IWctorfa Ibfstor^ of the Counties of Englanb EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A. A HISTORY OF S U S SEX VOLUME II THE VICTORIA HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND SUSSEX LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED This History is issued to Subscribers only By Archibald Constable & Company Limited and printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode H.M. Printers of London INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF HER LATE MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE THE TITLE TO AND ACCEPTED THE DEDICATION OF THIS HISTORY THE VICTORIA HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A VOLUME TWO LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED b DA 670 V. CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO PAGE Dedication ............... v Contents ............... ix List of Illustration? and Maps ......... ... xiii Editorial Note ........... . . . xv Ecclesiastical History . . . By L. F. SALZMANN, B.A. ..... i Religious Houses : ... Introduction .............. 45 Cathedral of Chichester ......... . . 47 Abbey of Battle ..52 Priory of Boxgrove .......... ..56 Priory of Sele ........... ... 60 Nunnery of ' Ramestede ' . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Priory of Rusper ............. 6} Priory of Lewes ............. 64. Abbey of Robertsbridge ............71 Priory of Hardham ............. 74 Priory of Hastings ............. 75 Priory of Michelham ............ 77 Priory of Pynharn ............. 80 Priory of Shulbred ............. 8 i Priory of Tortington . ............ 82 Priory of Easebourne ............ 84 Abbey of Otham ............. 85 Abbey of Bayham 8 6 Abbey of Dureford ............. 89 Preceptory of Saddlescombe . . . . . . . . . . .92 Preceptory of Shipley ........ . . ... 92 Preceptory of Poling . ............ 93 House of Dominican Friars, Arundel .......... 93 House of Dominican Friars, Chichcster ......... 94 House of Dominican Friars, Winchelsea ......... 94 House of Franciscan Friars, Chichester . . . . . . . . .95 House of Franciscan Friars, Lewes . . . . . . . . . .95 House of Franciscan Friars, Winchelsca ......... 96 House of Austin Friars, Rye ...... . . 96 House of Carmelite Friars, Shoreham .......... 97 Hospital of St. James, Arundel ......... -97 Hospital of the Holy Trinity, Arundel ......... 97 Hospital of Battle ~Y . . . . .98 '* !> 2 CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO PAGE Religious Houses (continual) Hospital of Bidlington 9 Hospital of Buxted . 99 Hospital of St James and St. Mary Magdalen, Chichester . 99 Hospital of St. Mary, ChicheKer Io Hospital of Loddesdown,' Chichester IO2 Hospital of Rumboldswyke, Chichester .... .... 103 Hospital of Stockbridge, Chichester ... .... . 103 Hospital of Harting . . IO 3 Hospital of Hastings IO 3 Hospital of St. James, Lewes IO 3 Hospital of St Nicholas, Lewes ... . . . 104 Hospital of Playden ... .104 Hospital of St. James, Seaford .105 Hospital of St. Leonard, Seaford . . . . . . .105 Hospital of St. James, Shoreham .106 Hospital of St. Katherine, Shoreham . ..... . . 106 Hospital of Sompting, or Cokeham ...... . . . 106 Hospital of Westham ........ . 106 Hospital of West Tarring . . ......... 107 HospitalofSt Bartholomew, Winchelsea ....... . 107 Hospital of the Holy Cross, Winchelsea ... . . 107 Hospital of St. John, Winchebea . . . . . . . . . .107 Hospital of Windham . . . . .108 College of Arundel . .108 College of Rosham ............. 109 College of Hastings . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 College of South Mailing . . . . . . . . . . . .117 Priory of Arundel . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Rallivate of Atherington .......... . .120 Priory of Lyminster . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Priory of Runcton . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Collegiate Church ofSteyning . . . . . . . . . . .121 Priory of Wilmington ............ 122 Priory of Withy ham 123 Rallivate of Warminghurst . . . . . . . . . . . .124 Maritime History . . . By M. OPPENHEIM 125 Social and Economic History . . By Miss PHYLLIS WRAGGE, Oxford Honours School of Modern History . . . . . .169 Table of Population, 1801-1901 By GEORGE S. MINCHIN 215 Industries . . By L. F. SALZMANN, B.A. Introduction . 229 Iron 241 Bell-Founding . P y . . 251 Brickmalcing . . . 2 s < Gh , . . !" Textile Industries CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO PACE Industries (continued) Tanning 259 Brewing 260 Cider 263 Fisheries 264 Agriculture By WALTER F. INGRAM, F.S 1 273 Forestry ..... By W. HENEAGE LEGGE . . . . .291 Architecture By PHILIP M. JOHNSTON, F.R I.B A. Ecclesiastical . 327 Civil and Domestic ............. 380 Military 394 Schools By A. F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A. Introduction 397 Chichester Prebendal School . . . . . . . . . . -399 Hastings Grammar School ............ 409 Lewes Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . . .411 Cuckfield Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . .416 Horsham Grammar School .421 Steyning Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . . .424 Rye Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . . .425 Hartfield School . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 Midhurst Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . .427 East Grinstead School ............ 430 Brighton College ............. 430 Brighton Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . -431 The Woodard Schools . . . . . . . . . . . .431 Lancing College . . . . . . . . . . . . .432 Hurstpierpoint College . . . . . . . . . . . .433 St. Saviour's School, Ardingly . . . . . . . . . .434 Eastbourne College ............. 434 Christ's Hospital, West Horsham . . . . . . . . . .435 Elementary Schools founded before 1800 ......... 437 Sport Ancient and Modern . . Edited by E. D. CUMING Hunting . . . . . By H. A. BRYDEN ...... 441 Fox-Hunting 441 The Charlton Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . .441 The Goodwood Hounds ........... 443 The Petworth Hounds ........... 444 The First East Sussex Hunt .......... 446 The South Down Foxhounds .......... 446 The Present East Sussex Hunt .......... 447 The Crawley and Horsham Hunt ......... 447 The Bridge Hunt ............ 448 The Burstow Hunt 448 The Eastbourne Hunt ........... 448 Stag-Hunting 448 The South Coast Staghounds .......... 449 The Warnham Staghounds 449 Harriers .............. 449 xi CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO Sport Ancient and Modern (continued)- Point-to-Point Races Beagles . Otter-Hunting Coursing ..... Racing . Polo Shooting ..... Angling Cricket ..... Golf Athletics . ... By J. W. BOURNE By H. A. BRYDEN and E. D. CUMING . . By E. D. CUMING By PHILIP CHASMORE ...... By G F. SALTER By Sir HOME GORDON, BART , assisted by A. S. HURST, A. J. GASTON, O. R. BORRADAILE, and others By A J. ROBERTSON ...... By W. BIRKETT ...... 45* 452 453 453 454 461 46, 463 467 477 480 XII LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS PAGE Lewes ...... By WILLIAM HYDE ..... Frontispiece Map showing the Churches in the county of Sussex, which ) . were at some period in the Patronage of a Religious House J Sussex Episcopal and Dean and Chapter Seals ..... Jutt-page plate, facing 16 Ecclesiastical Map of Sussex facing 4! Sussex Monastic Seals : Plate I ... ...... full-page plate, facing 54 Plate II . 74 Plate III . 92 Sussex Fire-Backs .......... >.,,;, 242 Examples of Sussex Pottery ,,252 Plan of the Chapel at Atherington . . . . . . . . . . -339 Plan of Hardham Church ............ 339 Ground Plan at St. Peter's Church, Preston . . . . . . . . -339 Ground Plan of Climping Church . . . . . . . . . . .341 Yapton Church . . . . . ...... 343 Examples of Corbels . . ........ 345 Bishopstone Church, Vaulting Shafts . . . . . . . . . . -347 Coombes Church, Low Side Window in South Wall . . . . . . . .350 Hinge on North Door, Trotton Church . . . . . . . . . -357 Early Screens ........... full-p.ige plate, facing 358 Details of Sussex Pre-Conquest Architecture ......... 363 Chancel Arch, Clayton ......... -364 Twelfth-Century Capitals . ........ full-page plate, facing 366 Details of Mid-Twelfth Century Architecture in West Sussex ...... 369 Guestling Church, Arch between North Aisle and North Chapel . . . . . 37 Late Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Century Capitals and) , , . , . Corbels . ...... ' JM-pa& plate, facing 370 Climping Church, the Chancel Arch 373 Corbel, Pevensey Church . . 374 Rustington, Chancel Arch, &c. . . . . -374 Capitals in Atherington Chapel . . . 375 St. Mary, Eastbourne, East Window of Gilbert Chancel 377 Sixteenth-Century Timber Houses at Ditchling .... full-page plate, facing 384 Details of Mediaeval Domestic Work . . . . . . . . . . -3^5 Chimney at ToJdington ............. 388 Chimney and Gable, Old House, Toddington . . 