Shipley: Manors and other estates

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

The manor of SHIPLEY belonged in 1073 to William de Braose, (fn. 1) and in 1086 Fulking was said once to have been part of it. (fn. 2) Shipley, however, was not entered separately in Domesday Book, but may there be included in Thakeham. (fn. 3) Braose's estate evidently included what were later Knepp manor, Hookland park, and Shipley rectory.

The manor of KNEPP, called alternatively in the 16th century the HOLY MOTE of Knepp (presumably for halimote), (fn. 4) usually followed the descent of Bramber rape until the mid 16th century. (fn. 5) In 1234 it was briefly in the keeping first of Peter de Rivaux and then of Robert le Savage. (fn. 6) Between 1241-2 and 1300 it was mortgaged in the Jewry. (fn. 7) Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk (d. 1399), held Knepp in dower until her death in 1425, (fn. 8) and Agnes, widow of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk (d. 1524), until her attainder in 1542. (fn. 9) In 1549 the manor was granted to Thomas West, Lord de la Warr (d. 1554), as 1/40 knight's fee, (fn. 10) but it had been restored before 1568 to Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, who in that year conveyed it to Edward Caryll. (fn. 11) Caryll conveyed it in 1575 to Richard Nye, (fn. 12) whose son and heir Henry conveyed it back in 1576 after his father's death in that year. (fn. 13) Edward Caryll (from 1603 Sir Edward) also acquired other estates in the parish at that time. (fn. 14) In 1600 he settled Knepp for life on his son Sir Thomas. (fn. 15) At the latter's death in 1617 his estates were divided between his daughters Mary and Philippa, Knepp passing to Philippa (fn. 16) and her husband Henry Parker, who succeeded in 1622 as Lord Morley. In the 1640s two thirds of Lord Morley's estates were confiscated by parliament, and he was imprisoned for several years; as a result Lady Morley complained in 1651 that she was unable to support her son. (fn. 17) Knepp manor was discharged from sequestration in 1653, (fn. 18) and after Lord Morley's death in 1655 (fn. 19) the estate was sold in 1657 to the Morleys' distant cousin John Caryll of Harting, subject to Lady Morley's life interest. (fn. 20) She died c. 1660. (fn. 21)

The manor then descended with Washington until the early 18th century. Courts were held for Elizabeth Caryll, widow of John Caryll (d. 1736), between 1738 and 1752. (fn. 22) In 1753 her grandson John Baptist Caryll sold the manor to William Belchier, a London banker. (fn. 23) In 1754-5 he sold it to John Wicker of Horsham (fn. 24) (d. 1767), whose son-in-law Sir Thomas Broughton, Bt., (fn. 25) sold it in 1776-7, with Nutham in Horsham, to the Revd. Joseph Jackson; (fn. 26) he sold it in 1777 to Jacob Rider. (fn. 27) In 1787 the estate comprised 1,600 a. (fn. 28) In 1788 Knepp was sold by Rider's trustees to Sir Charles Raymond, Bt. (fn. 29) (d. 1788), who was succeeded by his daughters Sophia, wife of the antiquary Sir William Burrell, and Juliana, wife of Henry Boulton. Sir William, who had also succeeded to Raymond's baronetcy, bought his sisterin-law's moiety (fn. 30) and at his death in 1796 was succeeded by his son Sir Charles, though his widow was described as lady of the manor in 1797. (fn. 31) Sir Charles (d. 1862) was M.P. for Shoreham from 1807 and 'Father of the House', (fn. 32) and in 1832 was the only large proprietor to reside in Shipley. (fn. 33) By c. 1847 he had c. 1,950 a. in the parish, keeping 663 a. in hand. (fn. 34) Sir Charles's son and heir Sir Percy died in 1876; his brother and heir Sir Walter (d. 1886), also M.P. for Shoreham, let the manor house in the late 1860s. (fn. 35) The descent afterwards continued from father to son through Sir Charles Raymond (d. 1899) and Sir Merrik (d. 1957) to Sir Walter (d. 1985); (fn. 36) from c. 1930 Sir Merrik lived at Floodgates in the south-east corner of the parish, and his son at Knepp Castle. (fn. 37)

