was  non  est  franeum  tenementum,  sed  ad 

done  for  the  lord,  at  his  summons.    This  furcam  etjtagellum  adfalcandum  et  me* 

tenure  did  not  strictly  entitle  them  to  be  tendum. — Add.  MSS.  6037,  c.  1810. 
called  free  tenants  ;  the  verdict  of  a  jury,  2  A  ferling  should  be  a  fourth  part,  but 

in  1203-5,  in  the  case  of  Trior  Geoflry,  of  is  variously  estimated  at  32  or  10  acres. 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  253 

given  (sine  cibo)  and  do  one  bederepe  with  food ;  and  Adam 
le  Coher  had  to  work  eight  days  without  food  given.  "  From 
all  these  villains  and  free  tenants,  the  lord  at  their  deaths  shall 
have  as  heriett  the  best  beast,  and  all,  both  villain  and  free, 
cannot  marry  themselves,  nor  their  sons,  nor  their  daughters, 
without  the  license  of  the  lord,  and  are  fineable  (iattiabiles)  at 
the  will  of  the  lord." 

"  The  church  at  Shepelee,  which  the  Master  and  Brethren 
of  the  Soldiery  of  the  Temple  had  for  their  own  uses,  is  worth 
£13.  6s.  Sd.  a  year." 

The  inventory  of  the  live  and  dead  stock  of  the  Templars, 
found  by  the  jury  in  the  manor  of  Shipley,  gives  us  evidence, 
as  at  Sadelescombe,  of  their  farming  industry,  with  no  symp- 
tom of  luxurious  living. 

In  the  grange,  7^qu.  2  b.  wheat  at  6s.,  total  46s.  6d.,  and 
10  qu.  5  b.  of  meslin  (mixed  wheat  and  rye,  mixtilione)  at 
4s.  Sd.,  total  49s.  Id.;  100  qu.  oats  at  2s.,  valued  at  £10; 
121  qu.  2  b.  smaller  oats  at  20d.,  valued  at  £10.  2s.  Id.  18 
acres  sown  with  wheat,  and  13  acres  with  meslin,  valued  at  2s. 
each,  total  62s.  A  cart-horse  8s.,  a  plough-horse  3s.,  2  pack- 
horses  16s.,  4  colts,  10  oxen  at  10s.,  with  many  bullocks, 
heifers,  calves,  swine,  49  old  ewes  called  crones  (oves  matrices 
vocate  crones)  at  \2d.  each,  95  hoggets  at  \2d.,  ducks,  geese, 
20  capons  at  2d.  each,  cocks  at  4c/.,  hens  at  \\d. ;  2  carcases 
of  oxen  at  4s.,  22  bacons  at  3s.,  and  14  carcases  of  sheep,  which 
were  probably  the  salted  provision  on  which,  with  2  casks  and 
1  pipe  of  cider,  theTemplars  of  Shipley  had  relied  for  their  winter 
food ;  that  winter  which  they  were  destined  to  pass  in  prison. 
Their  household  goods  were  all  simple  enough  :  one  hempen 
towel  {mappa  de  hemp),  other  towels  and  a  savenape,  a  mazer 
cup  2s.,  and  12  white  cups  (cipJti  albi),  2  ironbound  tankards 
(sic),  and  a  wooden  "  tancard,"  empty  casks  and  barrels,  and 
tubs  and  vats  (cune,  cumelini,  tine),  a  bucket,  a  leaden  boiler 
{plumbum  in  fornace),  a  boulting  vessel  with  boulter,  sieves, 
and  troughs  (alvei),  pots,  a  kettle  {cacabum),  pipkin  (pocenet), 
brass  and  iron  dishes,  a  gridiron,  a  tripod,  mortars,  a  hand- 
mill  for  mustard  (mola  manualis  ad  sinapem),  3  kitchen  knives, 
1  grater  {micatorium),  a  skinner  (sic),  2  axes  and  2  bills. 
Besides  a  washing  tub,  a  bench,  forms  and  stools,  and  1  and- 
iron (andarium),  there  were  6  chests,  3  coffers,  and  4  harness 


254  SADELESCOMBE   AND    SHIPLEY. 


coffers,  2  moulds  for  cheese,  a  churn  for  butter,  2  milk-pails, 
a  plough,  2  carts,  one  of  which  was  without  iron,  with  ropes' 
2  waggons,  7  harrows,  2  wooden  shovels,  flails,  dung  forks,  a 
spade,  a  bushel  and  a  pek  (sic)  measures,  a  woollen  and  a 
hempen  winnower,  a  leather  sack,  3  sieves  and  a  riddle,  a 
cinder  wheel  (ciner  rotat'),  a  chopper,  25,000  shingles  (tin- 
dule)  at  4s.  per  1000,  150  boards,  25  sletes  (sic)  for  hurdles 
for  the  folds,  and  30  hurdles,  ladders,  timber,  a  saddle  and 
bridle. 

The  armoury  and  wardrobe  were  furnished  very  poorly,  and 
only  valued  at  31s.  3d.  altogether,  consisting  of  1  haketoun, 
2  pairs  of  plates,  2  gorgets,  1  bacenet,  1  pair  of  gloves  of  plate 
(par  cirothecarum  de  plates),  1  pair  of  greves  (sic),  1  pair  of 
cmssarts  (guisoz),  2  helmets,  2  bows  with  7  arrows. 

The  church  furniture  was  also  on  a  mean  scale.  Two  irons 
for  making  oblates  and  wafers  4s.,  a  cup  worth  10s.,  2  suits 
of  vestments  30s.,  3  towels,  2  pewter  candlesticks,  1  pewter 
pail  for  the  chapel,  2s.  lOd. 

We  then  have  reported  their  small  library  of  "two  books, 
of  Kings,  and  of  Beasts  (liber  Begum,  liber  bestiarum),  which 
are  not  valued,  because  the  jury  do  not  know  their  price." 
I  he  only  articles  at  all  betokening  the  gentle  blood  of  the 
knights  follow  :  20  silver  spoons  at  lOrf.  each,  3  rings  of  gold 
at  Is.  each,  and  3  silk  purses  at  Is.  each. 

Two  clothes-bags  with  two  trunks  (ij  sakadras  cum  ij 
barkud),  2  caskets,  2  basins,  2  pails  for  harness,  2  beds  com- 
plete 2  saddles  for  the  sumpters,  2  pairs  of  barells,  1  saddle 
lor  the  Preceptor,  value  of  all  40s. ;  cash  8s.  6±d. 

"  Total  of  the  value  of  the  manor  belonging  to 

the  manor  in  Shepeleie  .  .  £  8  18    1A 

Total  of  the  value  of  the  church  of  the  same 
vill,  which  the  Temple  held  for  their  own 


uses 


13     6 


Total  of  all  goods  found  in  them  .  .       73  12  3" 

Two  unusual  words,  sahadras  and  barkud,  occur  in  the  last 
paragraph  of  the  above  inventory,  on  which  a  few  words  of 
explanation  may  be  given,  since  they  indicate  the  adoption  by 
a  country  jury  of  two  French  terms,  probably  then  in  general 
use.     In  sakadras  we  may  readily  recognise  sac-a-draps,  bags 


SADELESOOMBE   AND    SHIPLEY.  255 

for  containing  clothes,  perhaps  conveyed  on  sumpters  when 
travelling.  Barhud  is  more  often  met  with,  though  with  varied 
orthography.  From  the  inventories  of  the  Priories  of  Finchale, 
in  1307  and  1411,  and  of  Durham,  in  1446,  published  by  the 
Surtees  Society,  may  be  quoted  : — 

"  1307.  Item   in  sella,  freno,  uno   sacco  cum   le    barhide 
emptis  pro  Priore,  xxs. 

"  1411.  Item  i  sella  pro  cariacione  cum  barhyde." 

"  1446.  Item  n  clothesekkez,  item  in  paria  de  coffers,  item 
n  barehidez." 

An  unfortunate  interpretation  is  given  by  the  editor,  that 
the  word  meant  "  bear-skins  used  as  trappings  to  horses." 
Bahut,  however,  certainly  was  a  trunk,  and  the  term  was  used 
in  England  in  the  time  of  Edward  I.  Among  the  duties  of 
the  officer  who  had  the  care  of  the  king's  sumpter-horses, 
which  when  worn  out  he  was  to  deliver  over  to  the  almoner, 
was  that  of  providing  bags  and  trunks  for  travelling.  "  Ejus 
est  etiam  carectas  emere,  saccos,  bahuda,  et  ejusmodi  harnesia 
tarn  mmariorum  quam  carectarum  competentia." — Fleta,  lib.  2, 
c.  21.  Ducange  interprets  "  Bahudum,  areas  species,  Gallis 
bakud."  Lacombe,  in  his  Dictionnaire  du  Vieux  Lang  age 
Francois,  gives,  "  Bahut,  un  coffre  convert  de  peau  ou  Bahuce, 
une  valise."  The  word  is  still  in  modern  use,  and  retains  its 
place  in  Dictionnaire  de  V Academic 

The  barrels,  which  are  mentioned  among  the  Shipley  goods, 
may  have  been  used  for  the  simple  process  of  cleaning  ar- 
mour by  rolling  it  in  a  barrel  with  sand  and  bran,  as  is  still 
the  practice  in  the  East.  Such  an  article  is  found  in  the 
inventory  of  Dover  Castle,  1344:  "1  barelle  pro  armaturis 
rollandis;"  and  in  that  of  Hen  grave  Hall,  as  late  as  1603: 
"  1  barrel  to  make  clean  the  shirts  of  maile  and  gorgetts." — 
See  Arch.  Jour.,  xi.  3S2,  and  note,  p.  386.  In  the  Monas- 
ticon,  vi.  625,  some  land  is  held  "  by  the  service  of  rolling  a 
coat  of  mail  once  a  year." 

It  may  have  been  observed  that  "  empty  casks"  are  among 
the  furniture  both  at  Sadelescombe  and  Shipley :  some  of 
these  were  probably  for  receiving  the  broken  victuals  for 
alms,  as  in  Dover  Castle,  1344,  "1  doleum  vacuum  pro  elemo- 
sina  imponenda."  The  military  at  Dover  had  also,  in  the  same 
inventory,  "  1  skren  ante  caminum  in  camerq" 


256  SADELESCOMBE   AND    SHIPLEY. 

At  the  time  of  the  Nona?,  Shipley  Church  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Hospitallers,  and  in  the  parish  the  only  man  "  who  had 
property  besides  his  corn  and  sheep  was  Peter  atte  Temple, 
who  has  now  chattels  of  the  value  of  205." 

In  1338,  the  Hospitallers  valued  "  the  messuage  and  garden 
at  2s.,  212  acres  of  land  (of  which  52  were  worth  3d.  a  year, 
and  160  worth  2d.)  at  45s.  4d. ;  8  acres  of  meadow  at  8d. 
each,  value  5s.  4<d.;  10  acres  of  wood,  small  and  destroyed  by 
the  lord  of  the  fee,  wherefore  nothing  can  be  gained  from  it ; 
by  rent  with  works  and  customs  23s.  10c/.,  and  the  church  at 
12  marcs." 

There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  separate  preceptory 
at  Sumpting,  as  the  property  of  the  Templars  there  could 
without  difficulty  be  managed  by  the  neighbouring  preceptor 
of  Shipley. 

The  same  generous  founder  and  the  same  feudal  lord,  Philip 
de  Harcourt  and  William  de  Braose,  concurred  in  giving  the 
church  of  Sumpting  "  to  God,  the  Blessed  Mary,  and  the 
Brethren  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon."  The  grant  by  Philip 
Bishop  of  Bayeux,  William  de  Braose,  and  William  de  Hare- 
court,  was  dated  at  Rouen,  a.d.  1154,  and  was  witnessed  "by 
Hilary,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  in  whose  hands  they  had  placed 
this  gift,  who  on  their  petition  and  with  their  assent  had  given 
it  to  the  Templars,  by  Henry  Duke  of  Normandy  {afterwards 
King  Henry  II.),  at  whose  request  {rogatu)  they  had  made 
this  gift,  by  Gilbert  Bishop  of  Hereford,  Simon  de  Tornabu, 
and  brother  Ralph  de  Valtort,  and  brother  Henry  Malbane, 
and  brother  Henry  English  {Anglico)  (f.  L54). 

The  confirmatory  charter  of  Bishop  Philip  runs  thus : — 
"  Inasmuch  as  it  has  been  the  custom  of  old  to  transmit  by 
letters  what  was  wished  to  reach  posterity  with  assured  truth, 
— lest  at  any  time  his  gift  should  be  withdrawn  or  disturbed 
by  the  vexatiousness  of  wicked  men,"  and  mentions  to  Bishop 
Hilary  the  date  of  a.d.  1 154,  as  that  of  his  resignation  of  the 
church,  and  calls  William  de  liarecourt  one  of  its  assenting 
patrons  (advocatis)  (f.  154).  Bishop  Philip,  when  reporting 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  that  "  he  considered  it  his 
duty  to  assist  and  give  comfort  to  the  poor  committed  to  him 
by  God,  and  especially  to  religious  brethren,"  had  the  honour 
not  only  of  "  Henry  Duke  of  Normandy,  but  of  the  Empress 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  257 

Maud  his  mother,"  to  witness  his  grant  (f.  154).  At  the 
time  of  the  grant,  two  priests,  Roger  and  Gerboda  (or  Geb- 
gerboldus,  as  another  charter  names  him),  had  a  life  interest 
in  the  church  of  Sumpting,  and  this  Bishop  Hilary  expressly 
reserves,  in  the  presence  of  his  Archdeacon  Henry,  Master 
Gilbert  a  canon,  and  Master  Jordan  Gunter  (f.  154). 

In  return  for  this  acquisition,  the  Templars  agreed  with 
SefFrid  II.,  Bishop  of  Chichester  (1180-1204),  to  secure  to  the 
vicar  "  all  offerings  to  the  altar,  and  the  tithes  of  a  mill  and 
of  two  acres  in  which  the  Brothers  will  build  once  at  their 
expense  for  his  use  two  fair  houses  {duas  domos  honcstas),  and 
pay  him  two  marcs  a  year :"  this  is  witnessed  by  S.  arch- 
deacon, William  the  parson  of  Bradewater,  Joseph  the  priest, 
and  others  (f.  154);  and  was  confirmed  by  Simon,  Bishop  of 
Chichester,  at  Ferringe,  Feb.  6,  1206,  and  by  Archbishop 
Theobald,  together  with  the  gift  of  the  manor  of  Bustelesham 
by  the  Earl  de  Ferrers  to  the  Temple  (f.  155). 

Thomas,  son  of  Bernard,  gave  to  the  Templars  at  Sumpting 
William  Byke,  son  of  Seine  of  Suntinges,  with  all  his  chattels 
and  following,  as  testified  by  Adam  Tardcurteys,  William  de 
Kam,  Herbert  Pierpunle,  and  others  (f.  154) ;  and  Helia,  the 
daughter  of  Bernard,  gave  up  to  the  church  of  Suntinges,  the 
chapelry  of  her  house  {capettaneam  domus  mece),  half  a  hyde  of 
land,  2  sheaves  of  the  tithes  of  her  domain,  all  the  tithes  of 
things  tythable  in  her  court,  the  tithes  of  two  hydes  at  Brade- 
water, pasturage  for  4  oxen  and  1  horse,  and  also  the  same 
amount  which  the  church  had  separately  for  the  chapelry,  and 
the  tithes  of  hay  of  her  domain  which  William  de  Harecourt 
had  given  to  provide  a  light  in  it  on  all  Sunday  nights : 
Geoffry  Bishop  of  Ely  (1 1 74-89),  Robert,Thomas,  and  William, 
sons  of  Bernard,  Godfrey  Suntinges  and  Caperun  his  son, 
attest  this,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  Bishop  Seffrid,  with  Luke 
his  treasurer,  and  the  Canon  Seffrid,  and  by  Archbishop 
Richard  (ff.  155,156). 

Another  of  the  same  family,  Roger,  son  of  Bernard,  was  also 
a  liberal  benefactor  of  half  a  virgate,  held  in  capite  of  Walter 
Fitz-Richard  in  Eddewarth,  namely,  33  acres  in  one  part,  and 
33  acres  in  another,  with  the  assent  of  his  wife  Margaret,  his 
son  Udard,  and  his  heirs  (f.  157). 

On  a  subsequent  dispute  arising  as  to  the  above-mentioned 
ix.  33 


258  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

chapelry  with  Payen,  clerk  of  Eindone,  the  Templars  promised 
to  pay  him  in  the  church  of  Sumpting  every  Michaelmas  20s., 
as  long  as  he  lived  in  a  secular  habit  (f.  156). 

The  clergy  (clerici)  of  Stanninges  afterwards  made  claim  to 
the  right  of  burials,  and  the  tithes  of  parishioners,  and  took 
possession  of  them  after  the  Templars  had  enjoyed  them  more 
than  thirty  years.  The  Pope  Lucius  III.  accordingly  deputed 
Waleran  Bishop  of  Rochester  (1183-4)  to  hear  both  parties 
and  determine  their  rights,  when  the  Abbot  of  Eescamp  re- 
nounced all  the  claims  of  Stanninges  in  favour  of  the  Temple, 
and  an  agreement  was  drawn  up  to  that  effect  at  Chichester, 
on  Oct.  28, 1184,  as  testified  by  Dean  S.,  the  precentor  Luke, 
the  Archdeacon  P.,  and  the  chapter  of  Chichester  (f.  157). 

A  remarkable  substitute  for  a  seal  was  resorted  to  by  Philip 
de  Bernehus  to  confirm  his  gift  of  one  acre  to  the  Templars, 
though  witnessed  by  Robert  the  priest,  William  de  Harecourt, 
and  his  own  son  and  heir  Roger.  "  That  they  may  receive 
me  into  their  fraternity  and  house,  in  order  to  confirm  this 
gift,  I  have  thus  impressed  this  wax  with  my  teeth,  instead  of 
a  seal  {Jianc  ceram  pro  sigillo  dentibus  ita  impressi) "  (f.  157). 
Others  of  the  same  family  as  this  Templar  contributed  gifts. 
William  Bernehus  gave  four  acres  in  Sumpting,  as  witnessed 
by  Sir  Andrew  Peverell,  Sir  Henry  de  Wistanested,  and  Wil- 
liam Bernehus  of  Bradewater ;  and  he  also  gave  half  an  acre 
at  Pende,  before  the  witnesses,  Robert  priest  of  Snntynge,  Wil- 
liam clerk  of  Bradewater,  William  de  Harecourt,  and  others 
(f.  158);  and  a  perch  of  land  adjoining  this  gift  was  added 
by  Simon  de  Lancinges,  with  the  assent  of  his  wife  Emma 
and  his  son  William :  this  gift  "  to  the  church  of  St.  Mary  of 
Suntinge  "  was  witnessed  as  the  former  one,  by  Robert  the 
priest  of  Suntinge,  and  William  the  parson  of  Bradewater 
(f.  158). 

Reginald  de  la  Roche  of  Heredune,  having  received  lands 
at  Luministre  from  William  Harang,  gave  them  to  the  Tem- 
plars; which  was  confirmed  by  William  de  Hotot  and  his  wife 
Emma,  daughter  of  W.  Harang,  as  also  by  his  son,  Richard 
de  la  Roche  (f.  159). 

Ralph  Garnegan,  Lord  of  Palinges,  transferred  to  the 
Templars  the  6s.  a  year  due  to  him  from  Mathew  Avenell,  as 
testified  by  the  esquire  of  Bohun  {armigero  de  Bohun)  and  his 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  259 

brother,  William  Bastard,  William  Avenell,  Garagan  de  Brom- 
hurst,  and  Ralph  de  Palinge  (f.  159). 

Half  an  acre  above  Westbone  was  given  to  the  church  by- 
Walter,  son  of  Hanselm,  as  witnessed  by  Engelbert,  parson  of 
the  said  church,  Gregory  the  chaplain,  William  Bernehus,  and 
others  (f.  159). 

The  chapel  of  St.  Peter  of  Cocham  passed  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Templars,  as  appended  to  the  church  of  Sumpting, 
and  William  Bernehus  of  Cocham  gave  them  "two  acres 
lying  near  the  house  of  the  said  Brethren  at  Sumpting  to  the 
east;"  and  Henry  de  Wisteneston,  John  le  Counte,  William 
Bernehus  of  Bradewater,  Simon  de  la  Pende,  and  William 
Traisheures  acted  as  witnesses  (f.  160). 

Others  of  the  family  of  Bernehus,  however,  endeavoured 
afterwards  to  deprive  the  Templars  of  this  chapel  of  Cocham  ; 
and  it  was  only  after  a  formal  hearing  of  the  disputants  before 
the  Priors  of  Waltham  and  Hertford,  deputed  by  Pope  Hono- 
rius  III.,  that  an  agreement  was  come  to  on  June  1,  1228, 
at  Dynesley,  in  Herts,  where  the  Templars  held  a  chapter. 
Robert  Engles  appeared  here  as  proctor  for  the  Temple,  and 
complained  that  William  Bernehus  had  for  five  years  abstracted 
from  their  dues  at  Cocham  to  the  value  of  6  marcs,  and  had 
restrained  two  chaplains  from  performing  divine  service  there ; 
which  he  said  belonged  to  the  mother  church  {inatricem  eccle- 
siam)  of  Sumpting.  William  Bernehus,  Knight,  on  the  other 
hand  asserted  that  he  had  acted  with  the  approval  of  the 
bishop.  Amicable  terms  were  then  agreed  upon;  the  Temple 
was  to  provide  a  chaplain  for  daily  service  at  Cocham,  namely, 
a  mass  with  matins  and  the  hours,  with  baptisms  and  puri- 
fications, and  William  Bernehus  withdrew  his  claims,  paid 
6  marcs  to  the  Temple,  and  promised  to  give  4  acres  near  the 
vicar's  messuage  and  pasture  for  100  sheep  for  the  better 
support  of  the  chapel.  The  two  priors  say,  "  We  lovers  of 
peace  confirm  this  agreement."  (f.  161). 

The  charter  of  William  Bernehus,  giving  "  to  God,  St.  Peter, 
and  Adam  of  the  Temple,  vicar  of  Sumpting"  the  croft  in  the 
parish  called  Bussecroft,  and  1  acre  at  Exenbridge,  contains  a 
curious  account  of  the  processions  then  in  use.  It  seems  that 
Adam  had  refused  to  hear  any  confessions  at  Cocham,  but  re- 
quired the  parishioners  to  come  to  the  mother  church;  whereas 


260  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

Cocham  claimed  all  church  rites  except  sepulture.  It  was 
agreed  that  in  future  "  all  church  services  shall  be  done  at 
Cocham,  but  no  burials  or  processions,  except  the  processions 
on  Palm  Sunday  at  a  certain  cross  outside  the  chapel  where 
they  have  usually  been,  and  on  the  eve  of  St.  Mark  round  the 
corn  of  the  village  {circa  segetcs  ejusdem  ville),  and  on  one 
Rogation  day  to  the  church  of  Launsynge  (Lancing),  and  also 
those  processions  which  cannot  be  omitted  (que  non  possint 
dimitti),  namely,  round  the  fountain  there  with  crism  and  oil 
at  Easter  and  Pentecost :"  the  witnesses  to  this  arrangement 
were  Robert  Salvage  (Salvagius)  and  his  brother  William  the 
parson  of  Bradewater,  Andrew  Peverell,  Richard  the  chaplain 
of  Launcyng,  Roger  de  Hecton,  William  Bernehus  de  Brade- 
water, Humphrey  de  Cocham,  Robert  Pountell,  and  others 
(f.  161). 

In  additional  compensation,  Thomas  the  son  and  heir  of 
Nicholas  Bernehus  undertook  to  pay  to  the  Temple  10s.  a  year 
during  his  father's  life,  in  the  presence  of  Brothers  Walter 
de  Doora,  and  Peter,  Robert  the  priest,  and  others ;  and  more- 
over Nicholas,  led  by  his  conscientious  penitence,  confessed 
his  wrong-doing,  and  that  he  had  no  just  claim  to  what  he 
had  seized  at  Cocham,  before  the  bishop  at  Henefeld,  and  had 
a  penance  enjoined  him  (penitenciam  recepit)  (f.  260). 

In  the  time  of  Bishop  Ralph  Nevill,  Adam  of  the  Temple, 
chaplain,  was  admitted  by  him  on  the  presentation  of  Alan 
Marcell,  Master  of  the  Temple  in  England,  to  full  possession 
of  the  vicarage  of  Sumpting,  with  all  the  rights  belonging  to 
it  among  the  parishioners  of  Bradewater  and  Cocham  (f.  160). 
To  this  vicar,  in  order  to  ensure  divine  service  in  the  chapel 
of  Cocham,  Robert  de  Sanford,  a  succeeding  Master  of  the 
Temple,  assigned  four  acres  (3  acres  in  Middelforlong  in 
Sumpting  and  1  acre  near  le  Dene),  an  annual  payment  of 
os.  ^d.,  two  loads  (gummas)  of  wheat,  and  two  of  barley,  every 
Michaelmas  at  Sumpting,  and  in  default  the  chaplain  was  to 
discontinue  divine  service :  this  agreement  was  signed  in 
London,  October,  1241,  and  Adam  the  chaplain  at  the  same 
time,  touching  the  Gospels,  swore  to  fulfil  on  behalf  of  the 
Templars  all  that  they  were  bound  to  do  towards  William 
Bernehus  and  his  heirs  (f.  160). 

In  1261   Thomas   the  chaplain  was  sued  by  William  de 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  261 

Sompting  for  breaking  into  bis  bouse,  eating  and  drinking  at 
bis  cost,  and  criminal  conversation  with  bis  wife ;  but  was 
acquitted  by  the  jury,  on  the  ground  of  the  lady's  consent.— 
Cartwrigbt's  Bramber,  103. 

On  the  Wednesday  before  the  feast  of  Saints  Perpetua  and 
Felicitas  (March  7)  1308,  a  jury  was  summoned  to  Sumpting 
to  estimate  the  value  of  the  property  of  the  Temple  there- 
Ralph  le  Veske,  Laurence  de  Duryngton,  Andrew  de  Luche- 
pole  Thomas  Poynaunt,  Ralph  Bernard,  John  le  Eyr,  William 
de  Esshele,  John  le  Eaukner,  Philip  Skilly,  Geoffry  le  Sbep- 
hirde,  Adam  Eylneth,  and  Roger  Eorei.  They  reported  that 
the  Temple  had  59  acres  of  land  arable  and  pasture,  the 
church  of  Sumpting  to  their  own  use  and  the  chapel  of 
Cocham  annexed,  and  the  right  of  appointment  to  the 
vicarage,  all  being  originally  granted  by  Robert  de  Harecourt 
who  had  received  them  from  William  de  Brewose,  ancestor  ot 
William  de  Brewose  then  living,  on  the  service  of  fencing  14 
perches  of  the  park  paling  at  la  Kneppe ;  also  9  acres  given 
by  W  Bernehus :  the  Templars  had  usually  given  to  the 
vicar  for  the  time  being  two  marcs  for  divine  service,  and 
3  acres  for  a  chaplain  at  Cocham,  and  had  paid  2  marcs  a  year 
to  the  Abbot  of  Fescamp  for  customary  tithes  of  sheaves 

(f.  162).  .  .    ,     .,    „.     , 

The  more  detailed  survey  of  Sumpting  made  by  the  king  s 
commissioners  a  few  months  later,  at  the  same  time  and  place 
as  that  of  Shipley,  reported  that  the  Templars  had  a  messuage, 
a  church  and  land  adjacent  as  glebe,  the  messuage  worth  2s. 
a  vear  60  acres  arable  worth  on  an  average  12 d.  a  year,  pas- 
turage' for  8  oxen  with  Andrew  Peverel  value  4*.,  common 
pasturage  for  100  sheep,  and  at  Cocham  for  100  sheep,  value 
bv  profit  of  the  land  if  they  had  sheep,  4*.  The  church  of 
Sountino-  was  worth  in  tithes,  oblations,  and  other  items, 
£23  7s \d.  a  year;  6*.  rent  from  William  Avenel,  given  by 
him  at  Michaelmas  as  alms,  for  he  held  nothing  of  them. 

Among  the  goods  and  chattels  were  found  10J  quarters  of 
wheat  at  6s.,  4  bushels  of  fine  wheat  2s.  Qd.,  34  qrs.  of  barley 
at  3s  M.,  20  qrs.  of  peas  at  2s.  2>d.,  12  qrs.  of  vetches  at  2s.  0>d., 
25  a  1  r  sown  with  wheat,  value  of  the  growing  crop  at  3s.  per 
acre,  8  oxen  at  12s.  each,  10  capons  at  2d.,  2  cocks  at  2d., 
10  hens  at  \\d.,  a  plough  2s.,  2  harrows  at  2d.  each,  an  iron- 


262  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

bound  cart  out  of  repair  with  all  harness,  a  hempen  rope,  an 

iron  fork  and  a  dung  cart,  value  of  all  6s. ;  a  waggon,  2s.,  a 

shovel,  2  flails,  3  dung-forks,  2  tables  with  trestles,  a  form 

and  a  chair,  2  chests,  a  towel,  a  basin,  3  brass  pots  and  a 

pipkin,  2  empty  casks,  a  barrel  and  a  tub,  a  tripod,  a  lamp, 

a  bushel  bound  and  a  wooden  bushel,  2  choppers,  a  winnow, 

a  bag  of  hemp,  2  sieves,  a  sower  {seminal),  3  ladders  at  6d., 

12  hurdles  for  fold  dd.,  and  500  shingles  worth  2s.  Sd.,  old 

timber  bs.  Sd.;  from  a  loan  in  the  hands  of  others,  5  qrs.  6  b. 

of  barley  at  4s.,  payable  at  Easter,  value  23s. 

£    s     d 
Total  of  the  value  of  the  portions  of  the  Temple  in 

Sunting,  together  with  the  value  of  the  church 

of  the  said  vill 27  13  4 

Total  of  the  value  of  all  goods  found  there  .  .  24   19  1\ 

Walter  de  Gedding,  the  sheriff  of  Sussex,  received  all  these 
goods  and  chattels  by  virtue  of  the  King's  writ.  (Add.  MSS. 
6165,  p.  365.) 

In  1338  the  church  of  "  Suntyngh  "  appropriated  and  an- 
nexed was  valued  by  the  Hospitallers  at  £17.  17s.  6d. 

Another  small  property  of  the  Templars  was  stated  by  a 
jury  assembled  at  Horsham  by  the  sheriff  of  Sussex,  Walter 
de  Gedding,  on  the  Sunday  before  the  feast  of  St.  Gregory 
(March  12),  1308,  to  have  been  the  grant  of  a  certain  ancestor 
of  Hugh  de  Nevile,  whose  name  they  cannot  remember  (de 
cujus  nomine  non  occurrit  memoria) ;  so  soon  does  the  recol- 
lection of  even  generous  deeds  and  great  names  pass  away. 
The  jurors,  among  whom  were  Walter  de  Wepenhurst,  Robert 
Goneshudde,  Henry  atte  Knolle,  and  William  atte  Denne,  say 
that  the  Temple  had  in  Lokeswode,  in  Wysburghe,  a  messuage 
with  curtilage,  let  at  2s.  a  year,  and  100  acres  of  great  wood 
of  oak  (bosci  grossi  de  quercu),  the  pannage  of  which  was  worth 
6s.  Sd.,  but  the  pasturage,  being  common  to  others,  was  not 
estimated,  though  16^.  was  received  from  neighbours  (vicinis) 
for  pasturage  in  the  wood.  The  free  tenants  paid  rents 
amounting  to  £4.  lis.  §\d.,  with  attendance  on  court  and 
" laghedayes,"  worth  4s.     Total  value  Ills.  b\d.  (f.  142). 

The  more  detailed  inquest,  including  the  goods  and  chattels 
here,  took  place  on  September  2,  1308,  at  Chichester,  before 
the  King's  commissioners ;  and  the  jury  (among  whom  were 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  263 

Henry  Fitz  le  Roy,  William  de  Slyfhurst,  Roger  atte  Cleye, 
Robert  le  Covert,  John  atte  Doure,  Richard  Amaunt)  make  a 
similar  report  as  to  the  pannage  of  Lockeswode  being  of  no 
value,  because  the  tenants  of  the  Brethren  kept  44  pigs  free 
of  pannage  and  pasture  there.  The  fixed  annual  rents,  paid 
by  tenants  for  messuages  and  lands,  were  due  from  William 
de  Lockeswode,  Robert  de  Gunneshudde,  Walter  de  Hudifold, 
Robert  Jakeman,  Robert  atte  Hulle,  Robert  atte  Blakewell, 
Richard  Rolf,  Richard,  William,  John,  and  Walter  de  Oke- 
hurst,  William  le  Skynnere,  Walter  le  White,  William  the 
smith,  John  atte  Lydenge,  Philip  atte  Murihull,  and  others. 
William  atte  Mersch  paid  4cl.  for  free  entry  and  outlet  of  the 
wood  with  his  cattle  (cum  averiis  mis).  Total  of  all  the  rents 
£4.  19^.  M 

Suit  to  the  court  of  Ushuddebruge  was  due  twice  a  year  at 
Michaelmas  and  le  Hokeday,  valued  at  4s. ;  and  the  Temple 
also  received  67/.  a  year  from  William  Avenel,  and  4s.  from 
Robert  Rrugham,  "  but  the  jury  do  not  know  for  what  por- 
tion of  land."  Total  of  all  lands  and  rents  with  privileges  of 
court  in  the  rape  of  Arundel,  £6.  Is.  h\d.  (Add.  MSS.  6165, 
p.  359.) 

In  1338  the  rent  of  Lokeswode  was  reckoned  by  the  Hos- 
pitallers as  seven  marcs. 

After  the  act  of  Parliament  had  given  over  to  the  Hospi- 
tallers all  that  had  belonged  to  the  Templars,  William  de 
Whitby,  clerk,  proctor  for  the  Prior  and  Hospital  of  Jerusalem, 
claimed  before  Bishop  John  Langton,  October  7,  1316,  "the 
vicarages  of  the  churches  of  Shepeley  and  Suntynge,  and  what- 
ever the  Templars  held  in  the  churches  of  Wodemancote  and 
Suthwich  from  time  immemorial,  and  warned  him  not  to 
admit  any  person  except  on  the  presentation  of  the  Hospital : 
this  was  done  in  the  presence  of  William  de  Eseden,  Arch- 
deacon of  Lewes,  and  Master  Robert  de  Derby,  officer  of  the 
prior  (f.  163). 

At  the  time  of  the  Nonce,  in  1341,  the  church  of  Sumpting 
was  considered  as  belonging  to  the  Hospitallers. 

After  thus  enumerating  the  benefactors  of  the  Sussex  Pre- 
ceptories,  and  detailing  their  property  at  the  moment  of  their 
being  deprived  of  it,  we  may  follow  to  the  end  the  story  of 


264  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

these  gallant  knights,  and  may  feel  the  force  of  the  lament  in 
the  old  chronicler,  quoted  by  Mr.  Addison  in  his  interesting 
History  of  the  Templars  : — 

"  Li  frere,  li  Mestre  du  Temple, 
Qu'estoient  si  rerapli  et  ample 
D'or  et  d'argent,  et  de  richesse, 
Et  qui  menoient  tel  noblesse, 
Ou  sont  il?  que  sont  devenu?" 

Probably  of  all  "  their  gold,  silver,  and  riches,"  the  only 
object  ever  handled  by  the  Templars  of  Shipley  now  remain- 
ing is  the  beautiful  reliquary,  still  the  property  of  the  parish. 
It  is  7  inches  long  by  6  inches  high,  and  its  wooden  frame  still 
preserves  some  of  its  coverings  of  gilt  plates  ornamented  with 
enamel,  which  appear  to  be  of  the  thirteenth  century.  They 
represent  the  Crucifixion  with  the  Greek  letters  XPS  over 
the  cross,  the  Virgin  Mary  and  St.  John  standing  near,  and 
other  saints  under  semicircular  arches  on  each  side  and  at 
the  ends.  It  has  been  well  engraved  in  Cartwright's  Rape  of 
Bramber,  p.  304. 

The  very  greatness  of  their  wealth  and  privileges  had  raised 
up  against  the  Order  both  the  jealousy  of  the  church  and  the 
covetousness  of  sovereigns.  The  Holy  Land  had  been  lost  in 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  Crusaders  and  Templars,  and  the  forced 
inactivity  of  this  military  Order  may  have  suggested  the  con- 
venient opportunity  to  the  French  King,  Philip — "  the  modern 
Pilate,"  as  his  contemporary,  Dante,  indignantly  terms  him — 
"  to  carry  his  covetous  greed  into  the  Temple."  After  he  had 
begun  their  ruin  by  the  simultaneous  arrest  of  all  the  Tem- 
plars in  France,  early  in  the  morning  of  Friday,  October  13, 
1307,  it  was  not  long  before  Edward  II.  struck  a  similar  blow 
in  England.  Having  been  but  a  few  months  on  the  throne, 
the  King  was  at  first  greatly  startled  by  the  gross  anomaly  of 
accusing  as  infidels  and  blasphemers  men  who  had  been  risk- 
ing their  lives  for  Christianity ;  and  his  letters  are  extant, 
dated  December  10,  to  his  brother  Kings  of  Sicily,  Portugal, 
Castile,  and  Arragon,  in  which  he  expressed  his  disbelief  in 
the  charges  against  men  who  had  been  so  often  praised  by 
himself  and  by  all  in  his  kingdom,  "  for  the  constant  purity  of 
their  Catholic  faith,  and  for  their  life  and  morals."  A  letter, 
however,  from  the  Pope,  Clement  V.,  a  Frenchman,  dated  at 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEW  265 

Poictou,  December  22,  soon  reached  him,  in  which  the  Pope 
assured  him  that  the  Templars  had  in  express  words  denied 
the  Saviour,  and  that  they  adored  an  idol  in  their  chapters. 
He  therefore  enjoined  him  "  so  prudently,  so  cautiously,  and 
so  secretly  to  devise  his  proceedings,  as  to  cause  in  the  best 
manner  possible  the  seizure  of  all  the  persons  and  goods  of  the 
Templars  in  one  day."  To  this  scheme  lie  wrote  his  assent 
on  December  26,  1307,  and  at  once  with  no  more  scruple  set 
about  the  measure  of  imprisoning  at  one  fell  swoop  all  the 
Templars  in  his  dominions,  though  many  of  them  had  been 
companions  in  the  peril  and  glory  of  his  own  father. 

To  Walter  de  Gedding,  sheriff  of  Sussex  and  Surrey,  as  to 
to  the  sheriffs  of  every  other  county,  were  directed  the  King's 
commands  to  await  further  instructions  at  an  appointed  place 
with  trustworthy  men  of  their  bailiwicks  on  the  Sunday  before 
Epiphany.  On  this  holy  day  the  expected  orders  were  deli- 
vered to  him  by  priests,  who  were  to  exact  an  oath  of  secrecy 
until  their  execution.  By  these  measures  was  secured,  on 
January  8, 130S,  the  sudden  capture  of  nearly  all  the  Knights 
Templars  in  England,  and  the  confiscation  of  all  their  pro- 
perty. This  simultaneous  arrest,  contrived  and  ordered  by 
the  Pope,  has  been  on  more  than  one  subsequent  occasion 
adopted  by  France,  following  her  own  example,  but  remains 
a  single  instance  in  English  history. 

It  is  well  known  with  what  a  steady  and  indignant  denial 
these  gallant  knights  met  the  foul  charges  of  vice  and  idolatry 
imputed  to  them;  and  even  the  King  hesitated  to  extort  con- 
fessions by  the  compulsion  of  torture  until  this  doubt  too 
was  overcome  by  the  reproof  of  the  less  scrupulous  Pope. 
Clement  V.  thus  wrote  to  the  King  : — "  You  have  forbidden 
the  proceedings  of  inquiry  by  torture  concerning  these  crimes, 
although  these  Templars  are  reported  not  to  confess  the  truth. 
Attend,  we  beseech  you,  my  dearest  son,  and  consider  if  this 
is  suitable  to  your  honour  and  safety,  or  befits  the  condition 
of  your  kingdom."  The  King  accordingly,  in  an  order  dated 
from  Linlithgow,  expressly  alleged  that  his  permission  to  exa- 
mine the  Templars  by  tortures  or  by  other  suitable  methods, 
as  often  as  the  prelates  and  inquisitors  pleased,  was  given  in 
compliance  with  the  Holy  See  {ob  reverent iam  sedis  apostolicce). 
— Rymer's  Feed  era. 

ix.  34 


266  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

Some  Templars  succeeded  in  avoiding  personal  suffering  by 
flight  and  disguise ;  but  among  the  numerous  knights  who 
were  thus  suddenly  arrested  was  William  de  Egendon,  the 
Preceptor  of  Shipley,  who  shared  with  many  high  officers,  and 
many  preceptors  and  chaplains  of  the  Order,  all  the  wrongs 
and  humiliations  inflicted  upon  them  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

The  evidence  against  the  Templars,  which  has  since  been 
made  public  {Concilia  Brit.  ii.  329 — 387),  makes  us  in  modern 
times  wonder,  that  Christian  bishops  and  nobles  should  have 
listened  to  the  plain  and  consistent  evidence  of  the  knights, 
and  to  such  loose  hearsay  tales  of  the  few  accusing  witnesses, 
without  perceiving  where  the  truth  lay.  Langton,  Bishop  of 
Chichester,  who  had  recommended  himself  to  Edward  II.  as 
a  partisan  of  the  favourite  Gavaston,  and  had  been  rewarded 
with  the  chancellorship,  was  on  this  occasion  a  constant  and 
zealous  inquisitor  (the  term  given  in  the  King's  warrant  may 
well  stand  untranslated),  and  undertook,  in  1310,  together 
with  the  Bishop  of  London,  to  report  the  result  of  the  tortures 
applied  in  case  of  non-confession  of  guilt.  The  King  indeed, 
with  an  outward  show  of  mercy,  so  far  restricted  the  severity 
of  these  prelates,  that  the  tortures  were  "  not  to  cause  muti- 
lation or  perpetual  disabling  of  limb,  or  violent  effusion  of 
blood." 

It  does  not  at  all  appear  that  popular  feeling  accorded  with 
these  persecutions.  When  a  daring  satirist  of  the  time  pro- 
posed to  establish  a  new  order  of  monks,  and  in  coarse  poetry 
proceeded  to  select  some  one  characteristic  vice  from  each 
existing  order  as  forming  the  statutes  for  that  of  Bel-Eyse,  it 
is  remarkable  that  he  adduced  nothing  against  the  Templars 
or  their  fellow-soldiers  the  Hospitallers,  more  criminal  than 
that  they  wore  long  robes,  well  fitting  shoes  and  hose,  and  that 
they  rode  well-paced  palfreys. 

"  Qe  sunt  mult  corteis  chevalers, 
E  ount  robes  bien  avenauntz, 
Longes  desqu'  al  pie  traynantz, 
Soudlers  e  chauses  bien  seantz, 
E  gros  palefrois  bien  amblantz." 

Political  Songs,  p.  140,  Camden  Soc. 

From  the  imperfect  sources  of  information  transmitted  to 
us,  we  can  glean  little  of  the  personal  history  of  the  Pre- 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  267 

ceptors  and  Templars  of  Sussex  ;  and  indeed,  if  we  have  been 
able  to  describe  the  founders  and  benefactors  of  the  Pre- 
ceptories  of  Sadelescombe  and  Shipley,  it  is  due  to  the  pious 
gratitude  of  the  Hospitallers,  to  whom  their  property  was 
transferred.  When  accepting  the  wealth,  they  also  adopted 
the  duties  of  the  Templars,  and  not  only  preserved  the  char- 
ters, which  had  become  the  title-deeds  of  their  own  future 
estate,  but  also  enregistered  the  names  of  their  benefactors,  as 
those  for  the  repose  of  whose  souls  their  own  prayers  were  to 
be  continued.  The  two  names  of  Sussex  Preceptors  which 
have  occurred  are  quite  insufficient  to  tell  us  of  their  series  or 
of  their  duration  ;  and  it  is  indeed  probable  that,  unlike  the 
abbots  and  priors  of  monasteries,  the  preceptors  frequently 
changed  their  residence  at  the  will  of  the  Master  of  the  Temple, 
to  fulfil  civil  or  military  duties  elsewhere.  The  judicial  re- 
cords at  the  time  of  their  suppression  furnish  us  with  some 
interesting  particulars  of  those  who  were  at  Shipley  in  the 
later  times. 

As  no  Preceptor  of  Sadelescombe  appears  among  the  pri- 
soners, he  probably  evaded  capture,  and  was  in  that  respect 
more  fortunate  than  William  de  Egendon,  the  last  Preceptor 
of  Shipley.  The  sheriff  had  been  ordered  to  arrest  him  and 
all  other  Templars,  guarding  them  safely,  and  honourably 
{honeste)  in  some  competent  place,  elsewhere  than  on  their 
own  possessions,  but  not  in  strict  and  vile  prison  [ita  tamen 
ut  non  sint  in  dura  et  vili  prisond),  and  also  to  take  possession 
on  behalf  of  the  King  of  all  the  lands  and  tenements,  goods 
and  chattels,  with  papers,  writings,  and  all  manner  of  muni- 
ments of  the  Brethren  of  the  Temple,  and  to  report  to  the 
King  the  number  and  names  of  those  imprisoned,  and  where 
and  in  whose  custody  they  were  placed.  In  consequence  of 
this  order  their  persons  were  kept  in  confinement  by  the 
sheriff's  more  than  twenty  months,  unexamined  and  untried ; 
and  it  was  not  before  the  middle  of  September,  1309,  that 
the  prisoners  were  ordered  to  be  brought  up  to  the  Tower  of 
London.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  his  suffragan 
bishops  were  appointed  to  meet  the  Pope's  inquisitors,  four 
Frenchmen,  two  of  whom  were  abbots  and  one  his  own 
chaplain,  in  order  to  inquire  into  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
the  accused. 


268  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  court  took  place  in  the  Bishop  of 
London's  palace  on  Monday,  October  20,  1309,  when  eighty- 
seven  articles  of  accusation  preferred  by  Clement  V.,  with  his 
bull,  were  read. — Concil.  ii.  329. 

These  articles  imputed  to  the  Templars,  that  they  denied 
the  Saviour ;  that  they  spit  and  trod,  with  other  indignities, 
upon  the  cross  ;  that  they  adored  a  certain  cat ;  that  they  dis- 
believed the  sacraments ;  that  they  believed  in  the  power  of 
the  Grand  Master,  Visitor,  and  lay  Preceptors  to  give  abso- 
lution of  sins ;  that  their  admission  was  clandestine  with  in- 
decent practices;  that  they  had  been  long  suspected  of  impiety; 
that  they  worshipped  idols  with  three  or  two  faces,  which  they 
thought  efficacious  to  enrich  them  and  make  the  trees  grow, 
binding  the  head  of  the  idol  with  the  cords  of  their  waist;  that 
they  killed  or  imprisoned  any  who  refused  such  ceremonies, 
and  took  an  oath  not  to  reveal  them ;  and  that  they  con- 
fessed to  their  own  order  only,  and  swore  to  augment  the 
Order  by  all  means  good  or  bad  {per  fas  aut  nefas). 

On  Tuesday,  the  next  day,  the  court  sat  in  the  chapter- 
house of  the  Priory  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  in  the  presence  of  Ralph 
Bishop  of  London ;  and  forty-one  Templars  were  at  length 
brought  there  from  the  Tower  to  meet  the  accusation  for  the 
first  time ;  among  whom  were  William  de  Egendon,  the  Pre- 
ceptor of  Shipley,  and  five  others,  who  had  been  a  few  years 
previous  peaceably  assembled  at  Shipley  in  solemn  ceremonies 
and  divine  service. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  duty,  or  at  least  the  custom,  of 
"  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Temple  in  England,"  for  the  time 
being  to  attend  at  the  formal  reception  of  Brothers  into  the 
Order ;  and  William  de  la  More,  in  that  capacity,  was  accord- 
ingly proved  by  many  witnesses  to  have  sanctioned  such  ad- 
missions by  his  presence  not  only  at  Shipley  but  at  numerous 
other  preceptories.  When  called  upon  in  his  examination, 
June  8,  1310,  to  describe  the  mode  in  which  absolution  was 
given  by  him  to  delinquent  Templars,  he  explained  that 
offences  against  the  discipline  of  the  Order  only  were  par- 
doned by  him,  so  far  as  he  was  empowered  by  God  and  the 
Pope ;  that  in  graver  cases  the  offender,  after  confessing  his 
sins  in  the  chapter,  received  three  strokes  from  a  strap  on  his 
bare  back  {exutus  dorso  corrigiis),  and  was  asked  if  he  sought 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  269 

for  pardon  from  God,  and  that  the  other  brethren  were  then 
invited  to  pray  for  his  pardon,  and  repeat  a  Pater  Noster  on 
his  behalf-  but  such  absolution  was  not  pronounced  in  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  as  was  the  privilege  of  priests. 

One  of  the  witnesses,  Roger  de  Stowe,  when  examined  on 
his  oath,  declared  that,  though  he  had  now  been  a  secular 
priest  for  nearly  two  years,  he  had  been  admitted  into  the 
Order  of  the  Temple  at  Easter  seven  years  past  (a.d.  1302)  in 
the  chapel  {capelld)  of  Schepelee  by  Brother  William  de  la 
More  the  Grand  Master,  in  the  presence  of  Brothers  Thomas 
de  Thoulouse,  knight,  John  de  Stoke,  priest,  and  Roger  le 
Norreys  •  that  his  reception  into  the  Order  was  m  the  manner 
and  form  always  used,  with  the  four  oaths  of  obedience, 
chastity  to  live  without  private  property,  and  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  no  one  except  in  self-defence  or  against  the  Saracens. 
— Concit.n.MZ.  On  this  point  all  the  testimony  was  uniform, 
as  also  on  their  abhorrence  of  idols,  and  blasphemy. 

Brother  William  deEgendon  was  examined  as  a  witness  on 
November  8,  1309,  and  deposed  that  he  entered  the  Order 
at  Dineslee,  in  Hertfordshire,  fourteen  years  ago  (ad  1295), 
and  had  been  admitted  in  the  chapel  there  by  William  de 
Forest  then  Grand  Master,  in  the  presence  of  seven  brothers 
and  others  now  dead,  taking  the  usual  oaths  and  with  the 
usual  forms.     He  had  been  Preceptor  of  Shipley  four  years 

Brother  Thomas  de  Thoulouse,  Knight,  when  examined, 
October  31,  was  precentor  at  Huppledon,  co.  Hereford,  and 
dated  his  admission  at  Dineslee  forty-three  years  ago  (a.d. 
1266)  so  that  he  must  have  little  expected  in  his  old  age  to 
have  such  charges  to  answer.  He  seems  to  have  been  fre- 
quently present  at  the  reception  of  other  knights  and  could 
therefore  bear  good  witness  as  to  the  uniformity  of  the  method. 
The  belts  worn  by  the  Templars  were  converted  into  charges 
against  them  as  if  used  for  idolatrous  purposes;  but  tins 
witness  declared  them  to  be  worn  only  as  enjoined   by  bt. 

Brother  Alan  de  Neweson,  probably  from  Temple  Newsom, 
co  York,  was  examined  November  7,  1309,  and  had  been  a 
Templar  for  six  years  from  his  admission  in  the  chapel  at 
«  Ewelle"  on  taking  the  usual  oaths,  and  had  been  more  than 
five  years  at  Shipley.     He  was  again  examined  on  February  o, 


270  SADELESOOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

1310,  before  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Chichester,  in  the 
church  of  St.  Botulph. 

Roger  le  Norreis,  who  was  one  of  those  present  in  1302,  in 
the  chapel  of  Shipley,  was  precentor  of  Temple  Cressing,  in 
Essex ;  and  when  brought  up  from  the  Tower  as  a  witness  on 
November  10, 1309,  deposed  to  his  admission  into  the  Order 
at  Dineslee  on  the  feast  of  St.  Barnabas,  June  11,  sixteen  years 
years  ago,  which  would  throw  it  back  to  1293.  On  his  second 
examination,  January  29, 1310,  being  asked  whether  unworthy 
persons  had  been  admitted,  or  whether  there  was  a  popular 
suspicion  of  unrighteous  practices  among  the  brothers,  he 
boldly  answered  that  "  good  men  were  chosen,  and  that  no 
good  persons  suspected  them  " — galling  words  to  the  French 
deputies  of  the  Pope  and  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Chiches- 
ter, who  sat  listening  to  him.  At  another  time,  March  3,  he 
said  he  had  witnessed  the  admission  of  William  de  Egendon 
and  ten  others,  as  well  as  the  burial  of  some  publicly,  in  the 
presence  of  many  laymen  ;  one  of  the  charges  being  that  such 
rites  took  place  at  night  secretly. 

Another  of  the  Templars  at  Shipley,  in  1302,  was  Brother 
John  de  Stoke,  chaplain,  who  had  entered  the  Order  seven- 
teen years  previously  at  Belesale  at  one  o'clock  on  the  day, 
not  at  night ;  and  as  to  burials  being  secret,  he  only  knew  of 
one  who,  having  died  excommunicated  for  purloining  the 
goods  of  the  house,  was  buried  in  the  highway.  It  appears 
that  John  de  Stoke  had  thrown  off  the  dress  of  the  Templars, 
and  had  so  escaped  arrest  up  to  November  10;  but  being 
then  detected,  was  captured  and  brought  before  the  Court  of 
Inquisitors  on  November  15,  1309. 

Examinations  were  going  on  about  the  same  time  at 
Lincoln,  York,  and  Dublin,  into  the  cases  of  the  Templars 
imprisoned  there. 

In  the  Archbishop's  Chamber  at  York,  on  May  1,  1310, 
Brother  William  de  la  Fenne,  Preceptor  at  Purfleet,  gave 
evidence  of  his  admission  into  the  Order  fifteen  years  before 
(1295),  with  the  usual  oaths  and  forms,  in  the  dormitory  at 
Shipley,  in  the  presence  of  Guy  de  Forest,  then  Grand  Master, 
and  many  other  brothers  then  dead. 

The  Inquisitors,  on  November  19,  1309,  brought  forward 
six  new  questions,  on  which  they  took  evidence.    These  applied 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  271 

to  the  supposed  secrecy  of  the  admissions  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Templars,  and  whether  they  had  in  their  conversation  said 
anything  that  had  the  flavour  of  infidelity (aliquid  quod  sapcret 
iiijidelitatem),  or  whether  others  had  ever  suspected  them  of 
impiety  or  having  idols.  This  invitation  to  bring  forward 
even  suspicions  opened  a  wide  door  to  loose  accusations.  On 
March  3,  five  more  articles  were  added  to  the  inquiry,  as 
to  how  many  and  what  brothers  each  had  personally  been 
acquainted  with,  and  as  to  clandestine  burials.  All  the 
above  named  who  had  been  at  Shipley  were  examined  again 
in  March  upon  these  points.  William  de  Egendon  testified 
that  he  had  not  seen  more  than  one  knight  admitted,  and,  like 
the  others,  denied  any  secret  burials.  One  knight  who  had 
been  thirty-eight  years  in  the  Order,  gave  the  striking  answer 
that  he  had  never  witnessed  any  burials  except  of  those  who 
had  died  in  the  Tower.  One  of  the  accusers  was  a  Templar, 
John  de  Gertia,  and  he  bare  witness  that  he  had  heard  from  a 
woman  named  Cacocaca  that  a  servant,  fourteen  years  ago, 
had  secretly  seen  and  watched  the  Templars  while  they  placed 
an  idol  upon  the  crucifix,  and  that  one  brother  who  had  re- 
fused to  do  so  had  been  confined  inside  a  well  with  the  lid 
shut  down  (clauso puteo  cum  cooperculo);  and  he  also  deposed 
that  one  Walter  Salvage,  of  the  household  of  the  Earl  of 
Warenne's  grandfather,  had,  two  years  after  entering  the 
Order,  been  so  removed  away  that  neither  the  earl  nor  his 
other  friends  could  ever  learn  what  had  become  of  him. 

Another  Templar,  Richard  cle  Kocfeld,  deposed  that  Brother 
John  de  Borne  had  told  him  and  others  that  the  Knight 
Templar  Walter  Bacheler  had  procured  his  admission,  and  had 
asked  him  afterwards  how  he  liked  the  Order,  to  which  John 
de  Borne,  who  was  confessor  to  the  Earl  Warenne,  answered 
that  he  had  ruined  his  soul  by  entering  the  Order.  The 
witness  had  also  heard  from  Walter,  the  rector  of  Hodlee 
{Hothly),  who  had  heard  from  a  certain  vicar  that  Walter 
Bacheler,  to  whom  he  was  priest,  had  told  him  that  there  was 
one  article  of  the  oath  of  admission  which  he  could  never 
reveal  to  any  living  creature. 

Another  brother,  Stephen  de  Stapelbrugge,  a  fugitive  apos- 
tate, who  had  been  captured  at  Salisbury,  deposed  that  he  had 
been  made  to  spit  upon  the  cross  and  to  deny  the  Saviour 


272  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

and  the  Virgin,  and  had  heard  say  of  other  impieties  insisted 
upon  under  threats  of  death.  This  examination  was  held  on 
June  23, 1311,  before  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Chichester, 
Robert  de  Leisset,  Archdeacon  of  Chichester,  John  de  Slynden, 
and  others. 

To  such  hearsay  evidence  the  Templars,  conscious  of  their 
innocence,  could  only  oppose  their  denial ;  and  they  said  that 
they  disbelieved  that  any  brothers  had  confessed  to  any  iniquity 
unless  compelled  by  torture,  and  if  they  had  so  confessed  they 
lied  {nisi per  tormenta,  et  si  sint  confessi  mentiuntur).  Others 
said  they  would  sooner  die  {citius  vellent  mori)  than  renounce 
their  Order. 