388 Arundel Castle, Doorway of Keep 394 XIII EDITORIAL NOTE THE Editor wishes to express his thanks to Mr. J. H. Round, M.A., LL.D., for kind assistance in the revision of proofs ; to the Proprietors of the Sussex Weekly Advertiser for access to the files of their newspaper, and to the Society of Antiquaries, Mr. W. Heneage Legge, and Messrs. Bemrose & Son for illustrations. XV A HISTORY OF SUSSEX ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY THAT the district which subsequently formed the county of Sussex was, in common with all other parts of the Roman Empire, brought more or less under christianizing influence can hardly be doubted, but such hold as Christianity may have obtained here was com- pletely lost when Elle's Saxon hordes poured into the country and established the South Saxon kingdom. Cut off by dense forest from the neighbouring kingdoms, the South Saxons were long untouched by the religious revolution proceeding all round them, and it was not till 68 I that their conversion was begun. It is true that for some years previously their king, Ethelwold, had been nominally a Christian, having been baptized by the persuasion of the Mercian King Wulfhere 1 about 66 1 ; his wife Ebba, also, was a daughter of the Christian king of the Hwiccas, Eanfrid. There was also a Scottish or Irish monk of the name of Dicul seated at Bosham with five or six brethren, but they seem to have been unenterprising, or at least unsuccessful, missionaries, and had made but little impression upon the natives. 2 At last, in 68 1, St. Wilfrid, bishop of Northumbria, exiled from his own diocese, found his way into the land of the South Saxons. 3 It was the first time he had set foot there, though some fifteen years earlier he had had an unpleasant experience when his ship was stranded for a while on the shore and defended with difficulty from the hostile attacks of the natives. His reception was now far different, Ethelwold receiving him with all honour, and encouraging him to preach to the people. His success was rapid and complete, and seems to have been assisted by his ability to show the natives improved methods of fishing, whereby he mitigated the severities of a famine that was at this time driving the people to despair. The chief officers and several of the priests of the country were baptized, and the king presented Wilfrid with 87 hides of land in the neighbourhood of Selsey, on which were 250 slaves, all of whom were given their freedom by the bishop. While St. Wilfrid was in Sussex he received a visit from Cadwalla, then exiled from Wessex and apparently wandering in the Forest of Andred, who in 685 as king of Wessex conquered the still heathen Isle of Wight and made over a quarter of the island to Wilfrid. Cadwalla also, during the short time that he had power over the South Saxon kingdom, gave the bishop a large estate at Pagham, which Wilfrid, on his reconciliation to Archbishop Theodore in 686, presented to the see of Canterbury, of which it long formed a peculiar. 1 Hen. of Hunt. (Rolls Ser.), 61. ' Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. iv, c. 13. 1 See article on 'The Introduction of Christianity into Sussex' in Suss. Arch. Coll. xxxiii, 105-28. 2 I I A HISTORY OF SUSSEX When Wilfrid returned to his northern diocese in 686, the South Saxon see was united with that of the West Saxons, of which the seat was at Win- chester ; but in 7 1 1 the see was revived, and Eadberht, abbot of Selsey, was appointed bishop. 4 He was succeeded by Eolla, after whose death the see of Selsey was vacant till 733, when Sigga was consecrated. Then followed a succession of bishops, 6 of whom nothing more than their names is known, with the exception of Ethelgar, who had been abbot of Winchester, and was the first of the many occupants of the Sussex see who passed thence to the primacy of Canterbury. Possibly the poverty and insignificance of the cathedral abbey of Selsey saved its inmates from martyrdom during the period of the Danish ravages. The only Saxon martyr of whom Sussex can boast is St. Lewinna, said to have been one of St. Wilfrid's first converts, and to have suffered during the primacy of Theodore, who died in 690. Of her life nothing is known, but of the ' translation ' of her relics in 1058 we have a singularly interesting contemporary account.' Balger, a monk of Bergue in Flanders who had several times visited England on Easter Eve, 1058, was driven by stress of weather into the harbour of Seaford ; next day he desired to hear mass, and was directed to the monastery or church of St. Andrew, some three leagues from the port. After service the priest of the church expatiated to him on the great merits of St. Lewinna, whose body lay there, and translated various parchments fastened on the walls containing an account of the miraculous cures that she had wrought. Balger became so excited that he endeavoured to bribe the priest to give him a bone of the saint, but his offer being indignantly rejected, he had to pretend that it was made in jest. He remained praying before the shrine, and took the opportunity of tampering with the chest containing the body, and at last managed to open it. The sacristan, being obliged to go away next day, left the church to the care of Balger, who seized the golden opportunity to steal the whole of the saint's relics, with the exception of a few small bones which fell out of the sheet in which he had wrapped the body, and were evidently intended by the saint to be left in ' the place where she had finished her life with the palm of martyrdom.' The relics were safely conveyed to Bergue, where they were received with delight and placed in a worthy shrine securely fastened, ' lest any fraud might possibly be practised and any portion of the relics taken away.' The only other South Saxon saint of whom we have any record is St. Cuthman, who appears to have flourished in the ninth century. 7 He was the child of Christian parents, and when left destitute by his father's death, set out on his travels, taking with him his aged and infirm mother, in a sort of wheelbarrow. This primitive vehicle breaking down at Steyning, he deter- mined to stay there, and set about the building of a church, which was ' accompanied by a number of miracles amply sufficient to justify his inclusion in the calendar of saints. Another church-building saint connected with Sussex was the holy Archbishop Dunstan, who erected a wooden church at Mayfield, and finding that the orientation was incorrect, placed his shoulder against the wall and adjusted it. 8 It was at Mayfield also that St. Dunstan 4 Bede, op. cit. lib. v, c. 18. See list in Sun. Arch. Coll. xxviii. Saw. Arch. Coll. \, 46-54. ' Bolland, Acta Sanctorum, Feb. ii, 197. Mem. of St. Dunstan (Rolls Ser.), 204, 342. 2 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY had his famous encounter with the Devil, and seized him by the nose with his tongs, which tongs are still shown for the convincing of the sceptic. The building of churches was not, however, confined to saints. A number of charters of the eighth century refer to the foundation of ' minsters ' at Ferring, 9 Bexhill, 10 and Wittering, 11 and mention the church of St. Peter at Henfield 12 and the 'minster' of ' Bedinghommes,' to which land in 'Deanton' was said to belong ; ls these two places may be Beddingham and Denton in the Ouse valley, or Beeding and the ' Dentun ' of Domesday, which lay between Coombes and Sompting. These charters are almost, if not quite, all forgeries, but may well be founded on facts. Another certainly forged charter records the gift of Bertuald, duke of the South Saxons, to the abbey of St. Denis of the vill of Rotherfield, and the use of the ports of Hastings and Pevensey. This appears to record an actual transaction, and the church of Rotherfield, which is still dedicated to St. Denis, was probably founded about the time of this grant, which is dated jgo. 1 * As far as the ecclesiastical history of Sussex is concerned, the most important grants made during this period were those to the see of Canterbury. St. Wilfrid's gift of Pagham has already been mentioned ; at the council of Kingston in 838 the archbishop made good his claim to the great manor of South Mailing, 16 where, apparently, there was already a monastery dedicated to St. Michael which Aldwulf, duke of the South Saxons, had founded, or at least endowed with lands in Stanmer, Lindfield, and Burleigh, about 760. 16 Further grants were made of land at West Tarring by King Ethelstan in 94O, 17 and of land at Patching by Wulfric, a thegn, in 947." As a result of these gifts the church of Canterbury possessed extensive peculiars in Sussex, forming in later times the three deaneries of South Mailing, Tarring, and Pagham. When Edward the Confessor came to the throne the bishopric of Selsey was held by Grimketel, who had formerly obtained the East Anglian see by simony, but being ejected therefrom had bought his appointment to the southern see. 1 ' On his death in 1048 the king's chaplain Hecca succeeded, dying about the end of 1057 ; Ethelric the next bishop appears to have been irregularly appointed, as he was deposed in 1070, at the same time as Archbishop Stigand and Ethelmaer, bishop of Elmham, and imprisoned at Marlborough. He was, however, recognized as one of the leading experts in English law, and was accordingly brought to the council on Penenden Heath in 1076 to give the assembly the benefit of his learning. 20 The Confessor was liberal of Sussex lands to his ecclesiastical friends ; the richly endowed collegiate church which had sprung up where Dicul had first lit the lamp of Christianity at Bosham was granted to the Norman chaplain Osbern, and the valuable manors and ports of Steyning and Hastings with Rye and Winchelsea fell to the share of the Norman abbey of Fecamp, while on his own foundation of Westminster he bestowed the manor of Parham. To the church of ' St. John,' possibly in Lewes, Queen Edith gave lands in Frog-Firle and elsewhere, some of which Harold took away and kept in his own hand. Harold also seized the manor of Steyning towards the end Birch, Cart. Sax. 198. 