Old and New Shoreham: Manors and other estates

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

Shoreham was held in 1066 by Azor and in 1086 by William de Braose. (fn. 1) A small estate, ½ hide, was held of William by Ranulph son of William, (fn. 2) but it has not been identified with any of the later holdings. The greater part if not the whole of Old and New Shoreham apparently descended with the Braoses' honor of Bramber until the early 13th century, and the manor or borough of NEW SHOREHAM continued so to descend. (fn. 3) It was perhaps in New Shoreham that Maud de Clare claimed dower against Reynold de Braose in 1219; (fn. 4) in 1268 William de Braose conveyed a life-interest in Shoreham to Margaret de Clifford, (fn. 5) and in 1316 Shoreham was held in dower by the same William's widow Mary; (fn. 6) the borough was held in dower by Elizabeth, widow of Thomas de Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, and wife of Sir Robert Goosehill (d. 1417), in 1403 and 1425, (fn. 7) and by Eleanor, widow of John de Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, in 1462. (fn. 8) Successive dukes of Norfolk have since been lords of New Shoreham, (fn. 9) and in 1975 whatever remained of manorial rights belonged to the Norfolk estate. No record has been found of a manor-house. (fn. 10)

The manor of OLD SHOREHAM, later to become the DUCHY manor though not so named, was separated from the honor of Bramber apparently in the early 13th century. About 1218, the year in which he surrendered the barony of Bramber to his son William, (fn. 11) Reynold de Braose granted Henry of St. Valery, apparently his uncle or his uncle's issue, (fn. 12) some property in Old Shoreham which Henry later granted to Godstow abbey (Oxon.). (fn. 13) Henry of St. Valery was dealing with a small estate in Old Shoreham in 1229, as was Richard of St. Valery in 1280, (fn. 14) and it is possible that they held Old Shoreham manor. Alternatively that manor may have been included in the possessions of Thomas of St. Valery (d. 1219) which passed to his daughter Annora and her husband Robert, count of Dreux, and having been seized by the Crown in 1226 were granted to Richard, earl of Cornwall, in 1227. (fn. 15) Certainly Old Shoreham was among the lands that passed to the Crown on the death of Edmund, earl of Cornwall, in 1300, (fn. 16) though the tallaging of Shoreham by Earl Richard in 1235 and 1242 (fn. 17) related not to Old but to New Shoreham, then in the Crown's hands by reason of the minority of William de Braose (d. 1290). (fn. 18) Rent from Old Shoreham was granted in 1301 to Earl Edmund's widow Margaret (fn. 19) and in 1316 to Margaret, widow of Peter de Gaveston, earl of Cornwall, (fn. 20) to whom the St. Valery lands had been granted. (fn. 21) Old Shoreham was said to be in the Crown's hands in 1316, (fn. 22) but was allotted in 1318 to Margaret and her second husband, Hugh d'Audley, (fn. 23) created earl of Gloucester. From Margaret's death in 1342 (fn. 24) the estate formed part of the duchy of Cornwall; (fn. 25) a grant for life in 1347 to Margery, widow of Sir Nicholas de la Beche, became void the same year on her outlawry, and in 1352 Sir Edmund Wauncy received what later became a life-interest from the prince of Wales, (fn. 26) to whose widow Joan Old Shoreham manor was assigned in dower in 1376. (fn. 27) The Crown granted it for life to Henry Norton in 1380, to Adam Atwood in 1396, to John Rothenale in place of John Hailsham in 1415, to Elizabeth wife of John Ryman in 1421, and to William Dawtrey in 1441. (fn. 28) The manor, which was sold to John Urlin, a Londoner, in 1652, (fn. 29) remained part of the duchy of Cornwall from the Restoration until 1799, when the duke of Norfolk bought it. (fn. 30) Thereafter it descended with New Shoreham, but by the 1830s virtually all the land in Old Shoreham belonged to the Bridgers' estate, as mentioned below. In 1843 Harry Colvill Bridger held some of his land as copyhold of Old Shoreham manor, as a result of his predecessors' engrossment of copyholds, (fn. 31) but he appears to have held it as freehold by 1851. (fn. 32) His son Harry held courts for Old Shoreham in 1876 and 1889, (fn. 33) but courts continued to be held in the duke of Norfolk's name until 1903. (fn. 34)