There  seem  to  have  been  exertions  made  to  induce  the  pri- 
soners to  confess ;  and  one  Templar  swore  that,  when  he  was 
in  Lincoln  prison,  the  Abbot  of  Lagny,  one  of  the  Pope's  in- 
quisitors, had,  on  his  refusing  to  confess,  sworn  with  his  hand 
on  his  breast  "  by  the  Word  of  God  that  he  would  make  him 
confess  before  he  had  done  with  him."  Fearing  death  in  con- 
sequence of  this  threat,  he  had  bribed  the  sheriff  and  keeper 
of  the  prison  with  40  florins  to  let  him  escape  in  open  day- 
light, which  he  effected,  but  was  afterwards  recaptured. 

Time  however  was  wearing  on,  the  weary  series  of  examina- 
tions had  now  continued  for  nearly  two  years,  the  Templars 
had  been  imprisoned  for  more  than  three,  and  it  is  probable 
that  all  parties  were  tired  out,  and  became  more  willing  to 
close  the  proceedings  by  a  compromise. 

After  a  copy  of  the  examinations  had  been  given  to  the 
Templars  on  April  22, 1311,  they  were  required  to  make  their 
answers  in  eight  days,  and  the  Bishop  of  London's  officer  was 
sent  into  the  Tower  to  confer  with  them.  The  imprisoned 
Templars  said  that,  being  mere  laymen,  they  had  no  legal 
advisers  to  defend  them,  though  they  held  the  same  faith  as 
the  Holy  Church,  and  if  they  had  erred  in  anything  it  was 
from  ignorance.  "We  therefore  pray  you  (they  concluded)  for 
the  sake  of  God,  and  the  salvation  of  your  souls,  that  you  judge 
us  as  you  may  wish  to  answer  for  yourselves  and  for  us  before 
God." — Condi,  p.  364.  On  the  eighth  day,  however,  twenty- 
eight  Templars,  among  whom  were  William  de  la  More  and 
Alan  de  Neweson,  were  brought  from  the  Tower  before  the 
inquisitors  in  Berkyng  Church,  and  there  tendered  a  paper 


SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY.  273 

which  was  accepted  as  a  confession,  for  it  declared,  as  the 
court  interpreted  it,  "  that  though  they  were  sincere  Chris- 
tians, they  were  in  such  evil  repute,  as  to  having  denied  the 
Saviour  (se  adeo  diffamatos  esse  super  abnegatione  Christi),  and 
treated  the  Cross  with  contempt,  and  other  heresies,  that  they 
were  unable  to  prove  themselves  innocent  {quod  se  super  his 
jmrgare  non  posscnt);  and  therefore  submitted  themselves 
to  the  discipline  of  the  church,  and  implored  its  pardon." — 
Concil.  p.  391. 

It  is  a  curious  feature  in  the  proceedings  of  this  court,  that 
three  languages — Latin,  French,  and  English — were  used  ac- 
cording to  the  capacity  of  the  prisoners.3  In  the  present  in- 
stance the  paper  was  in  French. 

To  this  formula  of  confession  the  other  Templars  in  the 
different  prisons  gave  their  assent ;  Roger  Norreis  and  seven 
others  imprisoned  in  Aldgate ;  William  de  Egendon,  John  de 
Stoke,  and  four  others,  in  Criplegate ;  Alan  de  Neweson  and 
five  more  in  Southwark,  with  others  in  Ludgate  and  Newgate. 

Most  of  this  took  place  in  one  day,  April  29,  1311.  The 
Bishops  of  London  and  Chichester  had  the  power  of  giving 
them  absolution ;  and  this  they  did  with  much  pomp,  seated 
at  the  west  door  of  St.  Paul's,  surrounded  by  priests  and 
people,  while  the  Templars  on  their  knees  before  them  pub- 
licly abjured  all  heresies,  some  with  cries  and  weeping. 

The  official  document,  embodying  the  record  of  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  court,  takes  credit  for  having  successfully  dis- 
covered the  truth  by  various  means,  "  by  examinations  devised 
by  the  bishops  themselves  in  person,  also  by  the  clergy  of  the 
Templars,  and  even  by  severe  and  cruel  lay  persons  sometimes 
exercising  the  judgement  of  blood,  who  had  from  a  certain 
knowledge  been  sent  to  terrify  them  (el  etiam  severas  et  cru- 
deles personas  laicas,  judicium  sanguinis  quandoque  exercentes, 
ex  certa  scientia  eis  ad  terrorem  missas),  and  also  by  the 
consistent  confession  of  three  Templars." — Concil.  393.  Con- 
sidering that  torture  had  been  insisted  upon  by  the  Pope, 
sanctioned  by  the  King,  and  directed  by  the  French  abbots 
and  English  bishops  who  formed  the  court  of  inquisitors,  the 

3  "  Sacerdotes  et  literati  in  Latina,  laici       said  to  have  deposed  "  in  Anglico  et  titu- 
vero  in  lingua  Gallicana,quidani  in  Anglica       bando"  on  June  8,  1310. 
lingua." —  Concil.  ii.  391.     One  witness  is 

ix.  35 


274  SADELESCOMBE    AND    SHIPLEY. 

avowed  use  of  these  "  severe  and  cruel  laymen"  is  remark- 
able. 

On  Monday,  July  12,  many  great  noblemen,  the  Earls  of 
Leicester,  Hereford,  Pembroke,  and  Warwick,  for  the  first  time 
attended  the  council,  and  witnessed  the  absolution,  either  in 
French  or  English,  but  principally  in  Erench.  Some  of  the 
Templars  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  were  too  sick  to  leave  it ; 
others  from  their  age  could  not  stand  up,  and  received  pardon 
there.  The  Preceptor  of  Shipley,  William  de  Egendon,  abjured 
in  Erench,  and  submitted  to  the  correction  of  the  church. 

Some  were  made  to  prostrate  themselves  bareheaded  on  the 
door-steps  of  Berkynge  Church,  and  were  afterwards  led  by 
hand  up  to  the  altar,  which,  after  praying,  they  devoutly  and 
with  tears  kissed. — Concil.  p.  392. 

The  knights  were  thus  at  length  released  from  their  prisons, 
but  were  sent  by  direction  of  the  bishops  into  divers  monas- 
teries to  perform  penance.  William  de  la  More  alone  refused 
to  admit  himself  guilty  of  what  he  had  not  done ;  and  was 
doomed  to  be  shut  up  in  the  vilest  prison,  confined  with 
double  irons  {in  vilissimo  car  cere  ferro  duplici  constrictus),  and 
from  time  to  time  to  be  visited  and  importuned  to  confess. 
The  gallant  Master  did  not  long  survive  this  treatment. 

Twelve  Templars  survived  so  as  to  appear  among  the  pen- 
sioners of  the  Hospitallers  so  late  as  1338  ;  and  among  these 
were  Roger  de  Stowe,  receiving  100s.  a  year,  and  Alan  de 
Neusom,  having  a  pension  of  six  marcs. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  at  last,  on  August  15, 
1312,  published  the  Bull  of  Pope  Clement  V.  dissolving  the 
Order  of  the  Templars,  and  thus  ended  the  brief  and  brilliant 
course  of  men,  whose  name  still  sounds  in  our  ears  suggestive 
of  chivalrous  adventure  and  eager  courage,  in  spite  of  the 
calumnies  and  ignominy  which  clouded  their  latter  years. 


BODIAM,  AND  ITS  LORDS. 


TARTLY    HEAD   AT   TIIE    BODIAM    MEETING,    lOTU    JULY,    1856. 


BY  MARK  ANTONY  LOWER,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 


The  history  of  Bodiam  begins  with  the  great  Norman 
Survey.  The  account  given  of  it  in  Domesday  Book  is  this : 
— "  Osbern  holds  a  hide  and  three  roodlands  in  Bodeham  of 
this  manor,  which  was  always  included  in  the  district  of 
Werste,  where  the  hall  was  situated.  Roger  has  half  a  hide, 
and  Ralph  two  roodlands.  There  is  one  plough  and  a  half  in 
the  demesne,  and  seven  villeins  with  ten  bondmen  have  four 
ploughs  and  a  half.  The  whole  value  in  the  time  of  the  Con- 
fessor was  six  pounds ;  it  has  since  been  estimated  at  six ; 
but  it  is  now  appreciated  at  nine  pounds."  The  manor  of 
Werste,  now  Ewhurst,  was  in  the  rape  or  territory  of  the  Earl 
of  Eu,  a  kinsman  of  the  Conqueror,  who  held  it  in  domain, 
and  consequently  Bodiam  was  immediately  dependent  upon 
that  great  feudal  lord.  I  may  remark  that  the  original  seat 
of  this  eminent  personage  was  at  what  is  now  called  "La  Ville 
d'Eu"  in  Normandy — in  modern  times  the  fine  chateau  of  the 
late  King  Louis-Philippe, — and  that  after  the  Conquest  his 
principal  English  residence  was  the  Castle  of  Hastings.  His 
tenants  Osbern,  Roger,  and  Ralph,  were  probably  followers 
who  had  fought  under  his  command  at  Hastings,  and  who  were 
thus  allowed  to  participate  in  the  spoils  of  the  Norman  Con- 
quest. In  this  and  the  following  century,  the  possessors  of 
the  estate  assumed  the  surname  of  De  Bodeham ;  and  under 
Henry  II.,  Roger  de  Bodeham  held  the  sub-infeudation  with 
four  knights'  fees,  amounting  to  2560  acres,  including  a  park, 
the  name  of  which  is  still  retained. 


276  BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 

In  the  Chronicle  of  Battel  Abbey  there  are  some  rather  in- 
teresting notices  concerning  the  parish  and  family  of  Bodeham. 
The  first  relates  to  the  very  Osbern,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
the  principal  feudatory,  here,  of  the  Earl  of  Eu.  The  Chronicler 
states  that,  "  in  consequence  of  the  dryness  of  the  soil  around 
Battel  Abbey,  and  the  deficiency  of  well-irrigated  meadows, 
a  certain  knight  of  these  parts,  named  Osbern  Eitz-Hugh,  by 
the  advice  of  Abbot  Gausbert  and  the  monks — with  the  con- 
sent of  his  Lord,  William  Earl  of  Eu,  and  the  confirmation 
of  King  William — gave  and  granted  out  of  his  domain  thirty 
acres  of  meadow,  Norman  measure,  lying  in  his  manor  called 
Bodeham,  about  seven  miles  distant,  partly  of  his  free  donation, 
and  partly  by  way  of  sale,  he  receiving  fifty  shillings  in  re- 
compense ;  and  this  by  his  charter  he  confirmed  for  ever  to 
the  Abbey  of  Battel,  free  from  all  challenge  or  exaction  of  his 
heirs  and  all  other  persons,  and  from  every  charge  whatever.'* 
One  can  scarcely  forbear  a  smile  at  the  mixed  character  of  this 
transaction.  The  good  Osbern,  while  desirous  of  securing  the 
eternal  welfare  of  himself  and  his  family,  was  by  no  means 
inattentive  to  his  worldly  interests  in  thus  drawing  a  balance 
of  two-pounds-ten  in  his  own  favour. 

The  next,  mention  of  Bodiam  in  the  Chronicle  refers  to  the 
appointment  of  a  bailiff,  or  keeper  of  the  meadow,  on  account 
of  its  remoteness  from  the  Abbey.  The  monks  of  Battel  pre- 
vailed upon  another  knight  of  these  parts  to  give  a  piece  of 
land  upo?i  which  to  erect  a  house  for  the  keeper.  The  name 
of  the  knight  was  Robert  Borne,  who  also  conceded  to  the 
abbey  a  right  of  way  through  his  lands.  "  The  brethren,  in 
acknowledgment  of  this  kindness,  and  for  the  sake  of  evidence 
hereafter,  gave  him  six  shillings  and  iron  leg-harness,  which 
some  properly  designate  greaves  (sex  solidos,  et  caligas  ferreas, 
quas  quidam  proprie  ocreas  dicunt),1  by  which  he  might  equip 
one  of  his  brothers  for  the  wars."  "  Now,"  adds  the  Chro- 
nicler, "  there  was  a  slip  of  land  lying  between  the  above- 
mentioned  meadow  and  the  recently-acquired  keeper's  house, 
which  seemed  convenient  for  the  brethren,  for  the  purposes 
of  a  wharf,  on  which  they  might  land  such  things  as  were 
brought  thither  for  their  use  by  a  vessel  (navigio).  The 
venerable  Abbot  Walter  [de  Lucy]  therefore,  personally  and 

1  Lat.  edit.  p.  132 ;  my  Translation,  p.  145. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  277 

through  his  friends,  applied  to  Robert  Borne  and  Ralph  his 
son,  and  prevailed  upon  them  to  give  that  slip  of  land  as  they 
had  done  the  manse  which  it  adjoined  ...  to  God  and  St. 
Martin,  to  be  quietly  held  for  ever."  These  transactions  took 
place  between  the  years  1157  and  1171.  The  latter  passage 
is  interesting,  as  showing  that  the  river  Rother  was  navigable 
for  a  sailing-vessel  in  the  twelfth  century. 

Emma  wife  of  Osbern  de  Bodeham  (previously  called  Eitz- 
Hugh)  gave  to  Battel  Abbey  land  worth  six  shillings  in  the 
manor  of  Bodiam,  and  a  mill  called  Sansei  near  Criuil  in 
Normandy — Robert  Earl  of  Eu,  her  lord,  confirming  the  gift 
in  the  presence  of  many  witnesses.2 

There  is  not,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  any  pedigree  of  the 
De  Bodiams  in  existence.  The  following  is  the  best  ap- 
proximation to  one  that  I  have  been  enabled,  after  much  in- 
vestigation, to  arrive  at : — 


Osbeeh   de   Bodiam    =^=    Emma 
otherwise  Fitz-Hugh,  1087.    I 


.  .  .  .  de  Bodiam   — 

I 
Boger  de  Bodiam,  1154,  held  the  manor  and  4  knights'  fees 


William  de  Eodiam  = 
a  Crusader  in  Palestine,  under 
Kichard  Cceur  de  Lion. 


Henry  de  Bodiam         =p  Margaret,  da.  of  Adam  .  , 

sou  and  heir,  ob.  vit.  pair.  survived  her  husband. 

i  i 

William  de  Bodiam  Gilbert  de 

a  soldier  in  Poitou,  Bodiam. 
1215.        q= 


Margaret,  daughter  and  heiress. 

I  infer  that  the  interval  between  Osbern,  1087,  and  Roger, 
who  occurs  in  the  Black  Book  of  the  Exchequer,  1154,  as 
owner  of  four  knights'  fees  in  Bodiam,  includes  a  lord  of 

2  Chron.  de  Bello,  p.  55.     Trans,  p.  60. 


278  BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 

Bodiam  whose  name  does  not  transpire ;  and  I  presume  that 
William  was  the  son  of  Roger.  William  de  Bodiham,  accord- 
ing to  a  roll  in  the  library  of  Sir  Edw.  Dering,  quoted  in 
Hasted's  Kent,  joined  the  Crusade  under  Richard  L,  was  at 
the  siege  of  Acre  in  1190,  and  bore  for  arms  on  that  occasion, 
Gules,  an  inescocheon  argent,  an  orle  of  bezants,  a  coat  mate- 
rially differing  from  that  afterwards  assumed  by  the  family. 
— (Dansey's  Crusaders.)  William  had  a  son  and  heir,  Henry 
de  Bodiam.  Though  he  died  before  his  father,  he  is  styled 
Lord  of  Bodiam,  in  a  deed  by  which  he  enfeoffs  Robert  de  Ore 
with  all  his  lands  called  Ore  and  Kemehethe,3  in  the  parish 
of  Battel.  The  deed,  which  is  without  date,  is  witnessed  by 
Lord  William  de  Echingham,  Lord  Matthew  de  Hastings, 
Richard  de  Ashburnham,  and  other  distinguished  persons. — 
(Thorpe's  Cat.  Battle  Abbey  Deeds,  p.  8.)  About  the  end  of 
Richard  I.  or  the  beginning  of  John,  Margaret,  widow  of  this 
Henry,  sued  her  father-in-law,  William,  for  her  thirds  of 
twenty  pounds  land  with  the  appurtenances  in  Bodiam,  which 
had  been  allotted  to  her  by  way  of  marriage  settlement  on  her 
espousals  with  Henry,  by  William  de  Bodiam  the  defendant. 
That  deed  had  been  witnessed  by  Alured  de  St.  Martin  (the 
founder  of  Robertsbridge  Abbey),  Rd.  de  St.  Leger,  Ralph 
de  Bodiam,  Reginald  de  Bodiam,  and  others.  William,  the 
defendant,  pleaded  that  his  son  Henry  had  never  had  seisin 
of  the  lands  in  question,  but  did  not  deny  his  deed,  and  the 
thirds  were  consequently  awarded  to  the  plaintiff. — {Rot.  Cur. 
Meg.  Sussex,  i.  365).4 

The  name  of  William  de  Bodiam  occurs  in  many  records 
from  the  year  1199  downwards  ;  but  whether  in  some  of  them 
the  father-in-law  of  the  widow  Margaret,  or  her  son,  who  suc- 
ceeded his  grandfather  as  lord  of  Bodiam,  is  intended,  is  by 
no  means  clear.  Poor  Margaret,  besides  the  loss  of  her  hus- 
band, and  her  subsequent  struggle  for  dower,  seems  to  have 

3  Kemehethe,  now  Camehide.     One  of  from  Bulverhythe,   alias   Bullhide,    to 

the  silly  legends  connected  with  the  Nor-  Came-hide,  in  Battel,  for  hither  says  the 

man  Conquest  is,  that  some  time  before  tradition  came  the  hide ! ! 

the  battle  of  Hastings,  Duke  William,  4  For  several  references  to  records  I  am 

imitating  the  example  of  Queen  Dido  at  indebted  to  Mr.  Blaauw,  and  for  some 

Carthage,  purchased  as  much  land  on  the  miscellaneous  information  to  the  Gentle- 

Sussex  coast  as  he  could  compass  with  a  man's  Magazine  for  Sept.  1856,  contri- 

bull's  hide,  which  being  cut  into  slips  was  buted  by  Mr.  W.  D.  Cooper,  to  whom  I 

made  to  reach  several  miles  inland,  namely  also  owe  other  valuable  communications. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  279 

fallen  into  other  troubles.  In  the  time  of  King  John  her 
estate  was  confiscated  on  the  plea  of  rebellion,  but  in  1st 
Henry  III.,  that  monarch  directed  the  sheriff  of  Sussex  to 
restore  seisin  thereof  to  her,  she  having  returned  to  fidelity 
and  service.  {Rot.  Lit.  Claus.  1217,  p.  328.)  The  Earls  of 
Eu  still  continued  to  hold  feudal  dominancy  over  the  de  Bo- 
diams,  and  exercised  some  undue  exactions ;  wherefore  King 
John  in  1215  issued  his  mandate  to  the  sheriff  to  prevent  the 
then  earl  from  harassing  William  de  Bodiam  for  military  ser- 
vice in  respect  of  his  four  knights'  fees,  he  having  duly  paid 
his  relief  to  the  King  during  the  time  that  the  earl's  lands 
had  been  in  the  King's  hands,5  and  especially  as  to  tallage, 
as  William  was  then  serving  in  person  in  Poitou,  and  if  any- 
thing had  been  seized  from  him  on  that  behalf,  it  was  to  be 
restored  without  delay.  {Rot.  Claus.  16  Joh.)  The  same  year 
the  King  restored  to  William  de  Bodiam  land  held  during  the 
minority  of  the  daughter  of  Stephen  de  Canardinton  (Kenard- 
ington,  co.  Kent),  then  deceased,  whose  heir  he  was.  By  a 
deed,  without  date,  William  de  Bodiam  confirms  the  feoffment 
of  lands  in  Pette,  hitherto  held  by  Edwardus  Cuparius  to  his 
brother  Gilbert  de  Bodiam.  To  this  deed,  which  is  sealed 
with  an  equestrian  figure,  the  names  of  William,  chaplain  of 
Bodiam,  Robert  de  Glotingham,  Adam,  parson  of  Icklesham, 
and  others,  occur  as  witnesses.  By  another  dateless  deed, 
William  de  Bodiam,  son  of  Henry  de  Bodiam,  for  the  good 
of  his  soul,  and  the  souls  of  his  antecessors  and  successors, 
enfeoffs  the  Abbey  of  Battel  with  his  possessions  in  the  fee  of 
Bodiam.  (Thorpe's  Cat.  Battel  Abbey  Deeds,  p.  8.)  And  by 
another  deed,  also  undated,  Gilbert  de  Bodiam,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  souls  of  himself  and  his  lord  and  brother  William 
de  Bodiam,  grants  to  Battel  Abbey,  in  pure  and  perpetual 
alms,  the  lands  in  Pette  which  William  his  said  brother  had 
aforetime  given  him  upon  his  service.  (Thorpe's  Cat.  p.  9.) 
Margaret,  daughter  of  William  de  Bodiam,  by  a  sealed  deed 
without  date,  also  confirms  to  Battel  Abbey  the  same  lands  in 
Pette.   (Thorpe,  p.  9.) 

The  William  de  Bodiam  who  figures  in  these  transactions 
was  probably  a  benefactor  to  the  Abbey  of  Robertsbridge,  and 

5  July  7,  1215,  William  de  B.  paid  re-       year  with  horses  and  arms.  Sot.  de  Fin. 
lief  of  thirty  marks  and  service  for  one       15  Joh. 


280 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


he  would  seem  to  have  been  buried  there.  Among  many  frag- 
mentary stones  which  I  sketched  at  Robertsbridge  Abbey  in 
the  year  1831,  and  most  of  which  have  subsequently  perished 
— having  been  macadamized,  as  I  am  most  credibly  informed, 
to  mend  a  neighbouring  highway — was  one  which  I  take  to 
have  formed  part  of  his  tomb.     (See  the  subjoined  woodcut.) 


I  believe  that  Margaret,  the  daughter  of  this  William,  was 
the  heiress  who  conveyed  Bodiam  to  the  Wardeux  family,  but 
the  proofs  of  this  have  hitherto  eluded  my  research.  It  is 
clear  that  in  the  next  generation  the  Wardeux  family  were 
lords  of  the  manor ;  though  it  is  equally  certain  that  indivi- 
duals of  the  Bodiam  name  continued  to  be  landed  proprietors, 
here  and  in  the  adjoining  parishes,  for  many  years  subsequently! 
About  the  year  1250,  Simon  de  Bodiam  appears  as  witness 
to  a  deed  from  Reginald  Abbot  of  Battel  to  Dionysia  Palmer. 
In  1263,  William  and  Henry  de  Bodiham  were  witnesses  to  a 
deed  of  gift  from  Robert  de  Glindlee  (Glyndleyin  Westham) 
to  Lewes  Priory.— {Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  hi.  197.)  A  few  years 
later,  in  6th  Edward  I.,  among  those  who  had  summons,  as 
possessors  of  lands  worth  twenty  pounds  per  annum,  to  take 
up  their  knighthood  in  the  counties  of  Surrey  and  Sussex,  was 
a  John  de  Bodiham,  while  the  manucaptor  of  Masters  William 
Aguilun  and  William  de  la  Legh,  the  commissioners,  was  a 
Henry  de  Bodyham.— {Pari.  Writs,  vol.  i.  p.  217.)  In  the 
28th  year  of  the  same  reign,  according  to  a  statement  in  Gent. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


281 


Wag.  (March,  1837),  without  any  reference,  Thomas,  son  of 
Lucie  de  Bodihamme,  recovered  in  the  King's  Court  against 

Reginald ,  one  messuage  and  12  acres  of  land  in  Bodiam. 

Many  years  later  still,  some  branches  of  the  old  stock  must 
have  regarded  Bodiam  as  their  home;  for  the  church  contains 

a  mutilated  miniature  brass 
of  an  armed  knight,  upon 
whose  surcoat  the  fesse  dan- 
cettee  and  pellets  of  the 
family  arms  are  gracefully 
represented  ;  and  this  brass 
cannot,  in  my  opinion,  be 
assigned  to  a  date  anterior 
to  the  earlier  part  of  the  reign 
of  Richard  II.  This  trun- 
cated fragment,  which  mea- 
sures only  fourteen  inches 
in  height,  was  long  lying 
loose,  covered  with  dust, 
until  some  years  since,  when 
the  late  incumbent, the  Rev. 
Sir  Godfrey  Thomas,  Bart., 
had  it  affixed  to  the  chancel 
wall.  Subsequently,  during 
the  recent  restoration  of  the 
building,  it  was  fixed,  with 
other  brass  fragments,  at 
the  west  end  of  the  church.  A  brass  escocheon  of  the  Bodiam 
arms,  apparently  of  anterior  date,  is  also  preserved  in  the  same 
position.  Other  families  of  Bodeham  existed  contempora- 
neously. Many  notices  occur  in  records  of  one  entirely  un- 
connected with  Sussex,  who  derived  their  surname  from  Bod- 
ham  near  Erpingham,  in  Norfolk,  one  of  whose  members, 
William  de  Bodeham,  was  engaged  in  the  expeditions  of 
(Edw.  I.  against  the  Welsh.  There  were  in  Sussex  two  other 
places  called  Bodeham,  one  in  the  parish  of  Battel,  repeatedly 
mentioned  in  the  archives  of  Battel  Abbey,  and  another  near 
Petworth,  which  belonged  fewp.Edw.  III.  to  the  great  feudal 
Ihouse  of  Pay n el. 

Some  obscurity  attaches  to  the  origin  of  the  family  who  next 
succeeded  to  the  lordship  of  Bodiam.    Their  name  is  variously 
ix.  36 


282 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


spelt  Wardcdicu,  Wardedu,  Wardou,  Warddieu,  and  Wardeux. 
It  is  asserted  in  a  small  local  publication,  Gleanings  concerning  \ 
Battel  Abbey?  that  their  progenitor  was  a  cadet  of  the  family 
of  Monceux,  lords  of  Herst-Monceux,  who,  becoming  in  the 
thirteenth  century  a  ward  of  the  Earl  of  Eu,  (to 
whom  the  manor  of  Bodiam  of  which  he  was 
proprietor  was  feudally  subject),  assumed  the 
surname  of  Ward  d'Ou,  which  he  transmitted  to 
his  descendants.  But  as  the  name  is  usually 
found  with  the  territorial  prefix  de,  this  statement 
may  well  be  questioned. 

The  following  pedigree,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the 
kindness  of  William  Courthope,  Esq.,  Somerset  Herald,  shows 
the  descent  of  Bodiam  for  several  generations  : — 

William  de  Wakdediett,  held  a  fourth  part 
of  a  knight's  fee  at  Hanington,  co.  Northampton. 
Lib.  Feod.  Mil.  temp.  Hen.  III.  (A) 


Sir  Henry  de  Wardedien,  Knt.  held  the  above 
24  Edw.  I.  (1295-6),  and  enfeoffed  into  the  same 
William  de  Wardedieu.  Called  Lord  of  Bodiam, 
1278.  (B)  = 


William  de  Warde- : 
dieu,  lord  of  Ha- 
nington and  Bodiam, 
9  Edw.  II.  (1315-6) 
died  before  3  Edw. 
III.  (1329-30). 
(C) 


:Sarah    

remarried  Simon 
de  Kelmarsh. 


Master  Nicholas 
Wardedieu,  held  Ma- 
nor of  Bodiam  for  life 
by  gift  of  his  father 
and  grant  of  the  Earl 
of  Richmond,  which 
he  held  by  four  knts.' 
fees.     Died  before  4 
Edw.  III.  (1330-1). 
(D) 


Richard  Warde- 
dieu, held  the  ma- 
nor of  Bodiam 
after  death  of  his 
brother  Nicholas. 
=     (E) 


John  de  Wardedieu. 
(F) 


John  Wardedieu, 
son  and  heir  of  Richard,  16  Edw. 
III.  held  four  knights'  fees  in 
Bodiam  and  Penhurst  (1342-3). 
—Burrell  MSS.  (G.) 


At  this  point  of  the  pedigree  some  doubt  of  the  proper  line 
of  continuity  arises  from  the  contemporaneous  existence  of 
two  Johns  de  Wardedieu.  The  John  mentioned  below  must 
have  been  the  son  either  of  William  (e)  or  of  Richard  (e)  ; 


6  Page  63. 


BODY  AM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  283 

Mr.  Courthope  is  inclined  to  think  the  former;  "but,"  as  he 
justly  observes,  "  this  part  of  the  pedigree  is  obscure,  as  there 
was  clearly  a  Robert  Wardedieu  about  this  time  Lord  of 
Bodiam." 

=John  de  Waededieux,  of  Bo-=Alice,  daughter  and 
chain,  a  ward  of  John  de  Britan-  heir  of  Theobald  de 
nia,  Earl  of  Richmond,  4  Edw.  Nevill,  died  seized  of 
III.  (13301). — Inq.  Post  Mort.  manor  of  Allex  ton,  co. 
1377.  Assessed  for  £20  lauds  at  Leicest.  and  Forester- 
Bodiam  circ.  13  Edw.  III.  Held  ship  of  co.  Rutland, 
fourth  part  of  knight's  fee  at  45  Edw.  III.  1371-27 
Hanington,  co.  Northton.  20  Widowof  John  Hake- 
Ed  w.  III.  1346-7.  luyt,  lord  of  Allexton. 
(H) 


Elizabeth,  heir  to=SiR    Edwakd    Dalyngkttge,    born 

her  father,  and  30  yrs.     circa  1346.     Had  a  restoration  of  the 

of  age,  51  Edw.  III.     Forestership   of  co.  Rutland,    1378-9. 

(1377) ;  living  1383.      Owner    of    the    Hanington    property, 

1377-8.    Builtcr  of  Bontam  Castle. 

Besides  the  information  conveyed  by  the  foregoing  tables, 
the  following  is  of  interest  in  connection  with  Bodiam. 

Sir  Henry  de  Wardedieu  (b)  was  a  person  of  considerable 
influence.  His  name  first  occurs  as  lord  of  Bodiam  12  kal. 
May,  1278,  when  he  releases  to  the  abbot  and  convent  of 
Battel,  and  the  sacristy  thereof,  all  services  due  to  him  for 
lands  and  tenements  in  the  fee  of  Bodiam,  Pryckle  Wode,  and 
Angmerehurst.  The  witnesses  are  Dom.  Robert  de  Passelegh, 
William  de  Penhurst,  and  others.  This  deed  of  release  with 
a  well-preserved  seal  of  red  wax  remains  among  the  charters 
of  Battel  Abbey.— (Thorpe's  Cat.  p.  50.)  In  24  Edward  I. 
(1296)  he  was  enrolled  as  a  knight  holding  lands  in  the  Rape 
of  Hastings.  He  was  summoned  to  a  military  council  held 
at  Rochester  on  Sunday,  8th  Sept.,  1297,  and  the  same  year 
he  was  appointed  assessor  and  collector  of  ninths  for  the  county 
of  Sussex.  Though  he  does  not  appear  in  the  roll  of  English 
heroes  who  in  1300  took  the  castle  of  Carlaverock  in  Scotland, 
he  was  summoned  the  following  year  to  perforin  military  ser- 
vice against  the  Scots,  in  the  muster  made  at  Berwick  24th 
June,  1301.  A  year  later  he  was  chosen  a  knight  of  the  shire, 
in  connection  with  John  Heryngaud,  and  received  payment  of 
his  expenses  in  Parliament  Oct.  1, 1302.  He  died  before  the 
year  1315. 

7  The  office  of  Chief  Forester  to  the  they  gained  a  bad  name  for  their  exactions 
King  seems  to  have  been  hereditary  in  the  underthe  Norman  forest  laws. — SccTrans. 
Nevill  family  for  many  generations,  and       Chron.  Battel  Abbey,  p.  122. 


284  BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 

John  de  Wardedieu  (g)  who  as  heir  of  Richard  de  W.  was 
in  13  Edw.  III.  assessed  at  ten  marks  for  his  lands  in  Bodiam, 
rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  a  charge  of  disloyalty  towards 
the  King.  It  appears  from  the  Rolls  of  Parliament  (the  date 
of  the  year  is  uncertain)  that  "  at  the  council  of  our  Lord  the 
King,  John  son  of  Richard  Wardedeu  of  Bodiam  in  the  county 
of  Sussex,  and  John  de  Boxhurst  of  the  county  of  Kent,  repre- 
sent, that  though  neither  by  that  court  nor  by  the  common  law 
of  England,  the  body  of  any  one  ought  to  be  taken,  nor  his 
lands  and  chattels  seized  into  the  hands  of  the  King,  save 
upon  some  sufficient  cause,  yet  our  Lord  the  King  had  issued 
his  briefs  to  certain  people  to  take  the  bodies  of  the  aforesaid 

John  and  John,  and  to  seize  their  lands  and  chattels 

in  consequence  of  the  information  of  certain  persons  who  are 
deadly  enemies  to  the  said  John  and  John,  charging  them  with 
confederacy  and  conspiracy  with  the  Enemy,  as  having  been 
staying  with  them  in  their  galleys  and  ships  on  the  sea-coast 
in  the  county  of  Kent  with  an  evil  design  {pour  malfaire),  of 
which  they  are  in  nowise  culpable,  as  they  are  willing  it  should 
be  ascertained  by  every  means  that  our  Lord  the  King  and  his 
council  may  devise  and  ordain.  The  aforesaid  John  and  John 
therefore,  for  holy  charity,  ask  a  remedy  of  these  grievances, 
inasmuch  as  otherwise  every  man  would  be  at  the  mercy  of 
his  foes."  To  which  it  was  replied,  that  whenever  the  appel- 
lants chose  to  appear  they  should  have  an  answer  according 
to  law. — (Hot.  Pari.  ii.  396.)  How  this  affair  terminated  I 
cannot  ascertain,  though  it  is  certain  that  the  King  did  not 
ultimately  confiscate  the  Bodiam  estate. 

John  de  Wardedieu  (n)  who,  as  before  intimated,  may  have 
been  either  the  appellant  in  the  above  case  or  the  son  of 
William  de  W.  (c)  was  a  ward  of  John  de  Britannia,  Earl  of 
Richmond,  who  held  the  Rape  of  Hastings  in  the  early  part  of 
the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  when  Ins  wardship  was  sold  to  John 
de  Courthope  and  John  de  Vyniter,  by  deed  dated  at  Bodiam 
on  the  feast  of  the  exaltation  of  the  Holy  Cross,  1331.  In  a 
Roll  of  "  Armyd  men,  as  well  horsmen  as  footmen  in  the  Rape 
of  Hastings,  a0  Edw.  III.  xiij.,"  communicated  by  Mr. Somerset 
Courthope  to  the  Collect.  Topog.  et  Genealog.  (vol.  vii.  p.  119), 
John  Wardedeu  occurs  as  chargeable  for  a  man-at-arms  in 
right  of  his  possessions  worth  twenty  pounds  in  Bodiam.  In 
1377  he,  with  Alice  his  wife,  had  a  grant  of  the  forestership 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  285 

of  the  county  of  Rutland  (inherited  from  the  de  Nevills,  see 
page  283  ante)  by  gift  of  Robert  de  Wardedieu  of  Bodiam  and 
Joan  his  wife. — (Inq.Post.Mort.co. Northampton,  5 1  Edvv.III.) 
His  daughter  and  heiress  as  before  stated  conveyed  the  estate 
to  Sir  Edward  Dalyngruge,  when  the  Wardedieu  name  as  con- 
nected with  Bodiam  became  extinct.  The  name  of  Wardedeu 
or  Wardeux  seems  to  have  been  limited  to  a  very  few  genera- 
tions, and  the  number  of  persons  bearing  it  must  have  been 
small,  for  except  those  I  have  mentioned  only  two  individuals 
have  occurred  to  my  research.  The  first  is  a  Nicholas  Varde- 
dieu,  a  brother  of  Battel  Abbey  1347,  and  the  other,  William 
Wardedieu,  Archdeacon  of  Chichester,  who  exchanged  for  the 
vicarage  of  Mayfield,  to  which  he  was  instituted  15th  April, 
1362.— (Inf.  W.  Courthope,  Esq.)  The  will  of  the  latter 
bears  date  the  sixth  of  the  ides  of  July  of  the  same  year,  and 
among  other  bequests  he  leaves  to  Robert  de  Wardedieu  a 
certain  sum  towards  the  building  of  the  church  of  Bodiam. 

The  period  when  the  original  church  of  Bodiam  was 
founded  does  not  appear.  No  mention  of  it  is  found  in 
Domesday,  and  early  in  the  thirteenth  century  a  William, 
chaplain  of  Bodiam,  is  mentioned  (see  p.  279,  ante);  but  at 
the  time  of  Pope  Nicholas  Taxation,  1291,  Bodiam  existed  as  a 
vicarage.  The  present  church  has  some  Early  English  features 
in  the  chancel,  remnants  probably  of  the  original  edifice, 
though  the  building  evidently  underwent  a  partial  re-erection 
about  the  time  alluded  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

I  may  here  say  a  few  words  respecting  the  church  and  its 
monuments.  The  edifice  occupies  a  commanding  site.  Its 
materials  are  said  to  have  been  procured  from  the  immediate 
vicinity,  and  a  depressed  spot  close  to  the  southern  pale  of  the 
churchyard  is  pointed  to  as  the  quarry  from  which  they  were 
obtained.  It  consists  of  a  low  embattled  tower,  and  nave, 
with  north  and  south  aisles,  under  one  roof,  and  a  chancel. 
Little  of  its  architectural  character  remains,  and  nothing  has, 
I  believe,  been  destroyed  by  the  recent  repairs.  A  view  of 
Bodiam  Church,  from  the  S.E.,  is  given  in  the  Rev.  A.  Hussey's 
Notes,  page  201. 

Sir  Wm.  Burrell's  MSS.  mention  some  painted  glass  in  the 
windows,  including  the  arms  of  Alice,  widow  of  the  last  Sir 
John  Dalyngruge,  Beauchamp  of  Povvick,  and  Boteler  of 
Sudeley,  but  this  has  totally  disappeared.     Some  old  brass 


28G 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


fragments  from  tombs  have  been  preserved.  One  of  these 
has  already  been  described.  The  others  are  (1)  a  small  plate, 
thirteen  inches  high,  representing  an  emaciated  figure,  in  a 
loose  robe  or  winding-sheet :  having  the  tonsure  it  may  rea- 
sonably be  concluded  to  commemorate  a  vicar  of  Bodiam  j 8 
(2)  an  oblong  plate,  inscribed — 
$rajj  for  tije  sofoll3  of  Eftomas  ffirofce  anti  Cresttan  f)is 

topfc,  on  fobose  goullgg  3jju  ftabe  mercg,  Qmn. 
and  (3)  a  larger  plate,  commemorating  one  William  Wetherden, 
an  incumbent  of  the  church,  who,  "  while  an  unlearned  man, 
married  a  wife,  but,  after  her  death,  devoted  himself  to  liberal 
studies,  took  priest's  orders,  and  died  26th  Feb.  1513.  He 
gave  (it  is  added)  many  good  things  to  this  church." 9 

$tc  jacxt  o(omin)us  SHtll(ei)m(tts)  SHetljeroen,  nup(er) 
btcari(us)  tstt(us)  ccctfegtae),  q(ut)  q(ut)oem  no(n)  Kttc)rat(us) 
tore(m)  obxtt,  qua  mortua,  sc  oxott  stuoio  l(ioe)ralt  &  sacer^ 
ooctj  orot(n)em  suscepit  Sc  obtjt  xxoi  jft&r(u)arij  &°J$Lbc.xtij* 
Jftulta  Jjutc  oona  tjcti(tt)  ccc(lestae). 

To  return  to  the  descent  of  Bodiam.  The  heiress  of  Warde- 
dieu,  as  we  have  seen,  married  Sir  Edward  Dalyngruge,  of 
whose  family  it  is  now  necessary  to  speak.     They  have  been 

erroneously  derived  from  the  county 
of  Hants ;  but  their  true  origin  is 
from  the  extinct  manor  of  Dalling- 
ridge,  on  the  confines  of  the  parishes 
of  East  Grinstead  and  West  llothly, 
where  they  appear  to  have  been  lo- 
cated as  early  as  temp.  Edw.  II.  John 
Dalyngruge,  the  first  recorded  pro- 
genitor of  the  family,  was  married 
in  that  reign  to  Joane,  a  daughter 
and  coheiress  of  Sir  Walter  de  la 
Lynde,  lord  of  Bolebrook,  in  the 
parish  of  Hartfield,  co.  Sussex,  who 
in  the  well-known  Roll  of  Arms  of 
temp.  Edw.  II.  is  entered  as  bear- 
ing de  Argent,  a   une  crois  engrele 


(Arms  and  Crest  of  Dalyngruge,  from 
rietching  Church.)10 


8  It  has  been  inaccurately  engraved  in 
the  Supplement  to  Grose's  Antiq.  vol.  ii. 
pi.  5.  Another  representation  of  it  is 
given  in  Gent.  Mag.  March,  1837. 


9  Ornaments  and  vestments  probably, 
since  no  endowment  of  his  is  known. 

10  At  the  back  of  the  tomb  of  a  Da- 
lyngruge, who  with  his  wife  is  represented 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


287 


de   Goules,  a   coat  which  was    afterwards    assumed   by   the 
Dalyngruges,  altering  however  the  field  to  Or. 


JOHN  DALYNGRUGE, 

of  Dalyngruge, 

13  Edvv.  II. 


Joan,  da.  and  coheir  of 

Sir  Walter  de  la  Lynde, 

of  Bolebrook. 


Sir  Roger  Dalyngruge, 
Sheriff  of  Sussex,  46 
Edw.  III.11  Had  a  right 
of  free-wai'ren  to  manor 
of  Sheffield,  confirmed 
48  Edw.  III. 


Elizabeth,  —       Sir  Edward 


da.  and 

heiress  of 

John  de 

Wardedieu. 


Dalyngruge,   born 

about  1346. 

JSuilUcr  of 

Booiam  Castle, 

9  Ric.  II. 


I 

Walter  Da- : 

lyngruge, 

living  1398. 

Died  before 

1418. 


John  Daly  ng-  = 
■uge,  lord  of 
leffield,1408; 
iade  his  will 
:!  June,  1417, 
aaen  about  to 
II  with  Henry 
r.th's  second 
Expedition  to 
ince.    He  en- 
;ledBodiam  to 
I  first  cousins, 
|.  the  exclusion 
f  his  sister's 
children. 
S.P. 


=  Alice,  da.  = 

=  Sir 

and  heir  of 

Thos. 

Sir  John 

Bote- 

Beauchamp, 

ler, 

of  Powick. 

first 

Died 

hus- 

8 Feb.  1443, 

band 

seized  of 

Bodiam,&c. 

Inq.  post 

nwrt. 

2lHen.VI. 

Margaret, 

sister  and 

heir; 

married 

Sir 
Thomas 
Sackville, 
who  {jure 
uxoris) 
had 
Bole- 
brook. 


:  Margaret, 
da.  of  John 
diamond, 
relict  of 
Wm.  Mow- 
bray ;  mar. 
3dly,  Wm. 
Cheyney. 


I  Richard  Da- 
lyngruge, aged 
15,  1408-9,  de- 
visee of  Bodiam, 
under  the  will  of 

his  cousin,  Sir 

JohnD.    Died 

S.P.,  7  Jan.,  10 

Edw.IV.  (1470). 

Inq.  p.  mort.  at 

Chichester, 

5  Oct., 

II  Edw.  IV. 


2  William 
Dalyng- 
ruge, 
next  in 
remainder 
to  Bo- 
diam, in 
the  will  of 
his  cousin 
Sir  John , 
D. ;   died 
S.P. 
before 
1443. 


Philippa, 
sister  and 

heir, 
married, 
1st,  Sir 
Richard 
Berners, 

and 
2ndly, 

Sir 
Thomas 
Lewknob. 


What  has  been  stated  of  Bodiam  hitherto,  relates  in  nowise 
to  the  fine  old  fortress  which  is  at  this  day  the  great  archseo- 
gical  feature  of  the  district.     It  was  not  until  some  twelve 
feudal  lords  had  in  succession  held  the  estate,  during  the  long 
period  of  four  centuries,  that  the  Cagtlc  of  Bodiam— 
"  The  battled  towers,  the  stately  keep, 
The  loop-hole  grates  where  captives  weep, 
The  flanking  walls  that  round  it  sweep, 
In  gloomy  grandeur  rose." — 


in  a  fine  brass,  figured  in  Sussex  Arch. 
Coll.  II.  309.  I  have  little  hesitation  in 
assigning  this  monument  to  Sir  Roger 
Dalyngruge,  who  had  free-warren  in  Shef- 
field (in  the  parish  of  Fletching)  48  Edw. 
III. ;  though  the  monument  in  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Boutell  belongs  to  a  date  twenty 


years  posterior.      (See  Pedigree  of  Da- 
lyngruge, above.) 

11  Mr.  W.  D.  Cooper  (Sussex  Arch.  Coll. 
III.  93)  makes  Sir  Roger  the  elder  brother 
of  Sir  Edward.  For  the  remainder  of  the 
pedigree  I  have  the  authority  of  Mr.  Court- 
hope. 


288  BODIAM    AND    TTS    LORDS. 

The  anterior  lords  of  the  manor  had  been  content  with  al 
dwelling  of  meaner  proportions,  the  site  of  which  is  indicated; 
by  a  moated  space  in  another  part  of  the  parish.     It  was  re- 
served  for  a  knightly  personage,  bred  in  the  camps  of  the 
third  Edward,  to  erect  a  tangible  monument  of  his  own  great-: 
ness  in  Bodiam  Castle. 

Sir  Edward  Dalyngruge  commenced  his  career  in  the  most 
brilliant  period  of  England's  chivalry.  Like  Chaucer's  young 
Squire,  he  had  accompanied  his  father  in  the  campaigns  of 
Edward  III.  against  France ;  like  him — 

"  He  hadde  ben  somtyme  in  chivachie 
In  Flaunders,  in  Artoys,  and  Picardie;" — 

and  had  shared  in  the  glories  of  Cressy  and  Poictiers.  After 
the  victory  of  Poictiers  had  established  the  English  supre- 
macy in  France,  "  select  bands,  under  a  brave  leader,  refused 
to  return  with  their  King,  and  chose  to  establish  themselves 
as  soldiers,  independently  hiring  themselves  to  the  petty  con- 
tending states  of  Italy,  or  supporting  themselves  by  predatory 
expeditions  in  the  north  of  France,  seizing  castles  and  lord- 
ships, and  exacting  enormous  ransoms,  particularly  for  the 
ladies  whom  they  had  taken  captive  after  any  surrender.  This 
was  the  source  of  very  great  wealth,  and  when  they  re-esta- 
blished themselves  in  England,  they  built  castles,  and  en- 
dowed chantries  and  abbeys,  as  Leland  observes,  '  ex  spoliis 
Gallorum.'"  12 

The  three  most  eminent  leaders  of  these  marauding  parties 
were  Sir  Robert  Knowles  and  Sir  John  Calveley,  both  knights 
of  Cheshire,  and  Sir  John  Hawk  wood.  The  last,  whose  ro- 
mantic fame  as  the  stipendiary  general  of  the  Florentines, 
under  the  travestied  name  of  Giovanni  Augido  or  Johannes 
Acidus,  fills  a  splendid  page  in  Italian  history,  was  a  lineal 
ancestor  of  the  great  Sussex  family  of  Shelley.  The  chieftain, 
however,  under  whose  banner  Sir  Edward  Dalyngruge  placed 
himself  was  Sir  Robert  Knowles,  or  Knollys,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  warriors  of  his  times — "  le  veritable  Demon  de  la 
Guerre," — as  he  is  styled  by  an  old  French  author.  This 
personage  limited  his  freebooting  excursions  to  Normandy, 

12  Vide  "  Graphic  and  Historical  Sketch       M.  A.     London,  1831,  p.  14. 
of  Bodyam  Castle,''  by  "VVm.  Cotton,  Esq. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  289 

Brittany,  and  Picardy.  He  compelled  the  Duke  of  Brittany 
to  cede  to  him  the  castle  of  Derval,  where  he  dwelt  in  great 
state  with  his  captains  and  retainers,  among  whom  was  Sir 
Edward  Dalyngruge.13  The  following  distich,  by  a  medieval 
poet,  records  his  prowess  : — 

"©  Eo&erte  Unollte,  per  te  fit  jFrancta  mollis, 
ISnsc  tuo  tollis  pracnas,  tians  bulnrra  collts."14 

O  liobert  Knowles,  the  stubborn  souls 

Of  Frenchmen  well  you  check ; 
Your  mighty  blade  has  largely  preyed, 

And  wounded  many  a  neck. 

The  following  particulars  of  transactions  in  which  Sir 
Edward  Dalyngruge  was  concerned  are  furnished  by  contem- 
porary records.  In  137S-9  he  had  a  restoration  of  the  forester- 
ship  of  the  county  of  Rutland  (see  p.  283,  ante),  he  having 
the  previous  year,  in  conjunction  with  Elizabeth  his  wife, 
levied  a  fine  of  Hanington,  the  old  ancestral  estate  of  the 
Wardedieu  family.  In  the  third  year  of  Richard  II.  (1380) 
he  was  one  of  those  appointed  to  oversee  and  examine  the 
state  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  household  of  the  youthful 
monarch — a  proof  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was 
then  held.  (Rymer's  Fader  a  t  vii.  250.)  In  6  Ric.  II.  (1383) 
he  obtained  a  grant  of  a  market  and  fair  for  his  manor  of 
Bodiam.  In  the  9th  of  the  same  reign,  having  amassed  a 
large  fortune  by  war,  marriage,  and  court  patronage,  he  ob- 
tained the  royal  license  to  build  upon  the  hereditary  estate  of 
his  wife,  the  castle  of  Bodiam,  after  the  model,  as  Mr.  Cotton 
conjectures,  of  Derval  and  other  Breton  castles,  to  which  he 
had  been  accustomed,  during  the  French  wars.  A  copy  of 
the  license  is  given  below.  Two  or  three  years  later  he  re- 
ceived of  the  King  a  grant,  in  fee,  of  the  Sussex  manors  of 
Wilting  and  Hollington,  late  the  property  of  Sir  Robert 
Belknap,  attainted  of  treason.  {Rot.  Pat.  12  Ric.  II.)  In 
13S6  he  was  returned  one  of  the  knights  of  the  shire  for 
Sussex,  and  on  Oct.  15  of  the  same  year  he  gave  evidence  in 
the  celebrated  controversy  of  Scrope  against  Grosvenor,  as  to 
the  right  of  bearing  the  coat,  "  Azure,  a  bend  Or,"  on  which 

13  Cotton,  p.  16.  M  Archaologia,  vol.  vi.  p.  146. 

ix.  37 


290  BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 

occasion  the  poet  Chaucer,  and  many  other  eminent  per- 
sonages, appeared  as  witnesses.  On  August  8, 1390,  he  was 
nominated  one  of  Richard's  commissioners  to  agree  upon 
terms  with  the  King's  adversary  of  France  (Rymer  vii.  667), 
and  to  treat  of  final  peace  {ibid.  viii.  668).  Nor  was  this 
the  only  diplomatic  affair  of  importance  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged, for  shortly  afterwards  he  was  commissioned  to  make 
conditions  with  the  Earl  of  Flanders  and  with  the  people  of 
the  three  great  towns  of  Ghent,  Bruges,  and  Ypres  {ibid.  670). 
Again,  the  same  year,  he  was  one  of  the  great  men  of  the 
realm  whose  seals  were  set  to  the  King's  letters  addressed  to 
the  Pope,  setting  forth  the  great  grievances  which  this  king- 
dom suffered  from  the  pontifical  court,  and  praying  suitable 
redress  {ibid.  675). 

A  proof  of  Sir  Edward's  influence  and  military  reputation 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  in  16th  Ric.  II.  (1392-3),  during  the 
time  that  the  liberties  of  the  city  of  London  were  seized  into 
the  King's  hands,  he  was  appointed  Custos  of  the  Tower  and 
City  of  London. 

The  license  to  build  Bodiam  Castle  runs  in  the  following 
terms : — 

"  Ef)C  l&tttQ  to  all  to  whom  &c.  greeting.  Know  ye,  that 
of  our  special  grace  we  have  granted  and  given  license,  on 
behalf  of  ourselves  and  our  heirs,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  to  our 
beloved  and  faithful  subject,  Edward  Dalyngrigge,  Knight, 
that  he  may  strengthen  and  embattle,  construct,  and  make 
into  a  castle,  with  a  wall  of  stone  and  lime,  his  manor-house 
of  Bodyham,  near  the  sea,  in  the  county  of  Sussex,  for  the 
defence  of  the  adjacent  country  and  the  resistance  of  our 
enemies,  and  may  hold  his  aforesaid  house  so  fortified,  em- 
battled, and  castellated,  to  himself  and  his  heirs  for  ever, 
without  let  or  hindrance  of  ourselves  and  our  heirs,  or  of  any 
of  our  agents  for  ever.  In  witness  of  which,  &c.  The  Kin<* 
at  Westminster  20th  Oct.,"  &c.15 

>s  Eex  omnibus  ad  quos,  &c.  salutem.  Sussex,  muro  de  petra  et  calce  firmare  et 

Seiatis  quod  de  gratia  nostra  speciali  con-  kernellare,  et  castrum  inde  in  defensionem 

cessimus  et  licentiam  dedimus,  pro  nobis  patrie  adjacentis  et  pro  resistencia  inimi- 

et  heredibus  nostris,  quantum  in  nobis  est,  corum  nostrorum  construere  et  facere,  et 

dileoto  et  fideli  nostro  Edwardo  dalyng-  mansum  predictum  sic  firmatum  et  kernel- 

ngge  cbivaler,  quod  ipse  mansum  manerii  latum  et  castrum  inde  sic  factum,  tenere 

sm  de  Bodyham,  juxta  mare  in  Conntatu  possit  sibi  et  heredibus  suis  in  perpetuum, 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  291 

From  some  expressions  in  this  grant  it  might  be  inferred 
that  Sir  Edward  merely  enlarged  and  fortified  an  older  man- 
sion, which  was  certainly  not  the  case.  These  licenses  to 
crenellate  are  usually  in  a  similar  formula,  which  is  not  by 
any  means  to  be  literally  construed.  This  grant  was  preceded 
in  the  same  year  by  another,  in  which  the  King  gives  to  Sir 
Edward  Dalyngruge,  in  consideration  of  half  a  mark  by  him 
paid,  license  to  divert  the  course  of  a  certain  running  water 
from  a  place  called  Dalyngruge's  Bay  in  the  parish  of  Sale- 
hurst,  to  his  mill  at  Bodiam,  through  his  own  land.16  It 
appears  probable  that  Sir  Edward  had  views  beyond  the  mere 
supply  of  his  water-mill,  and  that  he  was  looking  to  the 
means  of  connecting  with  the  river  Rother,  the  great  moat 
with  which  to  surround  his  castle — a  building  which  no  doubt 
existed  in  his  own  mind  some  time  before  the  actual  "  wall  of 
stone  and  lime  "  was  called  into  being. 

Sir  Edward's  son  and  heir,  Sir  John  Dalyngruge,  who  is 
mentioned  in  records  as  lord  of  Sheffield  in  1408,  made  his 
will  22  June,  1417,  when  about  to  sail  with  Henry  the  Fifth's 
second  expedition  to  France.  By  that  instrument  he  entailed 
the  Bodiam  estate  upon  his  first  cousins,  the  children  of  his 
uncle  Walter  Dalyngruge,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  sister's 
children  by  Sir  Thomas  Sackville,  who  as  possessors  (by  some 
previous  settlement)  of  the  paternal  property  at  Bolebrook 
may  have  been  sufficiently  indemnified  for  such  apparent 
injustice.17  As  Sir  John  was  without  issue,  he  may  have 
entertained  a  not  unnatural  desire  to  perpetuate  a  name  which 
the  warlike  achievements  of  his  grandfather  and  his  father 
had  rendered  famous  in  connection  with  a  noble  fortress  which 

sine  impediment  nostri  et  heredum  nos-  de  Bodiham,  divertere  et  cursum  ilium  per 
trorura  aut  ministrorum  nostrormn  quo-  quoddam  tossatum  in  solo  suo  proprio  ab 
runcunque.  In  cuius  rei  testimonium,  antiquo  erectum  usque  ad  molendinum 
Rex  apud  Westmonast.  xx  die  Octobris.  predictum  ducere,  ac  cursum  predictum 
—Rot  Pat.  9  Ric.  II.  p.  i.  m.  21.  sic  diversum  et  ductum  retinere  possit  sibi 
is  Rex  omnibus,  &c.  Sciatis  quod  de  et  heredibus  suis  in  perpetuum,  sme  occa- 
gratia  nostra  special!,  et  pro  dimidia  marca  sione  vel  impediment  nostrorum  quorum- 
Imam  Edwardus  Dalyngregge  chivaler  cunque  In  cujus  reiT  Rex  apud  Westm. 
nobis  solvit,  concessimus  et  licentiam  tertio  die  Vebr.-Bot.  Pat.  9  Ric.  II. 
dedimus,  pro  nobis  et  heredibus  nostris  p.  2,  m.  38. 

quantum  in  nobis  est,  eidemEdwardo,  quod  *  In  1446    Edward    son  o Sn •  Th s 

ipse  cursum  cujusdam  aque  currentis  de  and  Margaret  Sackville,  relinquished  all 

dalyngregsesbayin  villa  de  Salherst  usque  claim  to  the  manor  of  Bodiam. 
ad  moiendinum   ipsiii3  Edwardi   in  villa 


292 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


the  latter  had  founded.  Of  the  public  life  of  Sir  John,  little 
is  known  except  that  in  1402,  he  accompanied  the  Princess 
Blanche,  daughter  of  Henry  IV.,  into  Germany,  whither  she 
was  going  to  be  married  to  Lewis,  Elector  Palatine  of  the 
Rhine  and  Duke  of  Bavaria.  The  royal  letters  of  protection 
for  six  months  are  dated  8th  March  of  that  year.  (Rymer  viii. 
347.) 