The house called Knepp Castle, (fn. 38) which occupies a low rise with a southward view, was designed in 1808 or 1809 by John Nash for Sir Charles Burrell; the architect had made an earlier design for a different site, and had previously built West Grinstead Park for Sir Charles's brother. (fn. 39) Knepp Castle is in a castellated Gothic style, presumably suggested by the presence of the medieval castle nearby. It is of brick, mostly rendered in Roman cement, but left bare in the stable courtyard to the north-west. The entrance porch is of stone, and the long 'picturesque' south façade disguises the symmetry of the plan, while giving an impression of greater size. A circular tower at the rear of the house contains a stone cantilevered staircase with a bedroom above. The hall, vestibule, and drawing room are all elongated octagons. In 1835 Sir Charles's picture collection, including eight Holbeins and Italian, French, and Dutch pictures, was said to be perhaps the finest in the county after that at Petworth. (fn. 40)

In 1904 the main part of the house was gutted by fire; it was restored soon afterwards in a slightly altered form and incorporating fittings from other houses. (fn. 41) Sixteen pictures were destroyed in the fire, but there were still several old masters at the house in 1927. (fn. 42) Further alterations were made to the house in 1930. (fn. 43)

HOOKLAND PARK, called a manor in 1818 and 1830, (fn. 44) descended with Knepp manor until 1617, when at the division of the Caryll inheritance it passed with Bentons (fn. 45) to Sir Richard Molyneux, later Viscount Molyneux (d. 1636). His son Caryll, Lord Molyneux, (fn. 46) conveyed it in 1655 to John Fielding, from whom it passed in 1658 to the tenant John Wood. (fn. 47) Wood was succeeded between 1660 and 1671 by his son George, who conveyed the estate c. 1674 to Joseph Henshaw, bishop of Peterborough (d. 1679). (fn. 48) Henshaw's nephew and heir Thomas Henshaw was succeeded before 1705 by his son Philip, (fn. 49) who was himself succeeded in 1753 by his son, another Thomas. (fn. 50) Philip Eversfield occupied the house in the 1720s. (fn. 51) Thomas Henshaw (d. c. 1783) was succeeded by his sister Anne and her husband Bartholomew Tipping, whose daughter Catherine (d. 1795) married the Revd. John Chardin Musgrave. Their daughter Mary Anne married the Revd. Philip Wroughton, who sold Hookland in 1799 to Caleb Rickman. (fn. 52) Rickman still owned it in 1834, when it comprised 422 a., (fn. 53) but died in 1840. (fn. 54) A namesake was owner c. 1847. (fn. 55) In 1887 and 1895 James Gorham apparently owned Hookland, (fn. 56) and in 1910 it belonged to the executors of a member of the Mills family. (fn. 57) Thereafter the descent has not been traced until 1940 when a Mr. Hextall bought the estate from the Muggeridge family; his son Mr. P. H. Hextall had it in 1983, when it comprised 350 a. (fn. 58)

There was a house at Hookland park in 1647, which was called a lodge in 1655. (fn. 59) What may be the same building, occupying the highest point in the park, was depicted in the 1720s as a two-storeyed house of seven bays facing south-east, the outer bays projecting slightly, and with dormer windows in the roof. (fn. 60) That building was demolished in the mid 19th century, (fn. 61) but an outbuilding formerly attached to it on the north-east, (fn. 62) apparently of the 17th or early 18th century, survived in 1983. The present house was built c. 1850 behind the previous one, and is triple-pile and of stuccoed brick.