10 Ibid. 207. " Ibid. 211. " Ibid. 206. " Ibid. 302, 387. " Arch. Journal, Hi, 355-70 ; Suss. Arch. Coll. xli, 49. 15 Birch, Cart. Sax. 421. " Ibid. 197. " Ibid. 766. Ibid. 821. '" Will. Malmes. Gesta Pontif. (Rolls Ser.), 205. * Suss. Arch. Coll. xxix, 37-8. IS l.\JL\JL. \J f, ^. *T 111. .l*liil^J. VJfr.'t* 1 VI... 3 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX of Edward's reign, and Godwin appears to have obtained partial, if not complete, possession of the lands of Bosham which lay near Lewes. Whether these confiscations were due to rapacity, contempt of the church, or patriotic dislike of the foreign clergy cannot now be decided. The Norman conquest wrought great changes in the religious life of Sussex, the most noticeable in some ways, though by no means the most important, being the removal of the bishop's see from Selsey to Chichester in accordance with the recommendation of the Council of 1075 that episcopal seats should be transferred from villages to towns. This removal took place during the episcopate of Stigand, who had been consecrated bishop in 1070, and probably in or very shortly after 1075." At the time of the Domesday Survey the bishopric was endowed with lands valued at 150 5 J - a total quite insignificant compared with that of the archbishop's peculiars, referred to above, which totalled 274 ioj. The abbey of Fecamp, to which William had restored Steyning and added the manor of Bury, held lands worth 176 4-r.; and Bosham, still in the hands of Osbern, now bishop of Exeter, reached the total of ,55 5^., though this was a tremendous downfall from its original value of 329. It was as builders and founders of religious houses that the Normans wrought the greatest change. At the time of the conquest there seem to have been few monastic establishments in Sussex ; besides the houses of Selsey and Bosham and St. Michael of South Mailing we hear of a nunnery of St. Peter at Chichester which was dissolved and its church converted into the cathedral upon the removal of the see hither," a church of St. John, already mentioned, and the clerks, or secular canons, of St. Nicholas, Arundel. The clerks of Boxgrove, Singleton, and St. Pancras, Lewes, were probably introduced between the dates of the Conquest and the Domesday Survey in which they appear. The foundation by William of the great abbey of St. Martin of the Place of Battle as a votive offering for his victory, and of the priory of Lewes by William de Warenne and his wife, as well as of such lesser houses as Boxgrove, Sele, Wilmington, and the nunnery of Lyminster, rapidly resulted in the accumulation of wealth and power in the hands of the monastic clergy of the diocese ; while the intimate connexion of most of these monasteries with French houses must have assisted the Normanization of the county, though it probably also led to the isolation of the clerical population from the laity. The Norman period, including not only the years of the conquest and tlement of England, but also the period of the Norman influence in the reign of the Confessor, was noteworthy for multiplication of parish churches ; and this process is particularly evident in Sussex. Domesday, whose mention omission of churches is notoriously arbitrary, mentions ninety-eight churches, nine chapels and four priests (implying the existence of churches) this county. Nor is this a complete list by any means ; several that are own to have existed are passed over, 28 and no fewer than nineteen churches which still contain features of pre-conquest, or very early Norman, archi- are also omitted, so that at a moderate computation there must have Gesla See r.C.H. Su, x , i, 369. taTSS3;^J 4 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY been one hundred and fifty churches standing before the death of William I. As the total number in the diocese in 1291 was only about two hundred and sixty-seven it follows that more than half had been built at this early date. Not content with erecting new churches where required the Normans also enlarged and improved those that existed ; thus William de Warenne replaced the wooden church of St. Pancras at Lewes with one of stone," destined itself in later years to give place to the magnificent priory church whose measure- ments alone now remain to testify to its former glories. It is probable that every church possessed a certain portion of glebe land, but its amount is not usually stated in the Domesday Survey. At Filsham one virgate of land went with the church, at Playden three virgates, and at Walberton two ; the churches of Compton and Mundham had half a hide each, those of Aldingbourne and Elsted one hide, Stoughton a hide and a half, and Amberley as much as three hides. Probably from thirty to a hundred acres would constitute the average endowment. Two cases of the foundation of a church at a somewhat later date may be introduced here as bearing upon this point. In the first of these William de Warenne (II ?) confirms the gift of one acre of land in Kingston-by-Lewes made by Peter the sheriff for the erection of a church there and orders Hugh the sheriff (of Lewes) to cause the church to be built. 26 The other instance concerns the church of Hellingly, and is as follows : I Nicholas de Brade, when Bishop Seffrid (1180-1204) consecrated the church of Helling, endowed it with twelve denariates of land . . . because there was not anyone else who would endow it, and the bishop earnestly sought for an endowment for the church lest so excellent a work should in any way be hindered. Richard de Helling further gave a croft near the church and six perches of moorland to enlarge the churchyard." Stigand, the first bishop of Chichester, died in 1087, and the identity of his immediate successor is involved in considerable mystery. According to Bishop William Reade's list Willelmus Primus followed Stigand, 28 and William of Malmesbury also says of Stigand, huic successit Willelmus. A charter already printed in the article on the Sussex Domesday S9 would prove the existence of Bishop William if it could be relied upon, and another charter of Bishop Ralph refers to his predecessors, Bishops Stigand and William. 80 On the other hand, Godfrey is said by several good authorities to have been consecrated by Lanfranc in 1087, and to have died in 1088, and his body was found and identified in iSag. 31 It would seem, therefore, that William was Stigand's successor, but that he died the same year that he was appointed, and that his place was at once filled by Godfrey. A further element of confusion is introduced by the latter being called in Bishop Reade's list Lelaugbt, and in the series of bishops painted in Chichester Cathedral in the sixteenth century Leluaught. This appears to admit of no explanation, though it was probably a nickname. 8 * William Rufus, caring less for the spiritual welfare of the Church than for its temporal wealth, kept the see of Chichester vacant for three years * Dugdale, Mm. v, i. * Lewes Chartul.; Cott. MSS. Vesp. F. xv, fol. 20. " Salzmann, Hist. ofHatlskam, 103, from chartul. of Bayham Abbey. Sun. Arch. Coll. xrviii, 15. " r.C.H.Sust. i, 372. M Cott. MS. Vitel. E, x. " Suss. Arch. Cell, xxviii, 15. Ibid. 5 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX after the death of Bishop Godfrey. Ralph Luffa, the next bishop, was consecrated in 1091 by Thomas, archbishop of York, the see of Canterbury being still vacant. He was a man of commanding presence and courageous spirit, and supported the cause of his primate, Anselm, against Rufus with intrepidity. When Henry I put forward his claim to be allowed to exact fines from married priests Bishop Ralph boldly resisted his demands, and even went so far as to close all the churches in the diocese until the king yielded. His courage was appreciated by Henry, who not only released the diocese from the tax, but assisted in the rebuilding of the cathedral, which had been damaged by fire in 1114. Ralph displayed equal energy in the performance of his pastoral duties, making a circuit of his diocese thrice in the year, preaching and reforming abuses, and died like a good Christian in 1123, causing all his goods to be distributed to the poor. His successor Seffrid I, nicknamed Pelochin, was abbot of Glastonbury at the time of his election to Chichester, over which see he ruled till 1145, when he was deposed and retired to his former home at Glastonbury. Henry of Blois, brother of King Stephen and bishop of Winchester, had made an endeavour while at Rome in 1143 to have his see of Winchester raised to the rank of an archbishopric, and to have Chichester subjected thereto. 83 This had come to nothing, but it was probably through Henry's influence that the bishopric was bestowed in 1147 upon Hilary, a man of considerable learning and a fiery eloquence, and devoted to the crown. During his episcopate the struggle between the abbey of Battle and the cathedral of Chichester, which had begun under Stigand, but had been adjusted by Ralph Luffa's good sense and tact only to revive under Seffrid, reached its crisis. A prolonged and undignified wrangle ended in the complete victory of the abbot, who established the exemption of his church from episcopal control beyond challenge. 