The  pedigree  of  the  family  of  Lewknor,  the  next  pos- 
sessors of  Bodiam,  having  been  printed  at  large 
in  Vol.  III.  of  the  Sussex  Archaol.  Collections 
(pp.  92  et  seq.)  it  is  unnecessary  to  reproduce  it 
here.18  The  compiler  of  that  elaborate  table, 
W.  D.  Cooper,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  has  however,  in 
common  with  Collins,  Sir  Wm.  Burrell,  and 
others,  fallen  into  error  as  to  the  relationship 
between  Sir  Thomas  Lewknor,  and  the  builder  of  Bodiam 
Castle.  Philippa  his  wife,  who  had  been  previously  mar- 
ried to  Sir  Richard  Berners,  was  niece,  not  daughter,  to  Sir 
Edward  Dalyngruge,  as  shown  in  Mr.  Courthope's  genealo- 
gical table  {ante  p.  287),  and  it  was  upon  her,  on  the  death 
of  her  two  brothers,  Richard  and  William,  without  issue,  that 
the  entail  devolved. 

In  the  family  of  Lewknor  Bodiam  remained  for  some  ge- 
nerations, though  not  without  occasional  interruption  arising 
from  the  political  troubles  of  the  times.  During  the  Wars 
of  the  Roses,  individuals  of  this  family,  as  was  often  the  case 
in  others,  espoused  opposite  sides.  Sir  Thomas  Lewknor  of 
Preston  in  Binderton,  third  son  of  the  Dalyngruge  heiress  by 
Sir  Thomas  Lewknor,  and  his  brother  Richard  Lewknor  of 
Brambletye,  adhered  to  the  cause  of  the  usurper  Richard  III., 
and  the  former  was  made  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  at  his  corona- 
tion, July  6,  1483 ;  but  their  nephew,  Sir  Thomas  Lewknor 
of  Trotton,  and  proprietor  of  Bodiam,  attached  himself  to  the 
• 

18  Few  Sussex  families  have  in  any  age  love  for  building.  The  Lewknors  how- 
been  more  influential  than  the  Lewknors.  ever  had  many  more  than  three  "great 
Old  Gerard  Legh,  m  his  Accedens  of  Ar-  houses  "  in  this  county.  They  possessed 
morie,  speaking  of  the  three  chevronels  besides  several  minor  mansions,  the  prin 

ao      a      nnot         euro         "  H^U^      n>-.<..n.-.4.-.ii*.      „i?J.l_"  ■  1  .  **   -r*        •*•  *—  _  _     V 


as  a  coat,  sap,  "The  ancestour  of  this       eipal  seats  of  Bodiam,  Goring,  Dedisham 
«ioat  hath  builded  iij  great  houses  in  one 
irovince" — the  chevron  being  regarded  as 
pair  of  rafters,  and  so  emblematical  of  a 


coat  hath  builded  nj  great  houses  m  one       Sheflield,Brambletye,Trotton,West-Dean 
province"— the  chevron  being  regarded  as       Preston,  &c. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  293 

Lancastrian  party,  and  was  attainted  of  treason  in  the  tirst 
year  of  Richard's  reign,  for  having,  after  the  landing  of  the 
Earl  of  Richmond,  assembled  men-at-arms,  and  made  traitorous 
proclamations  on  Oct.  18th  at  Maidstone,  20th  at  Rochester, 
22nd  at  Gravesend,  and  25th  at  Guildford,  in  company  with 
Sir  George  Browne  of  Betchworth  Castle,  Sir  John  Gnldeford 
of  Rolvenden,  Sir  John  Fagge  of  Ashford,  and  others.  {Rot. 
Pari.  iv.  p.  245  6.)  On  November  8, 1483,  a  commission  was 
issued  to  Thomas  Earl  of  Surrey,  Sir  John  Broke,  Sir  Thomas 
Echingham,  William  Scott,  Richard  Lewknor  of  Brambletye, 
Thos.  Oxenbridge  of  Brede,  and  Vincent  Fynche,  to  levy  men 
in  the  counties  of  Kent  and  Sussex  to  retake  the  castle  of 
Bodyam  from  the  rebels.  (Rot  Pat.  1  Ric.  III.  19.)  The 
castle  was  surrendered,  probably  without  any  formal  siege,  for 
on  May  24,  1484,  there  is  a  grant  to  Geoffry  Warton,  one 
of  the  King's  serjeants-at-arms,  of  an  annuity  of  £10  for 
life  out  of  the  lordship  of  Bodiam  Castle,  "late  of  Thomas 
Leuknore,  Knight,  the  rebel."  (Id.  13S.)  Nicholas  Rigby, 
one  of  the  yeomen  of  the  crown,  was  appointed  August  15, 
2  Ric.  III.,  Constable  of  Bodiam  Castle  during  life  with  a 
salary  of  £20  per  annum,  and  for  keeping  the  Park  there, 
the  customary  fees  out  of  the  issues  of  the  lordship  (Rot. 
Pat.  m.  169,  no.  114),  and  on  the  same  day  he  was  appointed 
bailiff  of  Winchelsea.  After  the  overthrow  of  Richard  at 
Bosworth  Field,  Sir  Thomas's  attainder  was  of  course  reversed, 
but  it  was  not  until  1542  that  his  son,  Sir  Roger  Lewknor, 
high-sheriff  of  Sussex  in  1532,  obtained  full  possession  of 
the  lordship.  This  was  upon  an  award  of  King  Henry  VIII. 
determining  a  suit  between  Sir  Roger  Lewkenore,  Knight, 
and  dame  Elizabeth  his  wife  on  the  one  part,  and  Sir  William 
Barentyne,  Knight,  dame  Jane  (widow  of  Sir  Arthur)  Pole 19 
and  others,  concerning  the  said  Sir  Roger's  lands.  The  award, 
which  bears  the  great  seal  and  autograph  of  Henry  VIII. , 
relates  to  lands  in  the  counties  of  Sussex,  Middlesex,  Oxford, 
Northampton,  Leicester,  and  Huntingdon ;  and  the  Sussex 
lordships  and  manors  specified  are  Bodiam,  Camois-Court, 
Wanyngore,   Dalyngrave  (Dalyngruge),  Iford,   Old  Park   in 

19  This  lady  was  eldest  daughter  and       settlement  bears  date  1  Aug.  24  Hen.VlII. 
coheir  of  Sir  Roger,  and  afterwards  mar-        (Sussex  Arch.  Coll.  III.  96.) 
ried  Sir  Wm.  Barentyne.     Her  marriage- 


294  BODIAM    AND    JTS    LORDS. 

Roughey  (near  Horsham),  &c.     (Thorpe's  Cat.  Battel  Abbey 
Charters,  p.  142.) 

From  this  period  the  Lewkriors  would  seem  to  have  been 
but  rarely  resident  at  Bodiam,  and  the  castle,  more  from 
neglect  than  from  the  tooth  of  Time,  fell  into  gradual  decay. 
The  baronial  age  had  passed,  and  with  it  the  necessity  for  a 
great  proprietor  to  ensconce  himself  within  the  gloomy  walls 
of  a  fortress.  After  several  partitions  and  settlements  of  the 
estate,  a  moiety  of  it  became  vested  in  "  the  son  of  Sir  Lewis 
Lewknor,  who  had  been  Master  of  the  Ceremonies  to  Kings 
James  and  Charles  I.,  and  who  became  (on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  Wars)  a  staunch  Royalist.  He  had  a  lease  of  the 
Bishop's  Castle  of  Amberley,  and  lived  there.  When  Sir 
William  Waller  had  taken  Arundel  Castle,  after  a  siege  of 
seventeen  days,  in  1643,  he  resolved  upon  dismantling  and 
destroying  the  castles  and  mansions  of  the  Royalist  gentry  of 
Sussex,  and  for  that  purpose  dispatched  parties  of  soldiers  to 
take  away  and  sell  all  materials  of  these  buildings,"20  leaving 
in  this  case  the  bare  enceinte  remaining. 

The  other  moiety  of  the  castle  and  manor  of  Bodiam  had 
been  awarded  to  Constance,  daughter  of  Sir  Roger  Lewknor, 
and  wife  of  Edw.  Glentham  or  Glenham  of  Chichester,  Esq., 
who  in  1588  joined  her  husband  in  a  transfer  of  this  moiety 
to  John  Levett  of  Salehurst,  Gentleman.  Thomas  Levett  and 
Margaret  his  wife  succeeded  to  this  right.  He  died  before 
1619,  and  she,  as  his  widow,  on  May  11, 1619,  conveyed  her 
moiety  to  John  Levett  of  Sedlescombe.  {Battel  Abbey  Deeds, 
p.  151.)  On  June  30,  1620,  this  John  Levett,  Esquire  or 
Gentleman,  mortgaged  his  interest  in  Bodiam,  &c,  for  £1000 
to  Thomas  Dyke  of  Ninfield.  {Ibid.  p.  151.)  Nov.  14,  1622, 
a  deed  of  covenant  was  executed  between  Sir  Ralph  Bosville, 
Knight  (great-grandson  of  Sir  Roger  Lewknor),  John  Levett 
of  Sedlescombe,  and  Thos.  Dyke  of  Ninfield  for  suing  out  of  a 
writ  of  partition  of  the  castle  and  manor  of  Bodiham  with  the 
appurtenances.  {Ibid.  p.  152.)  John  Levett  appears  shortly 
afterwards  to  have  alienated  his  interest  to  Sir  Nicholas  Tufton 
of  Hothfield  in  Kent.  {Ibid.)  In  1642-3  John  Tufton,  Earl 
of  Thanet,  made  a  deed  of  revocation  concerning  the  same 
property.   {Ibid.  p.  155.)   After  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II. 

:o  Cotton's  Bodiam,  p.  29. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  295 

the  whole  property  of  Bodiam  was  vested  in  the  Tnfton  family. 
The  courts-baron  of  the  manor  were  held  by  Richard  Kil- 
burne  the  Kentish  historian.  From  the  Tuftons  the  estate  was 
transferred  to  the  family  of  Powell,  who  were  of  Welsh  descent 
and  held  Boughton-Monchensey  in  Kent  and  Ewhurst  in 
Sussex.  Nathaniel  Powell,  Esq.,  of  Ewhurst,  was  created  a 
Baronet  by  Charles  II.  at  the  Restoration,  and  he,  or  his  son 
of  the  same  name,  subsequently  to  1664,  purchased  Bodiam. 
From  the  representatives  of  his  descendant,  Sir  Christopher 
Powell,  Bodiam  Castle  was  purchased  by  Sir  Thomas  Webster 
of  Battel  Abbey,  Bart.,  whose  descendant,  Sir  Godfrey  Vassall 
Webster,  Bart.,  sold  it  in  the  year  1828  to  the  late  John 
Fuller,  Esq.,  of  Rose-hill.  From  that  gentleman  it  passed,  on 
his  death,  to  the  present  Augustus  Eliot  Fuller,  Esq.,  many 
years  knight  of  the  shire  for  East  Sussex,  and  one  of  the  Vice- 
Presidents  of  the  Sussex  Archaeological  Society. 

Such  are  the  main  incidents  in  the  history  of  this  place. 
The  annals  of  a  great  feudal  fortress  would  usually,  if  closely 
scanned,  prove  to  be  a  chronicle  of  tyranny,  injustice,  and 
bloodshed.  It  is  probably  because  we  know  so  little  of  the 
secret  history  of  Bodiam  that  we  trace  no  record  of  deeds  of 
dishonour  associated  with  its  crumbling  walls.  Perhaps  there 
were  none ;  but  assuming,  with  all  candour,  that  there  may 
have  been  "  stainless  knights"  among  the  De  Bodiams,  the 
Wardeux,  the  Daly ngruges, and  the  Lewknors,  most  certain  it  is 
that  "  there  have  been  no  stainless  families  since  Adam's  fall "; 
and  these  all  flourished  during  the  long  period  when  might  pre- 
vailed too  often  over  right,  and  when  Wrar  was  reckoned  the 
noblest  of  human  occupations.  And  what  remains  to-day  of 
the  De  Bodiam,  the  Wardeux,  the  Dalyngruge,  the  Lewknor  ? 
Alas  !  nothing  but  yon  shell  of  feudalism — those  towered  walls, 
grey  with  the  age  of  some  five  hundred  winters — to  beautify 
the  landscape,  and  to  remind  us  in  the  most  forcible  manner, 
that  "the  lines  have  fallen  to  us  in  more  pleasant  places,  and 
that  we  have  a  goodly  heritage." 


The  following  notices  of  Bodiam,  though  not  immediately 
concerning  its  Lords,  possess  some  interest  in  connection  with 
our  subject,  and  the  river  Rother. 


29G  BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 

In  1313  a  commission  was  granted  to  John  Malemayns  of 
Stoke,  Robt.  de  Echingham,  and  Matthew  de  Knelle  for  the 
banks  on  both  sides  of  the  river  of  Ne  wen  dene  betwixt  May- 
tham  and  Bodihamme  bridge.21 

1  Henry  IV.  De  porta  de  Wynchehee  providendo.  "The 
King  to  his  beloved  &c.  Robt.  Echyngham,  Robt.  Oxenbrigge, 
Henry  Home,  and  Wm.  Bertyn  greeting.  It  is  given  us  to 
understand  that  many  mariners,  both  native  and  foreign,  daily 
trading  to  the  port  of  Winchelsea  in  ships  and  other  vessels, 
have  filled  up  and  obstructed  the  channel  of  the  said  port  from 
a  certain  place  called  Camer  (?  Camber)  as  far  as  Body  ham, 
with  stones,  sand,  and  other  ballast,  so  that  vessels,  laden  with 
merchandise,  have  been  unable  conveniently  to  enter  the  port 
as  formerly,  which  tends  to  the  destruction  and  danger  of  our 
town  and  its  adjacent  haven,  We,  wishing  to  see  to  this  matter, 
commission  you,  or  two  or  three  of  you,  circumspectly  and 
diligently  to  supervise  the  said  port  from  Cam(b)er  to  Body- 
ham  &c."  The  commissioners  are  further  ordered  to  appoint 
certain  other  places  for  throwing  out  ballast,  less  injurious  to 
the  port,  and  enjoined  not  to  allow  anybody  of  whatever  rank 
or  condition  to  discharge  ballast  except  at  those  places.22 

From  a  Memoranda  Roll  of  the  year  1414  it  appears  that 
the  fosses  of  the  town  of  Rye  and  the  bridge  of  Bodyam 
required  repairs,  wherefore  a  commission  was  issued  to  the 
sheriff  of  Sussex,  Sir  John  Pelham,  Richard  Norton,  Sir 
Thomas  Colepeper,  William  Cheyne,  Stephen  Belenham  (?Bel- 
lingham),  Robert  Oxenbridge,  Henry  Hoorne,  Willm.  Mar- 
chaunde,  Hamo  Belknappe,  and  John  Chidicroft,  to  do  what 
was  necessary.23  The  navigation  of  the  river  Rother,  or  as  it 
was  sometimes  called  the  Limene,  or  Newenden  river,  conti- 
nued even  down  to  that  late  period  to  be  regarded  as  a  very 
important  matter ;  though  from  one  of  the  mutations  to  which 
this  river  has  ever  been  exposed  Bodiam  has  now  long  ceased 
to  enjoy  the  advantages  which  it  anciently  conferred. 


11  Holloway's  Romney  Marsh,  p.  100.  23  Hilary  Record,  2  Henry  V.  Carlton 

22  Mot.  Pat.  12  May,  1  Henry  IV.  Ride. 


B0D1AM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  297 

THE  CASTLE. 

Bodiam  Castle  occupies  a  low  site  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rother,  and  the  large  moat,  or  rather  artificial  lake,  by  which 
it  is  surrounded  communicates  with  that  river.  The  ground 
rises  on  both  sides  of  the  Rother  with  more  abruptness  than 
is  usual  with  the  river-valleys  of  this  part  of  England,  and  this 
of  course  adds  much  to  the  picturesque  beauty  of  the  scene, 
whether  viewed  from  the  north  or  the  south.  The  extent 
of  the  moat,  too,  is  a  peculiarity  rarely  met  with  in  English 
castles.  It  measures  from  east  to  west  350  feet,  and  from 
north  to  south  540  feet,  and  being  surrounded  with  trees, 
underwood,  and  bushes,  of  irregular  growth,  and  broken  with 
flags  and  aquatic  plants,  presents  a  charming  study  for  the 
pencil  of  the  artist.  The  building  itself  forms  a  parallelogram 
approximating  to  a  square,  with  a  massive  circular  tower  at 
each  angle.     Like  Chaucer's  castle — 


■&j 


"  At  every  corner  of  this  wall 
Is  set  a  tower  full  principall." 

Midway  between  these  angle  towers,  on  the  east  and  west 
sides  respectively,  is  a  square  tower  equalling  the  circular  ones 
in  height,  and  rising  to  a  majestic  elevation  above  the  curtain 
walls.  The  great  gateway  on  the  north  side  is  flanked  by 
two  fine  square  towers.  Opposite  this,  in  the  middle  of  the 
southern  wall,  is  a  tower,  which  is  pierced  by  a  back-gate  or 
postern,  formerly  accessible  from  the  moat.  Thus  the  towers, 
which  as  well  as  the  connecting  curtains  remain  almost  entire, 
are  nine  in  number. 

The  great  gateway  is  approached  from  the  north  side  of  the 
moat  by  a  causeway.  About  twenty  yards  in  advance  of  it, 
or  somewhat  less  than  one-third  of  the  width  of  the  moat, 
stood  the  barbican  or  advanced  gate,  in  a  strong  tower  de- 
fended by  a  portcullis,  only  the  west  side  of  which  is  standing. 
It  contains  a  very  small  recessed  chamber  with  a  pointed 
arch,  probably  used  as  the  porter's  lodging.  Immediately  in 
front  of  it  the  causeway  expands,  for  a  short  distance,  to  nearly 
double  its  average  width,  probably  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
the  defenders  a  vantage-ground  in  repulsing  the  assailant. 

The  annexed  view  of  the  Barbican  and  north  front  of  Bodiam 
is  engraved  from  a  copy  (obligingly  made  by  Mrs.  Blaauw)  of 

ix.  38 


298 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


a  drawing  by  Grimm  in  the  Burrell  MSS.  Grimm's  drawing 
is  evidently  not  from  nature,  but  from  some  earlier  delineation, 
perhaps  of  the  seventeenth  century,  for  Buck's  view  from 
nearly  the  same  point,  published  in  1737,  represents  the  bar- 
bican in  a  much  more  ruinous  and  fragmentary  state.  This 
view,  though  incorrect  in  detail,  especially  in  so  greatly  exagge- 
rating the  expansion  of  the  causeway,  is  of  considerable  value 
and  interest,  as  showing  with  some  degree  of  accuracy  the 
character  of  the  advanced  work. 

The  principal  gateway  is  recessed  between  the  two  square 
towers  of  the  north  wall.  It  is  defended  by  very  bold  machi- 
colations of  the  parapet,  as  well  as  by  a  portcullis  in  a  well- 
preserved  condition.  In  front  of  this  there  was  anciently  a 
drawbridge,  which  has  been  replaced  by  a  continuation  of  the 
causeway  up  to  the  walls.  Over  the  gateway  are  three  shields, 
with  the  arms  of  Bodiam,  Dalyngruge,  and  Wardeux — 


and  still  higher  a  helmet  with  the  Dalyngruge  crest — a  Uni- 
corn's head.  Passing  the  gate,  we  enter  a  vaulted  passage, 
thirty  feet  long  by  ten  in  width,  divided  about  midway  by  an 
arch,and  the  grooves  of  an  inner  portcullis. 
Thus  are  formed  two  strong  chambers 
with  groined  ceilings.  Instead  of  orna- 
mental bosses  at  the  intersections  of  the 
ribs,  there  are  funnel-shaped  perforations, 
through  which  melted  lead,  hot  pitch,  and 
such-like  articles  might  be  poured  down 
from  the  chamber  above  upon  the  devoted 
heads  of  unwelcome  visitors,  who,  if 
they  escaped  unscathed  from  such  a  warm 
reception,  found  themselves  still  debarred 
from  ingress  into  the  interior  court  by  a 
third  portcullis.  I  do  not  recollect  any 
other  instance  of  such  multiplied  defences  in  the  gateway  of  a 


CHAPEL,   BODIAM   CASTLE. 


BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS.  299 

I  castle  of  this  period.  The  angle-springings  of  the  groined 
ceilings  are  of  a  peculiarly  elegant  form. 

Entering  the  interior  area  of  the  castle,  the  antiquary  views 
with  regret  the  mutilation  to  which  the  building  has  been 
subjected;  for  while  the  curtain  wall  is  all  but  intact  and  the 
towers  remain  almost  in  statn  quo,  as  far  as  the  masonry  is 
concerned,  not  a  single  apartment  of  the  quadrangular  range 
stands  entire,  and  in  some  parts  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  inner 
wall  remains. 

The  apartments  to  the  east  and  west  of  the  great  gateway 
were  probably  used  as  guard-rooms  and  offices  for  servants 
and  retainers.  The  first  apartment  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
quadrangle,  going  southward,  was  the  chapel.  It  was  lighted 
by  an  eastern  window  of  three  lights,  now  in  a  fractured 
condition,  and  much  obscured  by  ivy  ;  one  of  the  mullions  is 
broken  out.24  In  the  south  wall  to  the  right  of  the  spot  where 
the  altar  stood,  there  remains  a  small  piscina  with  a  plain 
pointed  arch.  Facing  this  on  the  north  side  is  an  aperture, 
which  is  so  constructed  opposite  to  a  window  in  the  north- 
east tower  as  to  afford  the  occupant  of  an  apartment  there  a 
view  of  the  ministering  priest  at  the  elevation  of  the  host. 
To  the  south-east  of  the  chapel  is  the  small  sacristy,  over 
which  there  was  formerly  an  apartment  for  the  priest,  and  the 
pointed  doorway  by  which  the  latter  was  approached  still  re- 
mains on  the  west  side.  The  apartment  immediately  south- 
ward of  the  chapel,  and  communicating  with  the  eastern 
square  tower,  is  traditionally  known  as  the  Bower,  or  ladies' 
apartment,  and  on  the  first  floor  above  was  probably  a  great 
state  bedroom.  Still  further  south,  and  connected  with  the 
south-east  tower,  was  a  large  oblong  room,  supposed  to  have 
been  the  Armoury. 

The  apartments  on  the  south  side  of  the  quadrangle  were 
the  Great  Hall,  the  Buttery,  and  the  Kitchen.  The  Hall, 
which  abutted  the  armoury  on  the  east,  was  lighted  by  a  lofty 
two-light  window  still  remaining  in  the  south  wall,  and  indi- 
cating the  situation  of  the  dais,  and  by  two  looking  into  the 
court,  which  have  disappeared.  At  the  lower  or  west  end  of 
the  apartment  there  was  formerly  a  minstrels'  gallery,  beneath 
which  three  pointed  arches  opened  into  the  Buttery.     These 

24  See  View  opposite. 


300 


BODTAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


arches  still  remain,  as  shewn  in  the  accompanying  view  from 
a  drawing  kindly  contributed  by  Mrs.  Wrench,  of  Salehurst 
parsonage.  The  hall  was  of  course  open  to  the  roof  without 
the  superposition  of  any  other  apartment,  and  it  must  have 
been  a  finely  proportioned  room.  The  Buttery 
led  westward  to  the  Kitchen,  which  communi- 
cated with  the  south-west  angle  tower,  and  was 
furnished  with  two  vast  fire-places,  twelve  feet  in 
width,  one  of  which  had  an  oven,  still  partly  re- 
maining, attached  to  it.  The  chimneys,  here  and 
elsewhere  throughout  the  building,  are  of  grace- 
ful proportions.  They  are  of  stone,  octagonal  in 
shape,  the  shafts  being  formed  of  courses  each 
composed  of  two  stones  hollowed  internally. 
The  coping  stones  in  some  instances  were  orna- 
mented with  mimic  battlements  now  much  cor- 
roded by  the  weather,  as  shewn  in  the  annexed 
cut.  Of  the  range  of  apartments  on  the  western 
side  of  the  quadrangle  the  appropriation  is  not 
very  clear.  They  were  probably  however  of  an 
inferior  kind — perhaps  affording  accommodation 
for  stores  of  various  sorts,  and  for  such  horses, 
cattle,  and  other  animals,  as  had  their  lodging  within  the  walls. 
Such  were  the  main  apartments — it  now  only  remains  to 
describe  the  towers  which  strengthen  and  adorn  the  angles 
and  side  walls,  and  which  formerly  gave  much  additional 
accommodation  to  the  garrison. 

A  narrow  arched  doorway  leads  from  the  first  groined  apart- 
ment of  the  gateway  into  the  basement  of  the  right-hand 
flanking  tower,  which  measures  internally  eleven  feet  by  ten, 
and  is  lighted  by  narrow  loops.  Over  it  were  two  stories  with 
fire-places.  On  the  left,  a  doorway  conducts  to  the  basement 
of  the  opposite  flanking  tower,  which  is  of  similar  size,  with 
like  apartments  with  fire-places  above.  More  inwardly  a 
newell  staircase  forms  the  communication  from  the  ground- 
floor  to  the  upper  stories.  There  were  rooms  over  the  entrance 
gateway  as  well  as  over  the  towers.  Over  the  inner  division 
of  the  entrance  was  a  parapet  overlooking  the  quadrangle,  and 
access  to  it  was  gained  by  a  second  stone  staircase  opening 
into  the  court. 


BODTAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 


301 


The  circular  angle  towers,  according  to  Mr.  Cotton's  mea- 
surements, are  twenty-eight  feet  nine 
inches  in  exterior  diameter.  Internally 
they  are  hexagonal,  and  measure  fifteen 
feet  two  inches.  Their  several  stories  are 
lighted  with  lancet-shaped  windows,  of 
rather  elegant  proportions.  Their  exter- 
nal appearance  may  be  inferred  from  the 
accompanying  cut.  The  walls  are  (3^  feet 
in  thickness.  Each  tower  had  three 
stories,  furnished  with  fire-places,  and 
reached  by  a  newell  staircase.  The  south- 
eastern tower  is  distinguished  from  the 
others  by  having  had  a  groined  ceiling 
to  its  basement  story.  This  was  evi- 
dently the  grand  tower,  as  its  newell 
staircase  communicated  with  the  princi- 
pal apartments  of  the  first  floor,  occupied  by  the  lord  of  the 
castle  and  his  family. 

The  eastern  and  western  square  towers,  also,  contained  three 
stories  or  apartments,  measuring  about  eleven  feet  by  ten  feet 
six,  with  fire-places,  and  with  necessaria  constructed  in  the 
thickness  of  the  walls. 

The  southern  or  postern  tower  has  its  basement  groined  like 
the  grand  entrance,  with  like  perforations  through  the  bosses. 
The  exterior  gateway  was  defended  by  a  portcullis,  and  over 
the  portal  still  remain  three  shields,  two  of  which  are  plain. 
The  third,  which  is  recumbent,  is  carved  with  three  roses  upon 
a  chevron,  and  surmounted  with  a  helmet  and  lambrequin, 
and  the  crest  of  a  ram's  head — the  armorial  ensigns  of  Sir 
Robert  Knollys,  K.G.,  the  chieftain  and  patron  of  Sir  Edward 
Dalyngruge,  the  founder  of  the  castle.  A  quadrangular  plat- 
form projects  some  feet  in  advance  into  the  moat,  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  which  remain  some  traces  of  a  landing-place  for 
communication  by  means  of  boats. 

Mr.  Cotton  has  given  a  ground-plan  of  the  Castle  and  some 
measurements,  and  the  Burrell  MSS.  furnish  the  latter  more 
in  detail,  but  there  are  some  discrepancies  between  these  two 
authorities.  Burrell  makes  the  length  of  the  building,  mea- 
sured from  the  centre  of  the  angle  towers  from  north  to  south, 


302  BODIAM    AND    ITS    LORDS. 

one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet,  and  from  east  to  west  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  The  inner  court  is,  according  to 
Buryell, from  N.toS.,  87  ft.  3in.;  from  E.  toW,  78  ft.  9in.j 
but  Cotton's  measurement  is  somewhat  different,  viz.,  89  ft.  4 
X  76  ft.  7.  The  Kitchen,  inclusive  of  the  buttery,  is  59  ft. 
9  in.  long,  by  24  ft.  2  in.  wide ;  and  the  dimensions  of  the 
Great  Hall  are  similar.  The  chapel  measures  30  ft.  6  in.  by 
19  ft.  2  in.  The  towers  are  sixty-five  feet  high  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  moat,  and  the  average  thickness  of  the  walls  is 
from  6^  to  7  feet. 

The  thanks  of  archaeologists  are  due  to  the  present  re- 
spected proprietor  of  the  Castle,  as  well  as  to  his  predecessor, 
for  the  care  they  have  taken  of  these  venerable  remains. 
There  is  however  some  reason  to  fear,  that  the  superabundant 
growth  of  ivy,  which  conceals  some  of  the  architectural  fea- 
tures, will,  without  a  timely  check,  disintegrate  the  masonry, 
and  hasten  the  destruction  of  what  even  Time  and  the  hand 
of  violence  have  spared. 

The  arms  of  the  successive  lords  of  Bodiam  (as  shown  over 
the  great  gate)  are  thus  blazoned: — $3otliattt  ;  Or,  a  fesse  dan- 
cette  sable  bezantee. — SUattiEUX :  Sable,  six  martlets,  three, 
two,  and  one,  Or. — J3almt(jrU(je ;  Or,  a  cross  engrailed  Gules. 
— The  central  place  is  however  assigned  to  Dalyngruge,  as 
founder  of  the  edifice. 

The  steep  field  lying  immediately  to  the  northward  of  the 
Castle,  and  known  as  the  Castle  Field,  has  strong  marks  of 
earthworks.  It  was  formerly  called  the  "  Gun  Garden,"  and 
"  Gun-Battery  Field,"  and  there  is  a  tradition  of  the  Castle 
having  been  once  taken  by  an  assault  from  that  spot.  If 
there  be  any  foundation  for  such  a  statement,  it  must  refer  to 
the  time  of  the  mandate  of  Richard  III.  for  "  retaking  "  the 
Castle  from  Sir  Thomas  Lewknor. 

The  original  mansion  of  the  De  Bodiam  and  Wardeux 
families  has  been  referred  to  on  a  previous  page.  Its  site 
lies  due  north  of  the  Castle,  near  the  "Kent  Ditch,"  the 
boundary  of  the  two  counties ;  and  a  line  drawn  from  it  to 
the  Castle  would  pass  close  to  the  church,  which  lies  midway 
between  the  two  points.  The  area  of  the  moat  surrounding 
it  measures  3  roods  18  perches,  and  the  inclosed  space,  now 
a  plantation,  contains  23  perches. 


ENAMELLED      CHALICE  , 

FOUND     IN    A    COFFIN     AT    RUSPER     PRIORY 


C.F.KWll  del.etMv- 


Bxn.te.Am  Colours  ty  KfiUlj 


NOTICES  OF  AN  ENAMELLED  CHALICE,  AND  OF 

OTHER  ANCIENT  RELIQUES,  FOUND  ON 

THE  SITE  OF  RUSPER  PRIORY. 

BY  ALBERT  WAY,  ESQ.,  M.A. 


On  a  former  occasion  I  communicated  to  the  Society  cer- 
tain documents  relating  to  the  Benedictine  Priory  of  St.  Mary 
I  Magdalen,  at  Rusper,  accompanied  by  the  few  scattered 
i  notices  which  I  had  been  enabled  to  collect  regarding  that 
conventual  establishment,  situated  on  the  borders  of  Sussex 
1  and  Surrey.  These  have  been  printed  in  the  fifth  volume  of 
'  the  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.,  pp.  244-262. 

The  site  of  the  Nunnery  of  Rusper  is  now  occupied  by  a 
modern  house.     Some  alterations  were  made  in  1840,  and  in 
digging  foundations  several  interments  were  brought  to  light, 
i  supposed  to  be  those  of  a  prioress  and  some  of  the  sister- 
I  hood,  with  certain  reliques,  of  which  I  purpose  to  give  a  de- 
■•  scription,  supplementary  to  my  former  notices.     The  remains 
I  were  reinterred  in  the  churchyard  at  Rusper ;   a  small  tablet 
was  affixed  to  the  outer  wall  of  the  church,  by  direction  of  the 
late  James  Broadwood,  Esq.,  of  Lyne,  as  a  memorial  of  their 
discovery  and  removal.    The  objects  found  were  preserved  by 
the  late  Robert  H.  Hurst,  Esq.,  of  Horsham,  and  were  exhi- 
bited, by  his  permission,  at  the  Meeting  of  the  Sussex  Archaeo- 
logical Society,  at  that  place,  in  July,  1855.1 

I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  John  Honywood,  of 
Horsham,   for   the   following  detailed   narrative  of  the  dis- 
coveries in    question,  which  occurred  under  his  immediate 
I observation : — 

"In  the  spring  of  1840  considerable  additions  were  made 
to  the  Nunnery  Mansion,  and  in  digging  out  the  earth  for  the 
foundations  of  the  new  buildings,  some  human  bones  were 

1  Sussex  Arch.  Collections,  Vol.  III.  p.  x. 


.'304  NOTICES    OF    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC. 

first  discovered  without  any  coffins.     As  the  excavations  pro- 
ceeded, a  stout  oak  coffin  was  discovered,  very  much  decayed  ;< 
the  lid  and  bottom  were  nearly  pressed  together,  the  sides 
being  too  weak  to  resist  the  pressure  of  the  earth  above.    On 
lifting  up  the  lid  nothing  appeared  beneath  it   but  a  dark 
blueish  mud,  or  clay;  but  on  the  under  side  of  the  lid  I 
observed  a  small  round  substance,  which  proved  to  be  anj 
amber  bead.     A  careful  search  was  then  made  in  the  muddy 
deposit  lying  on  the  bottom  of  the  coffin,  and  twenty  or  twenty- 
four  beads  of  amber  and  jet  were  found,  together  with  a  small  i 
gold  crucifix,  a  gold  ring  set  with  stones,  and  a  silver  brooch. 
The  brooch  was  so  oxidized  that  it  fell  to  pieces ;  these  I 
afterwards  united  together  as  well  as  I  could,  to  show  thej 
form  of  the  ornament.     There  had  also  evidently  been  a  staff 
deposited  in  this  coffin,  and  it  had  been  gilded,  but  it  was  so 
completely  decayed  that  only  a  black  line  of  decayed  matter 
remained,  with  the  particles  of  gold  leaf  about  it.     I  always 
thought  that  this  coffin  had  contained  the  remains  of  one  of 
the  prioresses,  and  that  this  might  have  been  her  official  staff. 
In  the  progress  of  the  works  the  remains  of  about  forty  of  the 
sisterhood  were  unavoidably  dug  up ;  the  bones  wrere  care- 
fully collected,  and  placed  in  two  new  coffins  covered  with 
black  cloth,  and  decently  buried  in  the  churchyard  at  Rusper. 
Some  of  the  skeletons  lay  without  any  traee  of  coffins ;  all 
the  coffins  that  were  found  were  of  greater  width  at  the  head 
than  at  the  foot.    In  several  of  the  coffins  I  discovered  pewter 
chalices,  or  cups  resembling  chalices  in  form,  and  each  of 
these  was  covered  by  a  paten.     The  position  of  these  chalices 
would  indicate  that  they  had  been  placed  in  the  hand  or! 
between  the  hands  of  the  corpse,  on  the  breast.     In  one  of] 
the  graves,  which  appeared  to  have  been  disturbed  at  some 
previous  time  by  digging  through  it  (unknown  probably  to 
the  persons  who  did  it),  a  chalice  of  enamelled  copper  was 
found,  with  a  cover  or  paten  of  gilded  copper,  engraved,  but 
so  much  oxidized  as  to  crumble  to  powder.     The  chalice  was] 
also  much  corroded,  but,  at  Mr.  Hurst's  desire,  I  repolished 
the  enamel,  and  in  other  respects,  by  gilding  the  surface  of 
the  metal  (perhaps  injuriously  to  its  authentic  aspect  as  a 
relic  of  antiquity),  restored  it  as  nearly  as  possible  to  its! 
original  appearance.     One  of  the  coffins  was  formed  of  por- 


NOTICES    OF    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC.  305 

tious  of  Sussex  marble,  three  slabs  of  equal  thickness  at  each 
side,  and  two  other  pieces  forming  the  head  and  foot  of  the 
coffin.  A  small  curved  object  of  lead,  resembling  a  hook,  was 
found  with  this  interment.  Another  coffin  was  of  lead,  which 
was  carefully  examined,  but  nothing  was  discovered,  and  it 
was  taken  up  and  buried  in  another  place  on  the  premises. 
In  these  two  coffins  there  was  little  to  be  seen  but  slaked 
lime  ;  all  the  bones  were  completely  decomposed ;  the  enamel 
of  the  teeth  alone  remained  to  show  that  human  bodies  had 
been  deposited  in  them.  Some  of  the  other  coffins  likewise 
had  evidently  been  filled  with  quick  lime  before  interment. 
In  one  instance  some  remains  of  linen  cloth  were  noticed,  but 
no  sign  of  human  hair  in  any  case.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
we  dug  through  the  graveyard  of  the  nunnery,  and  below  the 
bottoms  of  the  graves.  We  found  no  remains  of  walls,  only 
a  small  portion  of  a  foundation.  It  is  possible  that  we  missed 
finding  other  reliques,  as  the  coffins  were  filled  completely 
with  clay,  not  one  of  them  having  the  least  hollow  space 
within  it,  and  the  lids  were  pressed  down  very  near  to  the 
bottom.  The  position  of  the  bodies  was  east  and  west,  the 
head  being  at  the  west  end  of  the  grave.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  remains  were  those  of  females,  from  the  shape 
of  the  crania,  the  superciliary  ridge  being  less  developed  than 
is  usual  in  those  of  males." 

By  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Hurst,  I  have  been  permitted  to 
examine  the  enamelled  cup,  an  object  of  highly  interesting 
character,  and  the  other  reliques  which  have  been  preserved, 
accompanied  by  drawings  of  the  remainder.  The  beads  con- 
sist of  twelve  globular  pieces  of  amber,  measuring  about  three 
eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  two  globular  beads  of  the 
same  material,  measuring  three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  dia- 
meter ;  also  ten  oval  beads  of  jet,  measuring  rather  less  than 
half  an  inch  in  length.  The  crucifix  found  with  them  is 
described  by  Mr.  Honywood  as  of  gold;  but  it  may  more 
probably  be  of  silver  gilt :  it  measures  If  inch  in  length ;  the 
limbs  of  the  cross  have  their  extremities  fleury,  to  speak 
heraldically  ;  the  workmanship  may  be  of  the  later  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  or  very  possibly  later.  The  gold  ring  has 
its  head  formed  with  four  little  knobs,  arranged  lozenge-wise, 
each  of  them  set  with  a  little  stone,  and  surrounding  a  fifth 

ix.  39 


306  NOTICES    OF    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC. 

stone  in  the  centre.  The  gems  are  apparently  three  emeralds 
and  two  amethysts.  With  the  beads,  crucifix,  and  ring,  was 
also  found  a  flat  ring- brooch  of  silver,  of  a  type  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  ;  it  mea- 
sures about  1^  inch  in  diameter,  and  appears  to  have  been 
engraved  with  certain  letters,  now  illegible.  The  inscriptions 
most  frequently  found  on  ornaments  of  this  class  are,  the 
Angelical  Salutation,  and  the  Titulus, — Jesvs  Nazarenvs. 
This  brooch  appeared  to  have  been  placed  on  the  breast  of 
the  corpse.  Of  two  of  the  pewter  chalices  before  mentioned, 
with  their  patens,  drawings  were  taken  ;  they  present  no  re- 
markable peculiarity  of  form  ;  the  chalices,  as  also  the  patens, 
were  much  decayed  ;  in  one  grave  two  skeletons  occurred,  the 
chalice  having  been  apparently  in  the  hands  of  the  lower  one. 
A  fragment  of  brass  was  noticed,  which,  from  its  curved  shape 
and  perforations  resembling  those  in  the  cover  of  a  censer, 
was  supposed  to  have  been  a  portion  of  such  an  object ;  and  a 
small  brass  fastening  was  also  found,  which  may  have  been 
attached  to  a  narrow  girdle,  or  to  the  strap  serving  to  close 
the  forel  of  a  book. 

The  enamelled  cup,  which  has  been  designated  as  a  chalice, 
was  the  relique  of  greatest  interest  brought  to  light  in  these 
explorations.  Its  entire  surface  had  been  originally  gilded, 
as  I  have  been  assured,  both  externally  and  within  the  bowl. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  gilding  has  been  wholly  renewed, 
which  detracts  materially  from  the  authentic  appearance  and 
originality  of  this  remarkable  vessel.  It  measures  in  height 
5 le  inches  ;  the  diameter  of  the  bowl,  as  also  of  the  foot,  is  4J 
inches;  the  weight  of  the  cup  is  14 J  oz.  The  date  to  which  it 
may  be  assigned  is  the  later  half  of  the  twelfth  century.  The 
form  of  the  cup  and  the  details  of  the  enamelled  ornament 
have  been  skilfully  reproduced  by  Mr.  Kell  in  the  accompany- 
ing illustration.  The  design  of  the  figures,  more  especially 
of  that  intended  to  portray  our  Lord,  on  the  bowl  of  the 
chalice,  is  somewhat  rude  and  unartistic;  but  the  enamel 
colours,  applied  by  the  mode  of  art  technically  termed  champ- 
leve,  namely,  in  shallow  casements  or  cavities  chased  out  on 
the  surface  of  the  metal,  are  bright  and  used  with  considerable 
skill.  These  are  not  less  than  ten  shades  of  colour : — an 
opaque  red,  resembling  the  hue  of  rosso  antico  ,■   dark  bine  ; 


NOTICES    OF    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC.  307 

lapis-lazuli  blue ;  turquoise  blue  of  very  beautiful  quality  ; 
pale  blue,  or  blue  and  white  mottled,  used  in  the  shading ; 
white ;  purple  black ;  pale  lilac,  used  for  the  flesh  tints  ; 
grass  green,  and  yellow.  On  the  bowl  are  introduced  demi- 
figures  of  the  Saviour  and  three  angels :  the  former  has  a 
cruciform  nimb,  the  right  hand  raised  in  benediction,  the  left 
wrapped  in  the  blue  mantle,  and  holding  a  red  clasped  book. 
On  the  foot  are  four  demi-figures  holding  closed  books,  and 
doubtless  intended  to  represent  evangelists.  The  features, 
however,  of  all  of  them  are  youthful,  the  gesture  slightly 
varied,  and  all  are  without  beards.     The  woodcut  here  given 


/ 


shows  the  design  of  these  angelic  figures.  The  nimbs  claim 
special  notice,  the  radiance  of  that  around  the  head  of  our 
Lord  being  expressed  by  four  circles  of  colour,  commencing 
with  red,  nearest  to  the  hair,  then  blue,  green,  and  yellow. 
The  distinctness  with  which  these  tints  are  preserved,  without 
any  intervening  fillets  of  metal,  is  remarkable.  At  first  sight 
it  might  be  supposed  that  the  angels  and  evangelists  have 
cruciform  nimbs ;  the  slight  fillets  of  metal,  however,  which 
suggest  such  a  deviation  from  the  rules  of  symbolism,  were 
probably  not  introduced  with  such  intention,  and,  when  the 
work  was  fresh,  may  have  been  scarcely  perceptible.  The 
pommel,  or  knop,  in  the  stem  is  formed  with  six  ribs ;  it  may 
deserve  observation  that  this  portion  of  the  chalice  is  very 
frequently  hexagonal,  formed  with  six  facets,  enriched  with 
niello,  enamel,  or  chased  ornament.     I  am  not  aware  whether 


308  NOTICKS    OY    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC. 

any  motive  has  been  suggested  for  the  preference  of  that 
number. 

I  have  been  induced  to  describe  minutely  the  details  of  this 
remarkable  example  of  Middle  Age  art,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  rare  occurrence  of  any  enamelled  works  of  so  early  a 
date,  discovered  in  this  country,  but  in  consideration  of  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  enamel,  which  is  in  most  remarkable 
preservation.  No  example,  moreover,  of  a  chalice  wholly  of 
base  metal,  thus  decorated,  has  to  my  knowledge  been  noticed. 
Exceptions  to  the  general  rule,  however,  doubtless  occurred. 
The  chalice  of  St.  Ludger,  preserved  in  the  Abbey  of  Verden, 
founded  by  him  in  the  diocese  of  Munster,  in  796,  is  described 
as  of  "  bronze  dore"  It  is  figured  in  the  Voyage  Litteraire 
de  deux  Benedictins,  part  ii.  p.  234.  By  the  inscriptions  which 
it  bears  it  appears  to  have  been  actually  intended  to  be  used 
as  a  chalice.  On  careful  examination  of  the  Rusper  cup,  it 
is  apparent  to  any  one  conversant  with  the  peculiarities  of 
twelfth  century  enamels,  that  the  art  differs  in  certain  minute 
features  from  that  usually  attributed  to  the  school  of  Limoges. 
I  had  for  a  moment  inclined  to  the  supposition  that  this  cup 
might  have  been  produced  in  our  own  country,  by  some  artist 
under  influence  of  the  traditions  of  Byzantine  arts.  Whilst, 
however,  it  is  difficult  to  form  any  decided  opinion  amidst  the 
obscurities  by  which  the  history  of  the  beautiful  art  of  enamel 
is  still  surrounded,  I  incline  to  the  notion  that  this  may  be  a 
production  of  the  early  German  school,  the  "  Ecole  rhenane" 
of  the  classification  by  M.  Labarte,  in  his  able  Becker ches  sur 
la  Peinture  en  Email.  The  introduction  of  c/tampleve  enamel 
on  a  plain  gold  ground  is  a  feature  of  uncommon  occurrence, 
unknown,  as  far  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  observe,  in  works 
attributed  to  Limoges.  An  example  of  this  plain  ground, 
contemporary  with  the  chalice  under  consideration,  and  with 
the  enamel  applied  in  like  manner  to  a  curved  surface,  is  sup- 
plied by  a  reliquary  in  Prince  Soltykoff 's  collection.  It  has 
been  figured  by  M.  Labarte,  in  his  beautiful  work  above  cited, 
plate  F.  Another  specimen,  probably  of  German  work,  is  the 
little  plate  representing  Melchizedec,  figured  in  my  memoir  on 
the  Art  of  Enamel,  Archaol.  Journal,  vol.  ii.  p.  168. 

It  has  been  regarded  as  doubtful  whether  the  cup  found  at 
Rusper  had  actually  been  a  chalice,  on  account  of  the  absence 


NOTICES    OE    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,   ETC.  309 

of  evidence  that  such  sacred  vessels  were  deposited  with  the 
bodies  of  any  persons  not  ecclesiastics,  whilst  all  the  remains 
jisinterred  were  confidently  supposed  to  have  been  those  of 
the  Benedictine  sisters.  Moreover,  the  cup  is  wholly  of  cop- 
per, in  direct  opposition  to  recognised  usage,  and  to  the  well- 
known  decree  of  the  Council  of  Rheiras,  a.d.  847 — "  Ut  calix 
Domini  cum  patena,  si  non  ex  auro,  omnino  ex  argento  fiat. 
Si  quis  autem  tarn  pauper  est  saltern  vel  stanneum  calicem 
habeat.  Be  are  aid  aurichalco  non  fiat  calix,  quia  ob  vini 
virtutem  eruginem  parit,  que  vomitum  provocat.  Nullus  autem 
in  ligneo  aut  vitreo  calice  presumat  missam  cantare."  It  is 
to  be  regretted  that  no  examination  appears  to  have  been  made* 
by  any  one  competent  to  give  any  decided  opinion  in  regard 
to  the  remains  being  those  of  females.  At  the  same  time,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  no  mention  has  been  made  of  a 
cranium  or  any  portions  of  a  skeleton  accompanying  the  chalice, 
and  upon  which  a  conclusion  might  have  been  formed  in  regard 
to  the  sex  of  the  defunct,  there  interred.  I  am  informed  by 
Mr.  Blaauw  that  on  submitting  the  facts,  with  a  drawing  of 
the  cup,  to  Dr.  Rock,  he  acquiesced  in  its  being  a  chalice,  but 
suggested  that  it  must  have  been  deposited  in  the  grave  of  a 
chaplain,  or  of  some  other  ecclesiastic  connected  with  the  place, 
since  none  but  priests  were  interred  with  chalices.  He  thought 
it  possible  also  that  the  enamelled  chalice  had  been  given  up  for 
such  mortuary  purpose,  because  it  was  considered  old-fashioned 
and  not  prized.  It  may  have  been  because  the  gilding  which 
had  lined  the  cup,  and  which  in  middle-age  metal-work  is 
sometimes  so  thickly  laid  as  to  amount  almost  to  plating 
with  precious  metal,  had  decayed  ("  ob  vini  virtutem"),  and 
the  base  metal  become  apparent  beneath,  rendering  the  vessel 
no  longer  fit  for  the  sacred  use  to  which  it  had  been  destined. 
It  is  not  unworthy  of  consideration,  that  towards  the  very 
period  to  which  this  relique  of  mediaeval  art  must  be  attri- 
buted, numerous  sacred  vessels  of  precious  metal,  throughout 
England,  had  been  sacrificed  to  supply  the  ransom  of  Richard 
Cceur  de  Lion,  in  1193.  Alianore  his  mother  had  sought  in 
vain  to  raise  the  100,000  pounds  of  silver,  by  repeated  exac- 
tions and  appeals  to  the  loyalty  of  his  subjects  :  "  Postremo  ut 
nulla  vacaret  occasio,  ad  vasa  sacra  et  utensilia  ecclesie  ventum 
est.    Itaque  per  omnem  Anglici  regni  latitudinem  sacri  calices 


310  NOTICES    OF    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC. 

exactoribus  regiis  traduntur,  vel  paulo  infra  pondus  rediniun-i 
tur." — Brorapton,  col.  1256.  On  return  from  his  captivity, 
the  King  hastened  to  make  good  the  loss  :  "  Advertens  etiam 
Rex  nonnullas  ecclesiarum  campestriuin  argenteis  calicibus 
carere,  cum  didicisset  eos  sua  redemptione  occasione  sublatos, 
sibi  tanquam  reo  imputans,  ac  culta  divina  minus  digne  in  hac 
parte  celebrari,  calices  quamplurimos  per  loca  diversa  jussit 
fieri,  eosque  ecclesiis  indigentibusHistribui  sine  mora." — Ibid., 
col.  1258  ;   see  also  Knighton,  col.  2408. 

In  regard  to  the  usage  of  depositing  a  chalice  and  paten, 
more  commonly  of  tin  or  pewter,  with  the  corpse  of  a  priest, 
1  may  here  refer  to  the  observations  given  in  my  memoir  in 
the  Archaeological  Journal,  vol.  iii.  p.  136,  where  representa- 
tions of  several  chalices  found  in  tombs  may  be  seen.  Many 
instances  might  be  cited  in  addition  to  those  which  have  been 
there  enumerated.  The  occurrence  of  a  chalice  of  precious 
metal  in  a  tomb  is  comparatively  rare,  but  some  remarkable 
silver  chalices  have  been  found  in  Chichester  Cathedral,  and 
are  still  there  preserved.  They  have  occurred  at  Exeter,  Wells, 
and  in  a  few  other  instances.  In  primitive  times  the  use  of  il 
base  white  metal,  in  cases  of  necessity,  was  permitted,  as  we 
learn  from  the  Pastoral  Epistle  of  vElfric  to  Archbishop  Wulstan, 
enjoining  that  every  chalice  be  of  molten  material,  of  gold  or 
of  silver,  of  glass  or  of  tin  (glsesen  odde  tinen),  not  of  horn, 
especially  not  of  wood,  doubtless  because  it  might  absorb  the 
sacred  element. — Ancient  Laws  and  Institutes,  vol.  ii.  p.  385. 
Archbishop Wethershed,  c.  1229,  enjoins  that  no  bishop  thence- 
forth should  give  the  benediction  to  a  chalice  of  tin :  "  Ne 
stanneum  calicem  aliquis  episcopus  amodo  benedicat  interdi- 
cimus." — Lyndwood,  Provinciale,  p.  234,  edit.  1679.  It  is 
admitted,  however,  as  appears  likewise  by  the  decree  of  the 
Council  of  Rheims,  before  cited,  that,  according  to  the  canons, 
the  use  of  such  vessels  was  admissible,  propter  paupertatem. — 
Ibid.,  p.  9,  note  c.  They  were  forbidden  by  Pope  Leo.  IV., 
in  his  injunctions  De  cura  pastor ali. 

In  addition  to  the  notices  of  the  Prioresses  of  Rusper, 
given  formerly  {Sussex  Archaol.  Collections,  Vol.  V.  p.  249), 
Mr.  Blaauw  has  sent  me  extracts  from  the  Court  Rolls  of  the 
Manor  of  Prestwode,  Sussex,  held  by  the  priory,  preserved  at 
the  Chapter  House,  Westminster,  in  which  mention  occurs  of 


NOTICES    OF    AN    ENAMELLED    CHALICE,    ETC.  31f 

Agnes  Unset,  prioress  in  1403  and  subsequent  years  until 
1439. 

"  Prestwode.  Curia  tent  Agne  Baset  Priorisse  de  Rousperre, 
tent  ibidem  xx.  die  mensis  Mareii,  anno  regni  regis  Henrici  IV. 
post  conquestum  quarto."  (a.d.  1403.) 

Similar  entries  occur  in  the  records  of  courts  held  23  July, 
7  Hen.  IV.  (1406);  on  the  feast  of  St.  Hilary,  8  Henry  IV. 
(1407) ;  19  May,  9  Hen.  IV.  (1408) ;  and  in  the  year  follow- 
ing. Possibly,  however,  this  prioress  may  be  identical  with 
the  "  Agnes  Barrett,  sister  of  William  Barrett,  of  London, 
merchant,  prioress  of  Rouspour  12  Hen.  IV.,"  given  in  my 
former  list  of  prioresses,  on  the  authority  of  a  note  in  the 
Burrell  MS.  5686.  I  must  here  correct  an  error,  inadvertently 
there  committed,  in  regard  to  the  date  of  that  regnal  year  :  the 
twelfth  year  of  Henry  IV.  was  1410-11.  In  the  same  Court 
Rolls  Agnes  Snokeshill  occurs  as  prioress,  26  Hen.  VI.  1448, 
as  also  in  1449  and  1450. 

Giraldus  Cambrensis,  in  his  life  of  Henry  de  Blois,  Bishop 
of  Winchester  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  relates 
that  having  heard  that  the  parish  priests  throughout  his 
diocese  persisted  in  the  use  of  chalices  of  tin  {stagneis)  notwith- 
standing frequent  injunctions  to  provide  vessels  of  silver,  con- 
vened them  all  on  the  pretext  of  soliciting  a  subsidy,  having 
shortly  before  supplied  Henry  II.  with  500  marks  for  the 
xpedition  to  take  possession  of  Toulouse  (in  1159),  and  re- 
quested that  the  loan  should  be  brought  in  the  form  of  silver 
chalices.  The  clergy  readily  complied ;  from  some  churches 
more  than  one  was  even  brought.  The  bishop  forthwith  con- 
secrated the  whole,  and  sent  the  priests  back  with  a  severe 
reproof  that  they  should  have  withheld  from  the  service  of  God 
what  they  were  so  ready  to  give  to  propitiate  their  diocesan. — 
Anglia  Sacra,  vol.  ii.  p.  422. 


SOME  NOTICES  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF  NEWTON,  OF 
EAST  MASCALLS  IN  LINDEIELD,  AND  SOUTH- 
OVER  PRIORY,  NEAR  LEWES ;  AND  OF 
NEWTON,  AND  POWNALL  HALL,  IN  CHESHIRE :   | 

WITH    A 

SHORT  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  MANORS  AND  RECTORY  OF  LINDFIELD.i 
BY  T.  HERBERT  NOYES,  JUN.,  ESQ. 


A   younger   branch   of  the    ancient    Cheshire    family   of i 
Newton,  from  which  the  great  Sir  Isaac  himself  claimed  to 
be  descended,1  settled  in  Sussex  upwards  of  three  centuries 
ago,  and  its  heirs  have  inherited  since  that  period,  with  other 
considerable  property  in  the  county,  the  two  curious    spe- 
cimens  of  ancient  architecture,  East  Mascalls,  and  Southover 
Priory,  of  which  woodcuts  are  annexed  to  this  paper.     Its  j 
connection  with  this  county  is  therefore  of  sufficient  antiquity  j 
to  warrant  some  notice  in   our  Archaeological   Collections —  | 
more  especially  as  it  has  already  been  the  subject  of  some  very 
erroneous  notices  in  other   publications  connected  with  the 
county  history. 