Shipley RECTORY was described as a manor in 1308 (fn. 63) and later; (fn. 64) on the earlier occasion it was held of Bramber rape by the service of fencing four perches of the paling of Knepp park, (fn. 65) and in 1428 it was called ¼ knight's fee. (fn. 66) The estate presumably originated in the ploughland with its oxen and animals which was granted c. 1080 with Shipley church by William de Braose (d. 1093 × 1096) to the abbey of St. Florent, Saumur (Maine et Loire). (fn. 67) It evidently passed with the church to the Knights Templar, (fn. 68) but until 1227 St. Florent's cell Sele priory enjoyed tithes in the parish with which its predecessor Bramber college had been endowed in 1073. (fn. 69) In 1227 the priory quitclaimed to the Templars its right to tithes from the parish in exchange for a pension, and agreed that any offerings received in future by monks of the priory officiating in 'the chapel of Knepp', presumably the chapel in the castle, should be handed over to the Templars' preceptor. (fn. 70) The Templars' lands adjoined the Shipley-Horsham boundary in 1247. (fn. 71) In 1308 there was a messuage with garden and curtilage and at least 238 a., including land called Honeypool, presumably south of Shipley village at or near the site of one or other of the two farms called Honeypoles c. 1847. (fn. 72) In the earlier 14th century, despite claims by both William de Braose, lord of Bramber rape, and Andrew Peverel, as heir of Philip de Harcourt who had granted the estate to the Templars, (fn. 73) the estate passed with the church to the Knights Hospitaller. (fn. 74)

What was called the rectory estate after the Dissolution comprised chiefly the right to the tithes of the parish. (fn. 75) In 1541 the rectory was granted to Arundel college, (fn. 76) but it was resumed by the Crown soon afterwards and granted in 1544 to Henry FitzAlan, earl of Arundel, (fn. 77) who in 1564 (fn. 78) settled it on John Caryll (d. 1566) whose heir was his grandson and namesake. (fn. 79) In 1578 the latter conveyed it to his kinsman Edward Caryll, (fn. 80) after which it descended with Knepp (fn. 81) until 1617, when it passed with Bentons to Sir Richard Molyneux, later Viscount Molyneux (fn. 82) (d. 1636). Richard's son Caryll, Viscount Molyneux, (fn. 83) sold it in 1664, except for the tithes of Hookland park, to Matthew Taylor and John Brett of London. They conveyed it in 1669 to Thomas White, who in 1691 sold it to John Hargrave, whose son and heir Thomas sold it in 1720 in trust for John Wicker of Horsham. In 1723 Wicker conveyed it to Bulstrode Peachey, later PeacheyKnight, (fn. 84) and after 1727 it descended with Goringlee until the mid 19th century. (fn. 85) It thus for a time belonged to the Revd. Leveson Vernon Harcourt, possibly a descendant of the Philip de Harcourt who had granted Shipley church to the Templars. (fn. 86) In 1872 or 1873, apparently, Ulick de Burgh, marquess of Clanricarde, sold it to Sir Robert Loder, Bt. (fn. 87) (d. 1888), (fn. 88) who settled it on his daughter Etheldreda, wife of Sir C. R. Burrell (d. 1899). Thereafter it presumably descended again with Knepp. (fn. 89) The rectory was leased in 1635 (fn. 90) and c. 1653. (fn. 91) In 1778 and in 1810 the tithes of most lands in the parish were farmed by their owners or occupiers. (fn. 92) Hookland park and the Knepp estate, however, were tithe free in 1835. (fn. 93) At the commutation of tithes in 1847, when the Harcourt estates too were tithe free, the Revd. L. V. Harcourt as impropriator received a tithe rent charge of £937 10s. (fn. 94)