34 A more important contest in which Hilary played a leading part was that between Henry II and Becket. At the Council of Westminster in 1163 Hilary alone of the bishops urged the acceptance of the king's proposal for dealing with criminal clergy by the secular power ; he was also one of the leading men by whose influence Becket was induced to agree to the Constitutions of the Council at Clarendon in i 164. In October of this latter year the archbishop was cited before the council at Northampton for the secular offence of not paying certain dues to John the Marshall, arising from his Sussex manor of Pagham. Becket, in violation of the Constitutions which he had signed at Clarendon, inhibited the bishops from proceeding against him, whereupon Hilary as spokesman for all declared him perjured, and refused to yield him obedience. The outcome of this suit in connexion with the manor of Pagham was the murder of Becket before the altar of his cathedral church in 1170, followed by his beatification and promotion to the position of practically the patron saint of England ; nor was this the limit of his promotion, if we may believe the story of a monk of Lewes Priory, to whom a brother who had recently died appeared in a vision, and declared that the archbishop had been exalted above all other martyrs to the ranks of the Apostles, because the others had died for their own cause, and at the hands of pagans, but he for a Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 53. " See Chrm. of Battle Abbey, trans, by M. A. Lower, passim. 6 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY the cause of the whole Church, and at the hands of his own sons. 36 Becket's secretary and friend, Herbert of Bosham, himself a native of Sussex, and other writers have left on record long lists of miracles done by Saint Thomas, some of which relate to persons and places in Sussex, such as Sir Amfrey de Ferring, Richard canon of Chichester, and dwellers at Aldrington, Ifield, Pevensey, Rye, Shoreham, Warbleton, and Winchelsea ; but the tales for the most part are of little interest and no historical value : the best known relates how the murderers rested at the archbishop's manor of South Mailing, where the table thrice threw down their armour which they had put upon it. 56 Bishop Hilary had died in July, 1 169, but his successor, John I, dean of Chichester, was not elected till 1173, being consecrated the following year. Upon his death in 1180, Seffrid II, who had been archdeacon and dean, became bishop of Chichester, which see he held for twenty-four years. His episcopate was a period of great importance in the history of the diocese, not only because he restored and added to the cathedral church after the disas- trous fire of 1187, but still more because from this time we may date the beginning of the ordination of vicarages, which is in some ways the most important feature of English church life during the first half of the thirteenth century. The rapid accumulation of the patronage and endowments of parish churches in the hands of the monasteries led to many abuses ; the churches were treated as sources of revenue, and only served perfunctorily by one of the monks, or by a chaplain chosen rather for his willingness to accept a low salary than for his fitness to minister, and liable to be removed at any time. To remedy this state of affairs the Lateran Council of 1 179 and the Westminster Council of 1200 ordered the appointment of perpetual vicarages. That the need of such had already made itself evident may be seen from the fact that when Bishop John I, about 1 177, allowed the priory of Boxgrove to appro- priate the churches of Boxgrove, Hampnett, Walberton, Barnham, and Hunston to their own uses he did so conditionally on their appointing perpetual vicars with a sufficient portion for their support. 37 A similar stipulation was made by Seffrid II, probably about 1190, when appropri- ating the church of Hellingly to the Premonstratensian abbey of Otham. 38 The first vicarages of whose regular ordination we have any notice are those of the churches of Kingston-by-Lewes, Iford, and Rottingdean, appro- priated to Lewes Priory by Seffrid II in 1 200." In the case of Rottingdean the vicar was to have a specified virgate of land with all its tithes, the obventions of the altar and of the chapel of Balsdean, and all small tithes except those from the demesne of Earl Warenne. At Iford he had the obventions of the altar and of the chapel of Swanborough, the small tithes, and the fourth sheaf of the monks' tithe corn. At Kingston, besides the obventions, specified lands, and measures of corn, mention is made of a manse or dwelling- house. The vicarage appointed at Henfield in 120915 of a nature similar to the above, but is given in greater detail ; * by it the vicar was to receive all oblations made in the church and all legacies, all the tithes of certain lands and of any land newly brought under cultivation in the future, and the tithes. 55 Mat. for Hist, of Abp. Thos. Becket (Rolls Ser.), ii, 31. M Ibid. 285. 37 Suss. Arch. Coll. xv, 92, from chartul. of Boxgrove Priory. K Add. MSS. 6037. "Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 80. 40 Dallaway, Hist, of West Suss, ii (2), 270 ; from copy in Chich. Epis. Reg. ' B ' fol. ult. 7 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX of calves, lambs, wool, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, eggs, honey and wax, mills, fisheries, venison, hemp and flax, gardens, garlick, onions, leeks, and all pot-herbs (defined in 1409 as ' cabbages and leeks and other herbs of which broth is made by the custom of the county ' 41 ), apples, pears, corn in the sheaf or blade, and produce of orchards or gardens, and tithes of merchants' wares, fish, profits of brewers, and all artificers. In return the vicar should perform divine service on Sundays and holidays, and find bread, wine, and candles for mass, and pay 1 8 Ibid. fbl. 76. " Ibid. fol. 70. 67 Ibid. Reade, fol. 61. " Ibid. Praty, fol. 86. 69 Ibid. fol. 88. 70 Ibid. fol. 99. " Ibid. Story, fol. 78. " Ibid. Sherborn, fol. 83. 75 Ibid. fol. 92. " Ibid. " Ibid. pt. ii, fol. 86. 76 Suss. Arch. Coll. iv, 58. " Chich. Epis. Reg. Praty, fol. 97^. " Ibid. fol. 93. 79 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxvi, 24. " Stephens, Mem. ofSte of Chich. 72. 81 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 31 ; iv, 54. * Cat. Pap. Let. i, 32. 88 Muniments of Magd. Coll. Oxf. box ' Thakeham,' No. 2. 2 9 2 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX outstanding capacity, he held the office of chancellor for sixteen years from 1226, and steadfastly upheld the rights of the English Church alike against the king, who endeavoured to remove him from office, and the pope, who in 1231 quashed Jiis election to the primacy, and in 1238 similarly annulled his election to the see of Winchester. Beyond caring for his cathedral church and increasing its endowment and privileges it is probable that his public duties left him little time for the management of his diocese. Bishop Ralph dying in February, 1244, in his London house which has given its name to Chancery Lane, the subservient chapter, wishing to secure the king's favour, elected the archdeacon of Lewes, 84 Robert de Passelewe. He was a member of an East Sussex family and a courtier of the worst type, possessing all the worldliness of Ralph de Neville with little of his ability, and less of his honesty. The archbishop of Canterbury, in council with his suffragans, refused to accept Robert de Passelewe, and appointed in his stead the saintly Richard de Wych. Bishop Richard 86 was a native of Droitwich, whose learning and devotion had early attracted the attention of St. Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, by whom he was made chancellor of Canterbury. When the archbishop sought rest in the seclusion of the monastery of Pontigny, Richard accompanied him and remained with him, on terms of loving intimacy, till his death. Being thus elected to the see of Chichester, Richard vainly endeavoured to appease the anger of the king, who refused to give up the temporalities. Pope Innocent IV supported the bishop's cause and consecrated him, but Henry still remained unappeased, and for two years Richard went up and down throughout his diocese discharging the spiritual duties of his office though deprived of its temporal advantages. During this period he made his home principally with Simon, rector of West Tarring, in whose garden he is recorded to have spent much of his leisure, planting, grafting, and caring for the fig-trees and other plants there growing. When at last the king, menaced by the pope with excommunication, released the temporalities of the see, Richard, unspoilt by prosperity as by poverty, made use of this accession of wealth only to increase his alms to the poor. Ascetic and unflinchingly severe to himself, he was lenient to others, and if when he rose with the earliest dawn for prayer he found his clerks still sleeping he would not rouse them, but perform the office by himself. Yet where the honour of the Church was concerned he could be terribly severe ; thus at Lewes a certain knight who had arrested and put into the stocks one of the parochial clergy was made to go to the church in the garb of a penitent and wearing the same stocks about his neck ; while the burgesses of that town, who had broken sanctuary by dragging a thief out of a church and hanging him, were compelled to exhume his body and carry it on their shoulders to the church. The married clergy were the object of his sternest decrees, they being deprived of their benefices, and their ' concubines ' denied the privileges of the Church. Plurality and non-residence were forbidden by Bishop Richard, and directions issued to ensure the decent performance of divine service, special injunctions being issued against the clipping and slurring of words, and the use of improper dress. 