The manor-house and demesne of the duchy manor of Old Shoreham may have been represented by COURT FARM, as was reasonably postulated in 1616. (fn. 35) Richard Lewknor held Court Farm as a free tenant of the duchy manor in 1574, (fn. 36) and was perhaps the successor of Mary Lewknor who in 1571 had the second highest tax-assessment in Old Shoreham. (fn. 37) The estate afterwards passed to Thomas Lewknor (d. 1598 or 1599) and perhaps to his son Edward (d. 1611); in 1612 it was described as 300 a. held freely by Anselm Fowler, and in 1616 as a house and 320 a. held in two moieties, one by Fowler in right of his wife Judith, widow of Thomas Lewknor, the other by William Baylie in right of his wife Jane, Thomas's daughter. (fn. 38) By 1643 Court Farm belonged to Hamon Lewknor, (fn. 39) son of Thomas's nephew Sir Robert. Thereafter the estate is likely to have been merged in the estate called Buckinghams, mentioned below. In 1616 it included a 'very ancient house' adjoining the ruins of a stone building thought possibly to have been a chapel. (fn. 40) The house may have been on the site of Little Buckingham.

A sub-manor of OLD SHOREHAM, which may be distinguished as the ABBERBURY manor, was held by the Abberbury family from the 13th century, for Thomas Abberbury, who had the highest assessment for tax in Old Shoreham in 1296, (fn. 41) was named as the earl of Cornwall's tenant of a messuage and plough-land in 1300. (fn. 42) Richard Abberbury, who had the highest assessment in 1327 and 1332, (fn. 43) was said in 1334 after his death to have held Old Shoreham manor from the Audleys as of the honor of St. Valery. His son and heir Sir John (fn. 44) died in 1346 leaving as heir his uncle Thomas Abberbury and holding the manor from the prince of Wales. (fn. 45) Later statements that the duke of Norfolk was overlord (fn. 46) appear to be erroneous. The sub-manor's dependence on the duchy manor had been entirely forgotten by the early 17th century. (fn. 47) Thomas Abberbury (fl. 1346) was apparently the father of Richard Abberbury, (fn. 48) who in 1376 sold the manor to John d'Arundel (d. 1379). The manor passed to John's son John (fn. 49) (d. 1391), whose son and heir John, later regarded as earl of Arundel, (fn. 50) held it at his death in 1421, when his heir was his son John, aged 13. (fn. 51) Although four years later the manor was said to have been held by Thomas FitzAlan, earl of Arundel (d. 1415), whose coheirs included John de Mowbray, duke of Norfolk (d. 1432), (fn. 52) it passed to feoffees for William FitzAlan or Mautravers, earl of Arundel (d. 1487), younger son and eventual heir of John d'Arundel (d. 1421). (fn. 53) William's son Thomas (d. 1524) and grandson William FitzAlan (d. 1544) were lords in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 54) On the death of Henry FitzAlan, earl of Arundel, in 1580 (fn. 55) Old Shoreham passed with the earldom to his grandson Philip Howard, who was heir to the Norfolk manor of New Shoreham. No record has been found thereafter of the separate Abberbury manor of Old Shoreham. A manor-house was recorded in 1300 (fn. 56) and 1334, when the manor included 278 a. of demesnes and assized rents of 26s. 8d. a year. (fn. 57) Where the lands lay is uncertain: in the early 17th century the bounds of the duchy manor, marching with Erringham which occupied the northern half of the parish, appear to have followed the boundaries of the southern part of the parish, (fn. 58) and it is likely that within those bounds the lands of the two manors, as also of lesser estates in Old Shoreham mentioned below, lay intermixed.

In 1066 Fredri held 5 hides in ERRINGHAM of King Edward and could betake himself where he wished. In 1086 the land was held by William de Braose and although the assessment had been reduced to ½ hide the value of the estate was the same as in 1066. (fn. 59) The overlordship descended with the honor of Bramber and was recorded in the early 17th century; (fn. 60) in 1687 Erringham farm was said to be held of the duke of Norfolk's manor of Bidlington, and in the earlier 18th century the rentals of Bidlington included payments for Erringham. (fn. 61) Before 1189 Erringham had been subinfeudated and was held by William de Harcourt, of whose daughters and heirs Aline, the eldest, married Ellis son of Bernard and later claimed that by 1189 the other daughters had quitclaimed their estates to her and her husband. In 1202 William of Wiston and Agnes his wife, another of the daughters, received the whole township of Erringham in settlement of their claim against Aline for Agnes's purparty. (fn. 62) Afterwards there was some further re-arrangement, presumably between the daughters and their husbands or heirs, for in 1239 Erringham was divided into three. (fn. 63)

William of Wiston's share of Erringham, later called the manor of BREWES BARN or ERRINGHAM BREWES (fn. 64) after its lords from 1357 to 1426, descended with his manor of Wiston until 1564. (fn. 65) A later William of Wiston was granted free warren there in 1252, which was confirmed to his successor Adam de Bavent in 1285. (fn. 66) In 1292 Erringham manor was said to be held of Sir Thomas Peverel, (fn. 67) and in 1399 was held of the duke of Norfolk by service of ¹/5 knight. (fn. 68) In 1564 Thomas Shirley conveyed the manor to John Bellingham (fn. 69) (d. 1576).