It  was  about  the  year  1543  that  William  Newton,  a  grand- 
son of  Humphrey  Newton,  of  Pownall    Hall,  in  Cheshire ' 

1  Sir  David  Brewster,  in  his  admirable  as  far  as  it  went, with  the  registered  pedi- 
Life  of  Newton,  attempts  to  discredit  the  gree ;  and  when  it  was  completed,  appa- 
pedigree  which  Sir  Isaac  had  registered  rently  after  Sir  Isaac's  decease,  by  a  tho-  | 
at  the  Heralds' College,  and  adduces  some  rough  search  of  the  registers  which  he 
very  questionable  evidence  to  show  that  he  had  indicated,  its  accuracy  was  fully  esta- 
himself  afterwards  claimed  descent  from  a  blished.      The   paper  alluded   to  in   the  I 
Scotch  family.  Sir  David,  however,  could  Gentleman 's  Magazine  contains  very  full  | 
scarcely   have    been   aware   that   in   the  particulars  ;  but  if  any  further  proof  were 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1772  (vol.  xlii.  needed,  it  is  now  supplied  by  the  Subsidy 
page  520)  Sir  Isaac's  pedigree  was  repub-  Rolls  which  I  have  consulted,  and  which 
lished  from  a  draft  copy  in  his  own  hand-  not  only  incidentally  confirm  the  evidence 
writing,  which   contained  directions  for  of  registers,  but  prove  that  the  family  was 
searching  the  parish  register  of  Westby,  not  so  meanly  off  as  has  been  generally 
Bitchfield,  and  Colsterworth,  in  order  to  supposed.  An  income  valued  for  the  Sub- 
mate  it  more  complete.  This  draft  tallied,  sidy  of  1524  at  £24.  4s.  was  far  above  the 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 


313 


(on  the  borders  of  Lancashire),  quitted  that  county,  in  which 
he  was  born,  and  where  his  ancestors  had  been  of  some  note 
from  a  period  little  subsequent  to  the  Conquest. 

His  name  first  appears  in  the  Roll  of  the  Subsidy  granted 


average  of  the  substantial  yeomen  of  that 
period.     Here  is  the  pedigree  thus  sub- 


stantiated : — 


=  John  Newton,  of  Westby,  in  Lincolnshire,  descended 
I     (A)  from  the  Newtons  of  Lancashire. 


|1  |2 

=    John  Newton,  Thomas. 

bu.atColsterworth:  (c) 

(b)    ob.  Dec.  22, 
1563.    Purchased 
Wolsthorpe  manor. 


|3 
Kichard. 


William.  —        Anna, 

dau.  of  Kellum, 
of  Ropesley. 


I 

—  Richard  Newton, 

of  Wolsthorpe : 

bu.atColsterworth, 

1588,  April  20. 


George.    Robert. 


Simon. 
(c) 


I  I 

William.        Thomas,  —  Eliza 
of  Gunerby.     Parker, 
of  Keb- 
worth. 


s=   Robert  Newton,  Isaac: 

of  Wolsthorpe  :        bp.  1573. 
|  ob.  1641,  Sept.  20. 


Richard.  = 


Sir  John  :  = 

born  1626.   I  da.  &  coheir 
of  Hickson. 


I  I  I 

ird.  Mary.    Isaac  Newton,=  Hannah,  =Rev.  B.  Robert)== 


:e. 


ofWolsthorpe, 
lord  of  the  m  anor : 
bapt.  1606 ; 
bu.l642,Oct.6. 


da.  of 
Ayscough. 


Smith,  b.1607. 
2nd 
husband. 


V 


I        I        I 

Thomas;  John;  SirJohn= 
bp.  1617.     bp.     Newton 
1621.     Bart. 


Sir  Isaac  Newton : 

born  Dec.  25, 1642; 

died  March  20, 

1726-7. 


Isaac  Newton, 

of  Colsterworth 

ob.  s.  p. 


John :    = 
ob.  1725;  I 
set.  60. 


Sir  Michael  Newton, 
K.C.B. 


John  Newton, 
of  Colsterworth, 

heir-at-law  to 

Sir  Isaac : 

ob.  1737;  set.  30. 


Subsidy  Roll  of  14&  15Hen.VIII.(1524)  (A)  John  Newton  of  Bytchfeild,  in- 
come valued  at 24 

„  (c)  Simon  Newton  of  Basingthorpe 

(wage) 1 

37  Hen.  VIII.  (1546)  &  John  Newton  of  Bytchfield  .  24 
B.  John  N.  of  Westby  in  Basingthorpe  10 
John  N.  (same  hundred  of  Coltistoe)  6 
(c)  Thomas  Newton  of  Wysford,  do.     8 


£    s.    d. 


4     0 


The  fact  that  the  rolls  of  the  hundreds  of 
Coltisloe  and  Grantham  contain  no  other 
entries  of  the  name,  goes  someway  to  prove 

IX. 


that  the  first-named  John  was  the  first  who 
settled  in  the  district,  and  that  he  came, 
as  is  stated,  from  Lancashire. 

40 


314  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

34  &  35  Hen.  VIII.  (1544),  as  of  Southover,  where,  it  is  noted 
in  the  Visitation,  that  he  settled  at  the  Priory  of  St.  Pancras, 
and  married  a  daughter  and  coheiress  of  Erley,  or,  as  some  of 
the  Visitations  have  it,  Earnley,  of  Brighton.  The  date  of! 
his  marriage  is  fixed  as  prior  to  1552,  by  a  fine,  in  which  his 
eldest  son  Nicholas  was  plaintiff,  passed  in  the  year  1573, 
when  he  must  have  been  of  age,  of  one-fourth  part  of  the: 
manor  of  Erlyes,  in  the  parishes  of  Brighton,  Lewes,  and! 
Edburton.  The  rest  of  this  manor  probably  belonged  to  I 
him  at  that  time,  as  his  mother's  heir ;  for  the  whole  was  sold 
in  1630  (June  1,  6  Car.  I.),  for  £1106,  by  George  Newton, 
of  East  Mascalls,  to  Abraham  Edwards,  of  Portslade,  in  whose 
family  it  remained  till  about  1686,  when  it  was  sold  to  the 
possessors  of  some  of  the  other  Brighton  manors,  in  which  it 
probably  soon  merged,  for  it  is  now  lost,  though  one  of  its 
court-books,  of  the  date  of  1686,  still  remains  in  the  custody 
of  Mr.  Hoper,  at  Lewes.2  There  is  another  conclusion  to  be 
drawn  from  this  fine,  in  which  Jeffrey  Poole  3  and  Katherine 
his  wife,  and  Francis  Cotton  and  Mary  his  wife,  were  defor- 
ciants— which  is,  that  the  said  Mary  and  Katherine  were  pro- 
bably the  other  coheiresses ;  and,  as  the  Pooles  were  also  a 
Cheshire  family,  this  connection  may  have  been  the  cause  of 
William  Newton's  settlement  in  Sussex.  There  were  two 
other  intermarriages,  which,  as  they  appear  to  have  some 
bearing  on  this  point,  shall  be  mentioned  here.4  Richard  de 
la  Chambre,  of  Radmill,  near  Lewes,  married,  about  1560, 
Margery,  aunt  of  Sir  George  Booth,  of  Denham,  co.  Chester, 
while  Katherine,  a  first  cousin  of  William  Newton,  had  mar- 

2  The  family  of  Ernley  is  said  to  have  the  2  virges  which  the  said  John  holds  in 
heen  originally  Erley,  and  to  have  derived  his  demesne,  et  3  "  coterias,"  with  all  li- 
its  name  from  the  village  of  Ernley  or  berties  and  free  customs  appertaining  to 
JErley,  so  called  from  Er-lege,  the  eagle's  the  half  of  his  whole  fief,  i.  e.  manor,  in 
nest.  The  origin  of  this  manor  of  Erleyes  the  said  vill,  in  the  land,  in  the  sea,  and 
at  Brighton  appears  from  a  fine  passed  in  in  all  places,  to  be  held  of  him  and  his 
1197for  SussexandBerks,betweenMatilda  heirs  by  the  service  of  24s.  yearly,  to  re- 
daughter  of  Robert  de  Erlege,  deforciant  vert  to  the  heirs  of  the  said  John  failing 
(petitioner),  and  John  de  Erlege,  plaintiff  heirs  of  the  body  of  the  said  Matilda, 
(tenant),  of  2  hides  of  land  in  Herlege,  3  See  the  names  of  Jeffrey  Pole  and 
Rading,  and  Sunning,  for  which  the  said  Richard  Erneley  on  the  list  of  Sussex 
John  has  granted  to  the  said  Matilda  a  magistrates  suspected  by  the  Bishop  of 
capital  messuage  in  Brictelmeston,  and  7  Chichester  of  being  Papists  in  1576.  Sus- 
virges  of  land  in  the  said  vill,  of  which  1  sex  Coll.  III.  p.  20;  and  the  Calendar  to 
verge  is  now  in  the  occupation  of  William,  State  Papers  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  &c, 
1  verge  of  Seredus,  1  of  John  Ruffus,  1  lately  published, 
of  Ketere,  1  of  Alfstan  and  Wulwin,  and  *  See  the  Visitation  of  Sussex  of  1634. 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  315 

ried  John  Booth  of  this  family,  about  twenty  years  before,  in 
Cheshire;  and,  in  1620,  another  Richard  de  la  Chambre 
married  Anne  Newton,  a  grand-daughter  of  William  Newton, 
of  Southover. 

This  incidental  evidence  of  the  Cheshire  descent  is  satis- 
factory, though  it  was  not  necessary ;  for  in  the  Newton 
Pedigree,  entered  at  the  Visitation  of  Sussex  in  1634,  it  is 
noted  that  William  Newton  exhibited  a  certificate  under  the 
hand  of  Sir  George  Calverley,  Knt.,  testifying  his  coat  and 
descent  from  Cheshire.  The  coat  is  Argent,  a  Lion  rampant 
Sa.,  on  the  shoulder  a  cross  patee  of  the  field,  as  in  the 
Cheshire  Visitation.  The  connecting  link  of  the  genealogies 
entered  at  the  Visitations  of  the  two  counties,  will  appear  by 
the  annexed  Pedigree  ;  and  it  therefore  may  not  be  very  irre- 
gular to  introduce  a  few  illustrations  of  the  earlier  history  of 
the  family,  derived  from  a  curious  MS.  lately  found  among 
some  old  muniments  at  Rivington  Hall,  in  Lancashire,  the 
seat  of  Robert  Andrews,  Esq.,  to  whose  courtesy,  and  that  of 
his  relative  Thomas  Doming  Hibbert,  Esq.,  we  are  indebted 
for  an  opportunity  of  transcribing  it.  It  is  apparently  a  frag- 
ment of  a  family  cartulary,  and  though  much  injured  by  damp, 
and  mutilated  by  other  accidents,  still  contains,  in  some  sixty 
closely  written  folio  pages,  a  transcript  of  a  large  number  of 
early  charters  and  settlements  of  the  Newtons,  and  the  fami- 
lies to  which  they  were  heirs,  with  contemporary  annotations 
on  many  of  them,  and  other  curious  details.  It  was  appa- 
rently compiled  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth,  by 
Humphrey  Newton,  of  Pownall,  and  transcribed,  with  some 
additions,  by  his  eldest  son,  William ;  the  greater  portion,  how- 
ever, is  of  too  documentary  a  character  for  these  pages,  and 
but  few  extracts  will  therefore  be  quoted.  It  may  be  as  well 
to  mention  here,  that  besides  this  MS.  and  the  Visitations,  a 
great  variety  of  public  records  have  been  consulted,  as  well 
as  all  the  earliest  relevant  wills  at  Doctors'  Commons,  the 
parish  registers  of  Lindfield  and  Southover  from  the  earliest 
date,  and  a  long  series  of  deeds  and  family  papers,  which 
have  descended  with  East  Mascalls,  ranging  from  1550  to  the 
present  time: — sources,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  of  sufficient 
authority  to  overrule  any  of  the  errors  before  alluded  to. 

With  so  much  by  way  of  preface,  it  will  be  convenient  to 


316  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

proceed   at   once,  in   chronological  order,  with  the  earliest 
notices  of  the  family. 

The  name  of  Newton  was   undoubtedly  of  local   origin, 
derived  from  the  possession  of  the  manor  of  that  name ;  and 
there  was,  at  a  very  early  period,   a  controversy  as  to  the 
original  name  of  the  family  which  assumed  it.     It  had  been 
usually  considered  that  the  Newtons  were  a  branch  of  the 
old  knightly  family  of  Davenport,  and  this  assertion  has  been 
repeated  so  recently  as  in  the  Pedigree  of  the  Davenports, 
printed  in  Ormerod's  magnificent  History  of  Cheshire;  but 
this  theory  was  refuted  by  the  compilers  of  the  old  MS.,  as 
will  presently  appear ;  for    "  about  three  generations  before 
the  year  1300  (i.  e.  about  1150),"  the  manor  of  Newton  was 
divided  in  three  portions,  between  Treverthus  de  Hopehall 
Thomas   de  Norbury,  and  Robtus  Clericus,  son  of  Mathew* 
Thomas  de  Norbury  had  issue,  Ric.  de  Alforde,  who  gave 
half  of  Newton  to  William,  son  of  William,  son  of  Treverthus 
de  Hopehall,  which  William  was  called  William  de  Newton 
and  had  issue  William  de  Newton  juxta  Butley  (as  appears 
from  a  deed  at  Adlington),  who  gave  half  of  Newton  to  Robert 
Hide  to  whom  Richard  de  Norberia  gave  the  other  half-  so 
that  Richard  Hide,  the  son  of  Robert,  was  seized  of  the  whole 
of  the  Vill  de  Newton,  who  gave  it  to  Robert  de  Hide,  his 
elder  brother,  to  be  held  by  the  service  of  a  pair  of  white 
gloves.    This  Robert  gave  the  said  lands  of  Newton  to  Robert 
Davenport,  who  died  s.p.;  from  whom  thev  passed  to  Roger 
and  then  to  Thomas  de  Davenport,  the  third  brother,  who  was 
seized  of  the  whole  manor  of  Newton,  and  he  gave  it  in  frank- 
marriage  with  his  daughter  Sybyll  to  Thomas  de  Newton,  son 
of  William  de  Newton,  in  the  year  1302.    The  original  deed 
in  Latin  is  preserved  in  the  MS.,  and,  as  it  is  the  earliest 

tClt^t.^  "^  lme'  "  ™*  bG  aS  Wdl  t0  *"  an 
"Be  it  known  to  all  men,  now  and  hereafter,  that  I,  Thomas 
de  Davenport,  have  granted,  &c,  and  by  this  present  charter 
do  confirm,  to  Thomas  de  Neuton,  de  Neuton,  son  of  William 
de  Neuton  all  my  lands  in  Newton,  with  Sibella,  my  daughter, 
to  have  and  to  ho Id,  to  himself  and  his  heirs,  for  ever,  of  the 
chief  lords  of  the  fee,  by  the  accustomed  services.  And  I  the 
sd  1  nomas,  for  myself  and  my  heirs,  warrant  the  sd  lands  to 


NOTICES    OP    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  317 

the  scl  Thos.  de  Newton  and  Sibella  Ms  wife,  and  their  heirs, 
against  all  men.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  set  my  seal  to 
this  present  charter,  in  the  presence  of  Henry  de  Davenport,5 
Adam  Byron,  &c,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Blastus,  30  Edw.  R." 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  was  a  post-nuptial  settlement, 
for  Sibella  is  mentioned  as  already  the  wife  of  Thomas  de 
Newton ;  and  accordingly  we  find  that  only  four  years  later 
the  same  Thomas,  by  a  deed  also  enrolled  in  the  cartulary, 
grants  to  Richard,  his  son,  all  the  said  lands,  dated  34  Edw.  I. 
(1306).  On  which  deed  Humphrey  Newton  makes  the  fol- 
lowing observations : — 

"  This  Thomas  de  Neuton,  it  is  supposed  that  he  was  cousin 
and  heir  to  William  de  Neuton ;  howbeit  it  has  been  said 
that  the  ancestors  of  Newton  should  be  called  Davenport  of 
Newton,  of  right,  notwithstanding.  I  cannot  perceive  that 
by  no  writing,  that  ever  there  was  any  of  the  name  of  Dam- 
port  6  that  in  his  stile  called  himself  Damport  of  Newton ; 
and  this  is  of  truth  long  time  or  ever  any  of  the  Davenports 
had  any  interest  in  Newton.  There  was  one  William  de 
Neuton,  the  son  of  William,  gave  half  the  town  of  Newton 
to  Robert  de  Hyde,  except  2-|  acres ;  which  2^-  acres,  it  is 
supposed,  descended  with  other  to  this  aforesaid  Thomas  de 
Neuton,  as  cousin  and  heir  to  him.  And  after,  one  Richard, 
the  son  of  the  said  Robert  Hyde,  gave  all  the  town  of  Newton 
to  Robert,  his  brother;  which  Robert,  the  son  of  Robert, 
gave  all  his  land  in  Newton  to  Robert  Davenport,  unto  whom 
Roger  was  heir ;  and  gave  all  his  title  and  claim  in  Newton 
to  Thomas  Davenport,  his  brother,  which  gave  certain  lands 
(minutely  described)  to  William,  son  of  William  de  Fox  wist ; 
and  in  all  those  grants  he  never  called  him  Davenport  of 
Neuton,  but  Thomas  Davenport.  Wherefore  it  is  supposed, 
by  this  reservation  of  acres,  and  that  he  called  him  Thomas 
Davenport,  and  not  of  Newton,  that  this  William  and  Thomas 
de  Neuton,  de  Neuton,  have  been  so  named  time  out  of  mind 
as  freeholders  in  the  same,  notwithstanding  the  particular 
grants ;  '  howbeit,  if  there  were  any  advantage,  it  might  be 
said  their  name  was  changed.'  " 

5  These   Davenports    descended    from  highest  offices  in  the  palatinate,  and  were 
Orraus  de  Davenport,  temp.  William  I.,  master  sergeants  of  Macclesfield, 
whose   son    Kichard    married    Amabilia,  6  The  Cheshire  pronunciation   of  Da- 
daughter  of  Gilbert  Venables,  Baron  of  venport. 
Kinderton,  whose   descendants  held    the 


318  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

The  last-mentioned  Richard  de  Newton  married  Fenella 

daughter  of  Worth,   of  Titherington,  an  old  knightly 

family,  whose  pedigree  is  recorded  by  Ormerod ;  and,  by  a 
charter,  dated  in  1335  (8th  Edw.  III.)  entailed  the  same  lands 
in  Newton,  and  those  which  formerly  belonged  to  Robert  de 
Hyde  in  Newton  juxta  Widford,  on  his  son  Richard  and  his 
heirs  male,  with  remainder  to  his  younger  sons,  Nicholas  and 
Peter.  Which  Peter,  says  the  MS.,  was  a  freeholder  in  Pexhull 
and  Macclesfield,  and  had  issue  John,  who  had  issue  Joyce, 
who  had  no  legitimate  issue ;  so  that  the  heirs  of  Newton 
ought  to  have  Pexhull.  "  Also  here  it  appears  that  the  arms 
of  Newton  were  three  popinjays  with  a  cheveron,  and  the  seal 
a  popinjay  :  howbeit  a  question  is,  whether  is  more  authoritiel 
to  bear  azure,  three  popinjays  between  a  cheveron  gould,  after! 
the  picture;  or  gould  a  popinjay  vert  after  the  seal;  or  a  tunne! 
of  silver  in  sable  after  the  name,  because  it  may  be  seen 
formost  of  all  colours  and  metals;  or  three  tunnes,  because  of 
Newton,  Milton,  and  Phitonn,  to  whom  I  am  heir ;  or  azure, 
a  tunne  of  gould,  because  the  worthiest  of  all  metalls  and ! 
colours;  or  silver,  three  cheverons  gules,  as  Neuton  Long- 
dendales'  heirs. 

"  Also  I  did  see  a  deed,  sealed  with  a  popinjay  looking  to 
the  left,  as  if  it  sate  on  the  right  hand  of  the  man,  which  was 
the  seal  of  Olyver  Neuton,  with  which  seal  Thomas  Neuton, 
his  grandfather,  sealed  the  deede  of  Neuton,  which  ringe  was 
of  gould ;  and  when  the  said  Olyver  was  dead,  their  seal  was 
a  popinjay,  and  then  there  was  dynged,7  and  then  Humphrey 
graved  a  tunne  in  it."8 

M  Mem.  There  was  a  Ryme  by  one  Hechin  Newton  which  I 
was  the  first  Richard  whose  sonne  called  Richard  was  married 
to  one  Sibill  the  doughter  of  William  Downes,  and  after  were 
lawfullie  divorced  which  Richard  the  son  after  was  married  to 
one  Joane  Barton  the  doughter  of  Olyver  Barton  of  Iilam  and 
hadd  yssue  Olyver  Newton. 

'  Sometime  there  was  in  Neuton  a  hipping  Hechin  9 
Hee  hadd  oxen  and  Kye  and  Corn  for  the  Maistrie 

?  A  Lancashire  word,  signifying  to  knock  it  would  seem  probable  that  the  Lion  sa, 

out.     They  say,  that  dyng's  me,  i.e.  that  afterwards   borne,  was   assumed  on   the 

beats  me.  marriage  with  the  heiress  of  Pownall. 

8  From  this  account  of  the  family  coats  9  Cheshire,  a  limping  Richard. 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  319 

Fatt  Boars  in  thee  Stye  whiles  that  they  might  stand 

Good  Steeds  in  his  Stall  well  I  astande 

Now  there  is  come  to  this  towne  a  lorde 

Sebott 10  with  her  loude  cry 

Shee  wakens  me  so  earlie 

That  under  of  the  day 

that  I  noe  Sleepe  may.'  " 

This  is  unfortunately  the  only  fragment  of  the  "  Ryme  " 
(which  has  been  preserved.  Its  author  died  in  1336  (9th 
Edw.  III.).11  His  son  Richard,  according  to  the  cartulary, 
and  other  authorities  (except  one  in  the  Harleian  Collection, 
which  reads,  William),  was  the  husband  of  Sibyll  Downes, 
though  the  long  period  which  elapsed  between  his  father's 
death  and  his  own  second  marriage,  might  lead  one  to  con- 
jecture the  omission  of  a  generation,  and  a  succession  of  three 
Richards  instead  of  two.  However,  according  to  the  cartulary, 
in  1318,  Hugh  de  Newton,  son  of  Robert,  released  to  Richard 
;de  Newton,  son  of  Richard,  all  his  rights  in  Newton ;  and 
again  in  the  year  1390  (13  Ric.  II.)  the  feoffees  of  Richard 

10  Cheshire — Sibyll.  most  noted  poets  in  that  language.     He 

11  This  Richard  was  not,  however,  the  was  himself  for  some  time  the  master  of 
only  poet,  or  the  best  of  whom  the  family  Macclesfield  School ;  but  Queen  Elizabeth 
can  boast.  His  descendant  Thomas  New-  presented  him,  in  1583,  to  the  living  of 
ton  (son  of  Edward  Newton  of  Butley,  Ilford  Parva,  in  Essex,  where  he  died  in 
and  Alice  his  wife,  and  nephew  of  William  May,  1607.  His  biography  is  given  in 
Newton  of  Southover)  enjoyed  the  re-  Wood's  Athena  Oxonienses,  and  by  Chal- 
putation  of  being  one  of  the  best  poets  of  mers.  He  was  author  of  a  notable  His- 
his  day.  He  was  born  in  Cheshire,  and  tory  of  the  Saracens,  in  three  books, 
educated  by  Jobn  Brownswerd  at  King  London,  1575;  Illustrium  aliquot  Anglo- 
Edward  VI.'s  Grammar  School  at  Mac-  rum  encomia,  London,  1589,  4to ;  Atro- 
clesfield,  from  which  he  was  sent  to  Trinity  poion  Delion,  or  the  Death  of  Delia,  loith 
College,  Oxford,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  the  Tears  of  her  Funeral,  a  Poetical  Dis- 
whence  he  migrated  to  Queen's  College,  course  of  our  late  JElizabeth,Ijondon,1603, 
Cambridge,  where  he  became  so  much  re-  of  which  one  stanza  will  perhaps  serve 
Downed  for  his  Latin  poetry  that  he  was  as  a  counterpoise  for  his  ancestor's  bad 
counted  by  scholars  of  his  time  among  the  rhymes  :  — 

"  Cease  Nymphs  with  teares  to  ouercharge  your  eies 
For  Delia  weepes  not  now,  that  she  hath  left  ye 
Comfort  yourselves  in  earth,  for  she  in  skies 
Comforted  is  by  them  which  late  bereft  ye. 
So  many  yeeres  the  Gods  did  let  ye  keepe  her 
In  tender  love  for  to  siipport  your  peace ; 
But  being  gone  it  naught  availes  to  weepe  her, 
She  now  enjoyes  a  crowne  of  longer  lease. 
Let  this  suffice  how  loothe  she  was  to  part, 
So  long  as  she  had  tongue,  hand,  eyes,  or  breath. 
Till  when  our  Quire  of  Angels  tooke  her  heart, 
Shee  then  bid  welcome  joyes,  and  farewell  earthe, 
Where  once  eche  soule  his  Delia's  soule  shall  see 
Crownd  in  another  kinde  of  majestic" 


320  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

Pigott  conveyed  to  Richard  de  Newton  and  Sibyll  his  wife, 
the  manor  of  Butlegh,  and  other  lands  in  Newton ;  and  in 
1394,  the  divorce  above  mentioned  took  place.  The  original 
deed  is  given,  dated  Feb.  9,  ]  8  Ric.  II.,  with  the  note : — 
"  This  Divorce  was  made  by  assent  of  both  parties,  forasmuch 
as  they  were  '  sibb '  very  neare  within  degrees  of  marriage, 
and  were  married  together  before  they  knew  of  it,  howbeit 
they  were  sorrie  to  depart,  but  that  the  lawe  at  those  days 
would  not  suffer  them."  (17  Ric.  II.,  1394.) 

By  two  deeds  dated  in  the  same  year,  the  divorced  Sibyll 
released  all  claim  that  she  might  have  on  any  lands  in  Newton 
juxta  Mottram  and  elsewhere,  and  any  rights  of  action,  &cl 
to  Richard,  son  of  Richard  de  Newton. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  sorrow  of  the  said  Richard  for 
the  loss  of  Sybyll  his  wife,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  re- 
mained long  unconsolable,  for  we  find  a  settlement  dated  in 
1396  (19  Ric.  II.)  of  all  his  lands  in  Newton  juxta  Widford, 
made  by  his  feoffees,  on  Richard,  son  of  Richard  de  Neuton, 
and  Joan  his  wife,  daughter  of  Roger  Barton  of  Irlam,  and 
their  heirs  male,  with  remainder  to  his  natural  children,  John, 
Thomas,  Edmund,  with  remainder  to  John,  son  of  Peter,  and 
to  the  right  heirs  of  Richard ;  on  which  deed  it  is  noted  that 
the  said  natural  children  were  supposed  to  be  by  Sibell  his 
former  wife.  If  so,  their  case  was  a  hard  one ;  for  though 
placed  in  remainder  to  what  should  have  been  their  inherit- 
ance, they  were  not  destined  to  derive  any  benefit  from  the 
reversion,  for  Joan  had  two  children — Olyver  and  Ralph — 
though  her  husband  must  have  died  at  an  advanced  age, 
within  two  years  of  her  marriage;  he  was  buried  at  Prestbury, 
as  was  his  wife  Joan,  who  died  at  Deane  House,  Mottram, 
many  years  afterwards,  for  she  was  living  in  1447,  when  she 
entered  into  a  bond  to  abide  by  the  arbitration  of  Sir  Robert 
Booth,  and  Robert  Leigh,  Esq.,  of  Adlington,  in  certain 
matters  of  dispute  with  her  son  Olyver,  concerning  lands  in 
Newton  juxta  Widford ;  the  deed  of  award  was  dated  25th 
Henry  VI.;  a  fragment  only  remains.  Her  son  Oliver  Newton 
had  married,  in  7th  Hen.  VI.,  Alice,  the  daughter  and  coheiress 
of  William  de  Milton,  by  Cecilia  his  wife,  daughter  of  Hugh 
de  Arderne,  of  Aldford,  by  Cecilia  his  wife,  daughter  of  Ralph 
de  Hyde,  ancestor  of  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon.     He 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  321 

was  lineally  descended  from  Pagan  de  Milton,  a  son  of  Hush 
Kevelioc,  fifth  Earl  of  Chester,  by  a  daughter  of  Meredith, 
Lord  of  rlynley,  which  Hugh  Kevelioc  was  fourth  in  descent 
from  a  sister  of  William  the  Conqueror.  By  this  marriage, 
Oliver  Newton  acquired  considerable  estates  at  Cleyley, 
Milneton,  and  Hanlegh,  &c,  of  which  very  early  charters  are 
preserved  in  the  cartulary.  Olyver  died  of  the  plague  in 
Iiolborn,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Andrew's, Holborn, 31  lien.  VI., 
1453.  A  deed  dated  in  the  same  year,  31  Hen.  VI.,  witnesses 
that  Alice  his  widow  delivered  to  Robert  Leigh  of  Adlington, 
jthe  title-deeds  of  certain  property,  which  he  had  purchased  at 
Newcastle-on-Tyne.  She  afterwards  married  Lawrence  Lowe, 
of  Denby  Manor,  in  the  county  of  Derby,  and  died  in  1492. 
Her  eldest  son,  Richard  de  Neuton,  who  was  born  March  14, 
1430,  married  Jane,  daughter  of  JefFery  Lowe,  of  Denby  (son 
iof  Lawrence) ;  and  in  the  7th  Edward  IV.,  enfeoffed  Ralph 
Davenport  and  others,  of  all  his  lands  in  the  county  of  Chester, 
for  the  purpose  of  creating  an  entail ;  which  document  was 
duly  inscribed  on  the  cartulary,  but  has  unfortunately  perished. 
fee  died  in  1497,  and  the  next  evidence  extant  finds  Hum- 
phrey Newton,  his  son,  in  possession,  in  the  year  1500;  in 
which  year  he  purchased  from  the  Willots,  half  of  Newton 
Heath,  and  Foxwist  Heath,  in  Lancashire.  This  Humphrey 
seems  to  have  been  the  compiler  of  the  cartulary,  and  the 
author  of  many  of  the  notes  on  the  earlier  deeds.  The  very 
minute  details  of  the  transactions  in  which  he  was  himself 
concerned,  sufficiently  bespeak  his  methodical  character :  as, 
for  instance,  in  the  purchase  of  the  half  of  Foxwist  Heath, 
shis  note  informs  us  that  "  Reginald  Willot  delyvered  the  said 
Humphrey  possession  in  the  hole  which  is  a  meire  dyteh 
between  the  gate  at  the  tlarp-post  Wood  and  the  Mosse-pits 
between  the  waie  to  Widford  and  the  way  to  Foxwist  about 
12  roods  from  any  hedge,"  &c. 

Again  in  1501  there  was  a  deed  of  release  from  Elm  Leigh, 
,vvidow  of  Robert  Leigh,  of  Adlington,  Esq.,  of  all  her  claims 
in  Neuton  and  Foxwist  Heath,  &c,  to  Humphrey  Newton, 
|n  which  he  observes: — "Forasmuch  as  there  were  dyvers 
differences  between  Thos.  Leigh,  of  Adlington,  Reynold  Leigh, 
.his  brother,  and  the  vicar  of  Prestbury,  Reynold  came  to  me 
•the  sd  Humphrey  for  counsell  to  help  him  out  of  trouble  ;  hee 

ix.  41 


322  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

said  if  hec  could  do  me  a  pleasure,  he  would  gladly ;  and  I 
desired  him  to  get  his  mother  to  seal  me  a  release  of  Newton 
Heath  and  other  lands  as  appears  by  the  deed,  and  he  said 
he  would ;  so  I  wrote  a  release  and  gave  him,  and  he  brought 
it  to  me  from  her  with  special  tokens  sealed,  and  she  asked 
wherefore  it  was  made  ;  and  the  said  Reynold  answered  again 
and  said,  "for  dread  lest  the  said  Thomas  should  claim  ought  of 
Humphrey  Newton  or  put  him  to  trouble,  because  he  troubleth 
Willots  for  their  lands."  He  adds  numerous  depositions, &c,  in 
proof  of  the  signature  of  the  said  Elin  Leigh,  which  appears  to  I 
have  been  duly  disputed,  in  course  of  time,  by  the  said  litigious 
Thomas.  There  is  here,  unfortunately,  another  hiatus  in  the 
MS.,  for  the  next  deed  bears  date  in  1564.  Meanwhile, 
Humphrey  had  married,  April  7,  1490,  Ellen,  the  daughter 
and  coheiress  of  Thomas  Fitton,  of  Pownall  Hall  ;12  and 
dying  in  1537,13  March  22nd,  had  been  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son,  William  Newton  of  Pownall,  who  by  deed  of  entail, 
dated  January  8,  6  Elizabeth  (15G4),  settled  all  his  manors, 
lands,  &c,  in  Erdswick,  Pownall,  Bolin,  Wrenbury,  Myn- 
shull  Vernon,  Church  Mynshull,  Aston,  Olton,  &c,  formerly  ' 
the  property  of  Thos.  Fitton,  of  Pownall,  deceased,  in  strict 
tail  male,  on  his  son  William  Newton  the  younger,  with  re- 1 
mainder  to  Humphrey  Newton,  of  Gaws worth,  son  of  Francis 
Newton  the  elder,  of  Moberley  ;  then  to  the  said  Francis 
Newton  and  his  issue;  then  to  the  issue  male  of  Humphrey 
Newton  the  elder,  of  Fulshawe,  by  Ethelred  his  wife;  then 
to  the  sons  of  Hugh  Newton,  late  of  Lostock,  deceased, 
with  remainder  to  the  right  heirs  of  Humphrey  Newton,  of] 
Gawsworth." 

This  is  the  latest  deed  transcribed  in  the  MS. ;  but  the 
Visitations  show  that  the  heirs  male  of  this  William  succeeded 
for  three  generations  to  the  Pownall  property,  when  the  line 
ended  in  coheiresses,  through  whom  the  representation  of  this 
elder  branch  has  again  passed  to  the  Davenports,  who  are  said 
to  possess  to  this  day  a  most  valuable  collection  of  Newton 
muniments. 

12  By  this  marriage  his  descendants  be-  13  An  etching  of  his  tomb,  now  much 

come  representatives  and  quarter  the  arms  mutilated,  in  Wilmslow  Church,  is  pre- 

of  Massey,  of  Dunham  Massey,  Pownall,  served  in  the  Ilarleian  MSS.  The  head  of 

Olton,  Leighton,  "Wrenbury,  Aldelym,  and  his   recumbent  effigy  reposes  on  "three 

Cradock;  all  families  of  great  distinction  tunnes  "  (vide  supra,  p.  318) ;    his  wife's 

in  the  palatiuato.  on  a  garb. 


NOTICES    OE    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  323 

The  line  of  the  descendants  of  Humphrey  Newton  the  elder, 
of  Fulshawe,  is  that  from  which  the  Sussex  Newtons  derive. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  the  first  Humphrey  Newton,  of 
Pownall,  and  had  married  Ethelred,  daughter  and  coheir  of 
Lawrence  Starkey,  by  Anne  his  wife,  also  an  heiress,  as  appears 
by  the  records  of  a  Chancery  suit  in  the  archives  of  the  Duchy 
of  Lancaster,  in  which  her  maiden  name  is  unfortunately  obli- 
terated ;  but  by  the  Inquis.  p.  Mortem  of  Lawrence  Starkey, 
it  seems  that  she  had  brought  him  property  at  Henley-on- 
Thames.     So  she  must  have  been  a  Southern.     By  this  mar- 
riage Humphrey  Newton  acquired  extensive  property  in  York, 
Lancaster,  Chester,  and  Stafford,  which  was  probably  the  rea- 
son for  his  being  postponed  in  the  entail  of  the  Pownall  pro- 
perty to  his  younger  brother  Francis.     The  date  of  his  death 
is  somewhat  uncertain ;  but  it  appears  from  the  records  of 
the  suit  before  mentioned  with  the  Wilfrid  Banaster  the  re- 
presentative of  Margaret  Starkey,  his  sister-in-law,  and  a  fine 
passed  at  Fulshawe  in  1567,  that  he  was  living  in .that  year. 
His  second  son,  William,  who  was  probably  born  about  1520, 
and  his  younger  son,  Lawrence,  both  went  into  Sussex,  and 
settled  at  Lewes,  where  the  latter  frequently  held  civil  offices 
from  1573  to   1593,  as  appears  by  the  ^o^^^ 
In  the  Notes  of  Fines  for  Trinity  Term,  32  Llrz.  (1590)  his 
name  appears  as  purchaser  of  a  house  m   Lewes  from  his 
nephew  Nicholas  Newton,  and  Alice  his  wife;  and  the  will 
of  Thomas  Pelland,  of  Hamsey,  dated  March,  1603,  mentions 
his  sister  as  the  "widow"  of  Lawrence  Newton.     Three  of 
his  children-Edward,  Elizabeth,   and  Honor-are  legatee 
in  the  will  of  his  brother  William,  in  1590;  but  he  is  no 
named  in  the   Visitation  of  Sussex    and  there  is  no  further 
record  of  his  descendants.     We  therefore  return  to  Will  am 
Newton,  of  Southover,  whose  first  marriage  with  an heuess ^ot 
Ernley  has  been  already  mentioned.  She  must  have .died  before 
1563;  as  William,  his  son  by  his  second  wife,  Ahce  Pelham 
was  born  in   1564.      Prior  to  this  lie  had  purcha  ed  East 
Mascalls,in   1560,  from  Thomas  Middleton  and  Ursula h* 
wife  (a  Lewknor),  who  had  acquired  it  ten  yea      before from 
Thomas  and  Eleanor  Mascall,  whose  ancestors  had  been  settied 
there  for  many  generations  prior  to  the  reign  of  Edward  IV. 
It  is  noted  in  the  Visitation  that  he  gave  East  Mascalls 


324 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 


his  eldest  son,  Nicholas,  in  his  lifetime  ;  and  as  an  old  pane  of 
stained  glass,  still  remaining  in  one  of  the  windows,  bears 
with  the  name  and  arms,  differenced  by  a  crescent,  the  badge 
of  a  second  son,  or  a  second  branch  (William  Newton,  of 
Southover,  was  the  second  son  of  a  second  son),  the  date 
1578,  it  is  probable  that  Nicholas  went  to  live  there  in  that 
year.  There  is  no  evidence  of  the  house  having  been  built  at 
that  time;  but  as  the  same  style  of  architecture  was  very 
prevalent  in  Cheshire,  where  the  old  seat  of  the  Davenports 
is  said  to  have  been  of  the  same  type,  and  as  the  old  timber 
framework  of  the  house,  to  this  day,  bears  evident  marks  of 
having  been  used  in  another  building,  and  the  quantity  of  cut 
stone  used  for  the  foundations  of  the  numerous  farm  buildings 
and  walls  about  the  premises  affords  strong  evidence  of  an 
older  house  having  occupied  the  same  site,  it  is  by  no  means 
improbable  that  he  pulled  down  and  rebuilt  the  old  seat  of 
the  Mascalls. 


East  Mascalls. 


But  whatever  doubt  may  exist  on  this  point,  there  is  none 
as  to  the  fact  of  his  having  built  the  house  which  is  now  called 
Southover  Priory,  where  his  initials  W.N.,  and  the  date,  1572, 
may  be^seen  carved  in  stone  over  the  fireplace  in  the  dining- 
room.  This  date  throws  also  some  light  on  the  period  of  the 
destruction  of  the  remains  of  the  old  Priory  of  St.  Pancras 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  325 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  note  in  the  Visitation  is  correct 
which  states  that  he  lived  in  this  old  priory  when  he  first 
settled  in  the  county  ;  and  the  tradition  which  has  been  handed 
down  to  Mrs.  Mabbott,  that  the  lord  gave  her  ancestors 
permission  to  take  from  its  ruins  sufficient  to  build  them  a 
I  comfortable"  house,  is  some  evidence  that  it  was  at  that  time 
in  a  very  dilapidated  state,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
its  materials  were  used  simultaneously  in  the  construction  of 
Mr.  Newton's  "comfortable"  house  and  the  Lord's  Place,  which 
probably,  while  it  stood,  was  generally  known  by  the  name  of 
I  the  Priory";  and  this  appellation  I  take  to  be  the  only  portion 
of  the  materials  of  the  Lord's  Place  which,  on  its  destruction 
by  fire  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  reverted  to 
Mr.  Newton  ;14  at  any  rate  the  present  priory  had  been  built 
nearly  a  century  before.  The  gift  of  its  materials  indicates  a 
very  close  connection  at  that  period  with  the  Dorset  family;  and 
it  is  not  improbable  that  he,  as  well  as  his  son,  in  subsequent 
years  transacted  much  of  the  business  connected  with  their  ex- 
tensive estates  in  the  county.  But  his  own  property  was  also 
considerable,  as  sufficiently  appears  by  his  contribution  of  £25 
towards  the  defence  of  the  country  at  the  time  of  the  panic 
caused  by  the  Spanish  Armada  in  1588  (see  Vol.  I.  p.  34),  and 
his  numerous  purchases  of  land,  among  which  were  the  tithes, 
glebe  lands,  and  other  property  within  the  village  and  hamlets 

"  The  account  given  in  Mr.  Horsfield's  earl*  that  resided  at  the  priory,  in  whose 

Bistorv  of  Lewes  appears  to  be  based  on  time  the  accident  happened.   There  is  the 

the  letter  of  a  Rev.  Mr.  Austin  in  Sir  W.  Dorset  arms, with  an  earl  s  coronet  on  the 

Inrrell's  MS    which  contains  all  the  in-  one  side,  and  the  date  when  the  picture 

formation  which  he  could  procure  on  the  was  drawn,  1608, ,  on  the  other.     William 

subject,      Mr.  Austin's    letter,  dated   in  Newton,  one  of  Mr.  Newton  s  ancestors, 

1772  is  as  follows  — "The  priory  was  in-  was   steward   to  the  Earl  ol  Dorset,  by 

Lhited  bv  the  Earl  of  Dorset,  from  whence  whom  this  picture  was  probably  preserved, 

took  its  present  denomination  of  the  He  died  1648,  setat.  84,  and  is  said  to  have 

Lord's  Place      This  house  was  consumed  built  part  of  the  manor-house  oi  Caen 

bv  fire  but  at  what  time  it  is  difficult  to  stone  taken  from  the  ruins  of  the  priory, 

ascertain      Mr.  Newton  hath  showed  me  Men  don't  often  build  at  an  advanced  age, 

a   picture  which   the   family  have   been  but  nothing  can  be  gathered  from  hence 

always  told  was  the  portrait  of  the  last  with  certainty." 

*  "He   appears   in    the   dress   of  the  1608,  at  which  period  his  son  Robert  was 

Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  pre-  about  forty -seven.     In  a  lease  of  certain 

sent  time  or  the  Lord  High  Steward  with  lands  from  Richard  Earl  of  Dorset,  who 

he  Vtaff  of  office-a  large  round  hat,  laced  died  1624,  it  is  covenanted    ha    the  rent 

band     cuffs     &c -which    affords    strong  shall  be  paid  yeariy  wrthm  the  hall  of  the 

band     cims ,    <xc                      traifc  was  de.  mansion-house   of  the    said  earl   situate 

SASXCl-  withinthepanshofSouthover,So1n<.times 

EnSuted  LordHigh  Treasurer  15  May  called  the  Pnory  of  Leaves. 
1598,  and  died  in  that  office  19  April, 


326  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

of  Moulscombc  in    Patcham,  near   Brighton,   purchased    in; 
the  same  year  as  East  Mascalls,  from  Thomas  Myddleton  of 
Barwyck,  and  Edward  his  son  and  heir,  to  whom  they  had 
been  granted  by  letters  patent  of  the  9th  of  May  preceding 
(2nd    Elizabeth).      In   the    deed   enrolled   in  Chancery,  he 
is  styled  William  Newton  of  Southover.    His  will  was  dated; 
in  1588,  at  which  time  he  had  two  daughters,  whom  the  Vi- 
sitation does  not  notice :  Joan,  married  to  Peter  Crane,  Esq., 
lord  of  the  manor  of  Kingston  next  Lewes  (son  of  Richard 
Crane,  whose  Tnq.p.  M.  is  dated  2  and  3  Ph.  and  Mary  (1556), 
at  which  time  Peter  was  only  three  years  old ;  and  Elizabeth,! 
married  to  Thomas  Elphick,  ancestor  of  William  Courthope, 
Esq.,  Somerset  Herald,  for  whose  valuable  assistance  I  may 
take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  my  obligations.    William 
Newton  died  probably  in  his  own  new  house,  and  was  buried 
in   Southover  Church,  April   20,   1590-    Alice  Newton  his 
widow,  survived  him  till  Eeb.  10,  1600.     He  bequeathed  all 
his  property  at  Southover  and  Kingston  next  Lewes  to  his 
second  son  William,  the  eldest,  Nicholas,  having  been  already 
provided  for.     Not  that  he  remained  in  peaceable  possession 
of  East  Mascalls,  for  one  John  Mascall,  son  of  Thomas  Mascall 
the  vendor,  had  laid  claim  to  the  estate,  on  the  ground  that 
an  entail  created  by  his  ancestor,  Richard  Michelborne  other- 
wise Mascall,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  had  never  been 
properly  barred,  and  that  there  was  no  power  to  alienate  it. 
The  decree  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  which  recites  the  pedigree 
put  forward  by  John  Mascall,  and  the  title  of  Nicholas  Newton, 
was  given  in  favour  of  Nicholas,  Nov.  15,  1597,  and  forms 
one  of  the  earliest  title-deeds  of  East  Mascalls.     It  may  be  of 
some  interest  to  note,  that  though  the  Mascall  pedigree  there 
recited  and  declared  not  proven,  does  not  quite  agree  with 
that  entered  at  the  Visitation,  as  it  omits  two  generations,  it  so 
far  coincides  with  it  as  to  show  that  the  two  earliest  mentioned 
Richard  Mascalls  were  styled  Michelborne  alias  Mascall. 

Nicholas  Newton  died  shortly  after  the  termination  of  his 
Chancery  suit,  his  wife  Alice,  the  daughter  of  John  Vickerv 
or  Vicarye,  of  Barcombe,  and  a  cousin  of  the  Chaloners,  having 
predeceased  him  in  January,  1596.  He  was  buried  at  Lind- 
held,  Oct.  12th,  1601,  having  by  his  will,  proved  at  Doctors' 
Commons,  entailed  East  Mascall  son  his  second  son,  William 
for  whom  he  had  also  purchased  a  property  at  Barcombe,  from 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,   ETC.  327 

his  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Elphick.     His  eldest  son,  George, 
had  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  Thomas  Board,  Esq.,  of  Pax- 
hill,  and  succeeded,  apparently  under  settlement,  to  the  manor- 
house  of  Ernley,  at  Brighton,  and  another  property  at  Bar- 
combe  and  elsewhere,  &c. ;  but,  preferring  East  Mascalls  to 
J  Barcombe,  he  very  shortly  after  effected  an  exchange  with  his 
!  brother  William,  the  particulars  of  which  appear  from  the  fines 
t  passed  on  the  occasion.     William  had  married  Elizabeth,  the 
daughter  of  Joseph  Yong,  of  Southwark,  who  died,  with  four 
!  of  her  children,  within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other,  in  1614. 
!  Two   children    survived — Francis,  of   whom   presently,  and 
\  Mary,  who  afterwards  married  the  Rev.  John  Killingworth, 
( lord  of  the  manor  of  Gravetye.    By  his  second  wife,  Joan,  the 
widow  of  Abraham  Allen,  serjeant-chirurgeon  to  King  James, 
<  he  had  no  issue.    In  1618,  William  and  his  nephew  Nicholas, 
son  of  George,  were  joint  purchasers  of  the  manors  of  South 
\  Mailing,  Lindfield,  together  with  the  rectory,  and  the  ad- 
vowson  of  the  vicarage,  and  other  lands  there  and  at  Worth, 
Wivelsfield,  Ardingleigh,  Hothleigh,  and  Colman's  Hatch.    As 
I  this  property,  formerly  the  possessions  of  South  Mailing  Col- 
l  lege,  was  held  in  cajjite  of  the  Crown,  full  particulars  of  the 
various  transactions  of  which  it  was  the  subject  are  recorded 
i  in  the  Memoranda  Rolls,  the  richest  sources  of  information  for 
all  property  of  that  description.     Accordingly,  it  appears  that 
as  soon  as  the  fine  which  recorded  the  transfer  had  passed, 
William  and  Nicholas  were  summoned  to  show  cause  why  the 
aforesaid  manors  should  not  be  forfeited  to  the  Crown,  by 
reason  of  their  alienation  without  the  royal  license.    In  answer 
to  which  summons,  they  put  in  their  title,  which  is  recited  on 
the  rolls,  and,  having  paid  a  fine,  were  allowed  to  do  homage 
for  the  property. 

From  the  peculiar  tenure  of  the  advowson  of  Lindfield,  its 
history  has  escaped  the  researches  of  the  county  historians. 
It  will,  therefore,  be  as  well  to  take  this  opportunity  of  giving 
some  account  of  it. 

Lindfield  (ancientlv  written  Lyndeskeld,  Lyndefeud,  Lyng- 
fylde,  Lynfelde,  &c.)"was  at  a  very  early  period  one  of  the 
peculiars  of  the  see  of  Canterbury,  and  was  among  those 
granted  by  Theobald  the  Archbishop  to  the  College  of  South 
Mailing,  in  1150,  when  the  more  ancient  College  of  Mailing, 


328         NOTICES    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF    LINDFIELD,    ETC. 

whose  canons  were  named  in  Domesday,  was  removed  to  South 
Mailing,  and  newly  chartered  by  that  prelate.  About  this 
period,  the  lordship  of  Lindeskeld  appears  to  have  belonged 
to  the  Bardolfs  (from  whom  it  was  frequently  called  Lyndfeld 
Bardolf),  for  in  1244  (38  H.  III.)  William  Bardolf,  son  of 
Beatrix,  daughter  of  William  de  Warenne,  obtained  a  charter 
for  free  warren  in  his  lordships  of  Lindeskelde  and  Wyvel- 
felde.  He  died  in  1276,  when  William,  his  son  and  heir,  had 
livery  of  seizin  of  all  his  lands,15  which,  on  the  forfeiture  of  his 
descendant  Thomas  Lord  Bardolf,  were  granted,  in  1410,  to  \ 
Sir  Thomas  Beaufort,  Lord  Chancellor. 

The  value  of  its  ecclesiastical  property,  at  various  early 
periods,  is  recorded  in  different  documents.  In  1291,  the 
prebend  of  the  Dean  of  South  Mailing,  with  the  rectory  of 
Lyndefeud,  was  taxed  at  £30.16  In  1342  (15  Edw.  III.),  the 
value  of  the  great  and  small  tithes  of  Lyndefeld  is  recorded 
in  the  Nonce  Rolls  at  £20.  In  1535  (26  Hen.  VIII.),  shortly 
before  the  dissolution  of  the  Monasteries,  the  Valor  EccL  re- 
turns the  annual  value  of  the  farm  of  the  rectory  of  Lynfeild, 
in  the  tenure  of  William  Nash  (who  must  have  made  a  good 
thing  of  it),  at  £14,  and  the  rents  and  profits  of  the  college 
lands  there  at  £3.  16*.  )L\d. 

South  Mailing  College  was  dissolved  10th  March,  1545, 
and  its  possessions  granted,  in  1546,  to  Sir  Thomas  Palmer, 
who  held  a  court  for  the  manors  Oct.  15th  of  that  year,  and 
on  April  5,  1  Edw.  VI.,  granted  a  ninety-nine  years'  lease  of 
the  rectory,  advowson  of  the  vicarage,  the  manors,  and  certain 
glebe  lands  of  Lindfield  and  St. Peter's,  with  the  Dean's  water- 
mill  there,  to  Richard  Carrell,  who  covenanted  to  "repair, 
maintain,  and  keep  all  and  any  the  reparations  of  the  Chancel 
of  Lyndfeild,  &c.  &c,  and  to  fynde  one  honeste  priest  to  serve 
the  cure  of  Lyndfeild,  of  his  own  proper  cost  and  charge,  from 
the  feast  of  St.  Michael  next  ensueing,"  the  reserved  rent  being 
£26.  8s.  4 d.  This  lease  is  enrolled  among  the  private  records 
of  the  Land  Revenue  Office. 

In  1550,  Sir  Thomas  Palmer  made  an  exchange  with  the 
King,  by  which  he  surrendered  all  his  possessions  at  Lindfield 
to  the  Crown ;  and  Queen  Mary,  who  had  already  passed  an 

15   Vide  Fiue  Rolls,  4  Edward  I.  m.  19  j  16   Vide  Pope  Nicholas'  Valor  Eccl. 

Patent  Rolls,  11  Hen.  IV.  m.  11  and  17. 


NOTICES    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF    LINDFTELD,    ETC.         329 

act,17  by  virtue  of  which,  all  the  revenues  of  her  rectories, 
vicarages,  and  benefices  impropriate,  had  been  surrendered  to 
the  legate  Cardinal  Pole,  to  be  dealt  with  for  the  augmentation 
of  poor  livings,  with  the  reservation  of  the  right  of  patronage 
only,  by  letters  patent,  dated  12th  Nov.  1558  (which  recited 
the  execution  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  a  free  gift  of 
£7000  by  the  Cardinal  to  her  Majesty,  out  of  the  revenues 
in  question,  the  lamentable  condition  of  very  many  of  the 
vicarages,  and  her  Majesty's  desire  to  be  relieved  of  the  onus 
of  their  charge,  and  her  resolve  to  make  them  over  to  the 
ordinary  of  each  diocese,  to  whom  such  charge  most  properly 
belonged),  granted,  as  a  free  gift,  to  John,  Bishop  of  Chichester, 
and  his  successors  in  the  see,  for  ever,  all  her  rights  of  pa- 
tronage and  advowsons,  within  his  diocese,  of  her  vicarages, 
rectories,  and  churches  of  Walberton,  Brighton,  Kingston  next 
Lewes,  Patcham,  Rotingdeane,  Iford,  Pedinghowe  (Pidding- 
hoe),  Ditchling,  Falmer,  West  Hothleigh,  Fletching,  Alfriston, 
Bosham,  Chidhain,  Rigewyke,  Little  Hampton,  Mid-Lavant, 
Boxgrove,  Wivelsfield,  and  "  Lynfeld." 

But  unfortunately  one  of  the  first  acts  in  the  next  reign 
(1st  Eliz.  cap.  iv.),  which  re-established  "First  Fruits,"  and 
repealed  the  2nd  and  3rd  Ph.  and  Mary,  cap.  iv.,  contained  a 
clause  (§  2)  which  restored  to  the  crown  all  advowsons,  &c, 
alienated  in  pursuance  of  that  act. 

Lindfield  therefore  again  became  the  private  property  of  the 
crown.  But,  in  1574,  all  the  crown  land  there,  not  comprised 
in  Rich.  Carrell's  lease,  was  granted  by  patent  to  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  who  conveyed  it,  the  same  year,  to  Francis  Chalenor, 
Esq. ;  and,  in  1588,  the  fee-simple  of  the  remainder,  manors, 
rectory,  and  vicarage,  comprised  in  that  lease,  passed,  by  letters 
patent,  dated  30th  May,  30  Elizabeth,  to  Sir  Moyle  Fynche 
and  John  Awclley,  with  the  reservation  of  a  rent  of  £26.  8*.  4^/. 
In  1594,  it  was  conveyed  by  Sir  Moyle  Fynche,  by  indenture 
dated  August  9,  36  Eliz.,  for  the  sum  of  £1320.  16s.  Set.,  to 
Sir  Thomas  Palmer,  late  of  Angmering,  and  Edward  Essex,  of 
Reigate,  subject  to  the  same  rent  of  £26.  8s.  4>d.  to  the  Crown  ; 
and  from  Sir  Thomas  Palmer  it  passed,  by  indenture  dated 
Nov.  20,  1602,  45  Elizabeth,  to  Thomas  Sackville  Lord  Buck- 
hurst,  whose  successor,  Richard  Earl  of  Dorset,  by  indenture 

]"  2nd  and  3rd  Philip  and  Mary,  cap.  iv.,  "An  Act  to  extinguish  First  Fruits,"  &o. 

ix.  & 


330         NOTICES    OF    THE    HISTORY    OE    LINDFIELD,    ETC. 

dated  13  James  I.,  April  22, 1615,  conveyed  the  said  manors, 
rectory,  and  vicarage  to  John  Packer  and  Philippa  his  wife, 
who,  on  Feb.  16,  15  James  I.,  conveyed  them  to  William  and 
Nicholas  Newton. 

Meanwhile,  Richard  Caryll's  interest  in  the  lease  seems  to 
have  passed  to  Francis  Challcnor,  who  held  his  first  court  in 
6  Edw.  VI.,  and  his  last  court  May  19,  34  Eliz.,  in  which 
year,  on  September  25,  Thomas  Chalenor,  Esq.,  held  his  court. 
He  died  in  possession,  on  March  31,  2-3  James  I.,  when 
Francis  Chalenor,  his  son  and  heir,  was  cetat.  22.  Courts  were 
held  by  Anne  Chaloner,  widow,  till  July  14,  6  James  I.  On 
the  20th  July,  9  James  I.,  William  Newton,  Esq.,  held  his 
first  court ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  probable  that  he  had  shortly 
before  purchased  the  Challoners'  interest  in  the  lease,  so  that, 
on  his  purchase  of  the  fee-simple  in  1617,  the  lease  would  have 
merged. 

The  property,  however,  did  not  remain  long  undivided,  for, 
in  1632,  he  sold  the  manors  to  Thomas  Chaloner  of  Ken  wards, 
in  whose  family  they  continued  till  1689,  when  John  Chaloner, 
Esq.,  sold  them  to  Joseph  Studley,  whose  son  Joseph  alienated 
them  to  Henry  Pelham,  Esq.,  who,  dying  s.p.  1725,  June  1, 
was  succeeded  by  his  brother  and  heir,  Thomas  Pelham,  Esq., 
ancestor  of  the  present  possessor,  the  Earl  of  Chichester. 