84 He obtained the archdeaconry in this year by the king's gift during the vacancy of the see : Pat. 28 Hen. Ill, m. 7. "See a paper by Canon Cooper in Sius. jirch. Coll. xliv, 184-202. 10 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY At last, in 1253, the pope, anxious to make a final effort for the support of the tottering kingdom of Jerusalem, commissioned Richard to preach a crusade. This task he willingly undertook and passed through his own diocese along the south coast as far as Dover, preaching as he . went. At Dover, where he was to consecrate a church to the honour of his beloved and now canonized master St. Edmund, he lodged in the hospital, and was there taken ill, and rapidly becoming worse, passed quietly away the next day, in the presence of his old friend Simon of Tarring, to whom almost his last words were addressed. The purity of his life and the cheerful benevolence and sympathy of his nature justifiably caused the populace to regard Richard as a true saint, and the miracles the report of which resulted from or accompanied this belief were at last considered by the papal court to afford undeniable grounds for his canonization, which was formally enacted at Viterbo on 26 January, 1262. The next scene in the saint's history took place on 16 June, 1276, when in the presence of King Edward I and a vast multitude, the primate with many assistant bishops translated the body of St. Richard to his new shrine. 86 The archbishop at this time took the opportunity of securing a relic for his church by appropriating an arm of the saint 87 : it was possibly the memory of this action that encouraged the bishop of Chichester in 1444 to write to the chapter of Canterbury and ask for a limb of St. Wilfrid, the founder of his see, to be enshrined with the relics of St. Richard ; a request with which the chapter obligingly complied. 83 The shrine of St. Richard rapidly attained a more than local fame and became a great pilgrimage centre, drawing the stream of pilgrims westward through the county as that of St. Thomas at Canterbury drew them eastward. His name retains its place even yet in the Anglican calendar, and his fame travelled so far that for some mysterious reason he was chosen by the Coachmen's Guild of Milan as their patron saint. 89 The only other Sussex church that appears to have been a regular centre of pilgrimage was that of St. Mary in the castle of Hastings, 90 where a certain holy rood was the object of adoration. Temporary local pilgrimages, how- ever, were often encouraged for the assistance of a church needing repairs or otherwise impoverished; thus in 1399 indulgence was granted to all who should visit and give alms to the parish church of Chiddingly 91 on certain feast days, and a similar privilege was offered in 1405 to those who would bestow alms upon the hermit of St. Cyriac's chapel at Chichester, 98 while in 1413 relaxation of penance was promised to all who visited the altar of St. Catherine in the parish church of St. Swithun of East Grinstead at certain times. 93 The great Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV in 1 29 1 is important as giving us a valuation of the benefices and a statement of the spiritualities and temporalities in the hands of the clergy at this time. 9 * The total value of the spiritu- alities in the county was returned as 4,708 l6j. 8 This should be Darell of Scotney. " Compare the similar list of Justices in 1587, Suss. Arch. Coll. 58-60. '" S.P. Dom. Eliz. he, 71. 24 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Few churches have their quarter sermons according to the Queen's Majesty's injunctions. There are very few preachers in the diocese, but only seventeen as might be learned in the synodals. 192 There are some beneficed men there which did preach in Queen Mary's reign, and now do not nor will not, and yet keep their livings, as Mr. Graye, B.D., parson of Wythyham ; Mr. Robert Parkhurst, B.D., vicar of Washington ; William Foster, vicar of Billinghurst ; Sir Davie Spencer, parson of Clapham ; Nicholas Hicket, parson of Pulborough ; Mr. Story, vicar of Findon. These three are fostered in gentlemen's houses, and run between Sussex and Hants, and are hinderers of true religion, and do not minister : Mr. Stephen Hopkins, B.D., who resorteth unto my Lady Pooles, Mr. Cooperes, Sir Thomas Palmers, Mr. Gunteres and Mr. Temse ; Mr. Davy Michell, and Mr. Thomas Cotesmore these frequent Mr. James Gayges about Lewes. These come not to their parish churches, nor receive the Holy Communion at Easter, but at that time get them out of the country until that feast be past, 193 and return not again until then : Lady Poole, Thomas Poole, &c., Arthur Gunter, &c., all of Racton. Mr. Leedes of Steyning and his brother-in-law. Mr. Lewkenor of Selsey, and Mrs. Busshoppe of Henfield. In the parish of Racton they have no churchwardens, clerk, or collector for the poor, because of Mr. Arthur Gunter, who rules the whole parish. They have many books that were made beyond the seas, and have them there with the first, for exhibition goeth out of that shire and diocese unto them beyond the seas, as to Mr. Stapleton, 194 who being excommunicated by the archbishop did avoid the realm, and these have his goods and send him money William Ryman of Oving, Mr. Dolman, William Daves of Patching, Sir Davy Spencer ; and to these doth this Stapleton send his letters. In the church of Arundel certain altars do stand yet still to the offence of the godly, which murmur and speak much against the same, and preachers have also spoken against the standing thereof in their sermons of late. They have yet in the diocese in many places images hidden up and other popish ornaments, ready to set up the mass again within 24 hours' warning ; as in the town of Battell and in the parish of Lindfield, where they be yet very blind and superstitious. There be schoolmasters who teach without licence and be not of a sound and good religion, as the schoolmaster in the town of Battell, the vicar of Findon, and the school- master that teacheth in the Lodge at Stansted who teacheth Mr. Stoughton's children, being comptroller of my lord of Arundel's house. In the town of Battell, when a preacher doth come and speak anything against the pope's doctrine they will not abide but get them out of the church. They say that they are of no jurisdiction, but free from any bishop's authority ; the schoolmaster is the cause of their going out, who afterwards in corners among the people doth gainsay the preachers. It is the most popish town in all Sussex. In some places because the Rood was taken away they painted there in that place a cross with chalk, and because that was washed away with painting and the number of crosses standing at graves in the churchyard taken also away, 196 they have since made crosses upon the church walls within and without, and upon the pulpit and Communion Table in despite of the preacher. This was done of very late in Patching since I preached there. And in the churches they have put crosses upon their stalls whom they favour, and upon my farmer's stall they have chalked a gibbet. In many places they keep yet their chalices, looking for to have mass again, when as they were commanded to turn them into Communion cups after one fashion, keeping still weight for weight that the parish might not be charged with buying of one altogether new ; and yet they have so charged their parishes, to keep their chalices, hoping for a day for the 191 Their names are given. '" In order to avoid the penalties for not receiving the sacrament at their parish church at that time. 191 Not the ' wickedly obstinate ' William Stapleton of Barlow's list, but Thomas Stapleton, prebendary of Chichester, denounced by the bishop in 1560 as 'trained up from childhood in papistry' (S.P. Dom. Ehz. xi, 25), and subsequently deprived of his prebend (Gee, Elizabethan Clergy, 274). He was a very able controversialist and had the reputation of being the most learned Roman Catholic of his time ; see Diet. Nat. Biog. 195 Many market and boundary crosses seem to have been destroyed as early as the period of the dissolu- tion, and in 1538 some labourers got into trouble for digging up the cross at Willingdon. They had met in Henry Michelgrove's alehouse, when one of them said, ' There be many crosses digged up here- abouts, and men say there is much money under Willington cross, which if thou wilt be ruled by me we will have.' Their quest, however, was fruitless : L. and P. Hen. fill, xiii (i), 786. 