Bellingham was already lord of the other twothirds of Erringham. In 1239 Isabel de Waubadon held a third, and Philip Talcurtis and his wife Agnes held another third. By 1254 Philip Talcurtis admitted liability for tithes from two-thirds of Erringham. (fn. 70) What was apparently the same twothirds was conveyed in 1294 by Richard Fillol and his wife Margaret to Richard Hedges, (fn. 71) who had the largest assessment for tax in Erringham in 1296, 1327, and 1332. (fn. 72)

John at Hyde, who with Sir Andrew Peverel held ¼ fee in Wyckham (in Steyning) and Erringham of John de Mowbray in 1361 (fn. 73) and was recorded as of Erringham in 1363 (fn. 74) and at some date before 1372, (fn. 75) may represent a successor to Richard Hedges. In 1410–11 Richard Sonde and his wife Pauline granted Erringham manor, held in Pauline's right, to Walter Walkstead, clerk, (fn. 76) from whom that part of Erringham got the name ERRINGHAM WALKSTEAD. (fn. 77) In 1490 Thomas Bellingham of Lyminster died holding what was described as a moiety of Erringham manor, which he had settled (fn. 78) apparently on his second son, Edward Bellingham of Erringham. (fn. 79) Edward's son John died in 1540 holding Erringham Walkstead manor, which was occcupied thereafter by his widow Joan and her second husband James Gage. John Bellingham's son John (fn. 80) died in 1577 as lord of Erringham Walkstead and Erringham Bruce, and also of a smaller estate in Old Shoreham called Walkstead and held of William West, Lord de la Warr. He left a son John, a minor, and a widow Anne on whom one of the manors had been settled and who later married Thomas Lewknor. (fn. 81) The son John was succeeded in 1613 by his son Richard in Walkstead manor, including a house and 540 a., Bruce manor, including 130 a., and an estate of 48 a. called Walkstead and held of Sompting Peverel manor. (fn. 82) Richard died in 1625, and his son and heir Thomas, a minor at his father's death, (fn. 83) sold Erringham in 1650 to John Juxon. (fn. 84) Juxon's son Sir William sold it in 1664 to Cecil Tufton who apparently was dead by 1682 (fn. 85) leaving as son and heir Sir Charles, later of Twickenham. (fn. 86) From Sir Charles the manor passed directly or indirectly to Ayliffe, wife of another Cecil Tufton, perhaps Sir Charles's brother. (fn. 87) In 1727 Cecil's elder son Cecil (d.s.p. 1728) held Erringham with his wife Elizabeth (d. 1748) for term of her life, (fn. 88) but in 1743 the manor was divided into six shares held by the five daughters of Cecil and Ayliffe and the daughter of their younger son Thomas (d. 1743). In 1765 three unmarried daughters sold five of the six shares to Harry Bridger, a merchant of New Shoreham. Bridger was succeeded in 1766 by his son Colvill Bridger of Southwick, who bought the remaining share in 1774. (fn. 89) From Colvill Bridger (d. 1797), who also acquired the adjoining estate of Buckinghams and lived at Buckingham House, (fn. 90) Erringham passed in the direct male line to Harry Bridger (d. 1832), who owned all but 20 a. of the parish, (fn. 91) Harry Colvill Bridger (d. 1872), Harry Bridger (d. 1910), and Lt.-Col. Henry Colvill Bridger. Lt.-Col. Bridger was succeeded in 1929 by his half-brother, Mr. F. S. C. Bridger, who still owned over 400 a. in 1976. (fn. 92)

In 1293, 1427, and 1449 Erringham Bruce included a manor-house. (fn. 93) Erringham Walkstead manor-house, recorded in 1578 as having belonged to John Bellingham (d. 1576), (fn. 94) is likely to have been at Old Erringham. The house that survives there, of flints and brick rubble with dressings of brick and stone, includes a main range possibly of the later 16th century, a small west wing built up against it incorporating re-used material either from an earlier house or from the disused chapel, and an early-17th-century north range perhaps built for John Bellingham (d. 1613). He lived at Erringham in 1608 (fn. 95) but moved his residence to Hayling Island where his son and heir Richard lived in 1614. The house was thereafter let to tenants, (fn. 96) and was enlarged or modified in 1710. (fn. 97) After 1787, (fn. 98) and perhaps when a new house was built to the south-west c. 1900, (fn. 99) It was converted into cottages which were derelict in 1965. (fn. 100) It was afterwards remodelled as a single house.