But  to  return  to  the  lay  rectory.  On  the  death  of  William 
Newton,  who,  in  1638,  was  buried  in  Lindfield  Church,18  the 
impropriation,  now  severed  from  the  manors,  passed  to  his  son 
Francis,  who,  by  his  will  proved  at  Doctors'  Commons,  Feb.  1, 
1643,  bequeathed  it  to  his  cousin,  Thos.  Newton  of  Stoke  next 
Guildford,  son  of  his  uncle,  Nicholas  Newton  of  Southwark, 
and  his  heirs  male  in  strict  tail,  with  remainder  to  William 
Newton  of  Southover.  This  Thomas  Newton,  who  had  ac- 
quired considerable  property  in  Surrey,  and  entered  his  pedi- 
gree in  the  visitation  of  that  county,  passed  a  fine  in  Trinity 
Term,  1665,  in  which  he  was  joined  by  the  Rev.  John  Kil- 
lingworth,  and  Mary  his  wife,  sister  of  Francis  Newton,  and 

1S  On  a  brass  in  Lindfield  Church,  to  don,  Esq.,  Serjeant-Chirurgeon  to  King 

the  memory  of  William  Newton  and  his  James,   but    died    the   relict  of  William 

second  wife,  there  is  the  following  legend :  Newton,  of  this   parish,  gent.,  who  was 

— "  Here  lyeth  interred  the  body  of  Joane  the  impropriator  of  this  church,  and  lyeth 

Love,  daughter  of  John  Love,  of  Bishop's  buried  by  her.     She  deceased  the  9th  day 

Basinge,  in  the  County  of  Southampton,  of  September,  anno  Dom.  1655,  aged  81." 
Esq.,  first  wife  of  Abraham  Allen,  of  Lon- 


NOTICES    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF    LINDFIELD,    ETC.         331 

William  Killingworth,  their  son,  and  Elizabeth  his  wife,  and 
Thomas  Chamberlayne,  Esq.,  and  Mary  his  wife,  who  was  pro- 
bably an  only  daughter  of  Francis  Newton,  and  so  barred  the 
|  entail ;  and  he  appears  to  have  surrendered  one-third  of  the 
advowson  to  the  Chamberlaynes,  to  induce  them  to  join ;  for 
this  one-third  passed  to  Richard  Matthews,  the  second  husband 
of  Mary  Chamberlayne,  who  disposed  of  it  to  one  John  Lilly, 
Feb.  20, 1690,  from  whom  Thomas  Newton  repurchased  it  on 
June  3rd,  1690 ;  and  so,  being  possessed  of  the  whole  at  his 
death,  s.p.  Jan.  15,  169^,  bequeathed  it  by  will  to  his  niece 
Mary  Reading,  the  wife  of  Nicholas  Smith,  of  East  Greenwich, 
and  her  son,  Newton  Smith.  The  latter  died  a  bachelor  in  Sept. 
1743,  and  left  his  sister,  Grace,  wife  of  John  Neale  of  Deptford, 
his  heir.  Her  son,  John  Neale,  succeeded  her,  and  died  intes- 
tate, Nov.  22, 177 9,  leaving  by  his  wife,  Anna,  an  only  daughter 
and  heiress,  Anna  Neale,  married  in  1780  to  John  Nainby. 
She  was  buried  at  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark,  Sept.  29,  1813, 
leaving  one  son,  John  Henry  Nainby,  the  late  rector  of  Lind- 
field,  who  died  a  bachelor  at  the  house  of  his  solicitor,  W. 
Mosson  Kearns,  in  London,  Sept.  21,  1854,  and  was  buried 
at  Highgate.  He  gave  all  his  property  at  Lindfield,  by  will, 
to  Kearns,  in  whose  possession  it  now  remains.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  this  branch  of  the  Newtons,  deriving  from  Ni- 
cholas, third  son  of  Nicholas  Newton,  of  East  Mascalls,  became 
extinct  on  the  death  of  Maria  Williamson,  only  sister  of  John 
Henry  Nainby,  on  October  24,  1854,  s.  p.  v.  The  vicarage 
so  often  named  in  the  documents  quoted  in  the  preceding 
account,  has  long  fallen  into  desuetude,  and  the  impropriators 
for  the  last  century  have  evaded  any  contribution  towards  the 
support  of  "  an  honeste  prieste,"  beyond  an  ill-paid  stipend  of 
£30  a  year.  But  this  abuse  appears  to  be  of  no  older  date. 
Sir  William  Burrell  mentions  Richard  Felton  as  vicar  of  the 
parish  in  1595,  and  then  gives  a  list  of  his  successors,19  regu- 

19  This  is  the  list  referred  to :  Burrell  .  .  .  Citizen,  hid.  1661. 

MSS.  No.  5698  :—  ...  Salisbury,  hid.  1664. 

Roger  Chaloner,  ind ;  bu.  16  May,1580.  Rob.  Neve,  ind.  1667. 

Fr.  Killingback,  ind.  Wm.  Bridgen,  A.M.,  hid.  1718. 

Rich.  Felton,  hid.  1591,  1595.  .  .  .  Bean,  ind. 

John  Grove,  ind.  1599;  bu.  2  Aug.,  1615.  JeremiahDyson,ind.        ;  bu.20Oct.  17-19. 

Hen.  Chauntler,  ind.  1615  $  bu.  1620.  curates. 

Humphrev  Evervnden,  ind.  1621 ;   1628.  1645.  Bartholomew  Safford. 

Joseph  Biggs,  ind.  1628  ;  1641.  1667.  John  Taylor.     1676.  Nath.  Keith. 

Geo.  Bladwortli,  ind.  1612.  1750  to  1762.  Marmaduke  Lewis. 

Jas.  Belgrave,  ind.  1642,  March  16.  1777.  Thomas  Jackson. 


332  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

larly  inducted  till  1749,  Oct.  20,  when  the  last  was  buried; 
and  there  seems  to  have  been  since  that  time  no  induction  to  I 
the  cure.  It  appears  from  the  records  in  Lambeth  Palace,  that 
in  the  year  1758,  the  then  curate,  in  reply  to  a  circular  sent  by 
the  archbishop  to  all  his  peculiars,  stated  that  he  was  allowed 
only  £20  a  year,  though  the  annual  value  of  the  tithes  was  i 
then  £120  (it  is  now  £600);  and  he  prayed  the  archbishop  to 
take  measures  to  have  his  stipend  increased;  but  the  archbishop 
does  not  appear  to  have  taken  any  proceedings  thereupon.  It 
seems  to  be,  however,  sufficiently  clear,  that  the  impropriators 
were  under  more  than  a  moral  obligation  to  have  made  a  pro- 
per provision  for  the  clergy  of  the  parish ;  and  there  is  reason 
to  hope  that  some  transactions  now  in  progress  will  enable 
future  historians  of  the  parish  to  record  that  the  living  has 
been  again  placed  under  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  from 
which  it  has  been  too  long  practically  exempt,  and  that  the 
tithes  have  been  devoted  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were 
originally  designed. 

Having  thus  traced  the  descent  of  the  representatives  of  the 
second  line  of  the  eldest  branch  of  the  Newtons  of  East  Mas- 
calls,  we  must  return  to  the  first  line — deriving  from  George, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  Nicholas  who  died  in  1601. 

George  Newton  of  East  Mascalls  married,  for  his  first  wife, 
Lucy,daughter  of  Thomas  Board,Esq.,who  died  1611,  Aug.  31, 
by  whom  he  had  six  children,  of  whom  three  only  lived  to 
grow  up  ;  and  for  his  second  wife,  Mary,  sister  of  Sir  Richard 
Michelbourne.  He  died  in  the  year  1637,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  eldest  son,  Nicholas,  who  had  also  two  wives :  Mary 
Seaman,  who  died  1643;  and  2ndly,  Jane  Polhill,  by  whom 
he  had  an  only  daughter,  Jane,  who  died  an  infant.  This 
Nicholas  Newton  lived  chiefly  on  an  estate  at  Burwash ; 
and  by  his  will,  dated  October  16,  1648,  he  bequeathed 
a  legacy  of  £100  to  each  of  the  children  of  his  sister  Mar- 
garet by  Mr.  Brice,  and  left  his  landed  property  at  Burwash, 
Lindlield,  &c,  to  his  wife  Jane  for  her  life,  with  remainder 
to  his  daughter  Jane,  with  remainder  to  his  brother  Edmund. 
His  widow,  however,  long  survived  Edmund,  who  died  in 
the  year  1672,  leaving,  by  Dorothy  his  wife,  three  surviving 
children,  of  whom  one  was  a  daughter,  who  died  unmarried; 
another,  William,  married  his  cousin,  Mary  Brett,  and  died 
childless ;  and  George,  the  eldest,  married  to  Mary  Rowland 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NQYES,    ETC.  333 

of  Stoke,  near  Guildford,  sister-in-law  of  Admiral  Sir  George 
Matthews,  M.P.  for  Middlesex,  who  succeeded  to  East  Mascalls 
in  the  year  1694  on  the  death  of  his  aunt  Jane  (then  mar- 
ried to  her  third  husband  the  Rev.  Richard  Weller),  upon 
which  he  paid  the  legacies  charged  on  that  property  to  William 
Noyes,  as  representative  of  Mr.  Brice.  He  died  of  smallpox, 
in  Somersetshire,  while  visiting  in  that  county,  about  17:20, 
having  had  by  his  wife  Mary  nine  children,  who  all  died  un- 
married. His  eldest  son,  George,  the  last  survivor,  was  a 
captain  in  the  service  of  the  Hon.  East  India  Company;  and 
his  portrait,  with  many  of  the  curiosities  which  he  brought 
from  the  East,  are  now  preserved  at  Southover  Priory.  On 
his  death  in  1740,  he  was,  with  one  exception,  the  last  sur- 
viving representative  of  three  generations  of  large  families ; 
and  his  cousin  William  Newton,  of  Southover,  took  possession 
of  East  Mascalls  and  of  his  estates  at  Twickenham,  Battle, 
Burwash,  and  elsewhere,  as  his  heir.  But  the  real  heir  was 
the  representative  of  Margaret  Brice,  who  had  been  first  mar- 
ried to  John  Edwards  of  Portslade,  by  whom  she  had  only 
one  son,  who  was  drowned  at  school ;  2ndly,  to  a  Mr.  Elliott, 
by  whom  she  had  no  child;  and  3rdly,  to  the  Rev.  William 
Brice,  rector  of  St.  Mildred,  Bread  Street,  and  afterwards  of 
Bray  and  Hendley,  in  Berkshire  :  he  was  turned  out  of  Hend- 
ley  because  he  would  not  conform,  and  afterwards  lived  at 
Maidenhead  till  his  death  in  the  year  1G82.  Margaret  Brice 
was  buried  at  Cookham  Oct.  22, 1686,  leaving  a  daughter  and 
heiress,  Ann,  married  to  John  Clarke  of  Horton  and  Egham, 
whose  only  daughter  and  heiress,  Margaret,  married  at  Bridge- 
water,  in  1695,  William  Noyes  of  Reading  (fourth  son,  but 
eventually  representative  of  Peter  Noyes,  Esq.,  of  Trunk  well 
House,  Shinfield,  whose  pedigree  was  entered  in  the  Visitation 
of  Berks)  by  Winifred  his  wife,  grand-daughter  of  Martin  White, 
Esq.,  of  Fittleford,  whose  mother,  a  coheiress  of  the  Martins 
of  Athelhampston,  was  a  niece  of  Nicholas  Wadham,  the 
founder  of  Wadham  College,  and  lineal  descendant  of  Martin 
of  Tours,  Baron  of  Kemeys,  whose  wife  was  of  the  blood  royal 
of  the  Saxon  kings).  William  Noyes  had  died  in  1734,  and 
his  eldest  son,  William,  had  predeceased  him  in  1728;  and 
Mrs.  Margaret  Noyes,  then  a  widow,  was  living  at  Egham  in 
1 740,  and  apparently  did  not  hear  of  Captain  George  Newton's 


334  NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 

death  till  William  Newton,  of  Southover,  had  taken  possession 
of  East  Mascalls.     The  correspondence  which  passed  between! 
her  and  her  children,  when  the  intelligence  reached  Egham, 
has  been  preserved,  and  contains  a  detailed  account  of  the! 
family  pedigree,  and,  among  other  things,  mentions  the  state, 
of  the  Sussex  roads  at  that  period  to  have  been  such  that 
Mr.  Peter  Noyes'  first  journey  to  East  Mascalls  was  a  subject 
of  considerable  anxiety  to  his  family.     The  journey  was,  how- 
ever, successfully  performed,  and  Mrs.  Margaret  Noyes'  claim, 
as  heir-at-law  to  Captain  George  Newton  fully  established  atj 
the  East  Grinstead  assizes,  July  24,   1741.     She,  however, 
continued  to  reside  at  Egham  till  her  death  in  1755,  when 
she  bequeathed  East  Mascalls  and  the  Battle  property  to  her| 
daughter  Ann ;  her  grandson  Thomas  Herbert  Noyes,  son  of 
her  eldest  son,  William,  having  inherited  the  estates  of  his 
mother,  Martha,  the   heiress    of  Thomas  Herbert,  Esq.,  in] 
Warwick,  Oxford,  and  Herts.     He  resided  at  Berkhampsted, 
and  was  chairman  of  the  quarter  sessions  and  deputy  lieute- 
nant for  Herts,  where  he  had  married,  in  1756,  Elizabeth, 
eldest  daughter  of  Charles  Halsey,  Esq.,  M.P.  for  the  county', 
of  the  kin  of  William  of  Wickham,  and  a  descendant  of  Giml 
drada,  daughter  of  William  I.     He  died  at  the  early  age  of 
forty-nine,  leaving  a  voluminous  Universal  History  and  nume- 
rous other  works  in  many  MS.  volumes,  which,  however,  were 
never  published.     He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  T.  H. 
Noyes  (a  student  of  Christ  Church),  who  was  brought  up  as 
heir  to  his  uncle,  Thomas  Halsey  of  Gaddesden,  but  who,  on] 
Mr.  Halsey's  marriage  late  in  life,  took  orders  and  the  Christ 
Church  living  of  Bath  Easton,  in  Somersetshire,  in  1  797.    He 
succeeded  to  the  Sussex  property  on  the  5th  November,  1800, 
on  the  death  of  his  aunt,  Miss  Anne  Noyes,  at  the  age  of! 
ninety-two.     The  Vicar  of  Bath  Easton  died  August  8,  1812, 
leaving  by  his  wife  Maria,  daughter  of  B.  J.  Littlehales,  Esq.' 
of  Moulsey  Park,  sister  of  Colonel  Sir  Ed.  B.  Baker,  Bart.,  of 
Ranston,  co.  Dorset,  two  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest,  Thomas 
Herbert  Noyes,  Esq.,  is  now  of  East  Mascalls,  and  repre- 
sentative of  the  eldest  branch  of  the  Sussex  Newtons. 

Having  thus  traced  all  the  descendants  of  Nicholas,  the 
eldest  son  of  William  Newton  of  Southover,  by  his  first  wife, 
the  heiress  of  Ernley,  we  return  to  the  representatives  of  his 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC.  335 

tecond  son,  William,  by  his  second  wife,  Alice,  the  daughter  of 
Pelham,  according  to  the  Visitation,  though,  from  an  examina- 
tion of  some  of  the  early  wills,  it  would  seem  that  her  name 
•was  Pelland,  of  which  family  there  are  many  early  wills  in  the 
Lewes  Registry;  but  as  one  of  them,  in  1607,  is  entered  as 
Thomas  Pelland  alias  Pelham,  of  Cuckfield,  it  may  be  only  a 
urious  variation  of  the  old  name  of  Pelham. 

Pier  son,  William  Newton,  born  in  1564, was  a  "  counsellor" 
and  an  "  ancient"  of  Gray's  Inn.  His  portrait,  as  an  old  man 
with  a  very  white  beard,  in  a  curious  dark  costume,  with  a 
large  frilled  ruffle  round  his  neck,  still  hangs  in  the  dining- 
room  of  Southover  Priory  (where  it  is  said  to  have  frequently 
attracted  the  notice  of  George  IV.,  who,  when  Prince  of  Wales, 
was  often  the  guest  of  the  late  Colonel  Newton,  from  its 
strong  resemblance  to  a  bearded  specimen  of  the  fair  sex). 
He  married  for  his  first  wTife,  Jane,  daughter  of  John  Apsley, 
of  Thakeham,  Esq.,  who  died  in  1627,  Nov.  27;  and  secondly, 
Mrs.  Standsfield,  the  grandmother  of  John  Evelyn  of  the  Silva. 
Having  sided  with  the  Parliament  in  the  Civil  Wars,20  he  was 
made  one  of  the  commissioners  for  managing  Sussex,  March  1, 
1644.  He  died  164S,  May  21,  cetat.  84,  leaving,  with  several 
daughters,  an  only  son,  William,  born  in  1598,  married  to 
Dorothy,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Rivers,  Bart.,  of  Chaford,  in 
Kent.  He  died  on  Oct.  12, 1658,  leaving  two  sons  :  William, 
who  died  s.p.  in  1686;  and  Apsley,  who  was  born  May  11, 
1639,  admitted  of  Gray's  Inn  in  1659,  and  died  at  Southover, 
April  29, 1718,  atat.  79,  leaving,  by  Elizabeth  his  wife  (daugh- 
ter of  Richard  Caldecott,  Esq.),  who  died  1725,  December  25, 
cetat.  81,  two  daughters,  Grace  and  Philadelphia,  a  son,  Apsley, 
who  all  died  s.p.;21  and  a  son  William, who  was  born  1665,  and 
having  married  Ann,  daughter  of  Richard  Payne,  Esq.,  M.P. 
for  Lewes,  died  April  5,  1706,  leaving,  besides  two  younger 
sons  who  died  unmarried,  an  elder  son,  William,  born  in  1691, 
who,  in  1740,  laid  claim  to  East  Mascalls  on  the  death  of 
Captain  George  Newton,  and  died  at  Southover,  s.p.  Oct.  31, 
1775,  atat.  84;  a  second  son,  Apsley,21  who  was  the  grand- 
father of  the  late  Colonel  William  Newton  of  Southover,  and 
Georo-e  Neville  Newton,21  born  in  1696,  the  grandfather  of 

o 

20  Vide  vol.  v.  Civil  War  in  Sussex. 

21  Their  portraits  exist  at  Southover. 


336 


NOTICES    OF    THE    FAMILY    OF    NEWTON,    ETC. 


Elizabeth  Newton,  the  wife  of  Wm.  Courthope  Mabbott,  Esq. 
who,  on  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Col.  Newton,  in  1837 
succeeded  to  the  estates  of  her  ancestors,  and  is  the  preseni 
hospitable  possessor  of  Southover  Priory. 

This  sketch  of  the  family  history,  deduced  from  the  mos-j 
remote  period  to  the  present  time,  can  scarcely  be  better  con- 
cluded than  in  the  words  which  Thomas  Newton,  the  poet) 
prefixed  in  1576  to  a  translation  of  Ossoy'iuss  Discourse  of  Civitl 
and  Christian  Nobilitie  : — 

"  Magna  est  Nobilibus  laus  esse  parentibus  ortum, 

E  studiis  majus  stemiua  decusque  fluit : 
Maxima  sed  Pietas,  et  vera  insignia  laudis 

Vindicat,  baud  una  concelebranda  chely. 
Qui  tribus  his  claret  titulis,  ter  maximus  ille 

Ter  nierito  felix,  ter  venerandus  erit." 

which  may  be  less  worthily  rendered  in  an  English  garb  ; 

From  honoured  house  'tis  honour  to  have  sprung, 
Greater  to  tread  where  honour  points  the  way, 

To  Heav'n's  behests  and  virtue  to  have  clung, 
How  far  the  greatest,  abler  pen  must  say. 

lie  whose  proud  title  to  all  these  is  known, 

How  treblv  honoured  !  let  the  wide  world  own. 


Southover  Priory. 


337 


CHESHIRE  NEWTONS.-ri.fe  Had.  1536, fcsua. 


WILLIAM  DE  NEWTON,   == 
of  Newton,  in  Cheshire. 


|  ante  1:502. 

Thomas  tie  Newton    =  Sibella,  da.  aiul  heiress  of  Thomas  tie  Davenport, 
of  Newton  and  Wvdl'ord. 


Richard  de  Newton,  =  Ftnella,  da.  of  ...  .  Worth, 
of  Newton  Manor;   |  of  Titherington. 

oh.  1336. 

1st.  |  1395:  2nd! 

:11a,  da.  of  Wm.  Downes,—     Richard  de  Newton,     =  Jane,  da.  of  Roger  Barton, 
Breed  Feb.  9,  1391.  bu.  at  Prestbury,  1396-7.  I  of  Irlara. 


Peter. 


Nicholas. 


1 


1129. 

Thomas.    Edward.    Oliver  Newton;  died  of  the  =  Alice,  da.  and  coheiress  of  =2nd.  Lawrence  Lowe, 
plague,  and  was  buried  at  William  de  Milton:  of  Denby,  Esq. 

St.Audrew's,IIolborn,1153.  ob.  1492. 


|    |  |  ante  1166. 

2.  Robert.  1.  Richard  Newton  :         =  Jane,  da.  of  Jeffery  Lowe, 

3.  Thomas.         born  March  1  1,  1130;       I     of  Denbv  Manor,  co.  Derby ; 

died  1497.  6b.  1198. 


Mill 

5  daughters. 


|  April  7,  1190. 

Humphrey  Newton ;      =  Ellen,  da.  and  coheiress  of 


born  Oct.  3,  1166; 
died  March  22,  1537. 
Inq.  P.M. 


Thomas  Eitton,  Esq.,  of 

Pownall  Hall : 

ob.  May  3,  1537. 


.Mill 

ybyll;  Maud.&c. 
largaret;  Anne; 
arnell;  Frances. 


j      1       May  12,  1523. 
William  Newton,—      Rathe 


•me, 


of  Pownall  and 

Newton ; 

bornll9G,Jan,30. 

ob  1571,  Mavl. 
Inq.  P.M.  IS  Eliz. 


da.  of  Sir  John 

Manwaring, 

of  Peover ; 

died  1529. 


|    3  |      4 

Hugh,  =     =  Francis, 


of 
Lostock. 


V  V 


of 

Mober- 

ley. 


Humphrcy  =  Ethelred,  da 


Newton, 
of  Fulshaw 

Manor ; 
liv.iu!567. 


and  coheir  of 

Lawrence 
Starkey,  and 
Anne  his  wife. 


e-  =  John 
Booth. 

:h- 


I 
William  =  Parnclla,  =  Wm. 

Newton,  da.  of        Mere 

of  John            de 

Pownall;  Daren-      Mere: 

liv.  1568;  port.           2nd 

ob.  ante  hus- 

palrem.  band. 


I  1 
Hum- 
phrey. 


=  Kate,  da. 
of  Ryley. 


I   3 
Hugh. 


I   4,  |    6 

Ed-   =  Alice.  Nicho- 


I    5 
Law- 


ward, 

of 

Butley. 


Roberl,of=Ellcn,da. 
Fulshaw.  |        of 

I  Browns- 
werd. 


William  =  da.  of  Henry  Howard,  of  Congleton. 


las. 


Wil-  : 
rence,     liam, 

of  of 

Lewes.  South- 
ass       over. 


da.  of 


Pel- 
land. 


y 

See 
next 

page. 


Humphrey. 

John. 

Randall. 


William  Newton,  of  Pownall; 

living  1596;  fet.  8,  17  Eliz.; 

heir  to  his  grandfather; 

ob.  18  May,  1597. 

Inq.P.M.Zd  Eliz. 


Margaret, 
daughter  of 
John  Mere 

de  Mere; 
living  1596. 


Rev.  Thomas 

Newton, 

Poet  and  Divine, 

Rector  of 

Ilford,  Essex ; 

obit.  1607,  May. 


Ml  I 

Edward.  Eliz.   Honor. 
William, 
bapt.  at 
Southover, 
1563, 
Aug  1. 


John ; 
ob.  s.p. 
ante  1620. 


William  Newton,  of  Pownall ;  ==  Margery,  da.  of 

jet.  10  in  1597  ;  ob.  1620,  Lawrence  Wright ; 

May  21.    Inq.  P.M.  ob.  1628  (of  Nantwich). 


William,  Katherine,  aetat.  12. 

p.  1621,  May  26.  = 

Inq.  P  M.  Peter  Manwaring,  Juu. 


|      1  I        2 

Margaret,  setat.  28.      Margerie,  ajtat.  18. 


John    |    Ward. 


Richard  Eelsa 


3     I 

Anna,  let.  15, in  1621. 

Anthony  Rudcard. 

43 


33S 


NEWTONS  OF  SOUTHOVER.— cf.  iiari.  (6164/ 


ante 

ante 

2nd  wife.        1564 

^^                       1552. 

1st  wife. 

ALICE,          — 

WILLIAM  NEWTON,         =p 
born  in  Cheshire,  and  came 

-  -  -  •,  da.  and  co- 

daughter of   -  -  - 

heiress  of  .  .  . 

PelhaiuB.Pelland; 

into  Sussex,  and  settled  at  the 

Earnley,  of  the 

bu.  at  Southover, 

Priory  of  St.  Pancras, 

Manor  of  Erlyes, 

a.d.  1600,  Feb.  10. 

Southover ; 

living  there  1544 ; 

buried  there  1590,  April  20. 

in  Brighton ; 
oh. ante  1563. 

2nd  wife. 
Mrs.  Stands- =   William  Newton,—     Jane,  da.  of 

field ;  of  Southover,         John  Apsley,  Esq., 

Grandmother  Ancient  of  of  Thakeham  ; 

of  Grays  Inn;  bur.  1627,  Nov.  2?. 

John  Evelyn;  baptized  at 

ob.  1650,  Southover,  1564; 

Feb.  29.  buried  at 

Southover,  1648, 

May  26,  set.  84. 

M.  1. 


Apsley; 

buried  1612, 

Aug.  13. 


|  1637,  March  15.  | 

William  Newton,  rpDorothy,     Sarah, 


of  Southover ; 

born  1598; 

married  at 

Bishopston : 

ob.  1658,  Oct.  12, 

set.  60. 

WillprovedNov.19. 


daughter    ob.  s.p. 


1638. 
Jan.  3. 


I 

William; 

ob.  coelebs, 
1686, 
Oct.  9. 


Apsley  Newton, : 
of  Southover  and 
Gray's  Inn  (1659); 
bapt.l639,Mayll; 
ob.  1718,  Apr.  29, 
set.  79. 


of 

Sir  John 

Rivers, 

Bart., 

of 

Chaford ; 

bu.  1642, 
July  6. 


^Elizabeth,  da.  &he.  of 

RichardCaldecott,Esq. 

of  Sherrington,  in 

Selmeston ; 

ob.  1725,  Dec.  25, 

set.  81. 


Eliza-— Herbert  Jane: 

beth.         May, 
of 
Bur- 
wash. 


=    Rev. 
E.Polhill 
Rector 
of 
Etching- 
ham. 


I  April  17, 1620. 


Anne, 

baptized 

1599, 

Dec.  9; 
bur.1624, 

Dec.  4. 


Rich;; 
deli 

(,'liaiul 


Francis, 
bu.1621, 
May  18. 


.la 
bapt.  1  ; 
bu.  1 . 
Sep! 


Apslev ; 

bapt.  1665, 

Nov.  20; 

bu.s.p.  1720, 

May  7- 


I      At  Lewes,  1687,  Feb.  28.  |                            | 

William  Newton  —         Anne,  da.  of  Grace,              Philadelphia, 

bapt.  1665,  Mar.2  ~J~  Richard  Payne,  Esq.,  bapt.  1664,            bapt.  1670. 

ob.1706,  Aprils,            M.P.  for  Lewes.  July  26.                  Aug.  3. 
at  Southover. 


Ricbarc! 

bapt.  16'! 

May  2 


1721.  1 

1  Mary    =     William 
Longley,           Newton, 
ob.  1753.          of  South- 
over  ; 
2Eliza-  1758,  bapt.1691; 
beth      =      ob.  1775, 
Heaviside,  A"S-    Oct.  31. 
ob.1780,    a-         s.p. 
set.  65. 

Mary,     da. 
of  Eton; 
spinster 
m  1790. 


2nds.  1713-6. 

Apsley  —    Adria 
Newton  ;~T"  Waldo, 
baptized 
1692, 

July  8. 


John  : 
baptized 

1G99, 
Dec.  19; 
bu.  s.p. 

1738, 
Feb.  23. 


Richard  : 

George  Nevill  Newton 

baptized 

of  Brighton ; 

at 

born  1696; 

Plunipton, 

ob.  1746,  Feb.  17, 

1693, 

set.  50. 

Nov.  9; 

bu.  s.p. 

at  South- 

Apsley  Newton,  —  Tabitha 
ob.  ante  1760, 


I 
James  s  Adria, 
Barton,         ob.  s.p. 
M.D.  1804 

Jan.  2. 


of  Windsor  and 

Uckfield; 

ob.  1803,  Jan.  10. 

See  Hist,  of  Kent, 

vol.  iii.  p.  576. 

1788,  Oct.  8. 


Rev.  Geo.  Newton, 
Rector  of  Isfield ; 

born  1729 ; 

ob.  1791,  Dec.  18, 

set.  62. 


William  Newton,  Col.  of 

the  10th  (P.  of  Wales,) 

Light  Dragoons,  of 

Southover  Priory ; 

ob.  1808,  Nov.  13,  s.  p. 


:  Anne  Elizabeth, 
da.  of  Sir  Edw. 
Kiiatchbull,  Bt. 

ob.  1837,  Dec.  22, 
setat.  81. 


Elizabeth  Newton,: 
heiress  of  her 

cousin, 
Col.  Newton. 


Elizabeth,  da. ! 

heiress  of  C.Gi) 

of  Beviugde 

born  1729 

ob.1811,  Fet 

set.  82. 

William  ConrtM 
Mabbott,  Esi 
now  of 
Southover  Pri> 


339 


NEWTONS  OF  LINDFIELD. 


Nicholas  Newton, 

of  East  Mascalls  j 

bur.  at  Lindfield, 

1601,  Oct.  12: 

eldest  son. 


ante  1575. 


Alice,  da.  of 
J.  Vickery, 
of  Barconibe ; 
bur.  at  Lindfield, 
1696,  Jan.  22. 


Newton,  of  Pownall 
and  Southover. 


~>B 


i 

las 
in, 

IT'S 

h- 

38; 
■ov. 
!9. 


— Anne,  da.  of  =  Collins  j   Francis, 


T.  Gardiner, 

of 

Guildford; 

ob.  1673, 

July  14. 


2nd 
husband. 


bapt. 

1578, 
Oct.  20. 
ob.  s.p. 

1613, 
May  31. 


Joan,  da.  of 

Nich.  Love,  of 

Basing,  relict 

of  Abrah.  Allen, 

Serjt.-Chirurgeon 

to  King  James; 

bu.  1655, 

September  11 ; 

2nd  wife. 


= William, ; 
of  Lind- 
field, &c. 
Impro- 
priator of 
yeTithes. 
Inq.P.M. 
1638. 


:  Elizabeth, 

da.  of 

T.  Yong,  of 

Southwark; 

bu.  16H, 

Feb.  24 : 

1st  wife. 


Marv, 

bapt.  1580, 

Dec.  21 ; 

1601, 

Leonard 
Brett. 


George 
Newton, 
of  East 
Mascalls, 
ob.  1637: 
eldest  sou. 


>n; 
ite 


ife. 


-Jas  Reading,      William;       Thos.Newton,Esq.=  Elizabeth, 
Esq,  of  Stoke     ob.  coelebs,        of  Stoke  next 
Newington;    1657:  admin.     Guildford;  ob. 
bu.  there,  in    issued  to  his   1691,  Jan.  15,  s.p. 
Ch. ;  ob.  1694,       mother,       Will  prov.  Eeb.  10. 
Nov  24,      Anne  Collins.  Imp.  of  Lindfield. 


set.  70. 


buried  at  Stoke. 


Bishop,  of     1613, 
Southwark,  May  16 
bu.  1680, 
June  4. 


Mary;  =Rev.John  Fras.Newton,=p 
bapt.  Killing-    ofGravelye, 

worth,    impropriator 
of  bapt.  1608, 

Gravetye  at  Barcombe 
y  /  Manor.     Will  proved 


1644,  Feb.  1. 


Mary, 
relict  "of 
— Newn- 
hanijEsq- 

bu.  at 
Lindfield 

1683, 
Nov.  22. 


|  Sept.  15, 1679. 

Mary  Reading,  =         Nicholas  Smyth, 

at  22  at  her  marriage;         of  East  Greenwich;  set.  SO 
living  in  1729.  in  1679 ;  ob.  172/-8. 


Richard  = 
Mathews,  Esq. 
2nd  husband. 


Mary  Newton  =    Thomas 
only  child.    Chamberlain,  Esq. 
1st  husband. 


Grace  Smyth,  =p  John  Neale,  of  Deptford- 

livin°- 1743.  |St.  Paul.  Ob.  1754,  Feb.  27, 

aetat  80. 
Will  proved  March  4. 


Newton  Smyth, 
of  East  Greenwich ; 
ob.  1743,  Sept., 
coelebs. 


ante  1758- 

John  Neale,  —        Anna; 

administration  issued  to   ~~T"      ob.  1799. 

his  widow ;  i 

ob.1779,  Nov.  22,  set.  51. 


|  J  an.  13,17* 

Anna  Neale,  — 

only  da.  &  heiress; 
bu.  at  St.  Saviour's,  South-  i 
wark,  1813,  Sept.  29,  set.  55. 


John  Naiuby, 
bapt.  1750,  July  2 ; 
bu.  1804,  Aug.  23. 


John  Henry  Nainbv, 

bapt.  1789,  Nov.  4; 

bu.  1854,  Sept.  21, 

at  Highgate. 

Lay  Rector  of  Lindfield. 

Coelebs. 


j  June  9, 1819. 

Maria,  Major  John  Williamson ; 

hant  1785  Mav  14.     T       buried  at  Lambeth 
buP1854  6ctl4  Church,  1825,  March  12. 

at  Highgate. 

Frederick  John  Williamson ; 
buried  1852,  July  27,  *.  p. 


340 


NEWTONS  OF  EAST  MASCALLS.— cf.Han.Ms. 


6164. 


1 


d-  u M,aTr.y;  sifter  of  Sir       =  George  Newton,  of  East  Mascalls,     — 

Rich.  Michelbourne,  knt.  and  Erlyes,  Brighton ;  bu.  at  Thomas  Board  Esq  • 

Lmdfield,  1637,  Feb.  24,  aet.  63.  bu.  1611  Au».3L  ' 


B< 


1650,  1645, 

Jan.  7-        May  1 
Rev.  Jos.=    Jane,    — 
Hawkes-         da.  of     j 
worth;         Edward   | 
ob.  1657.  I    Polhill; 
2nd    M/ob.1694. 
husb.     v 

Rev.  Rd. 

Weller, 

3d  husb. 


bu.  1643. 
Feb.  9. ' 


.     I      June  6,  1631. 
Nicholas     =    Mary 
Newton,  Seaman 

of  Burwash 
fcLindfield; 
bapt.  1595, 
Aug.  17; 
obit, 
at  Burwash. 
Will  proved 
Oct.  16, 1648. 


J,  I    I   ^     I  Dec.  15, 

Three  Edmund  =p  Dorothy  Joh.Edwards. 


sons 
ob. 
s.p. 


Newton, 
ofBattle, 

&C   ; 
bu.  there 

1673, 
Sept.  19. 


Muzzall;  of  Portslade ;  j 
ob.  1698.      ob.  1635, 
Nov.  26. 
I 1 


Will 
proved 

at 
Lewes, 
JulyS. 


Joh.Edwards, 

a  ward  of  the 

King; 

ob.  1644, 

July  11. 


1629. 

:  Margaret, 
born'1609, 
Aug.  27 ; 
mar.  2nd, 
Mr.  Elliot; 
ob.  1686, 
Oct.  22; 
bu.  at 
Cookham. 


:  Rev. 
Bryc 

Cool  : 

and  I 

Rect 

SMilc 

Brea| 

Will  p 

16S 

Feb 

3rdl 


Jane 
Newton, 
bpt.1646, 
Mar.  21 ; 
bu.1649, 
May  16. 


Nov.  9,  1699. 
William,  =  Anne 
bapt.  1655,  Brett; 
Feb.  16 


bu.  1715, 
Jan.  11, 

s.p. 


ob.  1713, 
Aug.  15. 


Margaret. 
Thomas. 
Nicholas. 
Francis. 
Ob.  s.p. 


George 

Newton ; 

succeeded  to 

E.  M.  1694: 

livinginl710; 

died  of  the 

small-pox,  in 

co.  Somerset. 


T  Mary  Rowland, 
sister-in-law  of 

Admiral 

Sir  Geo.  Mathew, 

M.P.  for 

Middlesex ; 

bu.  1700,  Nov.  13. 


I      at  Cookham, 
I  1675. 

Anne;      —  John  CI 


bu.  at 
Cripplegate, 
1676,  Feb. 


of  Hor 

and  Egl 

ob.  16! 

Will  pre 

June 13v 


Dorothv; 
bapt.  1690, 
Dec.  16; 
bu.  1730, 
Oct.  15. 


Edmund ; 
bapt.  1698, 
Dec.  26: 
bu.  1738, 
Dec.  12. 


I  I  LI  I  I 

Six 
Children ; 
ob.  infants. 


Capt.  George  Newton, 

H.E.IC.S., 
of  East  Mascalls  and 

Twickenham ; 

bapt.  1689,  April  2; 

bu.  1740,  Oct.  5, 

s.p. 


at  Bridjjewater, 
|       July  S,  1694. 
Margaret; 
bapt.  1676. 
Feb.;     ' 
bu.1755, 
Jan.  11. 


Willia; 

Noyet 

of  Readi 

bapt.  16 

Aug.  2! 

bu.  173 

May  21 

at  Shinfl 


June  9,  1725. 
Margaret    sp  Nicholas  Sealey,  Esq. 

of 
Bridgwater. 


Winifred ; 
ob.  s p. 
1779. 


Elizabeth 


Anne; 
ob.  s.p. 
1800, 
Nov.  5, 
aet.  92. 


Peter; 
ob.  sp. 
1747. 


J  oh 
ob.  j 

171 


Noyes,  ofT.unkwell 
and  East  Mascalls. 


341 


NO  YES  OF  EAST  MASCALLS.— cf.  nari.  ms.  ns3, 1532. 


Richard  Noyes,  of  Frilsham.    ==        Agnes. 
Will  proved  at  Oxford,  1568.  Will  proved  at  Oxford,  1588. 


Peter  Noyes,  of  Blissimore  Hall,    ; 
Weyliill,  co.  Hants.  Living  in  1575; 
cousin  of  Wm.  Noyes,  Lay  Prebend 
of  Erchfont,  co.'Wilts,  in  1540. 


:      Edith; 
buried  at 
Wevehill, 

1584,'Jan.l7. 


John  Noyes,  of  Trunk  well  House,  : 

Shinfield,  co.  Berks.  Contributed 

£25  for  ye  Defence  of  the  Country, 

in  1588.    Will  proved  at  D.C.  1607. 


Sept.  20,1 
ji,  da.  and  heiress  of 
icliolas  Bacon,  Esq. 
P.M.  1631.  Oct.  16. 


581.      | 
=^  William, 
I    of  Ram- 
ridge 
House. 


1590. 


V 


Peter  Noyes,  of  Andover  ===    Agnes  Noves,  da.  and 
and  Weyliill;  obiit  at  coheiress ;  'living  in  1631. 

Reading,  1647.  See  "  Fines." 


Rev.  =  Jovce, 
Robert  bpt.1607 
Wilde,        Nov.  27 

D.D. 


Ill  I    1 

1  John,      William. 

ob.  inf. 
5  Richd. 
3  Michael. 


1621. 


Peter  Noyes,  of  =Eleanor,d.  of  Adr 
Andover  &  Trunk-  .    Kirby,  of  Basing, 


well  House ;  bapt. 

at  Weyliill,  1593, 

Sept.  2 ;  ob.  at 

Trunkwell,  1615. 


Esq. :  waged  a 

Chanc.  Suit  with 

her  father-in-law, 

in  1616. 


I     6 
Samuel 
bptl601; 
ob.1662. 


Anne;      Eleanor; 
bapt.  bapt. 

1623.  1623. 


I 

John ; 

bapt. 

1629; 

ob.  1668. 


1653. 
Peter  Noyes,  of  =Winifred,da.of  JohnWhite, 


Trunkwell  and 

Wevhill; 

bapt.  1625; 

ob.  1666,  Nov.  29. 


of  ye  Inner  Temple.  Esq., 
2nd  son  of  Martin  White,  of 
Fittleford,  co.  Dorset,  Esq.; 
ob.l702,at  Reading,  June 21. 


\/ 


-  Anne,  da.  of 
Robert  Noyes, 
Esq.,  Lord  of  ye 
Manor  of  Hat  h- 

erden  Regis, 
near  Andover ; 
son  of  Robert 
Noyes,  Prebend 
of  Erchfont. 


John;      Peter  Noves, 
ob.1718,  of  Trunkwell 
s.p.  House; 

bapt.  1654; 
bu.at  Shinfield, 
1711,  Dec.  31. 
Sold  ye  estate 
at  Weyhill  & 
Andover. 


1674. 


Mary;      Rev.  Samuel  Noyes,  D.D., 

living,  a      Prebend  of  Winchester, 

widow,      Rector  of  North  Church, 

in  1715.      Chaplain  to  the  Duke  of 

Marlborough's  Forces  in 

the  Low  Countries  till  1705, 

of  which  Campaign  his 

Journal  is  extant ; 
ob.  1740,  aet.79,  ccelebs. 


Susan 


John        Kathe- 
Kin? ;        rine. 

ob.1694, 

Nov.  22. 


.Walter. 


V 


At  St.  Paul's,  June  28, 1726. 

ifoyes,  one  of  ye  =Martha,  da.  and  heiress  of  Elizabeth  Noyes,  —    Joseph  Kiffin, 

■  in  Chancery ;           Thos.  Herbert,  Esq.,  of  bapt.  1675  ;            brotherof  William 

595,  April  11;            Berkhampstead,  Stretton,  ob.  1695,  Feb.         Kiffin,  of  Bexfield, 

at  Horsepath:                 and  Horsepath ;  s.p.                   co.  Essex,  Esq; 

iest  son.                         bu.  1762,  March  5.  ob.  s.p.  ante  1715. 


Dec.  17. 1756. 

Thomas  Herbert  Noyes,  ==Elizabeth,el.d.of  C.Halsev, 
.P.,  D.L.,  and  Chairman  of       Esq.,  MP.,  of  Gaddesdeu 
(u.  Sessions  for  Herts;  of         Park,  Herts;  ob.  1803, 
berkhampstead  St. Peter's;      Apr.30,aet.69,atGaddesden. 
pt.  1727;  ob.l776,Dec.l5. 


William  Herbert ; 

bu.  1746,  Nov.  25, 

s.p. 


|        April  23,  i; 

[lev. Thos.  Herbert  Noves.: 

Student  of  Ch.  Ch.,  and 

Vicar  of  Bath  Easton ; 

ob.  1812,  Aug.  8. 


8,  at  Caversham. 

:Maria  Littlehales,  sister  of 

Col. Sir  E.  B.Baker,  Bart., 

Secretary  at  War  for 

Ireland :  "living  1857. 


Elizabeth; 
ob.1829, 

s.p. 


Bendall;  Peter  Charles    Ada 
bo.  1832 ;     Macdonald     Maria. 
ob.  1855.       Lockhart. 


|  Sept.  26, 1826.  I 

as  Herbert  Noyes,  F  R.S.L.  &.==Mary  Elizabeth,  eld.  da.  of  J.  Thompson  Bendall 

S.,  J. P.  for  Sussex;  B.A.  of         Halsev,  Esq.,  M.P.,  of  Gaddesden  Park,  Frederick. 

.;  of  East  Mascalls,&  32,  Dover        Herts;  brother  of  Richard  Wliateley, 
,  London ;  born  Aug.  31, 1800.  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 


Sophia 
Franklin. 


Edward 
Herbert; 
bapt.  at 
Lindtield 
Julv  23, 
1835. 


J     3 
Kenna- 

way 

William 

Herbert; 

bapt. 

Oct,  14, 

1830 : 

Lieut.  85th 

Lt.Inf. 


|     4  |     5  '     6 

Lionel        Frederick      Hamilton 

Herbert;  Robt,  Halsey    Herbert; 


bapt. 

Oct.  15, 

1838. 


Herbert; 

bapt. 

Nov.  29,1839. 


bapt. 
Aug.  24, 

1841; 
ob.  inf. 

1848, 
May  13. 


I    7 

Philip 
Algernon 
Herbert ; 

bapt. 
Aug.  21, 

1843. 


I     1 
Charlotte 
Elizabeth 
Herbert. 


I    2 

Alice 

Herbert. 


J     3 
lanny 

Herbert, 


I     * 

Mary  Blanche 

Herbert. 


» byl  Everj  u 
Herbert, 


342 


Blazon  of  the  Arms  of  the  Families  referred  to  in  the  precedin 

pages,  which  are  quartered  by  Thomas  Herbert  Noyes, 

of  East  Mascalls. 


, 


1.  Noyes  ....  Azure,  3  cross  Crosslets  in  Bend,  Argent. 

2.  Clarke  ....  Argent,  3  Ogresses  ppr.,  two  and  one. 

3.  Brice Sable,  a  Griffin  passant,  Or. 

XT  f  ("Argent,  a  Lion  rampant,  Sable,  armed  Gules,  tail  forked,  onJ 

4.  ^ewton,  ot  1      the  shoulder  a  Cross       te'e  of  the  fieid     a  Crescent  for 

Southern*.  I     difference. 

5.  Newton,  of)  Argent,    a    Chevron,    Sable,   between    3   Popinjays   Vert,  J 

Newton  )       beaked  and  membered,  Gules. 

6.  Davenport    .  Argent,  a  Chevron  between  3  cross  Crosslets  fitchee,  Sable. 

7.  Milton.  .  .  .  Argent,  a  Cross  engrailed,  Azure,  charged  with  5  Garbs,  Or.. J 

8.  Grafton  .  .  .  Per  Saltire,  Sable  and  Ermine,  a  Lion  rampant,  Or. 

r.  C  Argent,  a  Canton  Gules,  over  all  a  Bend,  Azure,  charged 

J.  mtton   .  .   |      with  3  GarhS)  0r;  Crescent  for  difference. 

10.  Massey,  of] 

Dunham  \  Quarterly,  Gules  and  Or  in  1st  quarter,  a  Lion  passant,  Ar.  ! 
Massey  .  ) 

11.  Pownall .  .  .  Argent,  a  Lion  rampant,  Sable,  langued  Gules. 

12.  Olton  ....  Quarterly,  Gules  and  Argent,  over  all  a  Lion  rampant,  Ar.:1 

13.  Leighton  .  .  Argent,  3  Eagles'  Heads,  Sable,  beaked,  and  erased,  Or. 

14.  Wrenbury .  .  Argent,  a  Chevron,  Sable,  between  3  Wrens,  Gules. 

15.  Aldelym .  .  .  Gules,  3  Boars'  Heads,  Ermine. 

16.  Cradock .  .  .  Argent,  a  Chevron,  Azure,  charged  with  3  Garbs,  Or. 

17.  Starkey  .  .  .  Argent,  a  Stork,  Sable,  membered  Gules. 

,  Q    •. ,      ,  (  Argent,  a  Bend,  Sable,  charged  with  3  Eagles  displayed  of 

18.  Jirneley  .  .  |      fche  fiekL 

,  q    tt    ,     ,        (  Per  Pale,  Azure  and  Gules,  3  Lions  rampant,  Argent ;  a 
'  (      Mullet  for  difference. 

Of  these,  Nos.  4  to  17  are  also  quartered  by  Mrs.  Mabbott,  of  i 
Southover  Priory,  with  the  additional  Coats  of 
15a,  .  Apsley  .  .  Argent,  3  Bars,  Gules;  a  Canton,  Ermine. 

1  ra     Clip    tt  f  "^er  ^a^e»  Or  an(^  Azure,  on  a  chief  Gules,  3  Leopards'  faces 

'  \      of  the  first. 

1  7a      Ce  I  Gules,  2 Bars,  Or,  on  each  3  Mascles,  Azure;  on  a  Canton 

(      of  the  second,  a  Leopard's  Head  of  the  third. 


ECHINGIIAM   CMURCI1. 
I'rnm  tlie  North-east. 


ECH  INGHAM    CHURCH. 

BY  WILLIAM  SLATER,  ESQ. 


BEAD   AT   THE    BODIAM   MEETING,   JULY  10,  1856,  AND    SINCE    REVISED   AND 

EXTENDED. 


The  village  of  Echingham  is  in  the  rape  of  Hastings,  and 
hundred  of  Henhurst.  The  situation  of  the  church  is  very 
beautiful,  in  the  centre  of  a  vale  surrounded  by  wooded  hills, 
and  near  the  river  Rother,  about  four  miles  above  Ro- 
bertsbridge.  Until  lately  it  was  a  secluded  spot;  but  the 
railway  from  Tunbridge  to  Hastings,  which  now  passes  near 
the  church,  has  made  it  easy  of  access ;  and,  as  few  village 
churches  in  this  division  of  the  county  have  excited  so  much 
general  interest,  the  lovers  of  architecture  and  antiquity  may 
be  congratulated  on  this  facility. 

Doubtless  the  site  has  been  occupied  by  a  church  from  very 
early  times ;  but  of  the  original  church  or  its  history  we  know 
but  little.  The  present  was  erected  by  Sir  William  de  Eching- 
ham, who  died  in  1388,  or,  according  to  the  modern  computa- 
tion, in  1389. 

The  family  had  been  long  distinguished  in  the  county.  The 
first  whose  name  is  found  on  record  is  a  William  de  Eching- 
ham, who  witnessed  a  grant  by  Henry  Earl  of  Ewe  to  the 
Abbey  of  Robertsbridge,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  He,  and 
also  his  son  and  grandson,  presently  mentioned,  were  probably 
vassals  of  the  Earls  of  Ewe,  until  their  possessions  in  this  coun- 
try came  to  the  crown.  To  those  earls  belonged  the  rape  and 
castle  of  Hastings ;  and  the  stewardship  of  that  rape  is  said  to 
have  been  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Echingham ;  but  if  so, 
this  was  not  clearly  the  case  in  the  time  of  King  John,  for  the 
claim  to  it  by  Simon,  the  son  of  the  above-named  William,  was 
disputed  by  a  Robert  de  Hastings,  who  alleged  that  his  father, 
William  de  Hastings,  died  seized  of  that  stewardship,  and  a 


344 


ECHJNGJIAM     CHURCH. 


jury  of  knights  was  summoned,  in  9  John,  to  try  the  question  J 
The  result  is  not  known ;  but,  as  the  Echinghams  are  gene- 
rally reputed  to  have  been  hereditary  stewards,  it  was,  most' 
likely,  in  Simon's  favour.    He  married  in  1183  Alicia,  a  daugh-1 
ter  of  Joscelyn  Fitz-Reinfrid.    King  John  took  offence  at  his 
fortifying  his  house ;  and,  in  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  there; 
was  a  precept  to  the  sheriff  of  Sussex,  directing  him  to  take  I 
with  him  the  posse  comitatus  and  go  and  demolish  it,  as  it  had! 
been  fortified  without  license,  after  the  peace  between  the  Kino- 
and  his  barons  {Rot.  Lit,  Claus.  i.  page  404  b).     Whether! 
this  command  was  carried  into  effect,  is  not  recorded.     The 
time  of  his  death  does  not  appear ;  but  his  widow  may  have 
been  the  Ala  (probably  for  Alicia)  de  Echingham  against  whom 
we  find,  in  the  Abbreviate  Placitorum,  p.  69,  a  writ  of  attach- 
ment was  issued  respecting  certain  sea-walls  between  Seaford 
and  Lewes,  in  the  reign  of  King  John.     He  probably  left  a 
son  Simon,  whose  son  William  succeeded  him  and  married, 
in  1246,  Margaret  or  Margery,  a  daughter  and  coheiress  of 
William  de  Montacute,  son,  it  should  seem,  of  Drogo  de  Mon- 
tacute,  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Salisbury  of  that  name ;  but  I 
dying  without  issue,  in  1252,  his  brother  Simon  was  his' heir.  I 
This  Simon  is  said  to  have  been  sheriff  of  Sussex  in  1235  and 
1236,  which  is  hardly  correct  ■  for,  if  he  were  thirty-five  years 
of  age  (as  the  Inquisition  states)  in  37  Henry  III.  (1253),  he 
was,  at  the  time  of  such  shrievalty,  only  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  old.    That  sheriff,  therefore,  was  probably  a  cousin.   The 
Simon  de  Echingham  who  succeeded  his  brother  William  died, 
it  is  considered,  about  1268,  leaving  his  son  William  his  heir  j 
who  in  that  year  had  a  grant  of  free  warren  on  his  several 
manors,  as  well  in  Sussex  as  elsewhere,  and  a  market  at  Sale- 
hurst.     He  married  Eva,  daughter  and  coheiress  of  Ralph  de 
Stopeham ;  and  was  assessor  and  collector  for  the  county  of 
the  thirtieth  granted  by  the  southern  counties,  at  Northamp- 
ton, in  11  Edw.  I.  (1283),  a  conservator  of  the  peace  under 
the  statute  of  Win  ton,  and  a  knight  of  the  shire  in  1290 
He  died  in  22  Edw.  I.  (1293),  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
William,  then    aged  twenty-eight,  under  whom   the  family 
attained  its  greatest  influence  and  importance.     He  and  his 
consort  (whose  name  is  not  given),  and  also  his  brother  Robert 
and  his  consort  (also  unnamed),  were  invited  to  attend  the 


ECHINGHAM    CHURCH.  345 

coronation  of  Edward  II.  and  his  Queen,  in  1308.  He  was  a 
commissioner  of  array  and  conservator  of  the  peace  for  the 
county.  The  various  writs,  summoning  him  to  military  duties, 
show  that  in  all  probability  he  served  both  in  Gascony  and 
against  the  Scots,  as  well  as  supported  the  crown  against 
the  insurgent  barons  under  Thomas  Earl  of  Lancaster.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  present  at  their  defeat  in  the  battle  of 
Boroughbridge.  After  attending  two  Parliaments  as  knight 
of  the  shire,  he  was  summoned  as  a  baron  to  that  of  131 1, 
and  thenceforth  to  the  several  Parliaments  till  his  death,  in 
20  Edward  II.  (1326).  Sir  Robert  de  Echingham,  most  likely 
his  brother  and  heir,  succeeded  him ;  though  some  writers 
say  he  left  issue. — (See  Banks' Baronia  Concentrata,'\.  p.  198.) 
He  was  also  knight  of  the  shire  in  1315,  1321,  and  1322, 
and  is  stated  by  Dugdale  to  have  been  summoned  to  Par- 
liament as  a  baron  in  1  Edw.  III.,  but  this  appears  to  be 
an  error.  He  was  also  captain  and  chief  commissioner  of 
array  for  the  counties  of  Sussex  and  Surrey.  In  2  Edw.  III. 
(1328),  he  died  without  issue,  leaving  his  brother  Simon  his 
heir,  whom  the  records  exhibit  chiefly  in  a  state  of  litigation. 
The  time  of  his  death  is  not  stated,  but  in  or  before  1333  he 
should  seem  to  have  been  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Sir  James 
de  Echingham,  son  of  his  brother  Richard.  In  1348,  Sir 
James  petitioned  the  King  for  the  removal  of  an  obstruction 
of  the  Rother  at  Knellesflete,  by  which  ships  and  boats  (niefs 
et  bateaux)  were  prevented  from  coming  into  his  manor  of 
Echingham,  and  [the  trade  of]  the  town  of  Salehurst,  and 
also  his  market  there,  were  destroyed. — {Rot. Pari.,  ii.  p.  211.) 
He  died  in  the  23  Edw.  III.  (1349),  seized  of  Echingham  and 
several  other  manors  in  Sussex,  and  leaving  two  sons,  William 
and  Robert.  The  name  of  his  wife  has  not  been  discovered. 
William,  the  elder  son  and  heir,  was  then,  as  the  Inquisition 
states,  sixteen  years  of  age  and  upwards  (a  common  phrase  in 
those  documents,  importing  but  a  small  excess),  so  that  he  may 
be  assumed  to  have  been  born  about  1333.  To  him,  as  has 
been  mentioned,  we  owe  the  rebuilding  of  the  church  which 
forms  the  subject  of  this  paper.1  Yew  other  acts  are  recorded 
of  him,  but  this  alone  amply  suffices  to  give  him  a  claim  to 

1  In  the  preparation  of  the  preceding  Spencer EaM'sEcAynghamofEchyngAam, 
brief  notice  of  Sir  William's  ancestors,  pp.  22,  London,  1S50,  when-  some  other 
assistance   has   been   derived   from   Mr.       particulars  of  the  family  may  be  found. 