2 25 4 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX use of the same ; and some parishes say that their chalices were stolen away, and therefore they ministered in glasses and prophane goblets. In many places the people cannot yet say the Commandments, and some not the articles of their belief, when they be examined before they come to the Communion, and yet they be of the age of forty and fifty years. The ministers there for the most part arc very simple. In the cathedral church very few preachers are resident ; only four out of thirty-one prebendaries the dean, schoolmaster, lecturer, and one other of the others some are laymen, some no preachers, and others far distant. In the city of Chichester few of the aldermen are of good religion. Many gentlemen at Easter receive Communion at home in their chapels, and choose priests from a distance, as Sir Thomas Palmer, Sir Edward Gage, and James Gage. They use in many places ringing between morning prayer and the litany, and all the night following All Saints' Day, as before in time of blind ignorance and superstition taught by the pope's clergy. The collection for the poor is not made in many places according to the statute. The chancel of the church of Steyning, 198 which is like a collegiate church, is in great decay, and the parish and the farmer there, Mr. Pellett, be at great contention for the same, but nothing is done, and the church is like to fall to ruin, which is in a great market town, and there is no more but that same there. Certain parishes keep Dr. Sander's book called ' The Rock of the Church,' wherein he doth not account the bishops now to be any bishops as Sir David Spencer, parson of Clapham, and Mr. Kinge, parson of Stanmer. Except it be about Lewes and a little in Chichester, the whole diocese is very blind and superstitious for want of teaching ; except Mr. Coxe and one more, few go out of their own churches to preach. There is one Father Moses, sometime a friar in Chichester, and he runneth about from one gentleman's house to another with news and letters, being much suspected in religion, and bearing a popish Latin primer about with him ' with Dirge and the Letanye praying to Saints,' and in certain houses he maintained the popish doctrine of purgatory and the praying to dead saints. Many bring to church the old popish Latin primers, and use to pray upon them all the time when the lessons are being read and in the time of the litany. In some places the rood lofts still stand, and those taken down still lie in the churches ready to be put up again. Some old folks and women used to have beads in the churches, but those I took away from them, but they have some yet at home in their houses. It is clear from this report that the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the diocese was largely owing to the disaffection of a few and the inefficiency of most of the clergy. The archbishop, therefore, displayed great judgement in nominating to the vacant see Richard Curteis, who was appointed in 1570, and proved himself a zealous and capable pastor. A notice of this bishop, 197 written in December 1576 and signed by five 'Preachers of the Diocese of Chichester ' in the name of above thirty more, lauds his energy in going thrice throughout the whole county preaching at the larger towns, and making himself more acceptable to the people than any previous holder of the office : And whereas it was a rare thing before his time to heare a learned sermon in Sussex, now the pulpittes in most places sound continually with the voyce of learned and godly preachers. . . . We are assured that the rooting out of bad and unlearned curates and the planting of zealous and learned preachers hath been occasion to him of great expenses and charge. And so, within these six yeares, he hath brought into this diocese and preferred or been the meanes of prefferring of twenty preachers which be well able to preache in any learned audience in this realme. And by the diligent preaching and other exercising of himself and these in the scriptures hath trayned up a xl more in such sort that they be sufficient enough to preach to any ordinary audience. '" An inquiry made eight years later shows that the church had fallen still more into decay, and the recommendation was made to pull down part in order to rebuild the rest : Exch. Spec. Com. 2200 "' Su,s. Arch. Coll. x, 54-6. 26 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY His zeal against the 'Machevils, Papists, Libertines, Atheists, and such other erroneous persons ' caused him to incur the enmity of Sir Thomas Palmer and other disaffected gentry, who brought numerous accusations of unworthy conduct against him ; 198 while the deprivation of his brother, vicar of Cuckfield, in 1581, on charges, probably much exaggerated, of insufficiency and ill-conduct, 1 " must have been an additional trouble to the worthy bishop, who died in August, 1582, leaving his widow in great poverty. 800 The year of Bishop Curteis's election, 1570, was also the year in which the pope hurled his decree of excommunication at Elizabeth and absolved her subjects from their allegiance, thereby justifying the queen and her council in considering adherence to the Roman Church as equivalent to treason. This told hard upon the many loyal Catholics, whose unpopularity was further increased by the news of the religious persecution in France which culminated in 1572 in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. One result of these persecutions was an influx of Huguenot families into this county, the chief port of entry being Rye, where some seven hundred foreigners, mostly from Dieppe and Rouen, landed during the month following St. Bartholomew. 201 Rye had for some time been associated with the French Protestants ; it had been the port from which most of these religious refugees who had settled in London during Edward VI's reign had left the country upon Mary's accession, 202 and in i 569 there were resident there five French ministers, six persons from Rouen, sixty-three from Dieppe, and ten Walloons and Flem- ings. All the alien residents were not of the reformed faith, for in 1569 two foreigners were fined for bringing into the town certain ' idolatorius idoleteres,' and two others ordered to depart ' for theyr mysbelevyes con- trarie to Christian relegian.' 20S In 1571 there were in Rye twelve families of the French Church, and seven ' of no church that is known ' ; all being of honest conversation. 20 * Of those that landed in 1572 many passed on to London and elsewhere, but about fifty families remained at Rye, 205 and this number continued to increase, so that in 1586 the heads of the French Church in London were called in to consult with their compatriots and the town authorities at Rye as to the removal of the strangers, of whom there were then fifteen hundred, 206 and next year the conference of the French churches was held there. 207 In the history of the Sussex recusants, or adherents of the Roman Church, the names of Gage and Shelley stand out pre-eminent, followed by those of Copley, Darrell, Leedes, Thatcher, Lewknor, and Caryll, to name a few of the more prominent families. John Gage, with many of his co- religionists, retired to Antwerp in I573, 208 but three years later returned to England, leaving behind his brother-in-law Thomas Copley, who, being a priest, could not return without abandoning his faith. In August, 1 580, John Gage was committed to the Fleet prison with William Shelley of Mitchel- grove, for ' obstinacy in Popery,' Edward Gage of Bentley and Richard Shelley of Warminghurst being at the same time sent to the Marshalsea. 209 199 S.P. Dom. Eliz. cxii, Nos. 9, 13, 29-44, 49, 50. 1M Suss. Arch. Coll. xliv, 15-20. 100 Ibid, x, 58. .*" Ibid, xiii, 194. m Acts of P.O. (New Ser.), iv, 349. *" Hut. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii (4), i. * Ibid. 6. >06 Suss. Arch. Call, xiii, 200. 106 Cal. S.P. Dom. Eliz. clxxxvii, No. i. *" Suss. Arch. Coll. xiii, 200. 108 Cal. S.P. Dom. EKz. Add. xxiii, No. n. *" Acts ofP.C. (New Ser.), xii, 152. 27 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX John Gage was released in the following June, 210 and Edward Gage was given temporary freedom during the end of 1581 and beginning of the next year that he might act as executor of the earl of Southampton's will, 211 but was apparently soon afterwards re-imprisoned, as there is a petition by his wife begging for his release in I583. S1S The rumours of the approaching attempt to bring back England under the papal power by means of the Spanish fleet caused still stricter measures to be taken against suspected papists, and especially against seminary priests. John Paine was appointed in 1586 to search for and arrest seminaries and other suspected persons on the coasts of Sussex and Hampshire, 213 Arundel and Portsmouth being the ports which they most favoured ; 2U possibly as a result of his energy one Phippes, a seminary priest, who may have been the Nicholas Smith alias Phelps noted as frequenting Lady Copley's and Edward Gage's, 215 was sent to Horsham Gaol and thence to Southwark. 