William de Braose (d. by 1096) granted to Battle abbey 3 messuages and 1 hide of land in Old Shoreham and also, on behalf of his knight Ancelin, 1 hide called Erringham. (fn. 101) In 1540 the abbey's lands in Old and New Shoreham were granted to John Gage and his wife Philippa, (fn. 102) and by then most of the estate seems to have been included in a holding called BUCKINGHAMS, apparently after the family represented by John of Buckingham, steward of John de Braose (d. 1232), (fn. 103) Richard Buckingham, M.P. for New Shoreham in 1301, (fn. 104) John Buckingham, recorded 1329–41, (fn. 105) and Thomas Buckingham, M.P. for New Shoreham in 1358 and 1362. (fn. 106) In the early 14th century the heirs of John Buckingham held a chief house and 20 a. from Battle abbey. (fn. 107) Another Thomas Buckingham died in 1394 or 1398 holding from the abbey 8 a. in Old Shoreham, which his son Robert (fn. 108) recovered in 1404. (fn. 109) Richard Buckingham had the highest tax-assessment in Old Shoreham in 1378; (fn. 110) in 1432 Hugh Buckingham, with his wife Joan, conveyed 160 a. in Old and New Shoreham and adjoining parishes, which Hugh's grandfather Richard Buckingham, perhaps the taxpayer of 1378, had formerly held. (fn. 111)

Richard Lewknor held Buckinghams, in Shoreham and Kingston, from Battle abbey and died in 1506 leaving a widow Catherine and nephew Francis Lewknor as heir. (fn. 112) Richard was evidently brother of Edward Lewknor (d. 1522) of Kingston Bowsey, whose widow Anne held the estate for life by Edward's grant after the death of her second husband, Edmund Etchingham. (fn. 113) Another Richard Lewknor made a settlement of the so-called manor of Buckingham in 1550–1. (fn. 114) Sir Edward Lewknor was said at his death in 1605 to hold Buckinghams, of John Gage as of Old Shoreham manor, along with Kingston Bowsey manor, (fn. 115) leaving as heir his son, also Sir Edward (d. 1618). Before his death in 1653 Edward Blaker, described as of Buckinghams, may have acquired the estate. His son Edward, M.P. for New Shoreham, made a settlement of Buckinghams manor in 1657 (fn. 116) and was succeeded in 1678 by his brother William (d. 1703). William's daughter and heir Susanna married John Monke, also M.P. for New Shoreham, and their son William died in 1714 leaving an infant son John, who died two years later, and daughters Jane and Barbara. (fn. 117) The daughters sold the estate in 1734 to Edward Elliston, whose daughter and heir Catherine married Edward Elliott, Lord Elliott. Edward and Catherine sold Buckinghams in 1766 to Colvill Bridger, (fn. 118) and the estate afterwards descended with Erringham manor, (fn. 119) as outlined above.

A house called Buckinghams or Buckingham was mentioned in 1541 (fn. 120) and was included in the estate held by Sir Edward Lewknor in 1605. (fn. 121) It was the home of his younger brother Thomas (d. 1598 or 1599), the owner of Court Farm, and of Thomas's son Edward (d. 1611). (fn. 122) Edward Blaker's house had 13 hearths in 1662. (fn. 123) By 1766 the main house was said to be a large mansion; (fn. 124) it was of two storeys with a hipped roof, the east front having seven bays with a central pedimented doorway. From 1782 Buckinghams (or Buckingham Place) was the seat of the Bridgers, (fn. 125) who created around it a park, called the Lawn, over ¼ mile square and rebuilt the house in 1820 to designs by J. B. Rebecca. (fn. 126) About 1890 they moved to Adur Lodge and let Buckingham House, as it was then called, to Henry Head, after whose death in 1905 the house remained empty for a few years. It was bought by W. G. Little, who between 1909 and 1921 built a new house further north. (fn. 127) In the 1930s the new house was used as a private school, the western side of the park was built over, and the eastern side became a public park. (fn. 128) The new house was later demolished, making way for further building. Part of the shell of the older house, surviving in 1976 incorporated in the gardens of a new housing estate, reveals a main block square on plan, two storeys high, the walls of yellow brick with stone dressings and debased classical detail. Some of the stables and outbuildings to the west had been converted into dwellings.