-II 


346  ECHINGHAM    CHURCH. 

honourable  mention.  He  married  a  lady  with  the  Christian 
name  of  Elizabeth,  but  neither  her  parentage  nor  her  maiden 
surname  has  been  discovered,  except  as  it  is  indicated  by  the 
arms  of  Shoyeswell  having  been  impaled  with  those  of  Eching- 
ham  on  the  brass  to  his  memory.  Shoyeswell  was  the  name 
of  a  family  at  Echingham,  and  is  still  the  name  of  a  house 
there,  and  also  of  a  hundred  in  the  rape  of  Hastings.  Some 
have  supposed  it  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  French  name 
Choiseul.  In  what  manner  she  or  her  husband  was  connected 
with  Sir  Nicholas  Criol  of  Kent  does  not  appear,  though,  ac- 
cording to  the  note  of  his  will,  given  in  the  Testamenta  Vetusta, 
p.  103,  he  bequeathed  20  marcs  to  Elizabeth  Echingham,  and 
appointed  Sir  William  Echingham,  Robert  Echingham,  and 
Thomas  Brokhull,  his  executors.  This  will  was  dated  in  Sep- 
tember, 1379.  The  arms  of  Sir  Nicholas  Criol  were  or  two 
cheveronels  and  a  canton  gu.;  and  a  coat  corresponding  with 
them  formerly  existed  on  a  brass  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam's son  and  grandson,  which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  notice. 
It  has  been  supposed,  if  there  be  not  a  tradition,  that  it  was 
at  Sir  William's  house  at  Echingham  that  Queen  Philippa  and 
her  ladies  anxiously  waited  for  the  return  of  King  Edward  and 
the  Black  Prince,  when  they  went  with  the  English  fleet  to 
engage  the  Spanish  off  Winchelsea.  Froissart  describes  the 
battle,  and  states  that  it  was  witnessed  by  the  Queen's  at- 
tendants from  the  hills  of  the  coast.  After  the  victory,  the 
King,  the  Prince,  and  others  put  back  to  Rye  and  Winchelsea, 
and,  arriving  there  soon  after  nightfall,  they  took  horses,  says 
the  chronicler,  in  the  town,  and  rode  to  the  mansion  where 
the  Queen  was,  scarcely  two  English  leagues  distant.3  Frois- 
sart might  easily  err  as  to  the  distance  ;  a  greater  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  accepting  this  tradition,  if  such  it  be,  as  regards 
Echingham  is,  that  this  engagement  took  place  in  1350,  when 
the  young  lord  of  Echingham  was  little  more  than  seventeen 
years  old.  Still,  whoever  had  the  wardship  of  him  under  the 
King  may  have  entertained  the  Queen  at  his  manor.  The 
death  of  this  Sir  William  has  been  mentioned.  The  brass  to 
his  memory  yet  exists  in  the  floor  of  the  chancel,  though 
somewhat  mutilated,  with  two  inscriptions,  one  in  French  and 
the  other  in  Latin.     From  the  former  we  learn  that  he  died 

3  Johnes'  Translation,  i.  p.  389,  Additions  from  Hafod  MSS. 


KCHINGHAM    CHURCH.  347 

18th  January,  1388-9,  and,  as  it  is  stated  with  unusual  pre- 
cision, about  midnight ;  and  from  the  other,  that  he  caused 
the  church  to  be  rebuilt  {cle  novo  re-edificari),  in  honour  of  God 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  and  Saint  Nicholas.  At  the 
time  the  re-erection  was  commenced,  Adam  de  Foxle  was 
probably  "  parson." 

The  Latin  inscription  above  mentioned,  and  hereafter  given 
at  length,  affords  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  previous  church ; 
but  we  have  the  most  conclusive  proof  of  this  in  a  doorway, 
now  walled  up,  distinct  in  its  features,  and  evidently  of  about 
the  time  of  King  John.  This  doorway  is  in  the  south  side  of 
the  present  chancel :  it  has  a  pointed  trefoil  head,  and  was 
probably  built  into  the  new  work  in  its  former  position.  It 
will  occur  to  most  persons  at  all  familiar  with  our  ancient 
churches,  that  many  instances  exist  in  which  a  principal  door 
of  early  date  has  been  retained  as  the  only  remnant  of  a  de- 
molished church,  and  been  made  to  fulfil  its  original  duty  in 
an  edifice  of  a  later  style  of  medieval  art ;  but  it  is  not  a  com- 
mon instance  to  find  one  of  the  kind  under  consideration. 
In  addition  to  this  doorway  we  have  also  the  font — clearly  of 
earlier  date  than  the  present  church. 

Echingham  Church  is  particularly  valuable  and  interesting, 
not  only  for  the  boldness  and  beauty  of  its  outline  and  pro- 
portions, and  the  elegance  and  variety  of  its  details,  but  also 
for  the  peculiarities  in  their  form  and  style,  and  for  its  height, 
which,  for  a  village  church  of  its  dimensions,  is  unusually  great 
in  proportion  to  its  length  and  breadth,  and  for  the  complete- 
ness of  the  design,  which  is  all  of  one  date,  excepting  only  the 
door  before  referred  to.  There  is  altogether,  in  the  whole  de- 
sign and  also  in  the  tracery  and  details,  a  tendency  to  the  style 
of  our  continental  neighbours,  which  has  led  some  to  think 
that  it  may  have  been  the  work  of  a  foreign  architect — an  opi- 
nion that  may  be  supposed  to  receive  some  sanction  from  the 
French  inscription  on  Sir  William's  brass,  at  a  period  when  that 
language  had  ceased  to  be  generally  used  for  sepulchral  me- 
morials. No  evidence  has  been  met  with  of  his  having  been 
in  France ;  but,  as  a  knight  of  that  period  in  the  vigour  of 
manhood,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  was  engaged  in  the 
French  wars  under  Edward  III.  or  the  Black  Prince.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  the  value  of  the  church  as  an  architectural 
example  is  especially  enhanced  by  the  accuracy  with  which  its 


348 


ECHrNGHAM    CHURCH. 


date  is  ascertained.  It  consists,  as  the  plan  here  given  and 
the  view  and  section  show,  of  a  chancel  of  somewhat  unusual 
length  in  proportion  to  the  other  parts,  and  a  nave  with  two 


Ground  Plan. 


aisles,  the  east  end  in  both  aisles  being  dedicated  as  chantries, 
and  preserving  to  this  day,  in  some  respects,  the  distinctive 
character  of  those  appendages.  The  nave  has  a  clerestory, 
and  the  tower  is  a  central  one.  The  south  aisle  has  attached 
to  it  a  very  small  wooden  porch.  So  far  the  church  remains, 
save  as  to  sad  dilapidations  of  time  and  neglect,  in  the  state 
in  which  it  was  completed  by  its  designer,  wanting  only  what 
appears  to  have  been  a  sacristy  or  vestry  attached  to  the  north 
side  of  the  chancel,  of  which  only  a  few  corbel  stones  outside 
the  chancel  wall,  and  other  slight  traces,  remain.3 

The  chancel  measures  43  feet  3  inches  by  21  feet,  and  is 
divided  in  length  into  three  bays,  each  bay  being  provided 
with  a  two-light  window  on  each  side,  the  six  windows  exhi- 
biting varieties  of  flowing  tracery,  which  commences  below 
the  springing  of  the  window  arches.     The  east  window  is  one 


3  Very  recently,  in  the  course  of  the 
work  now  in  progress,  some  excavations 
for  drainage  on  the  north  side  of  the  chan- 
cel brought  to  light  foundations  of  con- 
siderable extent,  showing  that  not  only  a 
sacristy  or  vestry,  but  also  a  chantry  cha- 
pel in  all  probability  once  existed  there. 
A  stone  coffin,  with  a  lid  having  a  cross  in- 
cised upon  it,  but  wanting  a  small  portion 


at  the  top,  was  also  discovered  in  what 
should  seem  to  have  been  its  original  po- 
sition, within  the  site  of  the  chantry. 
The  cross  was  floriated,  and  no  doubt 
once  filled  with  brass :  the  upper  half  is 
missing.  Judging  from  what  remains,  it 
was  probably  of  quite  the  latter  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  or  somewhat  later. 


o 

PS 

P  *5 

W  8 
o  fe- 
Ed  o 

w  * 

2  I 

2  & 


KCHINGHAM    CHURCH. 


349 


of  great  beauty,  and  nearly  unique  ;  but  it  is  curious  that  the 
church  at  Lindfield,  in  the  centre  of  the  county,  has  a  window 
identical  in  design,  though  Lindfield  Church  does  not  pos- 
sess any  other  feature  at  all  of  the  foreign  type  so  strongly 
marked  in  the  tracery  of  this  window.  The  Lindfield  window 
is  drawn  in  Brandon's  Analysis  of  Gothic  Architecture.  There 
are  sedilia  and  a  piscina  on  the  south  side.  The  trefoil- 
headed  door  in  the  same  side  of  early  date  has  been  already 
referred  to.  The  chancel  roof  is  well  pitched,  and  of  the  ordi- 
nary tie-beam  and  king-post  kind  of  Kent  and  Sussex,  but 
was  not  originally  plastered  as  it  is  now,  the  timbers  having 
bten  at  first  exposed  to  view. 

The  nave  and  aisles,  with  their  chan-  jL^WyfelMM^ 
tries,  are  of  equal  length,  viz.,  47  feet 
2  inches  ;  the  total  width  from  north 
to  south  being  49  feet  6  inches.  The 
north  aisle  is  slightly  wider  than  the 
south,  the  difference  being  only  ten 
inches ;  so  slight,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
assign  a  reason  for  so  trifling  a  variation 
from  uniformity.  The  nave,  like  the 
chancel,  is  divided  in  length,  into  three 
bays,  and  over  the  eastern  one  is  the 
tower,  carried  on  four  simple  arches, 
and,  rising  above  the  nave  roof :  it  ter- 
minates with  a  plain  parapet,  and  low 
pyramidal  roof,  having  on  its  apex  the 
original  vane. 

A  vane  of  the  latter  part  of  the  four- 
teenth century  is  so  rare,  that  a  wood- 
cut of  this  is  given  in  the  margin. — 
It  is  of  copper,  banner-shaped,  about 
1  ft.  1\  inches,  by  1  ft.  1^  inch,  some- 
what irregular  in  outline,  and  with  an 
ornamented  top.  It  is  about  ^  of  an 
inch  in  thickness,  and  pierced  so  as 
to  display  an  escutcheon  fretty  of  six 
pieces  for  the  arms  of  Echingham. 
Thus  it  resembles  the  banner  of  Sir 
William,  except  that  a  banner  would 
have  had  the  arms  on  the  banner  itself 


350  ECHTNGHAM    CHURCH. 

as  the  field,  and  not  on  an  escutcheon.  In  each  of  the  lower 
spandrels  is  a  pointed  trefoil.  The  clips  or  hinges,  which  are 
of  iron,  are  If  inch  in  bore,  and  fastened  on  with  rivets.  They 
are  probably  at  least  the  third  set.  There  are  some  vacant 
rivet-holes  on  both  the  longer  sides,  and  also  at  the  bottom. 
Those  near  the  present  clips  were  no  doubt  used  for  fastening 
former  ones  ;  but  the  holes  on  the  opposite  side  and  at  the 
bottom  may  have  served  to  attach  slight  ornamental  append- 
ages, such  as  are  sometimes  represented  on  early  vanes. — (See 
an  example,  Glossary  of  Architecture,  i.  p.  395.)  It  turns  on 
an  iron  spindle,  passing  through  all  the  clips,  and  is  supported 
on  a  shoulder  at  the  bottom.  The  clips  and  spindle  were 
probably  always  of  iron,  and  hence  the  more  frequent  need  of 
their  renewal.  The  staff  is  3  feet  10  inches  from  the  apex  of 
the  roof  to  the  lower  side  of  the  vane. 

The  aisle  windows  are  of  two  lights  in  the  sides  and  west 
end,  and  of  three  lights  in  the  east  end,  all  having  flat 
segmental  heads  arched  in  one  curve ;  and  the  tracery  is 
very  peculiar  in  its  treatment.  Besides  the  south  entrance, 
there  is  a  western  door  in  the  centre  of  the  end  of  the  nave. 
The  west  window  over  the  door  is  small,  though  of  three 
lights,  and  with  tracery  of  very  uncommon  design,  com- 
mencing, as  that  in  the  chancel  windows,  below  the  springing. 
In  many  churches  of  Sussex  the  reduced  size  of  the  west 
window  is  observable ;  probably  this  was  on  account  of  its  ex- 
posure to  the  south-westerly  storms.  In  Old  Shoreham  Church 
the  window  is  altogether  omitted ;  in  New  Shoreham  Church 
there  is  a  very  small  one.  Of  course  there  are  exceptions  to 
this  rule,  as  in  the  church  at  Ticehurst,  the  adjoining  parish 
to  Echingham,  where  the  west  window  of  the  tower  is  un- 
usually large.  The  nave  roof  is  of  the  tie-beam  kind,  well 
pitched  ;  and  the  clerestory  of  good  height,  with  windows  simi- 
lar to  those  of  the  aisles.    The  roofs  are  all  covered  with  tiles. 

The  pleasing  and  picturesque  effect  of  the  church  in  out- 
line derives  increased  beauty  from  the  fine  grey  colour  that 
time  has  given  to  the  native  sandstone,  of  which  the  walls 
are  constructed ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  admiration  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  excited,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  greatest 
simplicity  of  construction  is  used  :  so  much  so,  that  the  upper 
roofs  are  finished  without  any  coping-stones,  or  other  finish 
at  the  ends  than  such  as  is  afforded  by  the  tile  covering. 


CHANCEL   STALLS, 
With  Stairs  to  the  Tower. 


ECH  IN  GUAM    CII  U  RC1I . 


351 


In  the  interior  the  effect  is  much  marred  by  the  obvious 
want  of  care,  which  has  permitted  a  considerable  amount  of 
disrepair,  and  has  disfigured  the  walls  and  masonry  with 
whitewash ;  besides  that,  the  painted  glass,  which  once  dis- 
tributed its  glowing  shades  from  every  window,  has  now 
perished,  leaving  a  few  mere  shreds  and  fragments.  Still, 
there  is  preserved  much  of  value  to  the  archaeologist  and 
architect  which  is  wanting  in  most  of  our  churches  once  pos- 
sessed of  such  objects.  In  the  chancel,  the  original  stalls 
and  the  chancel  screen  remain  in  such  a  state  as  to  give  a 
perfect  idea  of  their  original  conditions :  they  are  beautifully 
carved,  and  exhibit  peculiarities  in  design  corresponding  with 
the  character  of  the  church.  The  chancel  floor,  too,  is  rich  in 
encaustic  tiles,  exhibiting  considerable  variety  of  design  and 
great  beauty :  they  have  been  much  disturbed  in  their  ar- 
rangement, but  fortunately  the  original  design  is  preserved 
sufficiently  to  afford  the  means  of  ascertaining  distinctly  what 
it  was.  Few  churches  retain  so  completely  as  this  does,  their 
ancient  ritual  dispositions.     Here  it  is  nearly  complete,  even 


Font. 


the  steps  of  the  floor  being  the  original  ones.  In  the  nave, 
modern  pews  have  taken  the  place  of  the  benches,  which  must 
have  at  first  filled  this  part  of  the  church.  The  font  (of  which 
a  woodcut  is  here  given)  deserves  attention ;  it  is  attached  to 


352  ECHINGHAM    CHURCH. 

the  west  side  of  the  single  shaft  on  the  north  side  of  the  nave. 
As  before  observed,  it  is  of  earlier  date  than  the  existing 
church ;  and  probably  may  be  assigned  to  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. It  is  of  sandstone,  with  Purbeck  marble  shafts,  and  is 
octagonal  in  plan. 

Of  the  memorials  of  the  dead,  the  most  remarkable,  as 
might  be  expected,  is  that  of  the  rebuilder.  It  is  a  brass 
representing  him  in  armour,  and  placed  in  the  floor,  imme- 
diately before  the  altar,  outside  of  the  rails.4  The  hands  are 
in  an  attitude  of  devotion,  and  at  the  feet  is  a  lion  couchant. 
The  head  was  missing  before  1788,  and  the  escutcheons  of 
arms  before  1776.  They  are  said  to  have  been  two :  viz.,  on 
the  right  side  of  the  figure,  fretty  of  six  pieces  for  Echingham  ; 
and  on  the  left  the  same,  impaling  on  a  bend  three  horseshoes 
for  Shoyeswell.  Over  the  head,  on  a  circular  plate  of  brass 
that  is  now  attached  to  the  wall  over  the  altar  tomb  presently 
mentioned,  was  the  following  inscription  : — 

Ustc  SEiU'm's  fecit  tsta'  eccl'iam  tie  nobo 
rectuncart  in  fjonore'  ©ei  et  ^ssu'pc'o'ts  Beate 
jlarte  et  S'c't  l^trij't,  qui  qu'tTm  ftitt 
films  |acout  tie  (^efjingfjam  militis. 

At  the  foot  is  the  following  in  four  lines  : — 

©e  terre  tu  fet  $c  fottrme, 

3Et  en  terre  tu  retourne : 

roiitam  tie  IScljtncjlj'm  estoie  nomc, 

JBteu  tie  ntalnte  titi  pttce  ? 

€t  bous  qt  nar  iti  passes 

^ur  lalme  tie  mop,  pur  ©teu  prte^ : 

hi  tie  Sanuere  le  xbitj  jo* 

30 e  eg  passat  lau  n're  £>eicmour, 

Mill'  trots  ccnt^  quat'  bint|  oept, 

Come  JDtcu  bolait  ento'  nig  noet 

According  to  Hayley,  some  years  ago,  on  taking  up  the 
slab  to  which  the  brass  is  affixed,  the  deceased  was  found  to 
have  been  interred  in  a  stone  coffin,  to  which  it  was  the  lid 
or  cover. — (Additional  MSS.  No.  6358,  fo.  1.) 

4  The  places  which  this  and  the  brasses       floor  are  shown  in  the  ground-plan,  p. 
subsequently  mentioned   occupy  on   the       348. 


ECU  INGHAM    CHURCH.  353 

The  pious  and  munificent  person,  the  record  of  whose  noble 
example  it  is  hoped  may  yet  endure  to  invite  to  worthy 
emulation  a  distant  posterity,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  long  line  of  distinguished  ancestors  ;  and  in  his 
male  descendants  the  family  was  further  continued  for  several 
generations.  Some  of  these  have  also  been  interred  in  this 
church. 

On  a  stone  in  the  chancel,  a  little  westward  of  the  pre- 
ceding memorial,  is  a  large  brass,  representing  two  knights  in 
armour  and  a  lady  between  them,  under  a  triple  canopy ; 
their  hands  are  in  an  attitude  of  prayer.  At  the  feet  of  each 
knight  is  a  lion,  and  at  the  lady's  feet  a  dog.  Below  is  the 
following  inscription  : — 

l&ic  jaccnt  SEiU'mus  (fBdjuitgljam  miles,  ©'n's  oe  €djpng= 

tarn,  qui 
ootit  xx°  titc  mensis  JHarcii  &nno  Wni  Jttiirnto  eccc°,xii0; 
Et  Wm  Johanna  censors  sua,  que  obitt  urimo  etc  mensis 
Scutcmuris  llnno  ©omint  fflil'mo  cccc0  quarto ; 
€t  Eftomas  ©cijsttfiijam  miles,  JB'n's  cciam  ox  IE  rijgitgljam, 
filius  cor',  qui  obitt  xb°  oie  ©ctoor'  &°  Wni  fH- cccc0  xlitii0 ; 
q°r'  a'i'au|  p  picietr  ©eus.    &mcn. 

Most  of  the  escutcheons  have  disappeared.  There  were 
formerly  nine,  viz.,  one  on  each  of  the  four  principal  pinna- 
cles, and  over  the  lady's  head  another ;  and  below  the  inscrip- 
tion four  more.  According  to  Hayley,  on  the  middle  one  of 
the  five  (that  over  the  lady's  head)  was  quarterly  1st  and  4th, 
a  lion  rampant  (for  Fitzalan),  2nd  and  3rd,  fretty  of  six  pieces 
(for  Maltravers).  On  the  two  outside  ones  was  fretty  of  six 
(for  Echingham) ;  and  on  the  two  others  the  same,  impaling 
the  quarterly  coat  just  mentioned.  The  escutcheons  below 
the  inscription  were — 1 .  fretty  of  six  pieces,  Echingham,  im- 
paling a  bend  within  a  bordure  engrailed  (probably  for  Knivet); 
2.  Echingham  as  before,  impaling  2  chevronels  and  a  canton 
or  quarter  (probably  for  Criol) ;  3.  Echingham  as  before, 
impaling  on  a  bend  three  horseshoes  (for  Shoyeswell) ;  4. 
Echingham  as  before,  impaling  quarterly  ]  st  and  4th,  three 
crescents  and  a  canton  (for  Stopeham,5  though  not  the  coat 

5  This  coat  is  one  of  four,  in  cross  point       Echingham,  who  died  22  Edward  I.,  or 
to    point,  on  a  seal  of  Sir  William   do        of  his  son  of  that  name,  which  is  given  in 

ix.  45 


354  ECHINGHAM    CHURCH. 

ascribed  to  the  family  of  that  name  in  West  Sussex),  2nd 
and  3rd,  three  birds.  The  last  coat  has  not  been  identified  \ 
the  birds  appear  to  be  aquatic,  and  have  some  resemblance  to 
geese ;  the  beaks  and  legs  are  hardly  long  enough  for  storks 
or  cranes.  Of  the  four  escutcheons  below  there  now  remains 
only  the  last,  which  is  of  white  metal,  and  has  been  supposed 
by  some  to  have  replaced  a  former  one.  Of  the  upper  ones 
there  is  left  only  the  sinister  half  of  that  which  was  on  the 
second  pinnacle,  being  the  coats  of  Fitzalan  and  Maltravers 
quarterly.6  In  the  last  century  this  stone  was  taken  up,  and 
replaced  after  the  interment  there  of  a  rector  of  Echingham, 
named  John  Latham.  The  Sir  William  Echingham  comme- 
morated by  it,  was  the  son  of  the  rebuilder  of  the  church,  and 
married  Joan,  daughter  of  John  Arundel,  Lord  Maltravers, 
the  lady  mentioned  and  portrayed  on  it.  Sir  Thomas  Eching- 
ham, their  son,  also  named  in  the  inscription,  married,  first, 
Agnes  Shoyeswell,  and  secondly,  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir 
Thomas  Knivet,  of  Norfolk.7  The  coat  of  Echingham  im- 
paling Criol  is  not  accounted  for ;  most  likely  some  ancestor 
of  Sir  William  married  a  Criol.  The  will  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Criol,  which  has  been  mentioned,  sanctions  this  supposition, 
and  leads  to  an  inference  that  such  ancestor  was  not  a 
remote  one. 

Against  the  south  wall,  between  the  sedilia  and  the  chancel 
door,  was  a  monument  which,  when  Hayley  wrote  in  1776, 
had  fallen  down.  Under  it  was  the  altar  tomb  which  is  shown 
in  the  plan  and  section  of  the  church.  Hayley  says,  "  On  the 
fragments  of  which  monument  fallen  down  there  appears  to 
have  been  a  portraiture  inlaid  in  brass,  and  four  brass  es- 
cutcheons ;  which  (portraiture)  together  with  three  of  the 
escutcheons  are  lost  out ;  on  the  remaining  one  is  quarterly 
1st  and  4th,  gu.  a  lion  rampant  between  six  cross  crosslets  or, 
2nd  and  3rd,  az.  three  leopards'  heads  jessant  fleurs-de-lis  or," 
for  De  la  Warr  and  West  respectively  (see  Roll  t.  Ric.  II.). 

the  title-page  of  Hall's  Eehyngham.  The  6  Grimm's  drawing  of  this  monu- 
others  are — 1.  Echingham ;  2.  on  a  chief  ment  is  evidently  not  to  be  relied  on  for 
two  mullets  (St.  John) ;  3.  Lozengy  (per-  the  heraldry.  Of  the  five  upper  escutch- 
haps  for  Ferrers).  The  pedigree  does  not  eons  only  half  of  the  second  remained 
account  for  the  association  of  Echingham  when  Hayley  made  his  notes  in  1776. 
with  either  of  the  three  additional  coats  '  The  order  of  these  marriages  is  doubt- 
on  that  seal  except  Stopeliam.  ful. 


ECH INGHAM    CHURCH.  355 

He  then  mentions  a  brass  plate,  which  still  remains,  on  which 
is  the  following  inscription  : — 

$Hc  jarrt  E'n's  £f)onxas  (£djmurh'm  miles, 
©Ys  tic  (Srfjnngijam,  qui  otitit  xx°  Dtr  mensts 
Sanuarit  3°  Dm  mtl'mo  cere0  Ixxxtj- ;  cuius 
&nimc  p'ptctctr  Drus.    SSlm'tu 

This  Thomas  was  the  son  of  the  Thomas  last  mentioned. 
He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Reginald  West,  Lord  de  la 
Warr,  and  left  two  daughters.  Whether  this  Thomas  was  the 
last  male  descendant  of  Sir  William  is  not  quite  clear;8  but 
shortly  after  his  death  we  find  Echingham  and  several  other 
manors,  which  had  been  his,  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Goddard 
Oxenbridge,  who  married  one  of  his  daughters.  (SeeVol.vin. 
of  these  Collections,  p.  219.) 

On  the  floor  of  the  east  end  of  the  south  aisle  of  the  nave 
is  a  small  brass,  representing  two  ladies  kneeling  face  to  face, 
their  hands  in  an  attitude  of  prayer.  Below  are  these  in- 
scriptions : — 


|i?ic  jacct  Clbabctj)  Crijgngfyam,  filu 
urimogenita  £ljomcct  fHargarcte 
Ccljgngljam,  que  obitt  trrrio  titc 
Beccmbris  S°  D'ni  £H°  cccc°  lijo 


flic  jacct  3gn:s  ©lTiibrigg,  filia  Kobcrti 
©xenbrigg,  q^  obitt  iiij0  oic  Sttgusti 
21°  D'ni  i&.°  crcc0  Irxi0  quor' 
annnabus  u'picictur  Bras.    &mcn. 


Agnes  Oxenbrigg  is  represented  as  the  larger  of  the  two  ; 
she  was  probably  an  aunt  of  Sir  Goddard  Oxenbridge,  whose 
grandfather  was  Robert.  Elizabeth  Echingham  died  so  long 
before  her  father,  that  she  was  most  likely  but  a  child.  The 
daughter,  who  survived  and  married  Sir  Goddard,  was  also 
named  Elizabeth. 

Of  all  the  damage  which  time,  neglect,  or  something  worse, 
has  inflicted  on  this  interesting  and  venerable  fabric,  serious 
as  it  is  in  other  respects,  there  is  none  so  greatly  to  be  de- 
plored and  so  irreparable  as  the  destruction  of  the  painted 
glass,  with  which  every  window  was  filled  by  the  munificent  re- 
builder.  Doubtless  it  had  previously  lost  much  of  its  beauty, 
but  in  1784  it  was  such  that  Grimm  made  drawings  of  four 
of  the  windows  in  the  chancel  with  coats  of  arms  in  them. 
It  is  remarkable  however,  that  the  glass  appears  to  have 
undergone  some  rearrangement,  if  not  some  attempted  restora- 

5  See  Banks'  Baronia  Conceulrata,  i.  p.  190. 


356  ECHINGHAM    CHURCH. 

tion  also,  shortly  before  Grimm's  visit,  unless  he  has  used 
more  than  an  artist's  licence  (which  seems  more  probable) ; 
for  his  drawings  are,  as  to  the  heraldry,  and  even  as  to  the 
places  that  the  various  coats  occupied,  to  a  great  extent  irre- 
concileable  with  the  minute  description  of  the  arms  in  the 
windows  as  given  by  Hayley  only  eight  years  previous.  That 
apparently  trustworthy  observer  of  heraldry  has  left  notes,  not  J 
only  of  the  arms  in  the  chancel  windows,  but  also  of  those  in  !| 
the  nave ;  and  these  are  now  the  best  evidence,  it  is  believed, 
of  what  arms  were  originally  in  the  windows,  and  of  the  places 
which  they  occupied.  These  notes  are  to  be  found  in  the 
British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.,  No.  6358.  As  they  may  assist 
in  identifying  the  few  coats  which  remain,  the  substance  of 
them,  for  the  most  part  in  Hayley's  own  words,  with  some 
explanatory  remarks,  is  subjoined  ;  a  little  abbreviation  having 
been  made,  to  avoid  repetition,  as  he  has  a  scheme  showing 
what  he  supposed  were  the  missing  coats,  and  where  they 
were  placed.     First  as  regards  the  chancel : — 

In  the  great  east  window  towards  the  top,  in  a  row,  were 
at  that  time  these  arms  in  the  tracery,  viz. : — 

1.  Az.  semy  of  lis  or,  quartering  gu.  3  lions  passant  guar- 
dant  in  pale  or,  having  in  chief  over  all  a  label  arg.;  for  the 
Black  Prince. 

2.  The  same  without  the  label ;  for  King  Edward  III. 

3.  The  same  with  a  label  erm.;  for  John  Duke  of  Lancaster. 

4.  Erm.;  or  arg.  10  ermine  spots  sa.;  for  John  Duke  of 
Britany,  son-in-law  of  Edward  111. 

"The  lower  part  of  the  east  window  consists  of  five  lights, 
which  have  been  now  glazed,"  says  Hayley,  "with  plain  glass  ; 
only  at  a  little  distance  from  the  bottom  of  the  middle  one, 
is  worked  in  this  escutcheon  of  arms :  Paly  wavy  of  six  gu. 
and  or.;"  (probably  for  Moleyns,  and  may  have  been  taken 
from  some  window  in  the  nave). 

In  the  first  south  window  at  the  very  top,  az.  fretty  of  6  arg., 
Sir  William  Echingham,  who  rebuilt  the  church.  In  one  part 
or  panel  at  the  bottom,  France  and  England  quarterly  as  be- 
fore, with  a  label  arg.  charged  with  9  torteaux  ;  for  Edmund 
of  Langley,  Earl  of  Cambridge. 

In  the  first  north  window  at  the  top,  or,  on  a  bend,  sa.  3 
horseshoes  arg.,  Shoyeswell,  wife  of  Sir  William  Echingham. 


KCH1NGHAM    CHURCH.  357 

In  the  second  south  window  at  the  top,  gu.  3  human  legs 
and  thighs,  the  thighs  all  joined  at  the  fess  point,  and  the  legs 
flexed  at  the  knees  arg.  (Isle  of  Man),  quartering  arg.  3  fusils 
conjoined  in  fess  gu.  (Montacute) ;  for  William  de  Montacute, 
King  of  Man  and  Earl  of  Salisbury.  A  little  lower,  or  3 
torteaux  and  a  label  az.;  for  Hugh  Courtenay,  Earl  of  Devon. 
At  the  bottom  in  one  part,  git.  [a  lion  rampant]  or  (Fitzalan), 
quartering  chequy  or  and  az.  (Warenne);  for  Richard  Fitzalan, 
Earl  of  Arundel :  in  the  other  part,  Mortimer ;  for  Edmund 
Mortimer,  Earl  of  March. 

In  the  second  north  window  at  the  top,  gu.  3  lions  passant 
guardant  in  pale  or,  within  a  bordure  arg.;  for  Thomas  Hol- 
land, Earl  of  Kent.  A  little  lower,  gu.  a  chevron  or,  "  thus  for 
certain  by  mistake  painted  for  or  a  chevron  gu."  for  Hugh 
de  Stafford,  Earl  of  Stafford. 

In  the  third  south  window  at  the  top,  sa.  a  cross  engrailed 
or ;  for  William  de  Ufford,  Earl  of  Suffolk.  At  the  bottom  in 
one  part,  gu.  a  fess  between  6  cross  crosslets  or ;  for  Thomas 
Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick :  and  in  the  other,  barry  of  6, 
as  in  the  1st  quarter,  but  as  in  the  4th  of  8,  az.  and  arg.  8 

birds  in  orle  gu.  (Valence),  quartering  gu ;9  for 

John  Hastings,  Earl  of  Pembroke. 

In  the  third  north  window  at  the  top,  chequy  or  and  az., 
Warenne.  At  the  bottom  in  one  part,  quarterly  gu.  and  or, 
in  the  first  quarter  a  mullet  arg.;  for  "Robert  de  Vere,  Earl  of 

Oxford. 

"  The  lower  lights  of  the  first  and  second  north  windows, 
Hayleysays,  "are  now,  in  part,  built  up  with  stone,  on  ac- 
count, I  suppose,  of  a  chapel  or  chancel  added  there  and  since 
demolished."  It  does  not  appear  what  was  the  condition  of 
the  lower  part  of  the  first  south  window,  or  of  the  third  north 
window,  that  in  each  only  one  coat  is  mentioned  as  being 

there. 

These  are  all  the  arms  given  by  him  as  in  the  chancel  when 
he  took  his  notes.  Judging  from  the  remains  of  the  painted 
glass  given  in  Grimm's  drawings,  the  plan  of  the  subjects  m 
the  two-lighted  windows  was,  in  each  light  a  saint  under  a 

•    This   coat   was    unquestionably   for  field  as  gu.     ^.JH»*JP£"J 

Ha.ting.-or  a  maunch^.   Hayley  seems  remaxned  ;   and  either  the     a    t„,g  v 

to  have  been  aware  of  this ;  yet  it  is  re-  ongmally  erroneous,  or   a  pee  of  the 

markable  that  he  should  have  given  the  maunch  had  been  leaded  into  the  held. 


358  ECHINGHAM    CHURCH. 

canopy,  and  below  them  a  square  panel,  within  which  was  a 
coat  of  arms  on  a  medallion  without  a  shield ;  while  in  the 
tracery  was  one  or  sometimes  two  coats.  It  will  be  observed 
that  only  in  the  middle  window  on  each  side  were  there,  in 
Hayley's  time,  two  coats  near  the  top.  This  was  owing  to  a 
difference  in  the  tracery  of  those  windows.  Now,  Grimm  has 
drawn  four  out  of  the  six  side  windows ;  of  these  he  calls  two 
"  south  windows  " ;  the  situations  of  the  other  two  are  not 
specified ;  but,  as  each  of  these  had  two  coats  in  the  tracery, 
they  were  most  likely  the  middle  window  on  each  side.  He 
says  nothing  of  the  order  of  these  windows,  but,  taking  them 
as  they  come  in  his  drawings,  he  represents  the  arms  then 
in  them  as  follows: — 1.  Echingham  above,  and  Eitzalan  and 
Warenne  quarterly,  and  De  Vere  below.  2.  Ufford  above, 
and  Beauchamp,  and  Valence  and  Hastings  quarterly  below. 
3.  Echingham  above,  Shoyeswell  a  little  lower,  and  Stafford 
and  De  Coucy  Duke  of  Bedford  below.  4.  Man  and  Mon- 
tague quarterly  above,  Courtenay  a  little  lower,  and  Mortimer 
and  Hastings  below.  Here  we  find  Echingham  twice,  which 
Hayley  gives  but  once ;  and  Hastings  alone,  and  De  Coucy, 
neither  of  which  Hayley  gives  ;  while  the  quarter  of  Hastings 
with  Valence  is  given  quite  brilliant  and  perfect  as  or  a 
maunch  gu.,  and  Stafford  is  also  given  correct,  though  Hayley 
says  the  tinctures  were  reversed ;  and  Fitzalan  has  the  lion 
rampant,  but  the  field  is  az.  instead  of  gu.:  add  to  this,  that 
it  will  be  observed  that  several  of  the  arms  are  not  in  the  same 
windows  in  which  Hayley  states  them  to  have  been,  but  seem 
to  have  been  wholly  rearranged.  It  is  just  possible,  that  De 
Coucy  and  Hastings  alone  (which,  if  they  then  existed  as  they 
are  given  by  Grimm,  could  hardly  have  been  overlooked  by 
Hayley)  may  have  been  in  some  way  concealed  from  observa- 
tion. The  second  Echingham  may  have  come  from  the  nave. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  drawings  all  the  coats  appear 
surrounded  by  plain  white  glass ;  which  is  not  likely  to  have 
been  really  the  case. 

To  return  to  Hayley's  notes  ■  in  the  top  of  each  of  the 
windows,  both  of  the  two  aisles  and  the- nave,  wTas  a  shield  of 
arms  set  up  by  the  rebuilder,  viz. : — 

In  the  three  south  windows  of  the  south  aisle — 1.  Az.  fretty 
of  six  arg.  in  chief  over  all  a  label  or,  Echingham  (probably 


ECHINGHAM    CHURCH.  359 

for  Sir  William's  eldest  son) ;  2.  Az.  a  sun  in  his  splendour 
or,  St.  Clere;  3.  Gu.  a  fess  erm.,  Wallis  or  Waleys. 

And  in  the  west  window  of  that  aisle,  or  on  a  bend  sa. 
3  horseshoes  arg.,  Shoyeswell. 

In  the  three  north  windows  of  the  north  aisle — 1.  Az.  fretty 
of  six  org.,  upon  the  az.  above  the  fess  point  an  annulet  arg. 
or  perhaps  or,  Echingham  (probably  a  younger  son  or  a  bro- 
ther of  Sir  William) ;  2.  Erm.  a  cross  engrailed  gu.,  North- 
wode ;  3.  Arg.  a  cross  engrailed  gu.  Dalingrugge. 

And  in  the  west  window  of  this  aisle,  az.  fretty  of  six  arg., 
Echingham. 

In  the  three  windows  of  the  body  of  the  church  on  high 
(meaning  no  doubt  the  clerestory)  towards  the  south — 1.  .  .  . 

(implying  either  missing  or   unintelligible) ;   2.   the 

remains  of   az.  a  cross  patonce    or   (probably  for   Warde)  ; 

3 In  the  three  windows  towards  the  north — 1.  az. 

3  ducal  crowns  or;  2.  az or;  3.  gu.  3  roundles, 

"  one  of  the  roundles  is  quite  clear  glass,  and  the  other  two 
appear  tinged  with  yellow,  and  seem  to  have  some  blind  lines 
upon  them,  as  if  they  had  been  charged  with  something,  and 
perhaps  all  within  a  border  arg." 

At  the  top  of  the  (middle)  west  window — az.  fretty  of  six 
arg.,  Echingham. 

All  this  heraldry  may  enable  us  to  approximate  a  little 
nearer  to  the  exact  date  of  this  church.  Hayley  referred  it  to 
the  end  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.;  and  the  arms  in  the 
chancel,  as  given  by  him,  would  suit  very  well  with  1370. 
At  that  time  Queen  Philippa  was  dead  :  the  Black  Prince  lived 
till  June  in  that  year.  De  Coucy,  who  was  King  Edward's 
son-in-law,  and  whose  arms  Grimm  has  given,  had  not  then 
attached  himself  to  Erance,  and  finally  separated  himself  from 
his  wife.  The  glazing  of  the  nave  might  be  expected  to  be  a 
little  later,  and  such  would  seem  to  have  been  the  fact ;  for, 
beside  that  it  shows  Sir  William  Echingham,  who  appears 
to  have  been  born  about  1333,  had  then  a  son  and  heir  appa- 
rent bearing  arms,  the  other  differenced  coat  of  Echingham 
may  have  been  that  of  a  younger  son  ;  and  if  so,  it  would  be 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  father  was  something  more 
than  forty-three  years  of  age.    If  then  we  assume  13S0  as  the 


!()()  F.CHTNGHAM    CHURCH. 


time  when  this  church  was  completed,  probably  that  would 
not  be  five  years  from  the  actual  date.10 

When,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Bodiam  Meeting,  in  July, 
1850,  many  members  of  the  Society  visited  this  church,  the 
necessity  of  some  measures  being  taken  to  prevent  a  further 
dilapidation  of  so  interesting  a  structure,  was  brought  to  their 
notice ;  and  to  this  may  be  attributed,  in  great  measure,  the 
facility  with  which  so  desirable  an  object  has  been  put  in  a 
fair  way  of  being  accomplished.  The  walls  were  found  to  be 
in  part  in  a  most  critical  situation,  some  of  the  higher  portions 
of  the  nave  being  not  only  as  much  as  fourteen  inches  out  of 
the  perpendicular,  thrust  out  from  the  decay  of  roof-timbers, 
but  also  shattered  and  broken  by  settlements.  The  reparation 
of  these  defects,  in  the  most  solid  and  substantial  manner,  but 
on  the  most  strictly  conservative  principles,  is  now  in  progress, 
so  that  we  may  well  hope  to  have  preserved,  to  future  ages, 
the  noble  gift  of  Sir  William  de  Echyngham,  which  our  ge- 
neration have  received  in  trust  for  the  benefit  of  themselves 
and  posterity. 

10  In  extending  this  memoir  I  have  been       sistance  in  the  genealogical  and  heraldic 
much  indebted  to  W.  H.  Blaauw,  Esq.,       portions, 
and  W.  S.  Walford,  Esq.,  for  valuable  as- 


SUSSEX    NOTES    AND    QUERIES 


CONTENTS. 


1.  Rye  Pillory  and  Cucking-Stool  (wood- 

cut). 

2.  Jeu  d'Esprit  of  temp.  King  Edw.  VI. 

3.  Oxford  Matriculations  of  Sussex  Men, 

1615-1640. 

4.  Sussex  Crusaders. 

5.  Bronze  Celts  at  Waldron  {woodcut). 

6.  Excavations,  &c,  at  Hastings. 

7.  Brass  of  John  Wybarne.     "  De  Pro- 

fundis." 

8.  Roman   Urn   found   near   Seaford 

(woodcvf). 


9.  Unappropriated   Arms    at    Boberts- 
bridge. 

10.  John  Browne,  Gent.  [cut). 

11.  Local  Mintages-Coin  of  Virius  (wood- 

12.  Sir  Giles  de  Braose. 

13.  Kent  and  Sussex  Posts,  1666. 

14.  Brass  at  Outburst. 

15.  Brambletye  Manor  and  Chapel. 

16.  Husbands  wanted  in  1700. 

17.  Objects  found  at  Lewes  and  Ringmer 

(woodcut). 
IS.  Corrigenda,  Vol.  VTIT. 


1.  Pillory  and  Cucking-Stool  in  Bye  Church. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1856,  I  made  a  sketeli  (from  which  the  subjoined 
woodcut  has  been  copied)  of  the  pillory  and  cucking-stool  then  remaining-, 


302  NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 

amidst  much  useless  lumber,  in  the  disused  portion  of  Rye  Church.  Some 
six  months  later,  on  visiting  the  church,  I  found  that  the  stool  had  disap- 
peared, and  on  inquiries  being  made,  by  my  friend  Charles  Hicks,  Esq.,  not 
only  was  it  not  forthcoming,  but  the  fact  of  its  having  ever  existed  was  posi- 
tively denied ! 

The  truth  is,  that  the  destroyers  did  not  know  what  a  cucking-stool  was, 
and  treated  as  so  much  firewood  what  was  doubtless  the  last  remaining  instru- 
ment of  torture  of  this  kind  in  Sussex.  The  pillory  was  better  understood, 
and  was  therefore  preserved. 

This  latter  machine,  which  measures  about  six  feet  in  height  by  four  in 
width,  is  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation.  It  consists  of  two  upright  posts 
firmly  affixed  to  a  platform,  and  has  two  transverse  rails,  the  upper  one  of 
which  is  divided  horizontally,  and  has  a  hinge  to  admit  of  the  higher  portion 
being  lifted  so  as  to  allow  of  the  introduction  of  the  culprit's  head  and  hands. 
Through  the  platform  and  the  lower  rail  there  are  round  perforations,  into 
which,  when  the  instrument  was  in  requisition,  an  upright  bar,  probably  of 
iron,  was  introduced,  so  as  to  allow  the  pillory  with  its  unfortunate  tenant  to 
be  turned  bodily  round  at  pleasure. 

The  cucking-stool  was  a  strong  square  frame-work  of  wood,  one  side  being 
left  open  for  the  introduction  of  the  offender,  who  was  secured  by  one  or  more 
cross  bars,  of  which  some  traces  of  the  fastenings  were  discernible.  Unfor- 
tunately, I  did  not  examine  this  "curule  chair"  (as  Butler  has  it  in  Hudibras) 
with  sufficient  care  to  ascertain  how  it  was  affixed  to  the  lever,  by  which  the 
occupant  when  duly  installed  was  "  ducked"  into  the  pool  or  river,  over  which 
it  was  suspended. 

The  pillory  is  a  punishment  of  very  ancient  date,  and  it  has  continued  in 
use  for  some  offences  down  to  the  present  century.  Indeed,  I  believe  that 
the  last  implement  of  this  species  used  in  Sussex  was  constructed  at  Lewes 
scarcely  fifty  years  ago,  for  the  punishment  of  a  person  or  persons  who  had 
aided  the  escape  of  a  prisoner  of  war.  If  I  am  correctly  informed,  it  was 
employed  upon  Fairlight  Down.  Throughout  the  middle  ages,  the  pillory 
was  used  in  all  corporate  towns  for  the  punishment  of  men  who  broke  the 
assize  of  bread  and  beer,  and  committed  such-like  small  acts  of  injustice 
against  the  commonweal.  It  was  constantly  associated  with  the  cucking- 
stool,  which,  when  the  culprit  was  a  woman,  was  always  resorted  to.  The 
curious  poem  on  the  times  of  Edward  II.  printed  in  Wright's  Political  Songs, 
(p.  345)  concludes  with  the  couplet — 

"  But  bi  seint  Jame  of  Galice  that  many  man  hath  souht ! 
Thepilory  and  the  cucMng-stol  beth  i-mad  for  noht." 

The  cucking-stool  was  also  used  as  a  punishment  for  scolds.  Gay,  in  his 
Pastorals,  styles  it — 

"  That  stool,  the  dread  of  every  scolding  quean." 

Perhaps  one  of  the  latest  records  of  its  employment  is  that  contained  in  the 
Evening  Post  of  April  27-30,  1745  :— "  Last  week  a  woman  that  keeps  the 
Queen's  Head  alehouse  at  Kingston  in  Surrey,  was  ordered  by  the  court  to  be 
ducked  for  scolding,  and  was  accordingly  placed  in  the  chair  and  ducked  in 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES.  363 

the  river  Thames,  under  Kingston  Bridge,  in  the  presence  of  2000  or  3000 
people."  (Brande's  Pop.  Ardiq.,  edit.  1842,  iii.  5x.)  The  cucking-stool,  with 
its  companion  the  pillory,  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  corporation  records 
of  Seaford.  (Sussex  Arch.  Coll.,  Vol.  VII.  p.  100,  &c.) 

Several  cucking-stools  of  different  forms  are  still  in  existence,  as  at  Leo- 
minster in  Herefordshire,  at  St.  Mary's  Church,  Warwick,  and  at  the  Custom- 
house, Ipswich.  The  last,  with  its  modus  operandi,  is  engraved  in  Gent.  Mag., 
Jan.  1831,  p.  42.  Much  very  curious  information  on  the  subject  is  also  to 
be  found  in  Brande's  Popular  Antiquities,  and  in  Mr.  Way's  valuable  Prompto- 
r/um  Parvulorum,  pp.  107,  281,  167. 

Mark  Antony  Lower,  F.S.A. 


2.  Jeu  d'Esprit  of  temp.  King  Edward  VI. 

A  Sussex  knight,  having  spent  a  great  estate  at  court,  and  reduced  himself 
to  one  park  and  a  fine  house  in  it,  was  yet  ambitious  to  entertain  the  Kiiig 
(Edward  VI.).  For  that  purpose  he  new  painted  his  gates,  with  a  coat  of 
arms  and  this  motto  over  them,  in  large  golden  letters — 

OIA  VANITAS. 

Sir  Anthony  Cooke  offering  to  read  it,  desired  to  know  of  the  gentleman  what 
he  meant  by  OIA,  who  told  him  it  stood  for  Omnia.  "I  wonder,"  replied 
he,  "  that,  having  made  your  Omnia  so  little  as  you  have,  you  should  yet 
make  your  Vanitas  so  large." 

Query. — What  is  the  source  of  this  anecdote,  and  who  was  the  vain  but 
imprudent  knight  referred  to  ? 

J.  G.  Nichols,  F.S.A. 

From  Chalmers's  Biographical  Dictionary: — "Edward  VI.,  in  1552,  went 
from  Guildford  to  Petworth,  Cowdray,  llolvenden  (?)  Warblington,  Waltham, 
Portsmouth." 

3.    Oxford  Matriculations,  1015—1640. 

jEdes  Chrisli. 

Nov.  8,  1616. — H alius  Ravenscroft,  Sussexiensis  armigeri  filius  natu  maxus 

anuos  nat.  16. 
Nov.  29,  1621.— Johes.  Byne,  Suthsexiee.  Eq.  fil.  2dus  an.  nat.  18. 
Feb.  7,  1627-8. — Rob.  Randall,  Southsex.  fil.  Roberti  Randall  de  Chichester 

in  com.  p'd.  pleb.  an.  natus  24. 
Feb.  24,  1631-2.— Robtus.  Moonk,  Sussex,  fil.  Roberti  Moonk  de  Stening  in 

com.  p'd.  sacerd.  an.  nat.  18. 
Nov.  3,  1637.— Johes.  Sackuill,  Sussex,  fil.  lus  Dni.  Thomae  Sackuill  de  Sels 

Combe  in  com.  p'd.  Militis  Balnej.  an.  nat.  17. 

Thomas  Sackuill,  Sussex,  fil.  2US  Dni.  Thomfe  Sackuill  de  Sels 

Combe  in  com.  p'd.  Militis  Balnej.  an.  nat.  15. 

Thomas    Summers:    Sussex,    fil.   jEgidij    Summers    dc    Sels 

Combe  in  com.  p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  19. 


364  NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 

Dec.  10,  1641.— Thomas    Ffarnfould,  Sussex,  fil.  2US   Tho.  Ffarnfould   de 

Stenning  in  com.  p'd.  Equitis  an.  nat.  15. 
Apr.  21,  1642.— Tlio.  Palmar,  Sussex,  fil.  Guil.  Palmar  de  Burgham  in  com. 
p'd.  Gen.  an.  nat.  16. 

Coll.  Magdalenense. 

Jan.  26,  1615  (16). — Richardus  Wardour,  Sussexiensis,  plebei    filius    anhos 

natus  19. 
Aprilis  26,  1616. — Gualterus  Bucklande,  Sussexiensis,  Armigeri  fil.  nat.  max. 

an.  nat.  17. 
Nov.  10,  1621. — Johes.  Turner,  Suthsex.  pleb.  fil.  an.  nat.  19. 
Mar.  18,  1624-5. — Nicholaus   Burton,  Sussexiensis,  filius  Edvardj  Burton  de 

Borne  in  com.  p'd.  Militis  an.  nat.  20. 
Nov.  2,  1627. — Tho.  Russell,  Suthsex.  fil.  Richj.  Russell   de  Hellinglee  in 

com.  p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  19. 

Alex.  Rogers,  Suthsex.  fil.  Henr.  Rogers  de  Selmiston  in  com. 

p'd.  sacerd.  an.  nat.  18. 
Mar.  2,  1631.— Johes.  Gallett,  Sussex,  fil.  Guliel.  Gallett  de  Mayfedd  in  com. 

p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  19. 
Octob.  12,  1632. — Mauricius  Rowlands,  Sussex,  til.  Maur.  Rowl.  de  Bersthead 

in  com.  p'd.  sacerd.  an.  nat.  16. 
June  28,  1633. — Guliel.  Pelham,  Suthsex.  til.  Johis.  Pelham  de  Arlingto.  in 

com.  p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  16. 

Guliel.  Beecher,  Sussex,  fil.  Gul.  Beecher  de  Wadhurst  in  com. 

p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  17. 
Oct.  10,  1634. — Guliel.  Stamer,  Sussex,  fil.  Gul.  Stamer  de  Yapton  in  com. 

p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  19. 
May  8,  1635. — Gualt.  Tomlinson,  Suthsex.  fil.  Rob.  Tomlinson  de  Trotton 

in  com.  p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  18. 
Nov.  18,  1636. — Daniel  Prichard,  Sussex,  fil.  Johis.  Prichard  de  Sellam  in 

com.  p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  18. 
July  7,  1637. — Robtus.  Alwin,  Sussexianus,  fil.  Gul.  Alwyn  de  Traford  in 

com.  p'd.  Gen.  an.  nat.  14. 
Octob.  20,  1637. — Richus.  Baskett,  Sussex,  fil.  Petri  Baskett  de  Chichester 

in  com  p'd.  Gen.  an.  nat.  14. 
Oct.  16,  1640. — Richus.  Lewis,  Sussex,  fil.  Richj.  Lewis  de  Parham  in  com. 

p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  18. 
Nov.  27. — Richus.  Turner,  Sussex,  fil.  Richj.  Turner  de  Ffletching  in  com. 

p'd.  pleb.  an.  nat.  17. 

Rev.  Philip  Bliss,  D.D. 


4.  Sussex  Crusaders. 

That  splendidly  embellished  work,  Dansey's  Crusaders,' professes  to  collect 
a  list  of  all  the  Crusaders  of  England  :  amongst  them  the  following  Sussex 
men  occur.  They  are  taken  from  "A  Roll  of  the  Names  and  Arms  of  Knights 
who  were  at  the  Siege  of  Acre,  under  Richard  the  Pirst,"  a  copy  of  which  is 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES.  365 

in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  the  original  being  in  the  Library  at  Surrenden- 
Dering,  in  Kent : — 

Robert  de  Pierrepoint,  who  bore  Azure,  a  chief  chequy  Or  and  Gules. 

Simon  de  Pierrepoint,  who  bore  chequy  Or  and  Gules  a  chief  Azure. 
[The  cross-legged  effigy  ni  the  south  transept  of  Hurstpierpoint  Church  is 
doubtless  intended  for  one  of  these.] 

William  de  Bodiham,  who  bore  Gules,  an  escotcheon  Argent  within  an 
orle  of  bezants. 

Bartholomew  (?  Bertram)  de  Esbornham,  who  bore  Gules,  afess,  in  chief 
three  mullets  Argent. 

Nicholas  de  Criell,  who  bore  party  perfesse  Or  and  Gules.  The  arms 
subsequently  borne  by  this  family  were  two  chevrons  and  a  canton.  Bobert 
de  Criol  was  owner  of  Ashburnham  at  the  Domesday  Survey;  a  century 
afterwards,  the  family  is  met  with  in  Leicestershire ;  and  from  the  time  of 
Henry  III.,  flourished  for  some  generations,  in  great  splendour,  in  Kent. 

de  Covert,  who  bore  a  fess  Ermine  between  three  mullets  Or.   [The 

cross-legged  effigy  of  one  of  this  family  in  Sullington  Church,  engraved  in 
Cartwright's  Bramber,  represents  this  individual.] 

Kalph  de  Stopham,  who  bore  Argent  three  crescents  Gules,  a  canton  of  the 
last.  [According  to  Harleian  MS.  4031,  p.  162,  a  similar  coat  was  borne 
by  the  family  of  Battesford  of  East  Sussex,  viz.,  Argent,  three  crescents  Gules, 
a  canton  Sable ;  and  the  same  charges  were  borne  by  Cooke  of  Rustington.] 

By  the  following  extract  from  the  Abbreviate  Placitorum,  temp.  John 
(pp.  26,  30),  it  appears,  Henry  Turpin,  a  Sussex  landowner,  accompanied 
Richard  I.  to  the  Holy  Land  : — 

"  Inquisitores  dicunt  quod  Rex  Henricus  dedit  Henrico  Turpin,  qui  tunc 
fuit  ejus  Camerarius,  terram  de  Strethampton,  qui  illam  tenuit  totam  vitam 
suam,  et  quousque  Rex  Ricardus  iter  arripuit  versus  Jerusalem,  et  Henricus 
iter  arripuit  cum  rege  Ricardo,  et  tunc  venit  Gaufridus  ffiius  Acii,  et  Agnes 
uxor  ejus,  et  clamaverunt  terram  illam,  et  pro  defectu  Henrici,  qui  tunc  fuit 
cum  reo-e  Ricardo,  recuperaverunt  terram  illam;  et  tunc  misit  Wilkelmus 
Turpin  filius  Henrici  ad  regem  apud  Meschines,  et  recuperavit  per  brevem 
Reo-is  seisinam  suam  sicut  hseres  predicti  Henrici,  et  tenuit  illain  tempore 
Re°is  Ricardi,  quousque  Comes  Williehnus  de  Arundel  eum  disseissivit  per 
violentiam  quia,  scivit  quod  Rex  Ricardus  malevolentiam  habuit  versus  eundem 
Willielmum.    Williehnus  Turpin  habeat  seisinam  quam,"  &c. 

A  Mathew  Turpin  is  mentioned  in  the  same  record,  temp.  John,  in  the 
county  of  Wilts ;  and  a  Mathew  occurs  frequently  in  the  next  reign,  for  the 
same  county,  in  the  Testa  de  Nevill. 

A.D.  1166,  Silvester  de  Alisi  (Alisay,  near  Rouen)  held  half  a  knight's  fee 
in  Yorkshire,  for  the  heirs  of  —  Turpin  (Liber  Niger). 

Du  Chesue  in  his  Histo ire  de  la  Maison  de  Montmoreuci,  mentions  a  family 
of  Turpin  who  bore  lozengy  for  arms.  This  was  the  bearing  of  the  ancient 
Counts  of  Angouleme,  one  of  whom,  named  Turpion,  lived  m  the  ninth  or 
tenth  century— doubtless  the  patriarch  of  the  family. 

The  Sussex  family  of  Tuppen  were  probably  descended  from  the  famdy  ot 

Henrv  Turpin  the  Crusader. 

„     .  .l     .  ,  W.  S.  Ellis. 

Hurstpierpoint. 


366 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 


5.  Discovery  of  Five  Bronze  Celts  at  Waldron. 


t    A 


In  the  course  of  last  year,  five 
bronze  celts  were  found  in  close 
proximity  to  each  other  on  the 
farm  called  Little  London,  in  the 
parish  of  Waldron.  Tbey  are 
evidently  the  products  of  the 
same  mould,  as  they  agree  in 
every  particular;  and  they  are 
nearly  equal  as  to  the  state  of 
preservation.  I  had  some  diffi- 
culty in  procuring  this  one  from 
the  finder,  as  he  was  inclined  to 
have  it  fixed  to  a  handle,  in  order 
to  have  the  honour  of  being  the 
possessor  of  the  "oldest  iceeding- 
spud in  Sussex" !  The  engraving- 
is  reduced  one  half.  The  celts 
are  all  in  my  possession. 