The former rectory lands, meanwhile, were apparently divided at some time after the Dissolution. They evidently included the two farms called by the 1870s Church farm north and Church farm south. (fn. 95) Bennetts farm, which may be the same as Church farm north, (fn. 96) descended with the rectory until 1655, when it was sold by Caryll Molyneux, Viscount Molyneux, to John Fagg, who sold it in 1658 to Thomas Sheppard and Elias Blunt of Horsham. (fn. 97) Samuel Blunt had it in 1759, (fn. 98) and it continued in the Blunt family with Newbuildings (fn. 99) until 1838 (fn. 100) or later. Sir Charles Burrell had it c. 1847 together with one of the two farms then called Honeypoles. (fn. 101) Church farm south at the latter date belonged with the other Honeypoles farm to Elizabeth Smart. (fn. 102) In the mid 20th century it was bought by Sir Walter Burrell from Hilaire Belloc of King's Land, (fn. 103) so that in 1983 both Church farm north and Church farm south belonged to the Knepp estate. The lands on the ShipleyHorsham boundary mentioned in 1247 (fn. 104) may be represented in part by the farm north-east of Brooks Green called St. Jones's or St. John's from the early 18th century, when it belonged to Philip Caryll of Newbuildings. (fn. 105) The farm was alternatively called Jockies in the later 19th century. (fn. 106)

The Templars' and Hospitallers' preceptory building mentioned, for instance, in 1308 (fn. 107) has not been located, but may have been no bigger than a manor house since the number of brethren was presumably small. (fn. 108) The churchyard as it existed in 1983 is bounded on the north and east sides by a ditch, the inner bank of which is continued along the south side by a former river terrace; the ditch too formerly continued along that side. (fn. 109) The southern part of the churchyard, however, was formerly not part of it, (fn. 110) and seems a possible site for the preceptory, though excavation in 1926 and 1934 revealed nothing. (fn. 111) Earthworks in a field south-east of the churchyard, which apparently represented medieval fishponds, were ploughed out in the 1960s. (fn. 112)

The manor of GORINGLEE was a member of Broadwater in 1242 and 1268, (fn. 113) but by 1271 had passed to Joan Waleys. (fn. 114) In 1318 John de Lucy held it of Godfrey Waleys by the render of a rose, (fn. 115) and the same or another John de Lucy held it of Bramber rape as ¼ knight's fee in 1361. (fn. 116) Later medieval tenants were James Lucy (c. 1400), Peter Brewes (before c. 1454), and Thomas Green (c. 1454); (fn. 117) otherwise the descent is lost until 1551 when John Burre had the manor. In 1555 he conveyed the reversion after the death of his mother Catherine Beaumont to Thomas Hobson. When Hobson died in 1557 the fee simple of the manor passed to his three daughters and coheirs Anne, Mary, and Alice. (fn. 118) Mary's share had passed by 1583 to Alice and her husband Thomas Roberts, who in that year conveyed two thirds of the manor to Edward Caryll. Anne and her husband Thomas Williams conveyed their share too to Caryll in the same year. (fn. 119) Thereafter the manor descended with Knepp until 1658 or later. (fn. 120) Richard Elrington took a lease of Goringlee in 1551, which he assigned in 1560 to Thomas Wiseman, (fn. 121) who sold his interest to Sir Henry Goring; at the latter's death in 1594, his son Edward succeeded to it. (fn. 122)

In 1713, when the home farm was 360 a., it was settled on Philip Caryll of Newbuildings. (fn. 123) In 1727 he conveyed it to Bulstrode Peachey-Knight of West Dean near Chichester, at whose death in 1736 (fn. 124) it passed either to his brother Henry (created Bt. 1736; d. 1737) or to his brother John (succeeded as Bt. 1737; d. 1744). The latter's son Sir John had it in 1756. (fn. 125) Thereafter it followed the descent of West Dean manor in the Peachey family, from 1794 Lords Selsey, until 1838, when at the death of Henry John Peachey, Lord Selsey, it passed to his sister Caroline Mary (d. 1871), who married the Revd. Leveson Vernon Harcourt (d. 1860). (fn. 126) In 1812 Goringlee farm comprised 437 a., (fn. 127) and by c. 1847 the former Selsey estate in the parish totalled over 1,000 a. (fn. 128) In 1872 Ulick de Burgh, marquess of Clanricarde, conveyed the manor to G.C. Carew-Gibson of Sandgate Lodge in Sullington, who offered the lands for sale in 1887. (fn. 129) The later history has not been traced.