216 Three other suspected priests, Vaughan, Standishe, and Meryman, are noted about the same time as haunting the old papists' houses in Sussex. So far the recusants, though harassed with fine and levies for the supply of light horsemen, con- tinually spied upon, and often imprisoned, had not paid for their faith with their lives ; but in August, i 588, Mr. Edward Shelley, of Sussex, was executed at Tyburn with five others, 217 and one month later four priests were brought up for trial at Chichester ; 218 Ralph Crockett and Edward James had been arrested at Littlehampton, John Oven at Battle, and Francis Edwards at Chichester. They were brought before Sir Thomas Palmer, Richard Lewk- nor, Walter Covert, Henry and George Goring, and John Shirley, and accused by Thomas Bowyer of being seminary priests, which they admitted, and guilty of treason, which they denied, saying that they came only to do their duty in preaching and converting to the Roman faith. Upon their being found guilty and condemned to suffer the usual penalty Oven's courage failed him, and he agreed to take the oath of supremacy and to renounce the pope and his doctrine. The other three were drawn on one hurdle to the Broyle Heath, where Crockett and James gave each other absolution. Crockett then ascended the ladder, and turning to the assembled crowd gave them his bless- ing, at which they cried out against him, as they did also when he recited certain Latin prayers. When James followed him to the scaffold he com- mended his soul to God in English, whereat the people applauded him, but when he also began to pray in Latin they again called out angry protests. Meanwhile the terrors of the scene had so worked upon Edwards that he showed himself amenable to the arguments of the Protestant ministers present, and was respited in charge of Mr. Henry Blackston, one of the residentiaries, under whose care he apparently became at least a temporary convert. Although this was the only Roman Catholic blood shed in Sussex the priests continued to be hunted down and arrested till the end of Elizabeth's reign. Information was given in 1592 that there were three priests always residing at Edward Gage's house at Bentley, and another at Mr. Shelley's at Mitchel- " Act, ofP.C. (New Ser ), xiii, 94. ' Ibid, xiii, 296, 377. 111 Col. S.P. Dam. Eliz. clxix, No. 59. ' Act, ofP.C. (New Ser.) xiv, 220. 114 Cal. S.P. Dem. ERz. ccxlvi, No. 18. Ibid, cxciii, No. 24. " Acts of P.O. (New Ser.) xiv, 225. '" R ec . ofEngl. Prov. of See. of Jesus, xii, 788. 18 S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxvii, No. I. 28 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY grove, 819 and Nicholas Beard in 1594 stated sso that Thomas Leedes kept one Norton, a priest, in his house at Wappingthorne, near to which lies Washington house, where Nicholas Woolfe, 221 a gentleman and great com- panion of Leedes, lives ; these houses are receptacles for priests, and have great convenience for hiding them ; in Wolfe's house in a little gallery there is a place for an altar, and the massing stuff, and a cover of boards over a great cupboard which can be taken off. John Bamford has a son a priest ; the father is a recusant and lives with Mr. Bishop, a justice of the peace, at Henfield. These hiding-places were not uncommon in the houses of the Roman Catholic gentry ; there was one in Slindon House, 222 and the three houses owned by the Caryll family in West Sussex were similarly provided, 223 and there were at least two in Scotney Castle, the seat of the Darrells in Lamberhurst. Scotney was twice searched by priest hunters ; on the first occasion, in 1597, Father Richard Blount and his man Bray lay for some days in a secret place under the stairs, until they could remain no longer, when Bray went out and gave himself up, showing his captors another hiding-place where he said he had been lying ; the priest was thus enabled to escape. A year later a sudden raid was made on the house and Blount and Bray had barely time to escape half clad into a cell concealed by a stone, which formed part of the walls of a courtyard. Part of Blount's girdle caught in the stone as it shut, but Mrs. Darrell passing by observed it and cut it off, calling to them to drag in the rest of the cord ; this they did, but her move- ments had excited suspicion, and a careful search was made in the courtyard, but just as the searchers had come to the movable stone, and were even battering at it, the rain became so heavy that they abandoned their labour for the night and went indoors. Issuing from their shelter Blount and Bray went round the house to a ruined tower, when the father plunged into the moat, on which ice was beginning to form, and swam across, but was too numb with cold to assist his servant ; the latter, who could not swim, escaped by raising an alarm of thieves in the stable and taking advantage of the com- motion to ford the moat in a shallow part. The two fugitives thus got safely away to the house of a friendly neighbour and saved their lives and liberty, though at the expense of their health. 22 * While the Church of England was thus successfully waging war upon that of Rome there was rising within her own borders an enemy, perhaps less obvious, but not less dangerous to that autocratic control of the national religion at which she aimed. Definite evidence of the early growth of Puritan nonconformity in Sussex is hard to find, one of the earliest references being in 1576 when the bishop suspended David Thickpeny, curate of Brighton, on suspicion of being a member of the sect known as the Family of Love. The curate, appealing to Archbishop Grindal and protesting his innocence of the charge, was restored by him to his cure, but at once showed his contempt for the Church's authority by ministering without the surplice, neglecting the order of prayer set forth in the Prayer Book, and in other "* Cat. S.P. Dam. Eftz. ccxli, No. 35. " Ibid, ccxlviii, No. 1 16. BI Woolfe had been involved in Somerville's plot, and Leedes was expected to favour the Spaniards in the event of their landing in 1588 : see V.C.H. Sussex, \, 519. "* Described in Suss. Arch. Call, xlv, 213. m Described in Rec. ofEngl. Prw. ofSoc. of Jesus, iii, 538. " Ibid. 482-8. 29 A HISTORY OF SUSSEX ways."' In 1583 eight of the Sussex clergy refused to sign the articles in favour of the Book of Common Prayer, and were accordingly temporarily suspended, but subsequently they all subscribed. 888 The increase of noncon- formity was assisted not only by the actual disaffection of the clergy, but even more by the slackness and bad example of those that professed to be loyal representatives of the Church. Some returns made from the various parishes throughout the county in 1588-9 show a most undesirable state of affairs. 887 The parish churches themselves were in many cases in bad order ; at Alfris- ton the windows were unglazed, at Pevensey the church was ' very much in decay for lack of timber and glass and other reparations,' at Palmer the chancel and rectory had both fallen down, and at Northiam the slighter fault is presented that ' the walls of our church be not beautified with sentences of scripture.' The parishioners of Brightling complain, 'we have no service on the week days, nor homily read on Sundays ; we have no catechising of children.' At Arlington, ' we have none that doth read service and ad- minister sacraments, save that there was a child baptised by Mr. Turner, by reason whereof divers have not received the Communion ' ; at Clayton, ' we have had no sermons in our parish church since Christmas two years by default of the parson.' From Ticehurst comes a long complaint : We have a great parish and our minister doth not minister the Communion not in six weeks sometimes. Our children are grown out of all good order by means of the negligence of our minister for that he doth not catechise them. Some of our children have been like to die without baptism our minister hath been so long from us, which maketh the simple men to murmur much at it. Our minister doth not minister the Communion at marryings, he readeth not the commination against sinners, he instructeth no youth, he doth not stir up his parishioners by reading the exhortation used at the administration of the Lord's Supper. The parishioners of Hooe were more concise in their charges : ' We pre- sent our vicar to be a liar and a quarreller and a brawler amongst his neighbours.' In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that some earnest persons should begin to look askance upon the Church and all that belonged thereto, and should form religious communities of their own, with possibly some ostentation of righteousness. The first instance of the use of the term Puritan in any Sussex document appears to be in 1591, when the mayor of Rye states that ' now of late a smale secte of purytanes, more holy in shewe than in dede, is sprong up amongst us,' and further refers to ' certeine muty- nous fellowes of this towne who professe to be more pure than others, and be indede much worse than in show.' 228 Some particulars of these Rye Puritans are given in another letter : Francis Godfrey said that my Lord of Canterbury is but the Pope of Inglande, and that the Booke of Comon Prayer ... is but masse translated and dumdogs to reade it, for those ministers that do not preache they call dumdogs ; . . . and when they have bin to sermon and be com horn will they say on to another ' Have you bin at chourche ? ' 4 Yea,' sayth the other, 4 Then you have harde mingle mangle, compair ; as Latemor sayd in his sermon as they call hogs to trof in his cuntry.' 