W.  Harvey,  E.S.A. 


6.  Excavations  at  Hastings. 

In  the  autumn  of  last  year,  the  Countess  of  Waldegrave  and  her  tenant, 
Mr.  Waters,  kindly  allowed  me  to  dig  on  the  East  Hill  at  Hastings.  My  motive 
for  making  the  request  was,  that  some  ten  years  back  I  had  seen  a  map  of 
Sussex  in  the  library  of  Chichester  Cathedral,  of  very  ancient  date,  where  on 
the  East  Hill  was  depicted  Avhat  appeared  to  be  a  tower.  I  had  often  desired 
to  excavate  the  spot,  and  last  autumn  I  set  to  work  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
I  was  disappointed,  not  having  found  any  tiling  to  throw  light  upon  the  probable 
date. 

The  building  appears  to  have  stood  east  and  west,  if  I  may  judge  from  the 
foundations  of  a  wall  opened  by  me  for  about  100  feet,  which  terminated,  at 
the  western  end,  in  an  angular  bend  towards  the  south  to  the  cliff. 

I  cut  trenches  across  the  hUl  within  the  wall,  and  the  first  day  came  to  a 
cist  or  coffin,  roughly  built  of  Caen  stone,  covered  with  two  slabs  of  Tilgate 
stone,  but  it  contained  no  remains.  After  this,  human  bones  were  continually 
thrown  out  at  the  depth  of  eighteen  inches  and  two  feet,  but  no  more  remains  of 
coffins.  At  the  west  end  in  the  curved  portion,  the  bodies  had  been  laid  very 
close,  so  as  almost  to  have  touched  each  other.  These  were  very  perfect,  and 
lay  about  two  feet  beneath  the  surface;  lower  still,  about  3^  to  4  feet,  I  found 
several  bodies,  each  on  a  layer  of  charcoal  of  about  two  inches  in  depth,  run- 
ning the  whole  length  of  the  body,  and  by  the  right  ribs  of  each  were  what 


NOTES     AND    QUERIES.  3G7 

appeared  to  be  iron  rivets,  having  a  head  at  eaeh  end  abont  the  size  of  a  half- 
penny, in  number  abont  five  or  six,  besides  several  large-headed  nails  roughly 
made.  Under  the  head  of  each  was  an  oyster-shell,  on  which  the  scull  ap- 
peared to  rest.  Three  of  the  sculls  rested  on  a  hollow  boulder  from  the  sea- 
shore, neatly  paved  round  with  small  pieces  of  sand-rock,  also  from  the  sea- 
shore (being  perforated  with  shellfish) ;  and  these  seemed  to  have  undergone 
the  action  of  fire  in  that  spot,  but  the  skeletons  had  not.  Two  or  three  of  the 
jawbones  appear  to  have  been  divided  by  a  shai'p  instrument.  These  I  have 
preserved,  together  with  a  scull  of  extraordinary  thickness,  the  bone  being 
to  inch  in  the  section.  The  number  of  skeletons  brought  to  light  could  not 
be  less  than  forty,  and  there  remain  one  or  two  more  near  the  edge  of  the  cliff, 
resting  on  a  layer  of  charcoal,  which  I  have  not  disturbed.  A  small  flint 
arrow-head  was  found  within  the  wall.  The  two  or  three  coins  found  are  of 
modern  date,  and  were  near  the  surface.  Part  of  the  splay  of  a  window  (Caen 
stone)  I  have  also  with  me. 

Our  town  drainage  has  brought  little  to  light,  except  a  great  number  of 
coins,  apparently  from  the  Continent.  The  men  take  too  great  care  of  the 
silver  and  gold  ones,  fearing  that  the  corporation  would  keep  them,  if  shown 
to  any  one,  without  reward.  They  have  come  across  some  very  strong  masonry 
in  George  Street,  at  some  distance  outside  the  old  wall.  I  have  had  a  draw- 
ing made,  and  as  they  progress  I  visit  daily,  and  hope  to  be  able  to  discover 
what  it  was  intended  for.  I  think  at  present  it  is  the  remains  of  the  draw- 
bridge abutments. 

A  seal  has  been  lately  found,  six  or  seven  feet  below  the  surface  of  Church 
Street,  Hastings,  in  digging  for  the  drainage.  I  fancy  the  design  on  it,  engraved 
both  on  the  fiat  top  of  the  handle,  and  again  below,  may  be  a  merchant's  mark, 
and,  being  found  on  the  spot  where  the  silk-mercers  of  Hastings  carried  on 
their  manufactory,  I  think  it  not  improbable  that  it  may  have  belonged  to  one 
of  them.  The  name  on  it  seems  to  be  Jervis  Sterenberch.  The  hole  through 
the  centre  of  the  stem  seems  to  denote  that  it  was  attached  to  something.  The 
metal  appears  to  be  brass. 

One  fine  gold  coin,  weighing  3  dvvts.  1 0  grs.,  has  been  brought  to  me  as 
being  Chinese  or  Indian,  dug  up  near  Hastings.  It  is  clearly  British,  of  the 
period  immediately  succeeding  Csesar's  invasion,  rudely  imitating  the  Roman 
coins,  which  exhibit  a  horse  and  chariot  on  one  side,  and  the  Emperor's  head 
on  the  other.  It  very  nearly  resembles  one  found  near  Worthing,  belonging  to 
the  late  Mr.  Dixon,  and  described  by  him  at  p.  26,  Vol.  I.  of  Sussex-  Archmol. 
Coll.,  where  see  figs.  7  and  9. 

Feb.  13,  1857.  Thomas  Ross,  Mayor  of  Hastings. 


7.  Brass  of  John  Wybarne,  Vol.  VIII.  pp.  22,  27,  28. 

De  Profundis,  not  a  mass ;  which  may  not  be  said  at  any  hour  by  night  as 
well  as  by  day.  De  Profundis  is  the  i*30th  Psalm.  Except  on  the  night  of 
Christmas  Eve,  mass  is  never  allowed  to  be  said,  or  at  least  commenced,  after 

midday. 

The  Very  Rev.  M.  A.  Tierney,  F.S.A. 


308 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 


8.  Roman  Urn  found  near  Seaf  or d. 

Having  been  a  member  of  the  Sussex  Archaeological  Society  from  its  com- 
mencement, when  we  were  few  in  number, 
although  now  to  be  counted  by  hundreds, 
I  trust  I  may  be  excused  if  I  now  state 
the  facts  with  respect  to  the  finding  of  a 
Roman  urn,  or  vase,  under  the  following 
circumstances ;  though  they  have  previ- 
ously been  brought  to  the  notice  of  a  few  1 
of  our  members. 

On  a  fine  day  last  summer,  a  young  lad 
from  Alfriston,  went  on  a  pleasurable  ex-  j 
cursion  to  the  seaside,  near  that  place,  i 
viz.,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cuckmere  river,' 
where  by  accident  he  observed  the  object  j 
herein  described. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  river,  and  at 
a  short  distance  from  it,  there  had  been  a ! 
recent  fall  of  the  chalky  cliff  with  the  superincumbent  mould  (which  extends 
there  to  several  feet  in  thickness),  in  a  portion  of  which  the  subject  of  this 
detail  was  partially  exposed  to  view. 

The  young  man  at  first  sight  was  in  the  hope  that  he  had  found  a  "  crock 
of  money,"  and  in  his  haste  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  supposed  hidden  treasure, 
broke  the  vase  into  several  pieces  ;  however,  not  finding  it  to  contain  what  he  | 
expected,  an  afterthought  occurred  to  him,  that  the  crock  itself  was  something 
curious  and  belonging  to  the  "olden  time,"  so,  instead  of  giving  way  to  des- 
pair, he  set  about  collecting  the  fragments,  which  he  afterwards  took  home 
with  him,  and  they  next  came  into  my  possession,  when  I,  without  much 
difficulty,  restored  the  relic  to  its  pristine  appearance.  It  measures  9£  inches 
high. 

I  send  a  drawing  of  the  object  alluded  to.     On  an  ancient  Greek  coin  of 
the  isle  of  Thasos,  the  same  identical  form  of  an  urn  occurs. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  account  for  the  deposition  of  the  urn  on  the  spot 
where  it  was  found,  nor  am  I  disposed  to  conclude,  with  Mr.Verrall,  that  the] 
city  of  Anderida  was  in  this  locality  (see  Horsfield's  Hist  i.  51);  yet,  fromi 
the  number  of  urns  and  coins  (see  Vol.  "VII.,  page  74,  Sussex  Arch.  Coll.) 
which  have  been  discovered,  together  with  the  encampment  on  the  cliff  between 
Seaford  and  Cuckmere,  it  was  evidently  a  site  of  some  importance  in  the  time 
of  the  Romans. 

Milton  Court,  Feb.  11.  Chaules  Ade. 


9.   Unappropriated  Arms  at  Robertsbridge  Abbey. 

In  Vol.  VIII.  page  172,  there  is  mention  made  of  "a  carved  frag- 
ment of  a  stone  shield,  bearing  two  fleurs-de-lis  above  a  leopard's  face"  as 
having  formerly  existed  among  the  monumental  remains  of  this  abbey. 
This  coat  of  arms  was  also  formerly—/,  e.  at  the  time  of  Philpot  and 
Owen's  Visitation  of  Sussex,  a.d.  1634,  who  recorded  them  (Cartwright's 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES.  3G9 

Bramber  Rape,  p.  354-),  with  others,  in  the  east  window  of  Horsham  Church. 
The  14th  and  last  on  the  list  is  : — Quarterly,  of  4  ;  1  and  4,  Gules  a  lion's 
(leopard's)  face  Or  in  base,  and  two  fleurs-de-lis  Or  in  chief;  2  and  3,  Argent, 
three  leopards'  faces  sable.  The  12th  is  Argent  a  chevron  engrailed  between 
three  leopards'  faces  Gules,  the  coat  of  Halsham,  of  which  family,  with  these 
bearings,  there  are  two  brass  monuments  in  Western  Sussex,  where  they  were 
settled  as  early  as  19  Edward  II.  or  III.,  at  which  period  Andrew  Peverel,  by 
charter,  made  a  grant  of  land  to  Robert  de  Halsham,  whose  seal,  a  chevron 
engrailed  between  three  leopards'  faces  jessant  de  lis,  is  appended  (Add. 
Charters,  Brit  Mus.,  No.  8826).  There  is  no  evidence  for  the  statement  in 
Cart wright,  that  Hailsham  in  Sussex  furnished  this  family  with  their  name ; 
it  is  more  probably  a  branch  of  the  Lincolnshire  race,  whose  name  was  va- 
riously spelt  Helsham,  Halsam,  &c,  who  bore  the  same  and  similar  armorial 
bearings,  and  who  took  their  family  designation  from  Ellesham,  in  that 
county.  The  three  leopards'  faces  quartered  in  the  coat  in  Horsham  Church, 
and  the  separate  coat  of  two  fleurs-de-lis  and  a  leopard's  face  in  the  same  win- 
dow, were  probably  variations  borne  by  different  branches  of  this  family;  and 
the  existence  of  the  latter  in  Kobertsbridge  Abbey  may  be  accoiinted  for 
from  the  fact  of  an  intermarriage  which  took  place  between  the  Halshams  and 
Combes,  which  latter  were  benefactors  to  the  abbey. 

Hurstpierpoint.  W.  S.  Ellis. 


10.  John  Browne,  Gent. 

In  1780  appeared  a  work  in  two  respectable  Svo  volumes,  entitled  A 
New  and  Complete  Abstract  of  the  History  of  England ;  London,  J.  Wade, 
Fleet  Street.  The  list  of  subscribers  contains  a  very  large  proportion  of 
Sussex  names,  and  the  Dedication  is  dated  from  "  Newham,  near  Stcyning, 
Oct.  1,  1780,"  and  signed  "John  Browne."  As  I  have  found  it  a  very 
handy  book  of  reference,  I  am  anxious  to  know  something  of  the  author,  his 
history,  position  in  life,  &c. 

Makk  Antony  Lower,  F.S.A. 


11.  Local  Mintages. 

On  the  obverse  of  this  coin,  which  is  now  in  my  possession,  and  in  veiy 
fine    condition,   is    pillelm    kext. 
"  The  Saxon  P  is  used  for  W.  The  I 
at  the  end  of  the  King's  name  does 

.t  a  portion    \K*~"\\\  \       $Ba,iHir~ 
of  the  letter  A  for  Anglie."  (Hawkins,     WW^P&/  %$$&**$% 


not  indicate  a  numeral,  but  a  portion 


p.  78).      The  type  is  known  to  col-      ^^U^  ^§5kWW 

lectors  as  Raiding,  plate  1,  No.  13,  ^=s£=^ 

and  Hawkins,  No.  243.  It  is  considered  somewhat  rare.  The  place  of  mintage 
renders  this  coin  of  great  interest,  particularly  to  the  Sussex  Archaeologist, 
Stening  not  having  hitherto  been  known  to  have  possessed  that  privilege.  The 
Sussex  mints  recorded  by  Ruding  are  those  at  Chichester,  Hastings,  Lewes, 
Pevensey,  and  Winchelsea.  The  mint  at  Chichester  is  first  mentioned  a.d.  928  ; 
and  coins  of  the  following  monarchs  struck  there  are  still  in  existence,  viz.  : 

ix.  -  47 


370  NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 

Ethelred  the  Second,  Cnut,  Harold  the  First,  Edward  the  Confessor,  Harold 
the  Second,  William  the  First,  Henry  the  First,  and  Stephen. 

Hastings. — One  money er  was  allowed  to  this  town  by  Athelstan,  and  coins 
remain  of  Cnut,  Edward  the  Confessor,  Harold  the  Second,  William  the 
Second,  and  Henry  the  First. 

Lewes  must  have  been  a  place  of  considerable  note  in  the  reign  of  Athelstan, 
who  allowed  to  it  two  moneyers ;  but  none  of  his  coins  of  this  mintage  are 
now  known.  Specimens  exist  of  Eadgar,  Edward  the  Martyr,  iEthelred  the 
Second,  Cnut,  Edward  the  Confessor,  Harold  the  Second,  William  the  First, 
William  the  Second,  Henry  the  First,  and  Stephen. 

Pevensey. — William  the  Conqueror. 

Winchelsea. — Eadgar. 

Coin  of  Virius,  same  as  Berious,  mentioned  by  Dion  Cassius  ;  purchased  at 

the  sale  of  Augustus  Langdon,  Esq. 

Among  the  coins  of  the  Conquest,  men- 
tioned in  Archceol.  xxvi.  p.  14,  is  one  stnig, 
^C  J — (  If^fslsJ    I      another  steni.    These  are  referred  to  Step- 
is* 'SC^     V  *       ney*     ^ne   moneyer's   name  is    Dvrben. 
The  paper  is  by  Mr.  Hawkins. 

The  privileges  of  these  mints  appear  to  have  ceased  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
the  Third,  and  there  are  no  coins  of  them  extant  later  than  the  reign  of 
Stephen. 

Godalming.  Richard  Whitbourn. 

12.  Sir  Giles  de  Braose  (VIII.  p.  102). 

Sir  Giles  de  Braose,  obiit.  1305.  His  effigy  lies  in  the  belfry  of  Horton 
Church,  co.  Dorset,  where  he  had  property.  The  arms  on  his  shield  are, 
"crusilly,  a  lion  rampant  charged  on  the  shoulder  with  a  fleur  de  lis,"  agree- 
ing with  those  ascribed  to  him  in  the  Roll  t.Edw.II.  He  left  a  son,  Thomas, 
then  a  child,  who  probably  died  young  and  issueless. 

13.  Kent  and  Sussex  Posts,  1666. 

In  the  London  Gazette,  No.  93,  for  October,  1666,  is  a  notice,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  great  fire  of  London,  that  the  Kent  and  Sussex  Post  Office, 
formerly  kept  at  the  round-house  in  Love  Lane,  was  removed  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  John  Dyne,  in  the  passage  to  and  from  Tower  Hill,  near  the  pump  in 
Crutched  Friars.  Wm.  Durrant  Cooper. 

14.  Brass  at  Nuthurst  Church. 

A  brass  has  lately  been  discovered  in  this  church.  It  consists  of  a  plate 
imbedded  in  a  slab  of  Petworth  marble,  measuring  about  five  feet  in  length, 
and  three  in  breadth.  There  are  indents  of  a  chalice  and  paten,  but  the  metal 
is  gone.     The  inscription  is  as  follows  : — 

HHc  jacet  djom(a)s  ffrensje,  qtto(n)tiam  Ecctor  tstt(us) 
rccl(es)te  qui  ofotjt  x  lite  mensis  Sqjtemforts  anno  ti(omi)ni 
fHtll(es)into   cccclxxxbj*     Cujttis  antme  prouictctur  ecus* 

&mc(tt)*  James  G.  Smither. 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES.  371 


15.  Brambletye  Manor  and  Chapel. 

In  addition  to  the  notices  already  given  (ante,  p.  140),  it  may  be  stated, 
that  the  chapel  existed  as  early  as  Edward  I.,  when  the  manor  and  right  of 
patronage  to  the  chapel  were  vested  in  the  Aldham  family.  The  first  of  that 
family  was  Baldwin  de  Aldham,  who  succeeded  to  his  Surrey  estates  as  heir 
to  his  mother  Isabella  de  la  Haye,  who  was  heir  of  William  de  Montacute. 
On  Baldwin's  death,  his  widow,  Nicholaia,  held  the  hamlet  and  patronage  of 
the  chapel,  with  knights'  fees  in  Buckhurst,  Burton,  and  Burne.  (Close  Roll, 
21  Edw.  I.  m.  6  dors,  &c.)  Francis  Aldham  forfeited  his  property  in  15th 
Edw.  II.  (1322) ;  and  Brambletye,  Laverty,  and  other  property,  were  granted 
on  15th  April,  1326,  to  Pancius,  of  Controne,  the  King's  physician,  for  life, 
to  secure  his  annuity  of  £100  per  annum  so  long  as  he  should  stay  in  this 
country ;  and  he  must  have  been  an  especial  favourite  with  Edward  III.  as 
well,  since  it  appears,  by  the  accounts  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  (Camd.  Soc, 
pp.  193-213),  that  he  was  also  physician  to  that  king,  and  in  1338  occupied 
the  appropriate  church  of  Templeguyting,  Gloucestershire,  and  the  manors 
of  Gutyng  and  of  Broadwell  (Oxon),  worth  200  marcs,  which  had  belonged 
to  the  Templars,  and  had  not  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Hospitallers.  For 
the  following  evidence  of  the  grant  of  Brambletye,  our  Society  is  indebted  to 
the  Rev.  Lambert  B.  Larking,  M.A.,  of  Ryarsh. 

"  Rex  omnibus x  ad  quos,  &c,  salutem.  Sciatis  quod  cum  nuper  concesseri- 
mus  dilecto  clerico  et  medico  nostro  magistro  Pancio  de  Controne,  centum 
libras  ad  scaccarium  nostrum  annuatim  percipiendas  quamdiu  moram  faceret 
in  regno  nostro ;  et  nos  postmodum,  secundo  die  Julii,  anno  regni  nostn 
quintodecimo  (1322),  in  allocationem  dictarum  centum  librarum  annuarum, 
et  pro  bono  servicio  quod  prsefatus  magister  Pancius  nobis  impenderat  et  ex- 
tunc  impenderet  in  futurum,  dederimus  ei  et  concesserimus  pro  nobis  et  hsere- 
dibus  nostris  manerium  de  Chiselbergh,  cum  pertinentiis  in  Comitatu  Somerset, 
et  manerium  de  Brembelteigh  et  Lavertie,  cum  pertinentiis  in  Comitatu  Sus- 
sexie,  qua?  fuerunt  Francisci  de  Aldham  nuper  inimici  et  rebellis  nostri,  et  ma- 
nerium de  Plescis,  cum  pertinentiis  in  comitatu  Hartford,  quod  fuit  Bar- 
tholomei  de  Badelesmere  nuper  similiter  inimici  et  rebellis  nostri,  et  quae  per 
forisfacturas  eorundem  Francisci  et  Bartholomei  ad  manus  nostras  tanquam 
esceata  nostra  devenerunt.  Habenda  et  tenenda  eidem  magistro  Pancio,  ad 
totam  vitam  suam,  de  nobis  et  heredibus  nostris  ac  alns  capitabbus  dominis 
feodorum  illorum,  per  servicia  quae  de  eisdem  maneriis  debebantur  antequam  ad 
manus  nostras  devenerunt.  Ita  quod  si  maneria  prsedicta,  cum  pertinentiis, 
ad  valorem  annuum  centum  librarum  excedant,  tunc  idem  magister  1  ancius 
id  quod  illam  summam  excesseriwi  nobis  et  heredibus  nostris  ad  scaccarium 
nostrum  solvat  annuatim.  Ita  etiam  quod  maneria  prsedicta  post  mortem 
pradicti  Pancii  ad  nos  et  heredes  nostros  integre  revertantur,  prout,  in  Mens 
nostris  patentibus  inde  confectis,  plenius  continetur.  Nos,  volentes  eidem 
magistro  Pancio  uberiorem  graciam  facere,  in  hac  parte,  concessimus  eidem 
magistro  Pancio  omnia  feoda  militaria  ad  maneria  praadicta  pertinentia 
habenda  et  tenenda  ad  totam  vitam  suam,  una  cum  wardis,  mantagus, 
releviis,  proficuis  quffi  de  dictis  feodis  post  prsedictum  secundum  diem  Jiilu 
acciderunt.      Ita   quod  de  exitibus  et  proficuis  inde  provementibus  nobis 

1  Rot,  Fin.  19  Edw.  II.  m.  5. 


372  NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 

respondeant  ad  scaccarium  nostrum.     In  cujus,  &c. — T.  R.  apud  Kenilworth, 
xv  die  Apiilis  (1326)  per  ipsum  Regem." 

From  Palgrave's  Parliamentary  Writs  (vol.  ii.  part  1,  pp.  291-294),  we 
learn  that  two  men  of  note  in  Sussex,  F«  ncis  de  Aldham  (whom  Fabyan  calls 
Waldenhani)  and  Bartholomew  de  Asshebumham,  were,  with  the  Earls  of 
Lincoln  and  Hereford,  at  the  battle  of  Boroughbridge,  16th  March,  1322, 
and  there  taken  prisoners.  Having  attacked  the  King's  troops,  Aldham  was 
sentenced  at  Windsor,  and  Ashburnham  at  Canterbury,  to  be  drawn  for  the 
acts  of  treason,  and  hanged  for  the  homicides  and  robberies,  committed  by 
them.  This  sentence  was  executed  on  Aldham  at  Windsor,  and  on  Ashburn- 
ham at  Canterbury.  Bartholomew  de  Badlesmere,  of  Leeds  Castle,  was  with 
the  barons  up  to  the  burning  of  Burton-upon-Trent,  on  10th  March.  He 
fled,  but  was  captured,  and  sentenced,  at  Canterbury,  to  be  drawn  for  the 
treason,  to  be  hanged  for  the  robberies  and  homicides,  and  further,  to  be 
beheaded  for  his  flight ;  and,  inasmuch  as  he  was  the  King's  seneschal,  it  was 
the  King's  will  that  his  head  should  be  spiked  upon  the  gate  of  the  city  of 
Canterbury,  as  a  warning  to  others. 

Wm.  Durrant  Cooper. 

16.  Scarcity  of  Husbands  in  Sussex  in  1700. 

The  following  letter  from  Sir  John  Pelham  to  Charles  Montague,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Halifax,  presents  rather  a  sombre  picture  of  Sussex  society.  Sir  John 
was  at  the  ripe  age  of  78,  and  the  lady  in  whose  favour  he  interested  himself 
was  his  grand-daughter  Lucy,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Edward  Montague,  of 
Horton,  Northampton  (Lord  Halifax's  brother),  and  of  Sir  John's  eldest 
daughter,  Elizabeth.     The  original  is  in  the  Egerton  MS.  929,  fol.  30. 

"Sir,  "  Nov.  ye  2d,  1700. 

"  I  should  be  much  at  a  losse  to  find  an  excuse  for  giving  you  this 
trouble,  had  I  not  something  more  then  the  desire  of  begging  your  favour  to 
be  some  time  in  your  thoughts  for  my  plea.  You  have  often  appeared  for- 
ward in  shewing  your  kindnes  to  your  neeces,  and  particularly  to  Lucy  M., 
that  is  now  with  me ;  what  I  have  now  to  request  of  you  is  purely  my  own 
private  thoughts,  without  the  knowledge  (of)  any  body.  We  are  here  in  a 
barren  part  of  England  for  husbands,  which  you  may  judge  by  there  not  being 
any  proposal!  made  to  one,  who  I  think  deserves  very  well.  If  you  meet 
with  any  that  you  judge  fitt  for  her,  tho'  the  fortune  be  but  moderate,  you 
would  by  it  ad  one  more  to  your  many  kind  and  gracious  actions  already 
taken  notice  of  by  "  Sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 
"  To  the  Honble.  Charles  Montagu,  Esq.,  "  J.  Pelham. 

Auditor  of  the  Exchequer,  Westminster." 

When  this  considerate  suggestion  was  made,  the  lady  had  not  attained  her 
twenty-second  year,  having  been  born  on  15th  May,  1679.  Nor  did  she  long 
pine  in  single  blessedness ;  for,  though  it  was  then  so  "barren  a  part  of  Eng- 
land for  husbands,"  Sussex  could  boast  of  one  fit  for  a  lady  who  "  deserved 
so  well."  She  married,  in  1702,  John  Morley  Trevor,  of  Glynde  Place,  and 
presented  him  with  three  sons  and  nine  daughters,  from  one  of  whom,  Ger- 
trude, the  present  owner  of  Glynde  Place  is  descended. 

Wm.  Durrant  Cooper. 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 


373 


1 7.  Objects  found  at  Lewes  and  Ringmer. 

No.  1,  is  a  small  armorial  escutcheon  found  in  the  excavations  in  the 
Priory  of  St.  Pancras,  at  Lewes,  in  the  year  1S4-5  :  it  is  of  copper,  and  the 
face  has  been  covered  with  silver ;  the  dark  portions  are  deep  blue  enamel ; 
the  shield  Gules,  two  keys  in  saltire  Argent :  these  arms  I  am  unable  to  ap- 
propriate.    It  is  now  in  my  possession. 

Similar  escutcheons  were  exhibited  to  the  Archaeological  Institute,  and  are 
engraved  in  the  3rd  volume  of  the  Journal,  p.  79.  Two  are  described  as  having 
been  found  in  the  remains  of  Newark 
Priory,  Surrey  ;  several  as  having  been 
in  the  collection  of  the  Dean  of  St. 
Patrick ;  two  in  the  collection  of  M. 
Sauvageot,  at  Paris  ;  a  curious  example 
in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  Walter 
Sneyd ;  and  it  is  stated  that  "  ena- 
melled escutcheons,  of  this  fashion 
and  dimensions,  are  appended  to  the 
consecrated  Rose  presented  to  the  Count 
of  Neufchatel  by  the  Pope,  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  now  in  the  possession  of 
Colonel  Theubet." 

"These  ornaments  appear,  however, 
to  have  been  appended  to  the  trappings  1. 

or  harness  of  horses.  In  a  MS.  preserved  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
there  is  a  drawing  which  represents  a  charger  thus  caparisoned ;  the  peytrell, 
or  breastband,  has  a  row  of  these  scutcheons  appended  to  it  all  round  the 
horse's  breast." 

In  the  third  volume  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  p.  133, 
are  engravings  of  somewhat  similar  escutcheons,  found  at  Salisbury,  in  illus- 
tration of  a  letter  from  W.  S.  Walford,  Esq.,  to  Sir  Henry  Ellis,  read  Dec.  21, 
1854. 


No.  2,  is  a  ring  of  very  pure  gold,  found  in  the  autumn  of  last  year,  in 
the  parish  of  Eingmer,  near  Lewes.  It  weighs  5  dwts.  6  grs.,  and  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  John  Tattersal  Auckland,  Esq.,  E.S.A. 

Among  the  objects  found  in  Cuerdale,  in  May,  1840,  are  several  articles 
of  very  similar  make ;  and  in  a  paper  by  Albert 
Way,  Esq.,  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Journal  of 
the  Archceoloyical  Institide,  on  "Ancient  Armillse 
of  Gold,  recently  found  in  Buckinghamshire  and 
in  North  Britain ;  with  Notices  of  Ornaments  of 
Gold  discovered  in  the  British  Islands,"  opposite 
page  58,  are  representations  of  rings  of  the  same 
description  of  workmanship. 

William  Figg,  F.S.A. 


874 


NOTES    AND    QUERIES. 


18.  Corrigenda,  Vol.  VIII. 

Page  129,  1.  8,  for  virginals,  read  gittern. 

211,  note  26,  for  Thomas  Allen,  read  John  Allin. 

214,  note  34,  for  1593-6,  read  1493-6  ;  and  for  1549-40,  read 

1549-50. 
233,  1.  11,  for  Hooper,  read  Forster. 
251,  1.  16,  for  WorpleshflOT,  read  don. 
—  1.  25,  dele  after  fit\Errj[iaT&,  Iter,  or  insert  or. 
258,  note  21,  quotat.  altered  from  Horat.  Epist.  1.  iv.  end. 
322,  1.  7  from  bottom,  for  1759,  read  1793. 
336,1.3  —  for  Geo.  II.  in  1427,  read  1727. 


INDEX   TO   VOL.  IX. 


A. 

Adams,  Theophilus  and  Robert,  grant  of 
Bayham  Abbey  to,  181. 

Abbey  of  Bayham,  particulars  of,  145 ; 
Cumbwell  in  Goudhurst,  148;  of  Bat- 
tle, grants  to,  276-7 ;  of  Robertsbridge, 
grants  to,  279,  368. 

Abbots  of  Bayham,  list  of,  179. 

Ade,  Charles,  Roman  urn  found  at  Sea- 
ford,  367. 

Alchorne  family,  rebus  of,  212;  notices 
of,  and  possessions,  220. 

Aldham,  Francis  de,  of  Brambletye,  taken 
in  arms  at  Boroughbridge  in  1322,  and 
executed,  371. 

Allin,  John,  vicar  of  Rye,  uthor  of  letters 
on  Plague,  57. 

Altar  stone  found  at  Rottingdean,  67. 

Amber  cup  found  in  tumulus  at  Hove, 
119, 121. 

Angelic  figure  on  chalice,  307. 

Apostate,  or  offending  Brethren,  removed 
from  Bayham,  165. 

Apse  in  Newhaven  church,  95. 

Aquilla,  Richer  de,  founds  free  chapel  in 
Maresfield,  41. 

Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  Edmund, 
1234,  152  ;  Peckham,  1292,  217  ;  Shel- 
don, 1673,  219. 

Ardingley  subsidy,  1621,  87. 

Arms  of  Tawke,  14,  n.;  Miller,  33  ;  Vinall, 
75,  n.;  Engfield  or  Infield,  88,  n.  j 
Kidder  of  Maresfield,  135  ;  on  tomb  of 
Bishop  Kidder  at  Wells,  136  ;  Warnett 
of  Hempstead,  216 ;  Egles  of  Copwood, 
216;  Saunders,  216;  Beverley,  216; 
Alchorne,  220;  Bodiham,  277;  War- 
dens, 282;  Dalyngrugge,286;  Lewknor, 
292;  Newton,  339,  and  quarterings, 
342  ;  Noyes,  340 ;  Echingham  on  vane 
of  church,  349,  on  brass  in  church,  with 
quarterings,  353-4,  in  windows,  356  ;  in 
Robertsbridge  Abbey,  368. 

Arundel  Castle,  account  of  the  taking  of, 


in  Jan.  1643-4,  51 ;  Roman  station  of, 
112. 

Assheburneham,  Bartholomew  de,  taken 

in  arms  at  Boroughbridge,  1322,  and 

executed,  371. 
Astorn,  Lady  Matilda,  a  nun,  examination 

of,  17. 
Auckland,  J.  T.,  P.S.A.,  has  a  gold  ring 

found  at  Ringmer,  373. 
Augustine  abbey  of  Cumbwell,  in  Goud- 

hurst,  148. 

B. 

Badlesmere,  Bartholomew  de,  attainted 
and  executed,  1322,  371. 

Bailiffs  of  Ashdown,  Kidders,  126;  Sir 
W.  Durant,  126. 

Balcombe  subsidy,  1621,  82—87. 

Baptist  disputation  in  Waldron  church, 
34. 

Barcombe  hundred  and  parish  subsidy, 
1621,  74. 

Barhud,  meaning  of,  a  trunk,  255. 

Bartholomew,  St.,  Hospital  at  Rye,  9. 

Bartley  in  Bayham  manor,  177. 

Basset,  Lucy,  daughter  of  Sir  William,  3. 

Battle  Abbey,  grants  of  Bodiham  family 
to,  276,  277. 

Bayham  Abbey,  145—181 ;  Premonstra- 
tensian,  145  ;  situation  of,  145  ;  Mar- 
quis of  Camden's  mansion,  145  ;  abbey 
mill,  145  ;  remains  of  refectory  and  dor- 
mitories, 145  ;  of  abbey  church,  146  ; 
erected  by  Sir  Robert  de  Turneham, 
temp.  Rich.  I.,  146 ;  lines  on  founder, 
]47 ;  died  14th  John,  147  ;  remarkable 
passage  in  his  military  career,  147  ;  also 
founds  Cumbwell  Abbey  in  Goudhurst, 
148  ;  joins  with  Ela  Sackville,  formerly 
Ela  de  Dene,  in  uniting  at  Bayham  the 
small  houses  of  Brockley  and  Otteham, 
148 ;  particulars  of  those  two  houses 
149 ;  her  descendants  patrons  of  new 
house,  149  ;  about  1200,  manor  of  Beg- 


376 


INDEX. 


ham  assigned  to  new  abbey,  150;  first 
called  Beaulieu  Abbey,  dedicated  to  the 
Virgin  Mary,  150  ;  grants  of  lands  to, 
151;  building  commenced,  152;  still 
in  progress  in  1234,  152;  indulgence 
from  Edmund  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 152  ;  autograph  charters  existing, 
153  ;  and  chartulary,  153 ;  market  con- 
firmed, 1326,  154;  grants  of  lands  to, 
154,155;  valuation  in  1527,  156;  ex- 
changes, 157;  benefactions  conferred, 
157  ;  the  abbot  and  convent  make  con- 
cessions to  Simon  Payn  and  Emma  his 
wife,l  58 ;  privileges  resembling  corrodies, 
160  ;  agreement  between  Cistercian  and 
Premonstratensian  orders,  160 ;  desira- 
ble in  consequence  of  vicinity  of  Ro- 
bertsbridge,  161 ;  manumission  of  vil- 
leins, 161 ;  income  in  1291, 162 ;  a  grant 
in  1526  toWolsey,  162  ;  lease  in  1522, 
163  ;  visitations,  163  ;  in  1478,  by  Prior 
of  Hales  Owen,  164,  Richard  Redman, 
Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  1482—1488, 165  ; 
injunctions  issued,  166  ;  visitations  and 
injunctions  in  1491,  167 ;  visitations, 
1494,  167;  in  1497,  and  pimishment 
of  apostatse,  168  ;  in  1500  and  1503, 
169 ;  abbots'  names  at  visitations,  170 ; 
they  took  little  part  in  public  transac- 
tions, 170 ;  Bull  exempting  abbot  from 
taking  part  in  Papal  commissions,  1227, 
171 ;  but  in  1454,  Abbot  Thomas  holds 
an  assembly  of  English  abbots  of  the 
order,  171;  they  had  five  churches  — 
West  Greenwich,  172,  Helburgh,  172, 
Hailsham,  which  gives  rise  to  great  dis- 
putes, 173,  settled,  and  provision  made 
for  strewing  the  church,  175,  Pembury 
church,  176,  Newington  and  Marden 
churches,  177 ;  suits  of  law  with  the 
abbots,  177 ;  Mathew  Scot  ejected  by 
his  houses  being  pulled  down,  177 ;  but 
renouncing  his  right,  receives  50s.  as  a 
favour,  178 ;  visits  of  Edw.  I.,  Edw.  II., 
and  Saint  Richard  of  Chichester,  178  ; 
list  of  abbots,  179;  Sackville  family 
buried  at,  178 ;  house  suppressed  in 
1526,  179 ;  no  seal  existing,  179 ;  site 
granted  to  Wolsey  for  his  colleges  at 
Oxford  and  Ipswich,  179;  distress 
caused  by  suppression,  180 ;  the  canons 
replaced  by  a  riotous  assemblage,  180  ; 
in  1530,  property  reverted  to  crown, 
180 ;  till  granted  25th  of  Elizabeth  to 
the  Adams  or  to  Anthony  Brown,  Vis- 
count Montague,  181 ;  sold  by  Ambrose 
Brown,  under  act  of  1714,  to  Chief  Jus- 
tice Camden,  and  now  vested  in  his 
descendants,  181. 
Bayeux,  Philip  de  HarcourK  Bishop  of, 
1142,  247. 


Bcag  or  beg,  meaning  of,  145. 

Beaulieu,  first  name  of  Bay  ham  abbey,  149. 

Bellfry  at  Newhaven  church,  94. 

Bell  remaining  at  Easebourne,  31 ;  silver 
to  be  fought  for  by  schoolboys  at  Wreay, 
184;  passing-bell  rung,  196 ;  inBuxted 
church,  with  inscription,  213. 

Benedictine  Nunnery  at  Easebourne,  1. 

Bernelius,  family,  grants  to  Templars, 
258,  259. 

Berwick,  rent  of  land  in,  belonging  to  the 
Templars,  243. 

Biden  days,  or  bederepe,  work  done  for 
lord  at  harvest-time,  252. 

Bigod,  Juliana,  relict  of  Hugh,  149. 

Billinghur3t,  celts  found  at,  116. 

Bishops:  of  Bath  andWells,  Richard  Kid- 
der, 125  ;  Bayeux,  Philip  de  Harcourt, 
247 ;  Chichester,  St.  Richard,  178,  Sef- 
frid  II.,  257,  Reade,  7,  Praty,  7,  visi- 
tations by,  9,  Reginald  Peacock,  10, 
Story,  14,  Arundel,  17,  Robert  Sher- 
burn,  21,  61,  Bowyer,  91,  Langton, 
266 ;  Hereford,  Richard  de  Swinfield, 
10 ;  St.  Asaph,  Richard  Redman,  163. 

Blaauw,  W.  H.,  E.S.A.,  Notice  of  Bene- 
dictine Nunnery  of  Easebourne,  1 ; 
Translation  of  Injunctions  to  Prior  and 
Convent  of  Boxgrove,  1518,  61;  the 
Preceptories  of  the  Knights  Templars  in 
Sussex,  227;  communications  by,278,n., 
360  n. 

Blaise,  St.,  Boxgrove  church  dedicated  to, 
and  fair  on  his  day,  225. 

Blencowe,  R.  W.,  communication   from, 

101  n. ;  extracts  from  Journal  of  Walter 

Grale,  schoolmaster  at  Mayfield,  1750, 

182. 

Bliss,  Rev.  Philip,  D.D.,  on  matriculations 

of  Sussex  men  at  Oxford,  363. 
Blockendon,  Master,  disputes  church  of 

Hailsham  with  Bayham,  173. 
Bodiam  and  its  Lords,  275—302 ;  at  time 
of  Norman  survey,  275;  tenants  as- 
sumed name  of  de  Bodenham,  275  ; 
grants  of  family  to  Battle  Abbey,  276, 
277;  pedigree  of,  277;  notices  of  family, 
277,  279 ;  William  de  Bodiam,  inscrip- 
tion for,  280 ;  his  heiress  Margaret  car- 
ried the  estate  to  the  Wardeux  family, 
281 ;  brass  of  a  knight  of  Bodiam  fa- 
mily, 281 ;  arms  and  pedigree  of  War- 
deux, 282;  heiress  marries  Sir  Edward 
Dalyngruge,  builder  of  the  castle,  283  ; 
notices  of  Wardeux,  283—285  ;  church 
of  Bodiam,  285 ;  inscriptions,  286 ; 
origin  of  the  Dalyngrugge  family,  286 ; 
arms  and  crest,  286;  pedigree,  287; 
castle  of  Bodiam,  287,  297—302 ;  Sir 
Edward  Dalyngrugge,  exploits  of,  288  ; 
license  to  build  castle  in  1392-3,  290 ; 


INDEX. 


377 


his  son,  Sir  John,  291 ;  whose  niece  and 
heiress,  Philip  pa,  carried  the  estate  to 
the  Lewknors,  292  ;  they  take  opposite 
sides  in  Wars  of  Eoses,  293  ;  Sir  Chris- 
topher adheres  to  diaries  I.,  and  castle 
dismantled  by  Waller,  29 i ;  after  Re- 
storation, Bodiara  vested  in  Tuftons, 
and  passes  from  them  to  the  Webstcrs, 
and  then  to  the  Fullers,  295;  the  Bother 
formerly  navigable  to  Bodiham,  296  j 
descrijDtion  of  castle,  297  ;  view  of  bar- 
bican, 297  ;  shields  over  principal  gate- 
way, 298 ;  groined  ceiling,  298 ;  inte- 
rior apartments,  299  ;  octagonal  chim- 
neys, 300 ;  towers,  300  ;  windows  in, 
301 ;  ground-plan,  301 ;  earthworks  in 
castle  held,  302. 

Bohun,  John  de,  founds  Easebourne  Nun- 
nery, 2  j  endowment  by,  4;  Francis  held 
land  in  Midhurst  temp.  Richard  L,  2; 
tolls  of  Midhurst  market  commuted  by 
John,  1439,  3 ;  Inquest  on  death  of 
John,  1481,  3 ;  his  widow  Cecilia  and 
heir  John,  3. 

Bolney  subsidy,  1621,  84. 

Bolting  wyches,  11. 

Boroughbridge,  battle  of,  Sussex  men 
taken  at,  370. 

Boxgrove,  visitation  at,  9  ;  priory  visita- 
tion of,  1518,  61,  66;  chuivh  identical 
with  priory  church,  226 ;  notes  respect- 
ing, from  a  survey,  1570,  223-226;  free- 
holders, copyholders,  and  leaseholders, 
225 ;  Stempe  family,  225 ;  fair  on  St. 
Blaise's  day,  225 ;  instructions  touch- 
ing manor,  225  ;  manor-house,  226  ; 
vicarage,  226. 

Brarnbletye,  chantry  of,  139—144;  manor 
in  Aklhams  till  1322,  371 ;  forfeited  for 
treason  of  Francis  Aldham,  taken  pri- 
soner at  Boroughbridge,  372  ;  granted 
to  Pancius,  the  king's  physician,  for  life, 
371 ;  part  of  possessions  of  St.  Cleres, 
1435,  139 ;  holden  of  Duchy  of  Lan- 
caster, 139  ;  passed  to  eldest  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  married  William  Lovell,  and 
then  Richard  Lewknor,  140;  buried  at 
East  Grinstead,  140;  probable  founders 
of  this  chantry,  140 ;  stated  to  have 
been  dissolved  by  Lord  Windsor,  140 ; 
became  property  of  John  Farnham,141; 
sold  to  Lord  Buckhurst,  141;  Katherine 
Pycas  disputes  title,  and  attempts  to 
prevent  livery  and  seizin  by  force,  141; 
and  then  complains  of  seditious  words 
spoken,  141. 

Braose  family  at  Buxted,  218 ;  William  de 
confirms  gift  by  Philip  Harcourt  to  Tem- 
plars, 246  ;  and  arranges  terms  between 
Templars  and  Monks  of  Sele,  248 ;  con- 
firms grant  of  his  mother  of  land  at 

ix. 


Bramber,  249  ;  and  grant  of  church  of 
Sumpting,  256  ;  Sir  Giles,  effigy  of,  369. 

Brasses,  monumental,  in  Buxted  church, 
214  ;  Bodiam  church,  281 ;  Echingham 
church,  352,  353  ;  JohnWybarne,  368; 
Nuthurst  church,  370. 

Brenchley,  Blechenden,  &  Matfield,  farms 
in,  151  n. ;    Matfield  Green,  155. 

Brighthelmstone  subsidy,  1621,  78. 

British  settlement  at  Nutbourne  Common, 
notice  of,  109 ;  remains  found  in  Sussex, 
116  ;  at  Hove,  119. 

Brockley,  in  Deptford,  house  of  Premon- 
stratensians  founded,  149  ;  particulars 
of,  149 ;  joined  with  small  house  of  Otte- 
ham  at  Bayham,  149. 

Broomfield  family,  notice  of,  85. 

Browne,  Katherine,  daughter  of  Sir  Tlios., 
178;  Anthony Visct.  Montagu,  grant  of 
Bayham  to,  181;  Ambrose  Browne,  sale 
by,  181. 

Browne,  John,  gent.,  1780,  who  ?  368. 

Buckhurst,  Thomas,  Lord,  141. 

Bull  of  capacity  to  Easebourne,  19 ;  of 
exemption  of  Abbot  of  Bayham  from 
taking  part  in  Papal  commissions,  1227, 
171 ;  of  Clement  VII.,  for  drafting  ca- 
nons from  Bayham,  179 ;  Pope  Alexan- 
der to  Templars,  1256,  227 ;  ClementV,, 
in  1312,  dissolving  that  order,  274. 

Burwash  church,  disputation  between  a 
Quaker  and  the  Vicar  at,  34. 

Bury  Hill,  parliamentary  army  encamped 
on,  51. 

Buttinghill  hundred,  north  part,  subsidy, 
1621,  80 ;  south  part,  82. 

Buxted  church,  notes  on,  208—222; 
mainly  Early  English,  208;  ground-plan 
dimensions,  208  ;  nave,  209  ;  north  and 
south  aisles,  209;  font,  208;  north 
transept,  209  ;  chancel,  210 ;  east  win- 
dow early  decorated  period,  210;  pis- 
cina, 210  ;  depressed  arch  as  canopy  of 
sedilia,  210  ;  chancel  built  1292,  211 ; 
decorated  with  leaves,  &c.  of  hops,  211; 
south  chantiy,  212  ;  memorial  window 
for  C.  C.  C,  Earl  of  Liverpool,  212 ; 
north  porch,  212 ;  rebus  of  Alchorne 
family,  212  ;  tower  Early  English,  213  ; 
bells  with  inscription,  213;  church  chest 
of  oak,  213;  yew-tree,  large,  214;  mo- 
numental remains  in  brass,  Sir  Jolian 
de  Lewes,  rector,  214;  Britellus  Avenel, 
rector,  215  ;  Christopher  Savage  and 
his  son  Robert,  rector,  215 ;  Edward 
Lindsay,  215 ;  Deonicius  Slon,  216 ; 
Thomas  Smith,  216;  JohnWarnett,with 
arms,  216  ;  figures  probably  of  John 
Attewell  and  Isabella,  216  ;  tablets  and 
hatchments  for  Waldo,  Medley,  and 
Jenkinson  families,  216  ;  arms  of  Egles 

48 


37b 


INDEX. 


of  Copwood,  Saunders,  Warnett,  and 
Beverley,  216 ;  ecclesiastical  notices, 
216 ;  taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  217  ; 
rector  to  find  subdeacon  for  church  of 
Mailing, 217;  grant  forfoundiug  chapel 
at  Geldridge,217;  registers  begin,  1567, 
217 ;  parish  feast,  or  yon  faull,  217 ; 
hospital  of  Lord  de  Say  founded,  217 ; 
charities  of  Anne  Smith,  218,  Thomas 
Pownde,  218,  John  Langworth,  219 ; 
list  of  rectors,  219  ;  dispute  as  to  pa- 
tronage between  Langworth  and  Swale, 
1620,  219  ;  Dr.  Saunders  founds  school 
at  Uckfield,  219  ;  notices  of  Alchorne 
and  Weston  families,  220  ;  Pelhams  of 
Kendall,  221;  their  mansion- house,221; 
Nonse  returns,  221  ;  proposed  restora- 
tion of  church,  222. 

C. 

Camber  castle,  fees  of  officers,  108. 

Cambridge  in  America,  Kidder  family, 
from  Maresfield,  in,  137- 

Camden,  Marquis  of,  mansion  at  Bayham 
Abbey,  145 ;  purchased  by  his  great- 
grandfather, 181. 

Camehide,  Norman  legend  of,  278  n. 

Castles,  officers'  fees  of,  Camber,  108 ; 
Petworth,  108  ;    Bodiham,  296. 

Celts  found  at  Billinghurst,  116 ;  Hove, 
122 ;  Waldron,  365. 

Chace  of  Ashdowne,  41, 125  ;  Walberton, 
108. 

Chailey  subsidy,  1621,  86. 

Chalice,  enamelled,  found  atRusper  priory, 
303. 

Chaloner,  family  of,  Lindfield,  notices  of, 
330. 

Chantries  of  Brambletye,  140,  370 ;  in 
East  Grinstead  church,  140n.;  in  Ech- 
ingbam  church,  348  n. 

Chanels,  free,  of  Maresfield, 41 ;  Dudeney, 
43;  Brambletye,  141,  371;  Uckfield, 
208 ;  Gildridge,  near Crowborough,  217; 
Saint  Rooks,  or  Roches,  224 ;  Sadeles- 
combe  and  Shoreham,  233, 236 ;  Cnapp, 
249 ;  Cocham,  259. 

Charters  and  chartulary  of  Bayham  pre- 
served, 154;  and  of  Templars,  234. 

Chest,  oak,  in  Buxted  church,  213. 

Chichester  {see  Bishops),  commissioners 
for  subsidy,  1514-15,  104—1640,  105  ; 
fees  of  officers  of  port,  temp.  Elizabeth, 

107  ;  value  of  bishoprick  and  deaneries, 

108  ;  assizes  at,  1279,  231 ;  mintage  at, 
369. 

Chiddingly,  Burghill  in,  33,  36. 

Churches :  descriptions  of  Easebourne,27; 
Denton,  96;  Newhaven,  89;  Yainville, 
Normandy,  92;  abbey  of  Bayham,  146 ; 


Buxted,  208;  Bodiham,  285;  Eching- 
ham,343;  Rye,  pillory  and  cucking-stool 
in,  361 ;  Nuthurst,  brass  at,  370. 

Cistercian  order  and  Premonstratensians, 
agreement  between,  160;  Robertsbridge 
abbey,  161. 

Civil  war,  proceedings  in  Sussex,  49  ;  dis- 
pute with  Lewes  committee,  50 ;  cap- 
ture of  Arundel  castle,  1643-44,  51 ; 
one  portion  of  the  county  addresses 
Lord  General  Fairfax  in  1647,  the  other 
the  Parliament,  54 ;  Vincent  Kidder 
joins  army,  135 ;  Waller  dismantles  Bo- 
diham and  other  castles,  294. 

Clarke,  Dr.  Edward  Nathaniel,  the  travel- 
ler, of  Busted,  220. 

Clayton  subsidy,  1621,  83. 

Cnapp,  in  Shipley,  tithes,  248;  chapel, 
249. 

Coberts,  or  iron  cleavers,  11. 

Cocliam,  chapel  of  St.  Peter  at,  given  to 
Templars,  and  disputes  as  to,  259 ; 
agreement  as  to  services  there,  260. 

Cockram,  Captain,  notice  of,  51. 

Cocks  shied  at,  184;  fighting,  notices  of, 
184  n. 

Coins,  Roman,  found  at  llangleton,  124  ; 
British,  at  Hastings,  367  ;  Saxon,  369. 

Commissioners  for  subsidy,  1621,  51  — 
1512,  1514-15,  103—1496-97,  1503-4, 
1640,  104—1660,  106. 

Counte,  Simon  le,  grants  to  Templars, 235. 

Compton,  advowson  of,  6,  12 ;  in  Firle, 
land  is  given  to  Templars,  241 ;  manor 
of,  in  Tottenore,  also  given,  and  dis- 
puted, 241 ;  valuation  of,  in  1308,  242. 

Conand,  Lady  Fredeswyda,  a  nun,  exa- 
mination of,  19. 

Conjugatus,bond  servant,  or  married  man? 
17. 

Conjuror  attends  master  of  Mayfield 
school,  188,  191 ;  profession  of,  188. 

Cooper,  Rev.  George  Miles,  History  of 
Abbey  of  Bayham,  145. 

Cooper, William  Durrant,  E.S.A.,  extracts 
from  MSS.  of  Samuel  Jeake,  by,  45 ; 
the  chantry  of  Brambletye,  and  sedition 
in  Sussex,  temp.  Eliz.,  1579,  139,  370 ; 
communications  from,  180  n,  278  n. ; 
Kent  and  Sussex  posts,  1666,  370 ; 
scarcity  of  husbands  in  Sussex,1700, 371. 

Corrigenda  to  Vol.  V1IL,  373. 

Cotton,  W.,  F.S.A.,  description  of  Bodi- 
ham Castle,  302. 

Coulton,  John,  chaplain  in  Parliamentary 
army,  under  Captain  Cockram,  letters 
from,  relating  to  fight  at  Bury  Down, 
the  capture  of  Arundel  Castle,  1643-44, 
and  other  contests  in  Sussex,  49. 

Crackelynge,  Lady  Johanna,  a  nun,  exa- 
mination of,  18. 


INDEX. 


379 


Cradocke,  Lady  Cecilia,  a  nun,  examined, 
23    ^6 

Crawley  subsidy,  1621,  82. 

Cranbrook,  manor  of,  in  Bay  ham  Abbey, 
151. 

Cricket  matches,  in  1751,  between  May- 
field  and  Burwash,  198  ;  in  1759,  May- 
field  and  Wadhurst,201 ;  in  1760,  May- 
field  and  Lindfield  and  Chailey,  202. 

Crioi  family,  notice  of,  346. 

Cross  family,  notice  of,  159. 

Crown  officers  in  Sussex,  fees  temp.  Eliza- 
beth, 107,  108. 

Crusaders,  Sussex,  by  W.  S.  Ellis,  364. 

Cuckfield  subsidy,  1621,80;  school-rules 
enforced  at,  185  ;  park  of  the  Says  at, 
233. 

Cucking-stool  in  Eye  church,  361. 

Cuddingtou  family,  notice  of,  82. 

Culpeper,  Sir  Wm.,  presents  Sussex  peti- 
tion, 1647,  56. 

Cumbe,  Matthew  de  la,  grants  to  Tem- 
plars, 238. 

Cumbwell  Abbey,  in  Goudhurst,  founded 
by  Sir  Robert  de  Turneham,  148. 

Gup,  amber,  found  at  Hove,  119,  121 ; 
enamelled,  found  at  Eusper,  303. 

Cyprus,  Isle  of,  Sir  Eobert  de  Turneham 
at  expedition  against,  147  ;  appointed 
governor  of,  148. 

D. 

Dalyngruge,  Sir  Edward,  marries  heiress 
of  Wardeux,  and  builds  Bodiam  Castle, 
283;  origin  of,  286;  arms  and  crest, 
286;  pedigree,  287;  exploits  of  Sir 
Edward,  288;  his  son,  Sir  John,  291. 

Davenport  family,  notice  of,  317  n. 

Day,  John,  now  owns  Burghill,  36  n. 

Death,  presages  of,  clock  striking  twice, 
and  crickets  coming  to  house,  191 ;  tes- 
timony of,  200 ;  fulfilled,  203. 

Dene,  Ela,  daughter  of  Ealph  de,  marries 
Jordan  Sackville,  and  is  patroness  of 
Bayham  Abbey,  147. 

Denton,  notes  on  church,  89 ;  Pope  Ni- 
cholas' taxation,  96—101 ;  Nonae  roll, 
96 ;  Valor  Ecclesiasticus,  96  ;  number 
of  communicants,  and  patronage  of, 
1603,  97  ;  state  of,  1686,  97  ;  Bishop 
Bowyer's  visitation,  1724,  97;  dedi- 
cated to  St.  Leonard,  97  ;  description 
of,  97  ;  font,  98  ;  inscription,  98. 

Ditchelling  subsidy,  1621,  86. 

Dobell  family,  notice  of,  73,  75  n. 

Dreams,  superstitious,  in  Sussex,  189. 

Duddleswell,  remains  of  free  chapel  at,  44; 
East  Grinstead  chantry  endowed  out  of 
manor,  140  n. 

Dudeney  free  chapel,  view  of,  43,  44  ;  re- 


mains supposed  to  be  found  at  Dud- 
dleswell, 44. 

Dunstan,  St.,  relics  of,  at  Mayfield,  in- 
cluding tongs  with  which  he  pinched 
the  devil's  nose,  187. 

Durant,  Sir  (Wm.?)  Walter,  bailiff  of 
Ashdowne,  126. 

E. 

Easebourne,  Benedictine  nunnery  of,  1 — 
32;  founded  by  John  de  Bohun,  2; 
modern  founder,  Sir  David  Owen,  3; 
Lucy  Bassett  admitted  a  sister,  3 ;  Pope 
Nicholas'  Taxation,  1292,  value  in,  3— 
in  1342,  3  ;  in  subsidy  roll  of  1380,  4 ; 
endowment  by  Sir  John  de  Bohun,  1327 
and  1332,  4 ;  by  Kalph  de  Wolbedyug, 
5  ;  lease  from  prioress,  1362,  5;  licenses 
to  endow,  1332,  1386, 1409, 4—6 ;  en- 
dowment by  Lewes  priory,  6 ;  visita- 
tions of,  1402, 1441,  7  ;  report  of  debts 
and  excessive  expenses  of  prioress,  7  ; 
injunctions  given  to,  8,  19,  24 ;  survey 
and  inventory,  1450,  10  ;  notice  of,  in 
1456,  13  ;  visitation  of  1478,  14;  sup- 
posed abduction  of  nuns,  17  ;  examina- 
tions of  nuns,  17  ;  jewels  pledged,  19 ; 
exempted  from  subsidies,  20 ;  visitation 
of,  1521,  20— of  1524,  24 ;  views  of,  1, 
27,  30, 31 ;  Sir  David  Owen  builds  gal- 
lery in  choir  of  church,  28  ;  suppressed 
in  1536,  28;  surrender  of  29;  site 
granted  to  Sir  Wm.  Fitzwilliam,  29; 
remains  of,  29;  Queen  Elizabeth  re- 
ceived at,  by  Lord  Montague,  1591,  31 ; 
bells  remaining,  sketch  of,  31 ;  seal  of, 
described,  32 ;  list  of  prioresses,  32. 