Goringlee, the former manor house, was extended and remodelled in the earlier 20th century but has an older, perhaps 18th-century, core. (fn. 130)

A manor called APSLEY belonged to William de Braose in 1073 (fn. 131) and was perhaps held in demesne by his successors until c. 1230 when John de Braose (d. 1232) granted it to John de Imworth. (fn. 132) It seems likely to have been what was later the manor of BENTONS or TABELERSHALL (fn. 133) in Shipley, which was called Apsley manor in 1320, (fn. 134) when it was held of Bramber rape. (fn. 135) Ralph le Tablier had witnessed a deed of land in Apsley tithing c. 1218. (fn. 136) He seems to have been the same as the Ralph le Tablier (d. 1238) who held land in Wiltshire, and who was succeeded by his son Thomas (knighted 1249), probably the Thomas who held land in Shipley in 1256. The same or another Thomas, alive in the 1280s, left a son Guy whose daughter Edith married Richard of Grimstead. (fn. 137) John of Grimstead, taxed in Apsley in 1296, (fn. 138) may have been Richard's brother John, to whom as trustee Richard conveyed what was apparently the same estate, described as Apsley manor, in 1320. Richard's son Thomas had succeeded him by 1323. (fn. 139) Thomas and his infant son and heir John both died in 1328, and the manor was assigned to Thomas's sister Margaret and her husband Thomas de Benton, subject to the dower of Thomas of Grimstead's widow Joan. (fn. 140) Thomas de Benton died seised of it in 1358 and was succeeded by his son Nicholas. (fn. 141) In 1361 the estate was described as a yardland. (fn. 142) In 1401 the same or another Nicholas Benton settled the reversion after the death of his sister Cecily on his son, also called Nicholas. (fn. 143) The latter was succeeded at his death in 1422 by his son John, (fn. 144) presumably the Sir John Benton on whom a messuage and 420 a. in Shipley, West Grinstead, and Apsley were settled in 1443. (fn. 145) Sir John was dealing with the manor in 1463 (fn. 146) and apparently in 1484-5. Richard Farnfold was a party to the transaction of 1484-5, (fn. 147) and the manor may then have followed the descent of Testers manor in Steyning, (fn. 148) since William Farnfold conveyed it in 1572-3 to Edward Caryll. (fn. 149) Thereafter the manor descended with Knepp until 1617, when at the partition of the Caryll estates it passed to Sir Thomas Caryll's daughter Mary and her husband Sir Richard Molyneux (fn. 150) (created in 1628 Viscount Molyneux). At Molyneux's death in 1636 he was succeeded by his son Richard, who was fined for his support for the king in the 1640s. The fine was reduced (fn. 151) partly because of Richard's agreeing in 1646 to endow the living of Shipley, (fn. 152) and in 1649 the estates for which he had compounded were ordered to be restored to him. Richard was succeeded in 1654, both in the estate and in the viscountcy, by his brother Caryll, who had also been active on the royalist side in the Civil War, (fn. 153) and who apparently conveyed the estate c. 1655 in trust for John Tredcroft. (fn. 154) Tredcroft or his son, also John, was dealing with it in 1674, and Nathaniel Tredcroft, lord of Hawksbourne in Horsham, in 1710. (fn. 155) Thereafter it descended with Hawksbourne until the mid 19th century. (fn. 156) In the 1840s Bentons Place farm comprised 143 a. in Shipley and 161 a. in West Grinstead. (fn. 157) In 1856 Edward Tredcroft conveyed it to the Revd. John Hurst, whose son Henry Robert Hurst was described as of Bentons in 1895 and conveyed the estate in 1897 to William Foster. In 1919 the trustees of the Foster family settlement conveyed it to R. H. Stacey and others, (fn. 158) and by 1927 it had apparently been broken up. (fn. 159) Bentons Place and c. 30 a. of land were sold by Stacey to a Mr. Clisby, whose son lived there in 1983, and another part of the estate was sold in 1950 to W. R. (later Sir Walter) Burrell, after which it descended with Knepp. (fn. 160)

