Cowfold: Manors and other estates

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

The land of Cowfold parish was mainly within four manors centred in nearby parishes, namely Ewhurst and Shermanbury manors in Shermanbury, Stretham manor in Henfield, and Beeding manor in Upper Beeding. The farmsteads of the land in Cowfold held of Ewhurst manor lay scattered over the western half of Cowfold, including Brownings, Capons (formerly Arnolds), Crateman's, Gratwicke, Parkminster (formerly Picknoll), and the submanor of Woldringfold; in the eastern half it included part of Oakendene. Shermanbury manor's farmsteads in Cowfold were mostly in the south-east quarter adjoining Shermanbury parish, namely Eastridge, Kings, Lydford, and Wilcocks, but also included Aglands and Homelands in the north-east quarter, Gosden on the northern boundary, and Gervaise in the centre of the western half. Four farmsteads in Cowfold of Stretham manor were in the south-west corner, Godshill, Groveland, Mockford, and Swains, but others, including Hill Farm (formerly South Haines) and Potters, lay nearer Cowfold village. To Beeding manor belonged all the land in the north-east corner, comprising Denwood, Drewitts, Goodyers, Hookland, and Long House (formerly Welches), three farms in the north-east, but west of the Cowfold stream, namely Frithland, Frithknowle, and Parkgate (formerly Patchgate), and Westridge (formerly Ridge or Ridgeland) in the south-east quarter and Chates (or Singers) in the south-west. (fn. 1) What was referred to in 1764 as COWFOLD manor, when sold with Beeding manor to Harry Bridger, was evidently the land in Cowfold that was held of Beeding. (fn. 2)

Other manors outside the parish with land in Cowfold were Woodmancote, Hewells in Horsham, Tottington Wowood in Upper Beeding, of which Dragons farm was held as a copyhold or customary tenement by the Martin family in the 17th century, (fn. 3) and Bidlington and Kingsbarns in West Grinstead, which itself derived from manors in Bramber and Upper Beeding (fn. 4) and of which Stonehouse farm was held. (fn. 5) A reference to land in Cowfold held of Wyndham or Lord Leconfield's manor (fn. 6) may result from confusion between the names of the half-hundred and of Lord Leconfield's family.

Ralph Woldringfold (Wolfringfold), a taxpayer in Ewhurst tithing in 1327 and 1334, (fn. 7) Thomas Woldringfold, who held an estate of Ewhurst manor in fee in 1393, (fn. 8) and Joan Woldringfold, who held 10 a. in dower in 1399, (fn. 9) may have held WOLDRINGFOLD, an estate of 40 a. held of Ewhurst manor in 1631. (fn. 10) In 1598 John Cowper or Cooper made a marriage settlement of 230 a. including Woldringfold and Gratwicke on his son Ockenden, who in 1641 settled much the same estate in reversion on the marriage of his daughter and heir Elizabeth with John London. (fn. 11) In 1643, however, Thomas Whiting, possibly the tenant in 1631, held freely of Ewhurst manor Woldringfold, Akingfield, and Cants, which he settled in reversion on the marriage of his daughter and heir Anne with Edward Parkhurst; Parkhurst made fealty for Woldringfold before 1660, and sold it after 1678 to Thomas Butcher, (fn. 12) who in 1686 owned and occupied a house and 90 a. called Woldringfold, Akingfield, and Cants. (fn. 13) In 1682 a Capt. Covert had had what was evidently a small estate called Woldringfold. (fn. 14) There are therefore likely to have been two estates of that name. In 1700 Thomas Butcher still owned his estate at Woldringfold, (fn. 15) of which firm evidence is not afterwards found until the 19th century; it was said to have passed with Gratwicke from John Gratwicke (d. 1721) through his sister Anne, wife of Richard Madgwick, their son John (d. 1727), and John's daughter, who married Thomas Steele, to Thomas's son Thomas, who sold it to Nathaniel Tredcroft, who in turn sold it to James White, the owner in 1830. (fn. 16) That was not the descent of the estate called Gratwicke, (fn. 17) though Brownings farm, once owned by Thomas Butcher, son or grandson of the owner of Woldringfold, (fn. 18) passed by sale from Thomas Steele to Nathaniel Tredcroft, and from Tredcroft to Charles Goring, who by 1814 had sold land not including Brownings but perhaps including part of Woldringfold to James White (d. 1844). White, who left a widow Sarah (d. 1860), lived at Woldringfold, (fn. 19) and with 658 a., including Gratwicke, had the largest estate in the parish c. 1840. (fn. 20) Sarah devised Woldringfold to the Revd. William Margesson, whose son Col. Margesson sold it c. 1872, separately from Gratwicke, to C. Chaloner Smith of Liverpool. Smith sold it (fn. 21) apparently to Richard Ramsden, who was in possession in 1877. (fn. 22) In 1880 it was acquired by Lt.-Col. C. B. Godman (d. 1941), who in 1939 transferred it to his daughter Hester, wife of Col. John Forrester Colvin. It was further transferred in 1959 to the Colvins' son, Mr. Patrick F. J. Colvin, who owned 257 ha. (635 a.) in the parish in 1984. (fn. 23)