Eastbourne,  Roman  remains  at,  156. 

Eastden  park  at  Halnaker,  224. 

East  Grinstead,  Sackvil'e  college,  129: 
subsidy  call  for,  129  ;  Kidder,  family  of, 
129 ;  Bishop  Kidder  born  at,  130 ; 
Brambletye  chantry  and  manor,  139, 
370  ;  Lanertye  park,  140  ;  monument 
of  Katherine,  widow  of  Richard  Lewk  • 
nor,  at,  140;  she  provided  ornaments 
for  church  and  endowed  almshouse,  140; 
chantry  in  church  founded  by  William 
Hellingdale,  140  ;  patronage  of  church 
appropriated  to  Lewes  priory,  140. 

East  Mascalls  in  Lindfield,  notices  of, 
312—342.  . 

Echingham  church,  notices  ot,  by  Wil- 
liam Slater,  343—360;  site  of,  343; 
by  some  supposed  to  be  French  work, 
347:  ground-plan,  348;  sacristy  or 
chantry,  remains  found,  348,  n. ;  vane 
with  arms  of  Echingham,  349;  windows, 
351 ;  font  351 :  original  encaustic  fcilee, 
351-  brasses,  352;  arms  in  windows, 
356  ;  date  of  building  assumed  to  be 


380 


INDEX. 


1380, 359  ;  visit  of  Sussex  Society  to,  in 
1856,  360. 

Echingham,  family  of,  343—346;  arms 
in  vane  on  church,  349  ;  brasses  of,  352. 

Edward  I.,  visit  to  Bayham,  178. 

Edward  II.,  visit  to  Bayham,  178 ;  trea- 
son of  Francis  Aldham  and  Bartholo- 
mew Ashburnhara  at  Boroughbridge, 
371 ;  grant  to  Paneius,his  physician,370. 

Edward  III.,  descendants  of,  135. 

Edward  VI.,  Jeu  d'Esprit  of  temp.,  363. 

Ejectment  by  pulling  down  houses,  Abbot 
of  Bayham' s,  177. 

Elections  at  Rye  in  1661,  56 ;  1683  and 
1685,  49,  n. ;  Liverpool,  1670,  60,  n. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  entertained  at  Ease- 
bourne,  1591,  31 ;  fees  of  officers  of 
crown  in  Sussex  during  her  reign,  107 ; 
sedition  in  Sussex,  1579,  139 ;  has  site 
of  Bayham  abbey,  and  grants  it,  181. 

Elliott,  John,  of  Sedlescomb,  39. 

Ellis,  W.  S.,  on  subsidy  roll  for  rape  of 
Lewes,  1621, 71 ;  Sussex  crusaders,  364  ; 
unappropriated  arms  in  Robertsbridge 
abbey,  368. 

Endowment,  license  of,  4,  6. 

Engfielcl  family,  notice  of,  and  arms,  88. 

Ernley  family,  notice  of,  314,  n. 

Escotcheons  found  at  Lewes,  372. 

Eton  College,  ram  provided  to  be  knocked 
at  head  by  scholars,  185 ;  injunctions 
for  building,  186,  n. 

Eu,  Earl  of,  territory  given  to,  by  William 
275. 

Everard  family  of  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia,  descended  from  the  Kidders 
of  Maresfield,  133. 

Examinations  of  nuns,  17,  23,  25,  against 
persons  charged  with  using  seditious 
words,  1579, 142  ;  of  Knights  Templars 
in  1309,  268—271. 

F. 

Fair  at Wadhurst,  sweethearts  and  maiden- 
heads bought  at,  198;  on  St.  Blaise's 
day,  at  Boxgrove,  225. 

Falmer  subsidy,  1621,  77. 

Farncombe  in  Patcham  given  to  Templars, 
237. 

Farnham,  John,  sells  Brambletye  chapel, 
141. 

Farnfolde,Lady  Johanna,  a  nun,  examined, 
23. 

Farnhurst,  chapel  of,  12. 

Feast,  parish,  called  yon  faull,  at  Buxted, 
217. 

Fees  of  officers  of  the  crown  in  Sussex, 
temp.  Eliz.  107,  108. 

Figg,  William,  F.S.A.,  on  escotcheons 
found  atLewes,and  ring  atRingmer,373. 

Fishersgate  half  hundred,  79. 


Fitz  william,  Sir  William,  obtains  site  of 
Easebourne,  29. 

Font  of  Maresfield  free  chapel,  43;  in 
Denton  church,  98;  Buxted  church, 
209 ;  Echingham,  351. 

Ford,  Jeremiah,  of  Herstmonceux,  38. 

Framfield  church, Horsted  chancel  in,  197. 

Frant,  Bayham  Abbey  partly  in,  145. 

Freeland,  J.  B.,  extracts  by,  from  the  Epis- 
copal Eegister,  Sherburn,  61. 

Freemen  to  be  made  at  Eye  to  turn  elec- 
tion, 59. 

Frewen,  Morton,  owns  and  lends  Jeake's 
MSS-,  45. 

Friend  of  Brighton  family,  38. 

Fuller,  John,  purchases  Bodiara,  now 
vested  in  Aug.  Eliot  Fuller,  295. 

Fuller,  Mrs.,  of  Waldron,  34. 

Fur  trimmings  worn  by  prioress  and 
bishops,  10. 

G. 

Gale,  Walter,  schoolmaster  at  Mayfield, 
extracts  from  journal  of,  182—207 ; 
appointed  29th  June,  1750,  182  ;  rules 
for  our  old  grammar-schools,  183  ;  sa- 
lary £16,  raised  to  £18 — no  perquisites, 
184 ;  no  shying  at  cocks,  fighting  for 
silver  bell,  or  potation  pence,  181;  nor 
barring  out  schoolmaster,  nor  knocking 
ram  at  head,  nor  charge  for  rods,  185  ; 
nor  garlands  to  be  worn  as  in  schools 
of  Skinners'  Company,  186 ;  Gale,  a 
bachelor,  lived  with  mother  at  Coggin's 
Mill,  186;  part  of  church  partitioned 
off  for  school  till  room  built,  186;  Gale's 
dream  of  matrimony,  186;  had  been 
an  officer  of  excise,  and  dismissed,  187 ; 
relies  of  St.Duustan  at  Mayfield,  187; 
takes  notes  of  sermons,  188 ;  conjuror 
comes  to  him,  188;  Gooding  on  St. 
Thomas's  day,  189  ;  draws  a  bed-quilt, 
190 ;  writes  tombstones  and  paints 
signs,  191 ;  presages  of  his  sister's  death, 
191 ;  attends  the  funeral,  and  funeral 
sermon  preached,  192 ;  number  of  scho- 
lars fixed  at  21,  193 ;  sign  reared  on 
Shrove  Tuesday,  193 ;  his  cousin  Vine 
a  superstitious  schoolmaster,  and  in- 
structs scholars  in  power  and  malevo- 
lence of  Satan,  193;  said  to  dwell 
among  tombstones  inHeathfield  church- 
yard, 193  ;  Gale  agrees  to  paint  com- 
mandments in  church  for  £2,  194 ; 
3  anchors  of  smuggled  brandy  seized, 
194;  trials  of  Sussex  smugglers  in  1748, 
194,  195  ;  epitaph  of  Daniel  Scales,  a 
notorious  smuggler,  195 ;  books  read 
by  Gale,  196;  passing  bell  rung,  196; 
attends  Mr.  Godman's  funeral,  197; 
at  a  cricket  match,  198  ;  Wadhurst  fair, 


INDEX. 


381 


198  ;  draws  a  waistcoat,  198  ;  writes  a 
poem  on  journey  of  the  Bakers  to 
Bristol,  198 ;  afterwards  published  in 
newspaper,  199  j  ill  of  measles,  198  ; 
visits  Withyham  church  and  Penshurst, 

199  ;  is  attacked  in  1758  by  Master 
Kent,  200  ;  and  proposes  to  go  to  a 
school  at  Ticehurst,  200  ;  testimony  of 
a  death  in  his  family,  200  ;  wishes  for 
place  as  furnace  clerk,  201  ;  old  Kent 
in  liquor,  201 ;  Wadhurst  against  May- 
field,  cricket  match,  201 ;  children  exa- 
mined, 201 ;  an  abstract  of  Christian 
Schoolmaster  Instructed  lentand  abused, 
201 ;  bled  in  foot  for  rheumatism,  202 ; 
cricket  match,  Mayfield  against  Lind- 
field  and  Chailey,  202  ;  slips  from  a 
bank  on  road  home  from   Wadhurst, 

202  ;  sermon  on  5th  of  November,  202  ; 
mother  dies  agreeably  to  testimony,  203; 
carried  to  Fram  field,  and  buried,  203  ; 
procures  a  certificate  of  good  conduct, 
and  license  from  bishop  as  schoolmaster, 

203  ;  quarrel  with  Kent  for  sending  an 
additional  free  boy,  204  ;  becomes  hop 
assistant  at  Rotherfield,  204 ;  complains 
of  closeness  of  school-room,  204  ;  starts 
on  his  round  as  hop  assistant,  and  falls 
from  his  horse,  205  ;  is  better  and  drinks 
raisin  wine,  205 ;  during  his  absence, 
beer  brought  into  school,  and  complaint 
made  of  it,  206 ;  and  of  his  teaching, 
but  the  boys  are  extremely  dull,  206 ; 
Sussex  boys  have  not  "pregnant  wit" 
of  Lancaster,  206  ;  remainder  of  diary 
lost,  206  ;  but  on  18th  Oct.  1771,  Gale 
removed  from  office,  207  ;  master  of  a 
school  rolls  butt  of  Madeira  for  exercise 
and  to  ripen  it,  207. 

Garlands  worn  by  best  scholars  in  schools 
of  Skinners'  Company,  186. 

Gaunt,  John  of,  grant  to,  of  churches  of 
Maresfield  and  free  chapel  there,  and 
in  castle  of  Pevensey,  of  priories  of 
Wilmington  and  Withiham,  leucate  of 
Pevensey,  manors  of  Willingdou  and 
Maresfield,  and  free  chapel  of  Ashdown, 
41 ;  forms  "  Lancaster  Great  Park,"  at 
Ashdown,  125. 

Gentlemen,  names  of  those  who  petitioned 
James  I.  for  uniformity  in  religion,  47  ; 
address  Lord  General  Fairfax,  in  1647, 
54 ;  petition  Parliament,  1617,  56;  sub- 
sidy paid  by,  1621,  71. 

Godman.Mr.,  funeral  of,  at  Framfield,  197. 

Goldsmid,  Baron,  British  remains  found 
on  estate  at  Hove  and  presented  to  town 
museum,  123. 

Gooding  on  St.  Thomas's  day,  189. 

Goodwood  park  in  1570,  224. 

Gott,  Samuel,  late  M.P.  for  Winchelsea, 


stands  for  Eye  in  1661,  56 ;  and  notice 
of,  56  n. 

Gratwicke,  Captain  Eoger,  supposed  con- 
flict with  Prince  Rupert,  49. 

Greenwich,  West,  church  of,  belongs  to 
Brockley,  and  then  to  Bayham,  172  ; 
given  to  Templars  by  Geoffry  de  Say, 
234  ;  and  exchanged  for  Sadelescombe, 
234. 

Gunnora,  ladies,  benefactions  of,  151  n. 

H. 

Hailsham  church  belongs  to  Bayham,  and 
gives  rise  to  great  disputes,  173. 

Hall,  family  of,  Portslade,  38  n. 

Hall,  Spencer,  History  of  the  Echynhams, 
345  n. 

Halnaker,  or  Halfenaked,  manor,  notes 
respecting,  from  survey  in  1570,  223 — 
225  ;  freeholders  in,  223  :  nearly  all  pay 
money  except  one,a  broad  arrow,  another 
a  pair  of  gilt  spurs,  and  others  1  lb.  of 
pepper,  223  ;  copyholders,  223  ;  manor- 
house  and  park,  224 ;  parks  of  Good- 
wood, Eastden,  and  Shelhurst,  224; 
shovellers  and  herons  breed,  224  ;  St. 
Rook's  or  Roche's  chapel,  224. 

Halsham,  arms  of,  368. 

Hammes  manor,  held  by  Says,  233. 

Hamsey  hundred,  74 ;  parish  subsidy, 
1621,  75 :  manor  belongs  to  the  Say 
family,  233. 

Hangleton  subsidy,  1621,  79 ;  skeletons 
and  Roman  coins  found  at,  124. 

Harcourt,  Philip  de,  Dean  of  Lincoln  and 
Bishop  of  Bayeux,  founds  prcceptory 
of  Templars  at  Shipley,  219;  notices 
of  family,  217;  when  Bishop  of  Bayeux, 
grants  church  of  Sumpting  to  Tem- 
plars, 256. 

nardham  priory,  visitation  of,  66. 

Harvey,  William,  F.S.A.,  celts  found  at 
Waldron,  365. 

Hastings  priory,  visitations  of,  9,  66 ; 
bones  found  at,  366 ;  excavations  at, 
366  ;  mintage  at,  369. 

Heathfield  church,  and  Satan  said  to  have 
his  dwelling  among  the  tombstones, 139. 

Hellingly,  Winkinghurst  in,  33 ;  monu- 
ment of  Henry  Miller,  38  ;  church  given 
to  Otteham  by  the  Bracles,  and  trans- 
ferred to  Bayham,  172  ;  Herst  in,  155. 

Hendall  mansion,  in  Buxted,  221. 

Herons  breed  at  Halnaker,  224. 

Hider  family,  notice  of,  86. 

Hicks,  Charles,  communication  by,  40. 

Hill,  Lady  Alicia,  sub-prioress  of  Ease-' 
bourne,  examined,  23,  25,  27  ;  Elinora, 
a  nnn,  examined,  26. 

Hoare,  Rev.  Henry  Rosehursi,  notes  on 
Church  of  St.  Margaret  at  Buxted,  208. 


382 


INDEX. 


Hoathly,  West,  subsidy,  1621,  87. 

Hole  in  Maresfleld,  residcuce  of  the  Jud- 
ders, 126  ;  pedigree  of  Simon  at  Hole, 
138. 

Holmstrougli  hundred,  76. 

Hop  assistant,  rides  of,  204 ;  Buxted 
church  decorated  with  leaves  and 
bunches  of  hops,  211 . 

Horsham,  visitation  at,  9 ;  rising  for 
Charles  in  1647,  56  n. ;  boundary  be- 
tween Shipley  disputed  in  1247,  249; 
visit  of  Sussex  Society,  303. 

Horsmonden,  Lewis  Heath,  in  155. 

Hospital  of  St.  Bartholomew  at  Bye,  9  ; 
Sackville  at  East  Grinstead,  129 ;  He- 
ron Lord  Say  at  Buxted,  218. 

Hospitallers  obtain  lands  of  Templars  at 
Sadelescombe,  237,  243,  246,  and  Ship- 
ley, 256  ;  charters  of  Knights  Templars 
preserved  by,  235. 

Hove  hundred  and  parish  subsidy,  1621, 
79  ;  tumulus  opened  at,  and  amber  cup 
found,  119—124. 

Hurdis,  J.  H.,  etchings  by,  101  n. 

Hurst,  Robert  H.,  preserved  chalice  found 
at  Rusper,  and  exhibited  at  Horsham 
meeting,  303. 

Hurstpeirpoint  subsidy,  1621,  82. 

Husbands,  scarcity  of,  in  Sussex,  in  1700, 
371. 

Husee,  Henry,  3  ;  Lady  Agnes,  a  nun, 
examined,  23 — 26. 

Hussey,  Rev.  Arthur,  notices  of  church  of 
Rottingdean,  1855,  67  ;  of  Newhaven, 
92;  Denton,  97;  brass  at  Buxted,  215 ; 
Sadelescombe,  233. 


Icklesham,  Sibilla  de,  benefaction  to  Bay- 
ham,  155. 

Iford  subsidy,  1621,  76. 

Imberhorne  manor,  East  Grinstead, 
chantry  endowed  out  of,  140  n. 

Injunctions  to  Easebourne  nunnery,  8 — 
14 — 19 — 21 — 24  ;  to  prior  and  convent 
of  Boxgrave,  61 ;  Tortington,  Hardham, 
Shulbrede,  Michelham,  and  Hastings, 
66  ;  Bayham  abbey,  166,  167. 

Inventory  of  Easebourne,  1450, 10 ;  Sade- 
lescombe preceptory,  1308,  242,  243 ; 
Shipley  preceptory,  1308,  252,  253. 

Ipswich,  Wolsey's  college  at,  grant  of 
Bayham  abbey  for,  162—179. 

Ipswich,  New,in  New  Hampshire,  founded 
by  Reuben  Kidder,  137. 

Isted,  in  Bolney,  given  to  Templars,  238. 

J. 

Jeake,  Samuel,  of  Rye,  extracts  from  MSS., 
45—60. 


Justices  at  quarter  sessions,  1579,  repre- 
sent seditious  words  to  the  council, 
139  ;  names  of,  142. 

K. 

Katherine,  Queen,  grant  to,  180. 

Key  family,  at  Rye,  notice  of,  60. 

Keymer  subsidy,  1621,  83. 

Kinder  family  of  Maresfleld,  notices  of, 
125—138 ;  bailiffs  of  Ashdown,  126  ; 
reside  at  the  Hole,  126  ;  Richard  Kidder 
bu.,  1549,  127 ;  names  mentioned  in 
subsidy  roll,  1332,  127  ;  copvholders  in 
1559,  &c,  127  ;  John  Kidder,  in  1722, 
last  copyholder,  128  ;  children  of  Rich. 
Kidder,  128  ;  one  removes  to  Lewes, 
128  ;  another  to  East  Grinstead,  129  ; 
Richard,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells, 
129;  pedigree  of,  130 ;  his  family,  132; 
arms  on  tomb,  136;  eldest  daughter 
married  Sir  Richard  Everard,  governor 
of  North  Carolina,  133  ;  her  descend- 
ants in  Virginia,  Richard  Kidder 
Mead  and  Bishop  Mead,  133 ;  George 
Kidder  removes  to  London,  133 ;  his 
descendants  there,  133 ;  tradesmen's 
tokens,  133  ;  Vincent  Kidder  joins  Par- 
liamentary army  and  obtains  grant  of 
lands  at  Rochestown,  Kelkenny,  135 ; 
marries  a  lineal  descendant  of  Edw.III., 
135  ;  his  descendants,  135  ;  they  obtain 
grants  of  arms,  135  ;  the  descendants 
of  John,  third  son  of  Richard,  also  left 
Maresfleld,  136  ;  his  descendant  James 
emigrated  to  America,  1630,  136  ;  set- 
tled at  Cambridge  there,  136  ;  descend- 
ants there,  137  ;  his  grandson  Reuben 
founds  colony  of  New  Ipswich,  in  Hills- 
bury  county,  New  Hampshire,  137  ; 
other  branches  of  family  in  other  Eng- 
lish counties,  137 ;  many  brought  to 
Maresfleld  for  burial,  137  ;  genealogical 
^  table  of,  138. 

Kinge,  Lady  Philippa,  a  nun,  abduction 
of,  17. 

Kingston,  by  Lewes,  subsidy,  1621 ,  75. 

L. 

Lamberhurst,BayhamAbbey  partly  in,  145. 

Lancaster  Great  Park  at  Ashdown,  125. 

Landport,  derivation  of  157  n. 

Larking,  Bev.  Lambert  B.,  accounts  of 
Knights  Hospitallers,  234  ;  communica- 
tion from,  relative  to  manor  of  tBram- 
bletye,  370. 

Lanertie  in  East  Grinstead,  part  of  pos- 
sessions of  Francis  Aldham,  convicted 
of  treason  for  battle  of  Borough  bridge, 
1322,  371  ;  granted  for  life  to  Pancius, 
the  King's  physician,  372  ;  the  park  of 
the  St,  Cleres  there,  1435,  140. 


1NDKX, 


lis;', 


Lemon,  Robert,  F.S.A.,  communication 
from,  139. 

Lewes  prior  and  convent  endow  Ease- 
bourne,  6  ;  grants  to,  80  n.,  86  n.,  140; 
rape  and  borough  subsidy,  1621,  71 — 
88  ;  mintage  at,  369;  escotcheons  found 
at,  372. 

Lewknor  or  Ligbtnore,  Lady  Margaret, 
a  nun,  examination  of,  18  ;  Richard  of 
Brambletye,  1503,  110;  Katherine  his 
relict,  daughter  of  Lord  Scales,  and 
widow  of  Sir  Thos.  Grey,  1505,  1-40. 

Lewknor  family  marry  the  heiress  of  the 
Dalyngruge,  and  become  possessed  of 
Bodiam,  292  ;  arms  of,  292  ;  influence 
of  family,  292  n. ;  take  opposite  sides 
in  Wars  of  the  Roses,  293  ;  award  with 
the  Earentynes,  293  ;  Sir  Christopher 
adheres  to  Charles  I.,  and  castle  seized 
and  dismantled,  294. 

License  to  endow  Easebourne,  46 ;  from 
bishop  for  schoolmaster,  203 ;  to  build 
Bodiham  Castle,  290. 

Lindfield,  Bardolph  subsidy,  1621,  87  ; 
East  Mascalls  in,  notices  of,  312  ;  and 
of  Newton  family,  312  ;  notices  of  pa- 
rish of,  327—332. 

Liverpool,  C.  C.  C,  Earl  of,  memorial 
window,  212. 

]  iverpool,  election  at,  1670,  60  n. 

Lockrams,  a  coarse  linen  from  Morlaix,  53. 

Lodesworth,  chapel  of,  12. 

Lokcsvvoode,  in  Wisborough,  belongs  to 
Templars,  and  valuation  in  1308,  262. 

Lovell,  Win.,  first  husband  of  Elizabeth 
St.  Clere,  and  their  coheiresses,  140. 

Lower,  Mark  Antony,  M.A.,  F.S.A.,  no- 
tices of  the  family  of  Miller,  33  ;  notes 
on  churches  of  Newhaven  and  Denton, 
89 ;  early  history  of  port  of  Newhaven, 
98  ;  notes  on  Halnaker,  Boxgrove,  &c, 
in  1570,  223  ;  Bodiam  and  its  Lords, 
275  :  pillory  and  cucking-stool  at  Rye 
church,  361 ;  John  Browne,  368. 

Loxlield  subsidy,  1621,  86. 

Lucas,  Thomas,  of  Bui'ghill,  39. 

M. 

Mailing,  South,  collegiate  church,  rector 
Buxted  to  find  sub-deacon,  217. 

Mailing,  South  college  of,  153  n. ;  pos- 
sessions of,  328. 

Mancer  or  Maunser,  of  Hightown  Wad- 
hurst,  family  of,  37  n. 

Manchester  free  school  founded  in  1524, 
206. 

Manumission  of  villeins  by  abbot  and 
convent  of  Bayham,  161. 

Marchant  family,  notice  of,  80. 

Marden  great  tithes  (and  church  ?)  appro- 
priated to  Bayham,  177. 


Market  at  Bayham  confirmed  in  1320, 
154. 

Maresfield  free  chapel  near  Nutley,  notice 
of,  41 — 43  ;  supposed  to  be  founded  by 
Richer  de  Aquilla,  1176,  41 ;  grant  to 
John  of  Gaunt,  1372,  41  ;  endowment, 
42 ;  Michelham  priory  possesses  land 
in  Maresfield,  43 ;  chapel  disused  in 
1541,  42  ;  ancient  ford  preserved,  43  ; 
Kidder,  family  of,  125. 

Margaret,  St.,  church  at  Buxted  dedicated 
to,  208. 

Martin,  P.  J.,  notice  of  a  British  settle- 
ment and  walled  tumulus  at  Nutbourne 
Common,  near  Pulborough,  108. 

Mason  family,  33  n. 

May  field  free  school,  Journal  of  Walter 
Gale,  master  of,  182  ;  relics  of  St.  Dun- 
stan  at,  187;  cricket  matches,  198,  201, 
202. 

Mead  faindy  of  Virginia  descended  from 
Kidders  of  Maresfield,  133. 

Medlicott,  Mr.,  proposed  school  at  Tice- 
hurst,  200. 

Meeching  subsidy,  1621,  77 ;  notes  on 
church,  89 ;  original  embouchure  of 
Ouse  river  at,  99. 

Mercer,  Robert,  of  Sedlescombe,  33 ;  Tho- 
mas, 33  ;  Robert,  of  Isfield,  39. 

Michael,  St.,  Newhaven  church  dedicated 
to,  95  ;  St.  Michael's  Mount,  Cornwall, 
95 ;   Mount  St.  Michel,  Normandy,  95. 

Michell  family,  notice  of,  74 — 80. 

Michelham  priory  possesses  land  in  Mares- 
field, 42  ;  visitation  of,  66  ;  rent  charge 
out  of,  180. 

Midhurst,  tolls  of  market  commuted, 
1439,  3  ;  messuage  in,  granted  to  Ease- 
bourne,  4 ;  visitation  at,  9  ;  chapel  of, 
12 ,  bells  of,  31. 

Miller  family  of  Burghfll  in  Chiddingly 
and  Winkinghurst,  notices  of,  33 — 46  ; 
Henry's  advice  to  his  family,  33  ;  arms 
of,  33  ;  Sir  Nicholas  of  Wrotham,  Kent, 
33 ;  public  disputation  on  religion  in 
Waldron  church,  34  ;  death  of  Henry, 
and  buried  at  Hellingly,  35  ;  his  family 
descent,  35;  John  Miller  acquires  Burg- 
hill,  36  ;  will  of,  36  ;  marriage  of  daugh- 
ter, 37  ;  Richard  Miller  the  son  marries 
Elizabeth  Mancer,  37  ;  Henry  dislikes 
field  sports,  and  his  descendant  loses 
his  estate  by  them,  38 ;  particulars  of 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  Richard  and 
Elizabeth  Miller,  38;  Samuel  Miller, 
the  grandson,  dies  at  Rye,  40. 

Mintages,  local,  369. 

Montague,  Anthony  Viscount,  entertains 
Queen  Elizabeth  at  Easebourne,  31  ; 
obtains  grant  of  Bayham  Abbey,  181. 

Montague,  Lucy,  afterwards  Mrs.  John 


384 


INDEX. 


Morley  Trevor,  letter  of  Sir  John  Pel- 
bam  for  husband,  372. 
Morley,  Lady  Mary,  afterwards  Countess 
of  Derby,  endowment  of  Boxgrove  vi- 
carage, 226. 

N. 

Nerfold,  Thomas,  son  of  John  de  Warren, 
and  wife,  grant  of  Sadelescombe  to,  245. 

Newhaven  subsidy,  1621,  77  ;  notes  on 
church,  89 ;  history  of  church,  90 — 95  ; 
Pope  Nioholas's  taxation,  90;  Nonse 
roll,  90 ;  valor  ecclesiasticus,  91 ;  Bi- 
shop Bowyer's  visitation,  1724,  91 ; 
Bev.  J.  L.  Petit's  description  of,  92  ; 
Mr.  Hussey's,  92;  east  window  of  tower, 
93 ;  inside  of  belfry,  94  ;  Norman  work 
in,  93,  94  ;  apse,  95  ;  dedication  to  St. 
Michael,  95. 

Newhaven,  port  of,  early  history  of,  98 ; 
notice  of,  in  1677,  by  Andrew  Yarran- 
ton,  99  ;  improvements  effected  at,  101. 

Newick  subsidy,  1621,  75. 

Newington  great  tithes  (and  church  ?) 
appropriated  to  Bayharu,  177. 

Newtirnber  subsidy,  1621,  79. 

Newton  family  of  East  Masealls  in  Lind- 
field,  Southover,  Lewes,  and  Newton, 
and  Pownall  Hall,  Cheshire,  312—342  j 
Sir  Isaac,  pedigree  of,  312  n. 

Nichols,  John  Gough,  F.  S.  A.,  on  Jeu 
d' Esprit  of  temp.  Edw.  VI.,  363. 

Noakes,  Mr.,  proposed  school  at  Ticehurst, 
200. 

Norman  carving  found  at  Rottingdean, 
68 ;  work  in  Newhaven  church,  93,  94. 

North  Carolina,  Sir  Eichard  Everard 
governor  of,  133. 

Noycs,  T.  Herbert,  Jun.,  names  of  com- 
missioners for  collection  of  subsidies, 
1512  to  1660,  102  ;  notices  of  Newton 
family  and  of  Lindfield,  312 ;  family 
pedigree  of,  341. 

Nunnery  at  Easebourne,  account  of,  1. 

Nutbourne  Common,  British  settlement 
and  walled  tumulus  found  at,  109. 

Nuthurst  church,  brass  at,  370. 

O. 

Obituary  roll  of  Priors  of  Durham,  13. 

Ockley  family,  notice  of,  86. 

Otteham,  Sussex,  house  of  Premonstra- 
tensian  monks,  148  ;  poverty  of,  149  ; 
united  with  monks  of  Brockley  at  Bay- 
ham,  149 ;  annual  rent  granted  to  Queen 
Katherine,  180. 

Ouse  river,  notices  of  its  different  em- 
bouchures, 99. 

Ovingdean  subsidy,  1621,  77. 

Owen,  Sir  David,  second  founder  of  Ease- 
bourne,  1529,  and  builds  gallery  in  choir, 
28,  104. 


Oxenbrigg,  Agnes,  brass  of,  in  Echingham, 

355. 
Oxford,    Wolsey's    College   at,    grant   of 

Bayham  Abbey  for,  162—179. 
Oxford,  matriculations  of  Sussex  at,  in 

1615-40,  363. 


Pancius  de  Controne,  physician  to  Edw. 
II.,  grant  of  Brambletye  to,  371. 

Parker,  Alicia,  a  nun,  examined,  26. 

Passing  bell  rung,  196. 

Patcham  subsidy,  1621,  78 ;  epitaph  at, 
on  Daniel  Scales,  a  smuggler,  195. 

Payn,  Simon,  of  Friston,  and  Emma  his 
wife,  concessions  to,  from  Bayham,  159. 

Pedigree  of  Kidder  of  Maresfield,  130— 
138  ;  of  Bodiham  family,  277  ;  of  War- 
deux,  282;  Dalyngruge,  287;  Newtons 
of  Lincolnshire,  313  ;  of  the  Newtons 
of  Cheshire,  337  ;  of  ditto  of  Southover, 
338 ;  ditto,  of  Lindfield,  339,  310 ;  of 
Noyes,  340. 

Pelham  family  of  Kendall,  notices  of,  220. 

Pelhain,  Sir  John,  letter  to  Charles  Mon- 
tague in  1700,  371. 

Pembury,  lands  in,  given  to  Bayham  by 
Simon  deWaliull,  150,  and  church,  176; 
Great  and  Little  Hawkwell  in,  156. 

Perching  subsidy,  1627,  80. 

Petit,  Rev.  J.  L.,  notice  of  Newhaven 
church,  92. 

Petitions  to  James  I.  for  uniformity  in 
religion,  45 ;  to  parliament  in  1642,  for 
reformation  of  abuses  in  church,  48  n. ; 
to  Lord  General  Fairfax,  1647,  54 ;  to 
parliament,  1647,  56. 

Petworth  castle,  house,  and  park,  fees  of 
officers,  108. 

Pevensey,  mintage  at,  369. 

Pewter,  plates  or  dishes  of,  11  n. 

Phillips,  Barclay,  account  of  tumulus  at 
Hove,  containing  an  amber  cup,  119. 

Piddinghoe  subsidy,  1621,  77. 

Piecombe  subsidy,  1621,  79. 

Pillory  in  Eye  church,  361. 

Piscina  in  Buxted  church,  211. 

Plumpton  subsidy,  1621,  85. 

Porter  family,  notice  of,  36  n. 

Portsmouth,  Lady  Johanna,  a  nun,  ab- 
duction of,  17. 

T'osts  for  Kent  and  Sussex  in  1666,  370. 

Potation  pence  at  schools,  184. 

Poynings  hundred,  79. 

Pratt,  Margaret,  a  nun,  examined,  26  ;  Sir 
John,  C.  J.  King's  Bench,  purchases 
Bayham  Abbey,  181.     See  Camden. 

Preceptories  of  Knights  Templars  in  Sus- 
sex, 227. 

Premonstratensian  Abbey  of  Bay  ham, 145; 
small  house  at  Brockley  in  Deptford, 


TNDFA'. 


38; 


and  Otteham,  Sussex,  148  ;  agreement 
with  Cistercians,  160. 

Preston  hundred  and  parish  subsidy, 1621, 
79. 

Primroses  gathered,  1st  December,  189. 

Prioresses  of  Easebourne,  list  of,  32. 

Priories  of  Lewes,  6,  80  n.,  86  n.,  140; 
Sbulbrede,  9, 66 ;  Rusper,  9, 2 49,  303  ; 
Hastings,  9,66;  Seleborne,  10;  Dur- 
ham, 13  ;  Boxgrave,  visitation  of,  1518, 
61 ;  Tortyngton,  66  ;  Michelham,  42, 
66 :  Sele,  248;  preceptories  of  Knights 
Templars  become  priories,  238. 

Pulborough,  notice  of  a  British  settlement 
and  walled  tumulus  near,  109 — 118. 

Pycas,  Katherine,  prevents  livery  and 
seizin  of  Brambletye  chapel,  and  com- 
plains to  justices  of  use  of  seditious 
words  by  Lord  Buckhursts  agents, 141 ; 
examination  of,  142. 

Q. 

Quakers,  disputation  with  vicar  of  Bur- 
wash,  34. 

R. 

Ram  to  be  knocked  on  head  by  Eton  boys, 
185. 

Rape  of  Hastings  granted  to  Earl  of  Eu, 
and  his  property  there,  275 ;  steward- 
ship of,  342;  of  Lewes  subsidy,  1621,71. 

Rebus  of  Alchorne  family,  212. 

Refectory  at  Easebourne,  30;  Bayham, 
145. 

Registers  of  Buxted,  217. 

Religion  :  disputations  with  Baptists  and 
Quakers  in  churches,  34 ;  state  of,  in 
Sussex  temp.  James  L,  45  ;  the  county 
represents  the  want  of  learned  minis- 
ters, and  pi-ays  for  uniformity,  45  ;  pe- 
titions from  county  for  reformation  of 
abuses  in  church,  in  1642,  48  n. 

Reliquary  of  Knights  Templars  at  Ship- 
ley remaining,  264. 

Richard  I.,  ransom  raised  for,  147. 

Ring,  gold,  found  at  Ringmer,  373. 

Riots  to  replace  canon9  of  Bayham,  180. 

Robertsbridge,  Cistercian  Abbey  of,  160; 
exchange  with  Bayham,  157;  grant  to, 
279;  arms  in,  368. 

Roche,  St.,  now  St.  Rook,  chapel  of,  in 
Singleton,  224. 

Rochestown,  Kilkenny,  grant  of  lands  to 
V.  Kidder,  135. 

Rods  at  schools,  charge  for,  185. 

Rodmell  subsidy,  1621,  76. 

Roman  earthworks  at  Castle  Hill,  New- 
haven,  99  ;  works  and  remains  near  Pul- 
borough, Wigginholt,  &c,  112 ;  coins 
found  at  Hangleton,  124 :  remains  at 
Eastbourne,  156 :  urn  at  Seaford,  367. 

Roos,  John,  founder  of  Easebourne  ?  8. 

IX. 


Roper,  J.W.,  communication  from,  151  n. 

Ross,  Thomas,  Mayor  of  Hastings,  com- 
munication of  Walter  Gale's  Journal, 
182  ;  excavations  at  Hastings,  366. 

Rother  river  formerly  navigable  to  Bo- 
diam,  and  commission  to  prevent  bal- 
last being  thrown  in,  297. 

Rottingdean  church,  notices  of,  1855,  67 
— 70 ;  ancient  stone  altar,  67  ;  excava- 
tions, 67  ;  arches  reopened,  68 ;  carved 
brackets,  of  Norman  pattern,  68 ;  in- 
jured by  fire,  69 ;  floor  inclines  west- 
ward, 69 ;  original  foundations  care- 
lessly laid,  70. 

Rupert,  Prince,  supposed  engagement  be- 
tween him  and  Captain  Gratwicke, 
June  1643,  49. 

Rusper  priory,  visitation  of,  9 ;  dispute 
with  Templars  as  to  Horsham  boun- 
dary, 249  ;  enamelled  chalice  and  other 
reliques  found  at,  303;  additional  names 
of  prioresses,  310. 

Russell  family,  notice  of,  74. 

Rye,  hospital  of  St.  Bartholomew  visita- 
tion, 9- ;  Miller  family  at,  40  :  extracts 
from  MSS.  of  Samuel  Jeake,  45 :  at- 
tempts of  the  town  to  escape  the  no- 
mination of  a  member  by  Lord  Warden, 
45  n. :  curious  proceedings  at  election 
in  1661,  56  :  Key,  family  of,  60  n. :  pil- 
lory and  cucking-stool  in  church,  361. 


S. 


Sackville,  Lady  Margaret,  prioress  of  Ease- 
bourne, 22,  24,  25  ;  surrenders  house, 
26 ;  Johanna  a  nun,  examined,  26 : 
Thomas,  Lord  Buckhurst,  141 :  Gilbert 
Sackville  examined,  144:  Sir  Robert 
Sackville,  147  :  Jordan  Sackville,  147n.: 
marries  Ela  de  Dene,  147  n. :  she  joins 
in  uniting  the  monks  of  Brockley  and 
Otteham  at  Bayham,  148  :  her  descend- 
ants the  patrons,  149  :  Jordan  de  Sack- 
ville, 159  :  buried  at  Bayham,  178 :  Sir 
Thomas  Sackville  buried,  178  :  Richard 
Sackville  buried,  178:  monuments  at 
Withyham,199:  Edward  releases  claim 
to  Bodiam  in  1446,  291  n. 

Sackville  College  at  East  Grinstead,  129. 

Sadelescombe,  preceptories  of  the  Knights 
Templars  in  Sussex,  227—74 ;  origin  of 
name  of  preceptories,  228  ;  privileges 
claimed  by  knights  temp.  Edw.  I.,  228; 
meaning  of  the  terms  used,  229,  230 ; 
exemptions  from  payments  and  duties, 
230  ;  claim  made  at  assizes  at  Chiches- 
ter, 1279,231 ;  verdict  of  jury  of  knights 
confirming  them,  but  find  that  they 
allow  others  to  use  their  privileges  and 
ei-ect  crosses,  232;  statute  passed,  1285, 
to  nut  an  end  to  the  abuse,  232  ;  con- 

49 


38G 


INDEX. 


fusion  bet  ween  Sedlescombe,ncarBattle, 
the  church  of  which  was  claimed  by  the 
prior  of  the  Hospital  of  Jerusalem  and 
manor  of  Sadelescombe  at  Newtimber, 
232 ;  manor  held  by  the  Say9  under 
Earl  de  Warren,  when  he  made  his 
claim  by  exhibiting  sword  in  1279,  233; 
gift  of  West  Greenwich  to  Templars 
by  Geoffry  Say,1213-14,234;  exchanged 
by  Say  for  Sadelescombe,  234 ;  founder 
died,  1230,  235 ;  charters  existing,  235; 
confirmed  by  Earl  de  Warenne,  235 ; 
grants  by  Simon  le  Counte  of  Southwick 
and  Wodemancote  churches  and  lands 
in  Sussex,  235 ;  grant  by  A.  Trenche- 
mere,  236  ;  chapel  founded  at  Shore- 
ham,  and  complained  of,  236  ;  given  to 
Carmelites  by  Hospitallers,  237  :  grant 
by  W.  le  Wrenge  of  Farncombe,  in 
Hatcham,  237 :  names  of  Sussex  men 
witnesses  to  charters,  238  :  preceptories 
become  priories  under  the  Hospitallers, 
238 :  a  lady  received  as  a  sister  by  the 
Templars,  238  :  Sadelescombe  seized  by 
Edward  II.,  239 :  valuation  of,  1308, 
239 :  certificate  of  particulars,  240 : 
live  and  dead  stock  and  household  fur- 
niture, 240 :  of  articles  belonging  to 
chapels,  241 :  grants  by  Ralph  Bache- 
cope  of  land  at  Compton  in  Eirle,  240  : 
by  Thomas  de  Engleshville  of  Compton 
manor,  240  :  disputed  in  1279,  241:  va- 
luation of,  in  1308,  242  :  value  of  stock, 
243 :  rent  of  land  in  Berwick,  243  : 
Sadelescombe  given  to  Hospitallers  in 
1313,  244:  John  de  Warenne  asserts 
his  right  to  it  as  founder,  244 :  but  re- 
leases his  right  in  1326,  244 :  manor 
granted  in  1342,  to  Thomas  Nerfold 
and  wife,  2 15 :  he  died  seized,  1314, 245 : 
Richard,  Earl  of  Arundel,  then  seized, 
245  :  on  his  execution,  in  1393,  it  came 
to  the  king,  215,  who,  in  1397,  restored 
it  to  the  Hospitallers,  246. 

St.  Clere  family,  possessions  of,  1435, 139. 

Sakadras,  or  sac-a-draps,  meaning  of,  254. 

Sanapes,  or  save-cloths,  11. 

Satan  taken  by  the  nose  by  St.  Dunstan, 
187 :  said  to  dwell  among  tombstones 
in  Heathfield  churchyard,  193. 

Say,  Geffrey  de,  150. 

Say,  William  Heron,  Lord  de,  grant  to 
found  hospital  at  Buxted,  217  :  family 
hold  Sadelescombe  manor  in  Newtimber, 
233 :  and  endow  Knights  Templars,  234. 

Scales,  Daniel,  a  notorious  smuggler,  shot, 
and  epitaph  on,inPatcham  churchyard, 
195. 

Schools,  free,  at  Mayfield,  182,  St.  Mary 
Overy,  183,  Wickwar,  183,  Chigwell, 
183,  Monmouth,  183,  Manchester,  184, 
Wreay,  184,  Nottingham,  184,  Witton, 


185,  Eton,  185,  186,  Cuckfield,  185, 
Market  Bosworth,  186,  Chorley,  186, 
Ticehurst,  200,  Manchester,  206,  Uck- 
field,  219. 

Schoolmasters'  duties  laid  down,  183  : 
Walter  Gale,  of  Mayfield,  182 :  super- 
stitions of  one  Vine,  193. 

Scot,  Matthew,  ejected  by  abbot  of  Bay- 
ham  pulling  down  his  houses,  177,  but, 
renouncing  his  right,  receives  50*.  as  a 
favour,  178. 

Seaford,  port  of  the  Ouse  in  the  eleventh 
century,  99;  Roman  urn  found  at,  367. 

Seal  of  Easebourne  priory,  32  :  Bayham 
abbey  only  fragments,  179. 

Seaman,  Mr.,  transcript  by,  7. 

Sedilia,  depressed  canopy  over,  at  Buxted, 
210. 

Sedition  in  Sussex  temp.  Elizabeth,  1579, 
139,  punishment  for,  141  n. 

Sedlescombe,  in  Hastings  rape,  preceptory 
of  Templars  erroneously  placed  at,  233, 
but  advowson  claimed  by  prior  of  Hos- 
pital of  Jerusalem,  233. 

Sele  priory  dispute  with  Templars,  248. 

Shelhurst  park  at  Halnaker,  224. 

Shirley,  Evelyn  Philip,  communication 
from,  of  survey  of  Halnaker,  Boxgrove, 
&c,  1570,  223. 

Shipley,  preceptory  of  Knights  Templars 
at,  226  ;  given  by  Philip  de  Harcourt, 
Dean  of  Lincoln,  confirmed  by  William 
de  Braose,  246 ;  notices  of  Harcourt 
family,  247  :  disputes  with  monks  of 
Sele,  248 :  settled  by  William  de  Braose, 
248,  who  confirms  grant  by  his  mother 
of  land  at  Bramber,  249  :  complaint 
against  rector  of  West  Grinstead,  249  : 
dispute  with  nuns  of  Rusper  as  to 
Horsham  boundary,  249:  other  bene- 
factions, 250 :  valuation  when  seized 
in  1308,  250 :  provision  for  an  old  ser- 
vant, 251 :  further  valuation  and  ser- 
vices payable,  252  :  inventory  of  live 
and  dead  stock  and  household  goods, 
253  :  church  furniture  and  books,  254  : 
meaning  of  sakadras  and  barhud,  254  : 
barrels  for  cleaning  armour,  255  :  valua- 
tion in  the  hands  of  the  Hospitallers  in 
1338,  256  :  church  of  Sumpting  given 
to  Templars,  256,  benefactors  to,  257, 
including  chapelryof  the  house  of  Helia, 
daughter  of  Bernard,  257,  disputed  by 
clerk  of  Findon,  258:  clergy  of  Steyning 
claim  right  of  burials  and  tithes  of  pa- 
rishioners, 258,  a  grant  confirmed  by 
impression  of  teeth  on  wax  for  seal,  258, 
gifts  by  Bernehus  family,  258,  including 
chapel  of  Cocham,  but  gift  disputed, 
259,  agreement  come  to,  259,  agreement 
as  to  services  in  that  chapel,  260  :  va- 
luations of  Sumpting,  and  of  goods  and 


INDEX. 


387 


chattels,  in  1308,  261,  and  of  Lokes- 
wode  in  Wisborough,  262  :  reliquary 
still  remaining,  264  :  last  preceptor  ar- 
rested, 1308,  266,  brought  to  trial,  268. 

Shovellers  breed  at  Halnaker,  224. 

Shoyeswell,  family  of,  346. 

Shulbred  priory,  visitation  of,  66. 

Skinners'  Company  schools  at  Tunbridge 
and  Lewisham,  garlands  worn  by  best 
scholars,  186. 

Slater,  William,  notices  of  Echingham 
church,  343. 

Slaugham  subsidy,  1621,  80. 

Smart,  T.  W.  W.,  M.D.,  communication 
by,  45. 

Smither,  George,  on  brass  at  Nuthurst 
church,  370. 

Smuggling  in  Sussex,  194,  195  ;  trials  of 
smugglers  in  1748,  194 :  death  of  and 
epitaph  onDanielScales,  at  Pat  chain,  195. 

Smyth,  Sir  John,  complaints  against,  for 
visiting  nunnery,  17 — 19. 

Snatt  family,  notice  of,  72. 

Snolk  family,  notice  of,  18  n. 

Southease  subsidy,  1621,  76. 

Southover,  near  Lewes,  subsidy,  1621,  73 ; 
house  of  Newtons  at,  336. 

South  wick  church,  near  Shoreham,  given 
to  Knights  Templars,  235. 

Stempe  family  of  Boxgrove,  225. 

Stevynge,  Lady  Johanna,  a  nun,  examina- 
tion of,  18. 

Stewards  of  rape  of  Hastings,  313. 

Steyning,  clergy  of,  claim  rights  of  burial 
and  tithes  of  parishioners  in  Sumpting, 
258. 

Stone  of  Stonebridge  family,  38  n. 

Stonestreet  family,  notice  of,  73. 

Street  hundred,  south  part,  and  parish 
subsidy,  1621,  85  :  north  part,  87. 

Strewing  church  of  Hailsham,  provision 
for  and  notices  of  the  custom,  175. 

Subsidy  roll  for  rape  of  Lewes,  1621,  71 : 
commissioners  for  collection  of,  1512  to 
1660,  102  :  roll  for  East  Grinstead, 
1570-1,  129:  of  Maresfleld,  1332,  127. 

Suits  at  law  with  Abbots  of  Bayham,  177 : 
with  Templars,  232—241. 

Sumpting,  church  of,  granted  to  the  Tem- 
plars, 256  :  right  of  burials  and  tithes 
claimed  by  clergy  of  Steyning,  258. 

Swanborough  hundred  subsidy,  1621,  75. 

T. 

Tawke  family  of  West  Hampnett,  14 : 
Lady  Agnes,  prioress  of  Easebourne,  14. 

Telscombe  subsidy,  1621,  76. 

Templars,  Knights,  preceptories  in  Sussex, 
227:  splendour  of  exploits,  227  :  privi- 
leges confirmed  to  English  Templars  in 
1256,   227 :    privileges   claimed,   temp. 


Edw.  I.,  228—230 :  attempt  to  extend 
them  beyond  their  own  men,  232  :  re- 
strained by  act  of  Parliament  in  1285, 
232  :  ruin  of  order  commenced  by  arrest 
in  France  in  1307,  264  :  and  by  Edw. 
II.  in  England,  264 :  imprisons  all  in 
his  dominions,  265  :  who  were  simulta- 
neously arrested,  8th  January,  1308, 
265:  and  on  reproof  of  Clement  V., 
authorised  application  of  torture,  265  : 
Langton,  Bishop  of  Chichester,a  zealous 
inquisitor,  266  :  prisoners  not  brought 
to  trial  till  Sept,  1309,  267  :  articles  of 
accusation,  268  :  Preceptor  of  Shipley 
&  40  others  brought  to  trial,  268  :  exa- 
minations of  brethren,  269  :  fresh  accu- 
sations made  and  further  examinations, 

271  :  the  Templars  denied  the  charges, 

272  :  exertions  made  to  induce  them  to 
confess,  272 :  examinations  continued 
for  two  years,  272 :  in  April  1311,  copies 
given  and  answers  required,  272  :  which 
were  accepted  as  a  confession,  273  :  and 
they  received  absolution  at  the  west 
door  of  St.  Paul's,  273  :  released  from 
their  prisons  and  sent  to  perform  pe- 
nance at  monasteries,  274 :  except  Wm. 
de  la  More,  who  refused  to  plead  guilty 
and  died  in  prison,  274 :  order  dissolved 
by  bull  of  Clement  V.,  274. 

Tenures  by  a  goshawk,  155:  broad  arrow, 
223  :  pair  of  gilt  spurs,  223 :  a  lb.  of 
pepper,  223. 

Thomas's,  St.,  day,  gooding  on,  189. 

Thorneham,  Kent,  seat  of  Robert  deTur- 
neham,  148. 

Ticehurst,  proposed  school  at,  1758,  200. 

Tierney,  Very  Rev.,  M.A.,  F.S.A.,  inscrip- 
tion on  brass  of  John  Wybarne,  368. 

Tiles,  encaustic,  original  in  Echingham 
church,  351. 

Tokens,  tradesmen's,  of  the  Kidders  in 
London,  133. 

Tortyngton  priory,  visitation  of,  66. 

Tower  in  Newhaven  Church,  94. 

Treating  at  elections  in  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, 60. 

Trenchemere,  Alan,  grant  toTemplars,236. 

Tufcon  family  own  Bodiam,  295. 

Tumulus,  walled,  at  Nutbourne  Common, 
109  :  plan  of,  111 :  at  Hove,  containing 
amber  cup,  119. 

Turneham,  Sir  Robert  de,  a  soldier  temp. 
Richd.  I.,  founds  Bayham  abbey,  149  : 
and  Cumbwell  abbey  in  Goudhurst, 
148:  lines  on,  147  :  employments  on 
return  from  Holy  Land,  147  :  death  of, 
13th  John,  147  :  remarkable  passage  in 
his  military  career,  147 :  patron  of 
Deptford  monastery,  148. 

Turner,  Dawson,  error  in  description  of 
Yainville  church,  Normandy,  93. 


388 


INDFA\ 


Turner,  Rev.  Edward,  notices  of  the  free 
chapels  of  Maresfield  and  Dudeney,  41 : 
of  Richard  Kidder,  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  and  the  Kidder  family  of  Mares- 
field, 125. 

Turner,  John,  complaint  against,  for  using 
seditious  words,  141 :  examination  of, 
142. 

Turner,  Rev.  W.,  notice  of  injunctions  to 
the  prior  and  convent  of  Boxgrave,  61. 

Twineham  subsidy,  1621,  84. 

U. 

Uckfield  chapel  of  Holy  Cross,  formerly 
appended  to  Buxted,  208 :  free  school 
founded  by  Dr.  Saunders,  219. 

Up  Marden,  advowson  of,  6,  12. 


Valuation  of  lands  of  Templars  and  live 
and  dead  stock  and  household  furniture 
in  1308,  at  Sadelescombe,  242,  213: 
Shipley,  252,  253  :  at  Sumpting,  261 : 
and  Lokeswode  in  Wisborough,  262. 

Vane  on  church  with  arms  of  Echingham, 
349. 

Villeins,  manumission  of,  by  abbot  and 
convent  of  Bayham,  161. 

Vinall  family,  notices  of,  75. 

Virginia,  Everard  and  Mead  families,  133. 

Visitations  of  monastic  orders,  2  :  of  Ease- 
bourne,  1402,  1441,  7  :  1478, 14  :  1521, 
20:  1524,  24:  Shulbred,  Rusper,  and 
Hastings,  and  Hospital  of  St.  Bartho- 
lomew at  Rye,  9 :  at  Boxgrove,  Mid- 
hurst,  and  Horsham,  9  :  of  Boxgrove 
priory,  1518,  61 :  Newhaven  church, 
91:  Denton  church,  97:  Bayham  abbey, 
163-170. 

W. 

Walberton  and  Half-naked  manor,  wood, 
and  chace,  fees  of  officers,  108. 

Waldron  church,  public  disputation  in, 
with  a  Baptist,  34. 

Wahull,  Simon  de,  benefactions  to  Bay- 
ham,  156. 

Walford,  Weston  S.,  F.S.A.,  communi- 
cation from  relating  to  Echingham. 
360  n.  8        ' 

Wardeux  family  marry  heiress  of  Bodi- 
ham,  280  :  arms  and  pedigree,  282. 

Warenne,  Earl  of,  memorable  claim  by 
exhibiting  his  sword,  1279,  233  :  5th 
Earl  of  Surrey  confirms  grant  of  Sadel- 
escombe, &c,  to  Templars,  235 :  John 
de,  claims  Sadelescombe  on  transfer  to 
Hospitallers,  but  releases  to  them,  244. 

Wart  ling,  Chilthurst  in,  151  n. 

Way,  Albert,  F.S.  A.,  notices  of  an  enamel- 


led chalice  and  other  ancient  reliqueq 
found  on  the  site  of  Rusper  priory, 
303—311. 

Webster,  Sir  Thomas,  purchases  Bodi- 
ham,  295  :  his  descendant  Sir  Godfrey 
sells  it  to  the  Fullers,  295. 

Weekes,  Mrs.,  British  remains  in  posses- 
sion of,  116. 

Wellesley,  Rev.  H.,  D.D.,  on  the  fees  of 
officers  of  the  crown  in  Sussex  temp. 
Elizabeth,  107. 

Westineston  subsidy,  1621,  85. 

Westons  of  Kendall,  notices  of,  220. 

Whalesbone  hundred  subsidy,  1621,  78. 

Whitbourn,  Richard,  on  local  mintages, 
369. 

Wickerson  family,  notice  of,  74. 

Wills  of  Sir  David  Owen,  29  :  John  Mil- 
ler, 1624,  36  :  Kidders,  of  East  Grin- 
stead,  129  :  Sir  Thomas  Sackville,  1432, 

178  :  Sir  Nicholas  Criol,  346. 
Winchelsea,  naval  battle  with  Spaniards 

off,  346 ;  mintage  at,  369 :  punishment 
of  mayors  of,  57. 

Windham  half  hundred,  84. 

Window  in  tower  of  Newhaven  church, 
93  ;  Bodiham  castle,  301 ;  Echingham 
church,  350  :  arms  in,  356. 

Windsor,  Lord,  dissolves  Brambletye 
chantry,  140. 

Winkinghurst  in  Hellingly,  33. 

Withyham,  lands  in,  granted  to  Bayham, 
1 55  :  heart  of  a  young  lady  buried  at, 
199  j  Dorset  monument  at,  199. 

Wivelsfield  subsidy,  1621,  85. 

Wolbedyng,  Ralph  de,  endows  Ease- 
bourne,  5. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  grant  of  Bayham  Abbey 
to,  in  1526,  for  his  new  colleges,  162, 

179  :  riots  caused  by  his  suppression  of 
abbeys,  180. 

Woodgate,  William,  156  n. 
Woodmancote  church  given  to  Templars, 

235. 
Woodward,  Mrs.,  of  Winkinghurst,  33  n. 
Worsted,   red,  hangings  of,  11  :    former 

use  of,  11  n. 
Worth  subsidy,  1621,  81. 
Wrenge,  Walter  le,  grants  to  Templars, 

and  notices  of  family,  237. 
Wy vill,  Margaret,  prioress  of  Easebourne, 

5,32. 

Y. 
Yainville    church,    Normandy,    Dawson 

Turner's  error  in  notice  of,  93. 
Yarranton,  Andrew,  notice  of  Newhaven 

harbour,  1677,  99. 
Yew-tree,  large,  at  Buxted,  214. 
Yon  faull,  or  parish  feast,  Buxted,  277. 
Younsmere  hundred  subsidy,  1621,  77. 


London  :    P.  Pick-ton.  Printer,  Perry's  Place,  29,  Oxford  Street. 


JUST   PUBLISHED, 

In  a  handsome  volume,  4>to,  with  Drawings  and  Wood  Engravings, 
Price  £\.  Is.  extra  cloth. 


HISTORICAL    NOTICES 


PARISH  OF  WITHYHAM, 


COUNTY  OF  SUSSEX, 


WITH  A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE 


CHURCH  AND  SACKVILLE  CHAPEL. 


BY  THE  HON.  AND  REV. 


REGINALD  W.  SACKVILLE-WEST. 


LONDON: 

JOHN     RUSSELL     SMITH, 

36,  SOHO  SQUARE. 

M.DCCC.LVII. 


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