4 Yea,' cothe the other, 4 1 harde what a good peace of worke he made like a proude felo.' Also they say that it is unpossible for an innosent to be saved from damnation because he hathe not the gift of - S90 O prayer, 23! "* Suss. Arch. Coll. xxix, 190-95. Ibid, xii, 260. " MS. of the Archdeaconry Court of Lewes. m Hut. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii (4), 99. Ibid. 30 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY The accession of James I in 1603 was made the occasion for the presen- tation of addresses by the gentry and commons of Sussex ; 33 that of the gentry, which is signed by Lord La Warre, Sir Walter Covert, Sir Nicholas Parker, and representatives of most of the leading county families, desired That ye preachinge of subscription, otherwise than to your Matye's supremace and those articles which concerne ye true fayth, doctrine and sacraments commanded in ye xiiith yeare of her late Matye's raygne, and ye hott urgeinge of ceremonyes not approved of in ye iudgemt. (as we are persuaded) of many godly and learned ministers . . . maye nowe quite cease or bee accounted indifferent, for ye ministers to retayne or omitt without trouble or beinge reputed obstinat for not submittinge themselves unto them. Lastly : that an uniforme government of ye church in all poynts accordinge to ye prescript of God's word maye bee established. The petition of the commonalty was mainly directed against the two evils of insufficient ministers and the ecclesiastical courts. Some information concern- ing the origin of the latter petition is afforded by a letter of Bishop Watson to the lord treasurer, relating that one Pearson, ' a lay puritan,' and others of that sort had passed with great diligence throughout the shire, and in some places by means of schismatical ministers have called together multitudes of the meaner sort of people, and moved them by false reports to subscribe a petition against insufficient ministers and the ecclesiastical courts. 231 Shortly after the presentation of these petitions was held the Hampton Court Con- ference, at which Bishop Watson was one of the nine bishops, while the county was represented by four ministers, Messrs. Erburie, Norden, Frawell, and Goldsmith. 833 The result of the conference was the king's emphatic decision in favour of the episcopacy. Besides the conference another product of the first year of ' the British Solomon' was the statute by which the death penalty was decreed for witchcraft. Under this Act, in 1608, Ann Taylor of Rye was condemned to die, but, being with child, was respited, and apparently eventually escaped the extreme penalty. 233 Her offence was the aiding one Susan Snapper, who was condemned under the same statute, in her converse with spirits, and very full depositions made by these two women of their many dealings with certain remarkably unspiritual spirits exist in the British Museum. 23 * Three other instances of witchcraft are recorded in the Rye muniments, each illustrating a popular superstition on the subject. In the first case, 336 about 1560, an old woman occupying a room in the alms- houses was driven from the town for certain offences ' such as any Christian harte wold abhore to here spoken of much less to be used,' her crime being the hiding up of raw beef to the intent that as it decayed so should the bodies of her enemies waste away. In the second case 236 the mother of the bewitched child, by advice of ' a connynge man,' drew blood from the suspected witch, with beneficial results to the child ; and the third instance 237 gives an example of the use of red cloth, needles, and pins for a charm. At a considerably later date, about 1660, a curious case of what would now be called 'poltergeist' haunting occurred at Brightling; 238 knives, horse-shoes, 130 Stas. Arch. Coll. ix, 45-8. >31 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. Hi, 52. Ibid. 1900, p. 23. '" Ibid, xiii (4), 136-40. 134 Harl. MSS. 358, fol. 188 ; printed in full in Suss. Arch. Coll. xiv, 25-34. 835 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii (4), 5. >36 Ibid. 1 08. 137 Ibid. 145. ** 3 Suit. Arch. Coll. xviii, 1 1 1-13. 3i A HISTORY OF SUSSEX pewter dishes, and other objects flying about mysteriously, and fire being raised to such effect that the house was burnt down. As usual in such cases there was a young girl in the house, but suspicion fell not on her but on an old woman reputed to be a witch, though at the same time there was a suspicion that the powers of evil were not given a free hand without cause, and upon strict examination the man whose house had suffered confessed that he had been a thief, and that under the colour of religion upon the Sabbath day. Whatever the cause of the haunting, success appears to have attended the efforts of four ministers who 'kept a Fast.' It was as much a feature of the early Puritans under James I as it was of the next generation under Cromwell to be always on the look-out for 'judgements,' especially upon Sabbath-breakers, and the parish registers not infrequently contain such entries as that at Hastings in 1620 of the burial of a man 'slain by the hauling up of his father's ship upon Sunday,' or that at Hailsham of one who ' fell down dead as he was playing a match at football upon the Sabbath day." It is also worth noting that the Cromwellian Puritans did not assume their characteristic Christian names, as the French revolutionists assumed classical names, but had been duly baptized therewith ; for the registers of many Sussex churches during the first half of the seventeenth century yield a plentiful supply of such baptismal names as Desire, Zealous, Repent, Be-thankful, Free-gift, More-fruit, Much-mercy, Perform-thy-vows, and Standfast-on-high. 239 While ignorant superstition still flourished and Calvinistic non- conformity continued to gain ground there were signs of a revival within the Church. The learned and saintly Lancelot Andrewes, who had held the see of Chichester from 1605 to 1609, had been succeeded by Samuel Harsnett and George Carleton, both of whom were able and pious men, and in 1628 Richard Montagu was raised to the see. This appointment was a deliberate rebuff to the Calvinistic party, who had been calling upon King Charles to censure Montagu for his famous tract Apello Caesarem ;. but the king subsequently yielded to the pressure brought upon him and allowed the book to be suppressed. Montagu held views of the ' high church ' type, which are particularly associated with the name of Laud, and we find him in 1632 writing to the latter 240 to complain of Mr. Hickes, a canon of Chichester, who absents himself from duty and sends as substitutes ' whom he can get, sometimes good, sometimes bad, any riff-raff whom he can light upon, shifters, unconformists, curates, young boys, puritans, as the whole city hath often spoken against it.' After Laud had become archbishop he reported to the king in 1634 in his annual account of the clergy : The bishop of Chichester certifies all well in his diocese save only in the east part which is far from him he finds some Puritan Justices of the Peace have awed some of the clergy into like opinion with themselves, which yet of late have not broken out into any public nonconformity. 241 For the next four years the bishop reports all well, but in 1639 there was ' some little disorder in the east parts of the diocese about Lewes,' and it is "For examples, see Chiddingly registers, Suii. Arch. Coll. xiv, 146 ; and Salzmann, Hist. ofHailsbam, 49, The earliest example seems to be Feregod Edwardes who was married in 1589 ; and can therefore hardly have been baptized later than 1570, Suts. Rec. Sac. i, I. "" Cat. ofS.P. Dm. Cha,. I, ccx, 36. Laud, Autobiog. 534. 32 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY noted that the diocese is ' not so much troubled with Puritan ministers as with Puritan Justices of the Peace.' 248 The metropolitical visitation held in the summer of 1635 by Dr. Nathaniel Brent, as vicar-general of the archbishop, 243 is interesting, and contains two delightful little bits of humour well worth recording. It began on zj June at Chichester Cathedral, where orders were given that all should remove their hats during divine service, and that there should be no walking about or talking at that time : it then proceeds : Mr. Speed of St. Pancras confessed his error in being too popular in the pulpit, and is very willing the gallery in his parish church should be pulled down which was built to receive strangers, and at their charges, and to remove the seats which stand even with the altar. The mayor and his brethren .... are puritanically addicted, which caused me to admonish one of the aldermen for putting his hat on during the service. Arundel, July I : Mr. Nye, rector of Clapham, Mr. Salisbury, curate of Warningcamp, Mr. Hill, vicar of Felpham, are so vehemently suspected to be nonconformitants that although nothing was proved against them I thought fit to inhibit them to preach until I could be better satisfied of them Mr. Hill in the pulpit spake unto four of his neighbours who sat before him in one seat that he was certain three of them should be damned. The fourth was his friend and therefore he saved him. John Alberry churchwarden of Arundel having heard my charge in the morning, at night before he went to bed made a violent extemporary prayer and pronounced it so loud that divers in the street did hear him ; the effect was, to be delivere