The site of what was later called Old Woldringfold had a house c. 1800, (fn. 24) where by 1830 James White had built a 'competent mansion'. (fn. 25) Smith was said to have spent £14,000 on the estate, (fn. 26) presumably partly on the house, which after 1880 was largely demolished, the rest being converted to cottages, and c. 1960 was again enlarged as a single house; it has a large walled garden nearby. In 1881 Godman built a large new stone house, designed by Ewan Christian, in a commanding position 300 yd. south of Old Woldringfold; the new Woldringfold was rebuilt and modernized in 1960. (fn. 27)

The family of Gratwicke, established in Cowfold from the earlier 14th century, (fn. 28) cannot be firmly shown to have held the estate called GRATWICKE, which in the 18th century was a freehold of Ewhurst manor: (fn. 29) William Gratwicke in 1374 held a house and yardland as a customary tenant of Stretham manor. (fn. 30) By 1598 Gratwicke belonged to Ockenden Cooper, who shortly before his death in 1641 settled it with Woldringfold on John London, (fn. 31) the husband of his daughter and heir Elizabeth. (fn. 32) London lived at Gratwicke in 1646-7 and had a house with eight hearths in 1664, and in 1671 his son or grandson John quitclaimed the estate to Susanna Morley, (fn. 33) whose brother-in-law Sir John Fagg, Bt., (fn. 34) had Gratwicke and other estates in Cowfold in 1682. (fn. 35) In 1731 Sir Thomas Fagg and John Spence each held half of Gratwicke, and in 1741 the whole was said to have been held by Sir Robert Fagg, Bt., whose heirs (fn. 36) were his four sisters. Sir Robert (d. 1740) is said to have left his estates to his sister Elizabeth, who in 1743 married Sir Charles Matthew Goring, Bt., (fn. 37) but apparently by 1787 Gratwicke had passed to William White (d. 1802), who devised it to his son Charles (d. 1829). Charles's brother and heir James (fn. 38) added Gratwicke to his estate of Woldringfold. (fn. 39) In 1845, the year after James's death, Gratwicke, comprising 287 a., was offered for sale separately, (fn. 40) but it was still or again owned with Woldringfold c. 1870, when Col. Margesson sold it to Mr. Gates of Shoreham. By 1879 Gratwicke had become part of Sampson Copestake's estate centred on Shermanbury manor, (fn. 41) but in 1910 it belonged to St. Hugh's monastery, Parkminster, which sold it in 1941. (fn. 42) The house at Gratwicke, which in 1984 belonged to Mr. Roger Reed, has two timber-framed ranges, probably of the early 17th century, running north-south and touching only at one corner. In the south-west angle between them is a brick building of the later 18th century. The staircase and many of the fittings are of the early 19th century.