The manor house recorded in 1328 (fn. 161) may have stood in a field called Palace Land in the south-west corner of the parish, where foundations of an old mansion were said to be visible in 1893. (fn. 162) A manor house was also recorded in 1422. (fn. 163) The existing 17thcentury or earlier building is double-L-shaped, of timber clad with brick and hung tiles, and with a Horsham stone roof. On the south side are a massive external chimneystack and a 19th-century porch. (fn. 164) In the later 16th and earlier 17th centuries Edward Caryll and his son Sir Thomas successively lived there. (fn. 165) At a date between 1628 and c. 1655 the building was said to be a good house but somewhat out of repair. (fn. 166) In 1694 it contained a hall, two parlours, and at least five chambers, besides offices. (fn. 167) In 1927, when the house had recently been restored, it had much oak panelling, (fn. 168) which by 1983 had been removed. (fn. 169) One arm of the former moat survived on the north side in 1983.

The manor of WITHYHAM or DUMMERS was a member of Steyning and later of Charlton-Ashurst manor, and belonged successively to Fécamp abbey (Seine Maritime) and Syon abbey (Mdx.). (fn. 170) After the Dissolution John Caryll received a grant from the Crown in 1544, (fn. 171) and he or a namesake was licensed in 1578 to alienate the manor to Edward Caryll. (fn. 172) Thereafter it descended with Bentons until c. 1655 or later. (fn. 173)

John Michell in 1713 owned c. 40 a. in Shipley described as a moiety of Withyham, (fn. 174) and in 1769 William Michell of Lewes conveyed Dummers otherwise Withyham, comprising 60 a., to Elizabeth Clear, (fn. 175) who was described in 1793 as lady of the manors of Scolliers and Dommiers. (fn. 176) Sir John Peachey, Bt., had an estate of 43 a. in the parish called Withyham in 1764, and his descendant John Peachey, Lord Selsey, owned Dummers farm (45 a.) in Shipley in 1815. (fn. 177) Thomas Killick owned Dummers farm c. 1847, (fn. 178) and Sir Merrik Burrell in 1910, when it had 48 a. (fn. 179)

The reputed manor of DURRANTS belonged in 1713 to John Michell the owner of Dummers, (fn. 180) whose son Thomas died in 1748. (fn. 181) The Revd. Henry Michell was dealing with Durrants in 1781. At his death in 1789 it passed to his son John Henry who sold it in 1796 to J. A. Clear. The latter sold it in 1818 to Philip Chasemore of Horsham. (fn. 182) He had died by 1835, when his widow Susan was owner; (fn. 183) she was dealing with the estate in 1850, (fn. 184) but another Philip Chasemore was described as owner c. 1847 when the estate comprised 124 a. (fn. 185) Durrants farm comprised 49 a. in 1895, (fn. 186) and 51 a. in 1910, when it belonged to Cdr. A. Lingham, R.N. (fn. 187) The later descent has not been traced.

Durrants or Durrance Farm is a medieval house with a central two-bayed hall with crown-post roof and one jettied cross wing on the north. There is a medieval room at the south end under the ridge roof of the hall. A carved panel dated 1661 and with the initials TM/IM (perhaps for Michell), reset on the central post which supports the beams of the main ground-floor room, may indicate the date when the upper floor was put into the hall. In the early 20th century the house was added to at the rear and extensively restored.