William de Braose (d. c. 1192) granted to Nuneaton priory (Warws.) his tenant Wulfwin Sprot and all Wulfwin's lands in Old Shoreham, which Wulfwin and his son Tibbald continued to hold under the nuns. (fn. 129) A William Nuneaton was among the taxpayers of Erringham in Old Shoreham in 1296. (fn. 130) The priory received rents from Old and New Shoreham between the late 14th century (fn. 131) and the Dissolution, (fn. 132) and in 1575 mention was made of lands belonging to the LADY OF NUNEATON manor. At that time lands of the manor were said to have been held recently by one who seems to have been Stephen Boord, (fn. 133) and since the Nuneaton manor has not been found in later records and Boord had also acquired lands in Shoreham belonging to another Benedictine nunnery, Rusper priory, it is possible that the two estates were confused. About 1200 the bishop confirmed a grant to Rusper by Odo de Dammartin, including 3 virgates at Shoreham. (fn. 134) In 1326 the prioress of Rusper was concerned with a conveyance of 2½ a. in Old Shoreham, (fn. 135) and land there was held from her in the 1390s. (fn. 136) In 1537 the Crown granted to Robert Southwell and his wife Margaret the lands formerly belonging to the priory, including land in Shoreham, and in 1540 the Southwells conveyed the manors of Madehurst and Old Shoreham to Thomas Bowyer, (fn. 137) who sold them in 1552 to the Stephen Boord already mentioned. (fn. 138) Boord died in 1567, having settled the property on his younger son Thomas, (fn. 139) who in 1591 conveyed it to Thomas Higgins. (fn. 140) The manor of RUSPER OR OLD SHOREHAM was conveyed by John Urlin and his wife Mary to Stephen Adams in 1656, and passed, presumably before 1714, to the Monke family. Like Buckinghams it was sold to Edward Elliston, and by his daughter and son-inlaw to Colvill Bridger in 1766. (fn. 141) Thereafter it descended with the Bridgers' estate of Erringham and Buckinghams, (fn. 142) but all the holdings of the manor recorded in the period 1786–1848 were in Brighton. (fn. 143)

Several other religious houses held estates in Shoreham. In addition to the churches of Old and New Shoreham, Sele priory accumulated both urban and agricultural property there, (fn. 144) which was referred to as a manor in the 15th century (fn. 145) but appears to have been alienated, laid waste, or merged in the two rectory estates. (fn. 146) William de Braose (d. c. 1192) gave to Lewes priory in free alms all the land which Walter de Pakalos had held of him in Shoreham, (fn. 147) and the priory held land in New Shoreham in 1457; (fn. 148) some of it was granted to Thomas Cromwell and in 1553 was to be sold by the Crown, (fn. 149) and some that may have belonged to the priory was sold by the Crown in 1592. (fn. 150)

The Knights Templar had an oratory or chapel, with a cemetery, in the port of Shoreham by c. 1170, (fn. 151) and in the late 12th century Alan Trenchmare, a sea-captain in the service of Henry II, (fn. 152) gave to their preceptory of Saddlescombe some land at Shoreham with a saltern, stretching between his house and the sea. (fn. 153) On the suppression of the Templars their property in Shoreham, as elsewhere, passed to the Knights Hospitaller, who had themselves maintained a chapel in New Shoreham c. 1190. The Templars' lessee, Maud of the Temple, in 1316 made over her interest to the Carmelite friars of Shoreham, (fn. 154) established in that year by Sir John de Mowbray, (fn. 155) and in 1325, at the king's request, the Hospitallers transferred their title in the former Templars' estate to the Carmelites. (fn. 156) The Carmelites acquired further land in Shoreham, (fn. 157) but most of it may have been lost to the sea by the time that the friars moved to the empty buildings of Sele priory in 1493. (fn. 158) The Hospitallers, of whose chapel at Shoreham no record after the 12th century has been found, evidently retained until the Dissolution property there which was granted back to them in 1558. (fn. 159)

In 1199 Alan Trenchmare gave to the cathedral church of Chichester land in Shoreham (fn. 160) of which later record has not been found. The estate in Old Shoreham granted to Godstow abbey by Henry of St. Valery in the earlier 13th century may be represented by the 3 a. there of which the abbey made a life grant c. 1300 (fn. 161) and by the appurtenances there of Buddington manor (in Wiston) when the Crown granted that manor in 1540 to Thomas Shirley of West Grinstead. (fn. 162) The hospital of St. James in New Shoreham was assessed to the subsidy of 1327, (fn. 163) so may have owned some land. Pynham priory owned, in addition to the profits of the ferry, rents and a small piece of land in Shoreham. (fn. 164)