An estate held freely of Ewhurst manor, PICKNOLL, (fn. 43) called PARKNOWLE in the mid 19th century and PARKMINSTER after 1873, (fn. 44) gave a surname to Henry (fl. 1296) and William (fl. 1327, 1342). (fn. 45) Another William Picknoll held an estate of Ewhurst manor in fee in 1393. (fn. 46) In 1448 William's daughter Alice Picknoll and her son Ralph Picknoll had an estate in Cowfold, Shermanbury, and West Grinstead which passed through her son John to John's son Robert Picknoll. Robert in 1462 settled it on his uncle Ralph, whose grandson John Dunstall held it in 1488. (fn. 47) Another John Dunstall was in possession of Eastridge, Fowles (afterwards Lydford, later Bankfield), and Picknoll in 1556. (fn. 48) Eastridge (formerly Ridgelands) had in 1397 been held by John Ockenden and his wife Christian, and John Bornour and his wife Marian had sold it to an earlier John Dunstall in or before 1428 when John Fowle quitclaimed it to Dunstall. (fn. 49) From John Dunstall (d. 1558-9) Eastridge and Picknoll, comprising 160 a., descended in the direct male line to John (d. 1611), John (d. 1614), Thomas (d. 1622), and Thomas Dunstall (d. by 1659). (fn. 50) From the 1650s the Dunstalls' estate was distinguished as Great Picknoll, 80 a., from Little Picknoll, 30 a., held by the Gratwickes of Mockford, (fn. 51) John (d. 1649), his son William (d. 1664), and William's son John (d. 1726). (fn. 52) Mary Dunstall, daughter and eventual heir of the last Thomas, in 1670 sold Eastridge and Picknoll to members of the Mill family of Greatham, which retained Eastridge until 1702 when it was bought by Edward Shelley, but sold Picknoll in or after 1673. (fn. 53) Great Picknoll was occupied by William Gates in 1675; in 1678, when Gates was tenant, it was conveyed by Ralph and Mary Mill to John Ward, the owner in 1682. (fn. 54) Elizabeth Powlett, formerly Ward (d. c. 1752), devised Great Picknoll and Capons to James Ward, who was succeeded c. 1777 by his nephew Richard Ward (d. by 1798). Richard's brother and heir James had been succeeded by 1803 by his son James, who dying between 1816 and 1818 devised his estate to Charles Lee. Lee sold Great Picknoll before 1831 to John Macpherson, (fn. 55) who c. 1840 owned 110 a. in Cowfold. (fn. 56) He had sold it by 1854 to William Boxall (d. 1863), whose son William P. Boxall sold it in 1873 to the Carthusian order. The Carthusians bought Little Picknoll in 1874 and land in Shermanbury in 1893. (fn. 57) The order's estate in Cowfold amounted to 616 a. in 1910 and 286 a. in 1983, following the sale of Godshill farm and Groveland House in 1937 and of Gratwicke and Maryland farms in 1941. (fn. 58)

The Dunstalls' main house may have been at Eastridge (fn. 59) rather than Picknoll, where in 1866 W. P. Boxall built a Jacobean mansion in flint. That house became the guest house of Parkminster monastery; it lost its central tower and some of its crenellation and was rendered in cement. (fn. 60) The early 17thcentury farmhouse of Great Picknoll, timber-framed with two storeys and attics, was cased in brick, the windows being given pediments, in the early 18th century, and square bays of stone were added for the windows on both floors of the south front c. 1895. (fn. 61)