Land called Polespitch or Spolspiche south of Coolham hamlet, (fn. 188) mentioned in 1316, (fn. 189) was held by 1361 with Clapham manor, (fn. 190) of which it may represent an early Wealden outlier. In 1595 it comprised 160 a. (fn. 191) Between that date and 1627 or 1628 it apparently passed to John Stansfield. (fn. 192)

Philip Caryll (d. 1688) had built by 1677 a 'new building' called at first Sandhill and later NEWBUILDINGS. His son, also Philip, (fn. 193) had the house and its land in 1693 and 1713, (fn. 194) but by the 1720s they had passed to Charles Sergison of Cuckfield, (fn. 195) who sold Newbuildings in 1728 to his great-nephew Thomas Warden, afterwards Sergison. He sold it in 1757 to Philippa Clitherow and Sarah Blunt, wife of Samuel Blunt (d. 1799); (fn. 196) the Blunts later acquired the Clitherow moiety. Samuel Blunt's grandson and heir Francis Scawen Blunt (d. 1842) was succeeded first by his son and namesake who died unmarried in 1872 and then by the latter's brother Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (d. 1922). (fn. 197) About 1847 the estate included 355 a. in the parish. (fn. 198) W. S. Blunt lived at the house between 1870 and 1872, moving to Crabbet Park in Worth in the later year, and returning to Newbuildings for good in 1895. (fn. 199) At his death he left the estate to Dorothy Carleton for life; after her death in 1954 it passed to his granddaughter Lady Anne Lytton (fn. 200) (d. 1979). (fn. 201) In 1957 she sold most of the estate to the Hon. Judith, wife of Sir Walter Burrell of Knepp Castle, who later gave it to her son Mark, (fn. 202) but Lady Anne Lytton's nephew John Lytton, Lord Knebworth, still owned and lived in Newbuildings Place in 1984; in 1985 he succeeded his father as earl of Lytton.

Newbuildings Place was built shortly before 1677. (fn. 203) A double-pile house of five bays and two storeys, with a basement above ground level and dormer windows in the roof, it is built of local sandstone with brick dressings; the windows have mullions and transoms, and each side façade is articulated by two shaped gables which incorporate brick chimneystacks. Surviving interior decoration of the late 17th or early 18th century includes the fluted Doric panelling of the drawing room, the dentil cornices of hall and library, and the massive oak staircase which retains its intermediate gates. In the later 18th century there were four bedrooms on the first floor and four garrets in the roof. The original basement kitchens and cellars are stone-vaulted. A putative priest's hiding place was mentioned in the later 18th century, (fn. 204) and sites of others have also been suggested, (fn. 205) though all seem unlikely. There was an attached five-bayed one-storeyed outbuilding on the north side of the house in the 1720s. (fn. 206) In 1788, when it had become ruined, (fn. 207) it was considered to be the remains of a Roman Catholic chapel begun but never completed. (fn. 208) The ruins still existed in part in 1893. (fn. 209)

Newbuildings is said to have housed paupers in the 1820s or 1830s. (fn. 210) Various alterations to the house were made in the later 19th century by W. S. Blunt during his two periods of residence there. To the first period (1870-2) evidently belong the two-storeyed projecting porch with a shaped gable on the east (entrance) front, the oak porch on the garden front, and the replacement of the original ground-floor windows on the east front by oriels. The oak panelling in the hall, including a three-arched screen, seems also to be late 19th-century, and was in place by 1890. (fn. 211) After 1895 Blunt built a new wing on the north, to accommodate a printing press, (fn. 212) and a coach house north of it. At an unknown date he also added a balcony on the south front of the house to give a view of the South Downs. To decorate the two main rooms he commissioned two large tapestries from William Morris's workshop c. 1895; (fn. 213) later Morris's widow gave to Blunt the table made by Philip Webb for The Red House at Bexley (Kent). (fn. 214)