The family that gave its name to the freehold of Shermanbury manor called GERV AISE or JARVIS (fn. 62) was represented in Cowfold in the early 14th century, (fn. 63) and in 1374 John Gervaise also held a customary half-yardland, formerly his father's, of Stretham manor. (fn. 64) By 1558 Gervaise belonged to John Gratwicke who died that year and whose son Richard (d. 1587-8) sold it to his cousin Roger Gratwicke (d. 1596) of Tortington. Roger settled Gervaise on Thomas Gratwicke (d. 1616), a younger son of John (d. 1558). Thomas's son John (d. 1642) (fn. 65) acquired Shermanbury manor by marriage (fn. 66) and was succeeded in Gervaise by his grandson and heir William Gratwicke (d. 1670). William's brother and heir John was succeeded in 1696 by his son John (d. 1721), (fn. 67) who devised Gervaise to his sister Mary. Mary devised it to her nephew John Madgwick (d. 1727), whose infant son was succeeded within a year by his sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth, as widow of Thomas Steele, owned Gervaise, 100 a., in 1785 and by 1803 had been succeeded by her son, also Thomas Steele; by 1814 Thomas had sold it to Nathaniel Tredcroft, and Tredcroft to Charles Goring, and it descended (fn. 68) with the Gorings' estate of Wiston. (fn. 69) In 1814 Gervaise amounted to 121 a. and was owned with Brownings, 56 a., immediately north. Trenchmore, 32 a., and Searches farms, 9 a., on the west were added to the Gorings' estate, (fn. 70) and c. 1840 Charles Goring had 220 a. in Cowfold. (fn. 71) The house at Gervaise, presumably the one being built by Roger Gratwicke in 1588 with sandstone from St. Leonard's Forest, (fn. 72) had been demolished by 1814. (fn. 73) The estate, called BROWNINGS, of 223 a. was sold by the Wiston estate to the tenant in 1924. (fn. 74) The older part of the house called Brownings, which in 1984 was separate from the land and belonged to Mr. V. Laporta, comprises two parallel timber-framed ranges once divided by a gap of c. 8 ft., the shorter eastern range being late medieval and originally open to the roof, the western early 17th-century with a three-roomed plan and a large internal chimneystack; an early 19th-century staircase was put in the intervening space.

A freehold of Shermanbury manor called HEDGELAND AND KINGS, amounting to 140 a., was held in the earlier 17th century by Sir Edward Bellingham, and in 1659 by Henry West. (fn. 75) In 1682 it belonged to a Mr. Russell, (fn. 76) whose son Nathaniel had succeeded him by 1698. It later passed to Richard Hurst (d. by 1785), whose son Robert had sold it by 1803 to Bysshe Shelley, and Sir Timothy Shelley, Bt., was said in 1845 to hold of Ewhurst manor 140 a. called Hedgeland and Kings. (fn. 77) Shelley's land attached to Kings was 54 a. c. 1840, when he had another 237 a. centred on Welches (later Long House). (fn. 78) In 1910 Kings farm, 38 a., was owned and occupied by Arthur R. Goulburn, (fn. 79) and in 1911 and 1914 Hedgeland and Kings belonged to Henderson Webb. (fn. 80)

The house called Kings Barn is a timber-framed building of the 15th century, restored and enlarged. It was occupied in 1610 by George Blaker, in 1641 by Thomas Bull (fn. 81) (d. 1652), (fn. 82) and in 1659 by William Standen, (fn. 83) suggesting that it was Abraham Standen's house of six hearths in 1664, occupied in 1665 by Henry Gates. (fn. 84) In 1984 it was the home of Mr. F. F. Haddock.

The largest estate of Stretham manor in Cowfold was HILL FARM; its nucleus was SOUTH HAINES which, with North Haines, was evidently named from a family holding land as neifs in the 14th century. (fn. 85) In 1530 the bishop of Chichester, lord of Stretham, granted South Haines to Roger Agate, Richard Colcock and his wife Joan, and Richard's heirs and assigns, (fn. 86) and in 1574 Richard Gratwicke claimed that his father Stephen had bought South Haines from Colcock, whose executor refused possession. (fn. 87) In 1590 the estate, a house and c. 100 a., belonged to Stephen Awood, (fn. 88) and Stephen or his nephew of the same name (fn. 89) died in 1606 having devised South Haines, which he had bought from Richard Awood, clerk, to his infant daughter Joan. (fn. 90) In 1668 two London merchants sold South Haines to Henry Pankhurst, his wife Mary, and Sir John Fagg, (fn. 91) and Fagg was the owner of South Haines and Hill farm in 1682. (fn. 92) Hill farm descended with the other lands of the Faggs to the Gorings, (fn. 93) and c. 1805 Charles Goring gave it to his wife's brother-in-law, Richard Constable, vicar of Cowfold. Constable's widow Mary had 134 a. in Cowfold in 1842, and from his daughter Sarah, wife of Henry Hoper, the estate passed to their son Richard, (fn. 94) owner in 1870, to Mrs. K. A. Hoper, who had 374 a. in 1910, and to John D. Hoper, owner in 1938. (fn. 95) Hill Farm House, apparently built as a seat for Richard Hoper, was separated from the land after the Second World War and became an old people's home.

A freehold of Beeding manor called WELCHES, later LONG HOUSE, (fn. 96) is likely to have been named from the Walsh family. Ralph le Walsh was among the five highest taxpayers in Wyndham tithing in 1296, 1327, and 1332. (fn. 97) Richard Walsh c. 1495 claimed 160 a. in Cowfold under a settlement by his father James; (fn. 98) in 1506 Richard held two estates freely of Wallhurst manor, in which John Roberts had succeeded him by 1555 when one was called Welches and was held by rent of a rose. (fn. 99) John's son Thomas Roberts died in 1593 holding Denwood, and Thomas's great-grandson John Roberts (d. 1706) (fn. 100) was apparently the largest landowner in the parish in 1682, with Denwood, Welches, Goodyers, Hookland, and Woodhouse; (fn. 101) in 1733 Denwood and Welches were freeholds of Beeding manor. (fn. 102) The latter John's elder son John inherited the freeholds and was succeeded in 1739 by his son John (d. c. 1776), (fn. 103) who sold Denwood and Welches in 1746 to Edward Shelley. Edward devised the estate in or before 1750 to John Shelley (d. by 1791) whose brother and heir Bysshe (created Bt. 1806) was succeeded in 1815 by his son Sir Timothy. (fn. 104) Sir Timothy owned Welches with 237 a. c. 1840 (fn. 105) and was succeeded in 1844 by his grandson Sir Percy F. Shelley, the poet's son, from whom Welches had been acquired by 1854 by Richard Weekes (d. 1870). Richard's grandson and heir P. H. C. Weekes after 1904 evidently sold his estate of 488 a. including Denwood and Goodyers (fn. 106) to F. D. Godman (d. 1919), the naturalist, who by 1892 owned Graffields and Parkgate and by 1910 had more than 700 a. in the parish including Aglands, Averys, Denwood, and Welches. Most of his estate passed to his widow, Dame Alice Godman (d. 1944), who was active in the Red Cross and local affairs, (fn. 107) and then to their daughters (fn. 108) Eva Mary (d. unmarried 1965) and Catherine Edith (d. unmarried 1982), whose cousin, Mr. V. A. G. Tregear, in 1984 owned c. 950 a. in the parish. (fn. 109)

Long House, occupied by a tenant farmer c. 1840, by the owner of the estate in 1887, and by a nonfarming tenant in 1910 (fn. 110) and 1984, is a tall and imposing building. It incorporates at the south end a 17th-century timber-framed farmhouse which was doubled in size by the addition in brick of two large rooms on each floor in the early 18th century. One of the rooms was called the banquetting room in 1739. (fn. 111) The windows of the 18th-century building repeat the proportions of those in the south end, and the two parts are further united by a heavy moulded wooden cornice that runs round the whole building, by matching arcaded chimneys, and by a central lantern. A short south-west wing and a porch to each main front were added in the later 19th century. The interior retains some reset early 17th-century panelling, some 18th-century panelling, and several fire surrounds, one inscribed 'IS/R 1718' apparently for John and Sarah Roberts. (fn. 112) A granary, one of several outbuildings, has a stone inscribed 'IS/R 1708'.

William Goodyer, a taxpayer in Wyndham tithing in 1327, (fn. 113) was presumably of the family which gave its name to GOODYERS, a copyhold of Beeding manor. Members of the Wood or Atwood family were admitted to Goodyers and Woodlands in 1478 and 1535, and one of them released Goodyers and other lands to John Roberts (d. 1658), who was admitted in 1631. (fn. 114) His son John (d. 1706) was succeeded in Goodyers, Woodlands, and another copyhold called Marles by his younger son Thomas, who had died by 1765 leaving Goodyers and Woodlands to his niece Sarah Hales. (fn. 115) About 1840 Goodyers with 71 a. belonged to William Hill, (fn. 116) but by 1870 it was part of the estate of Richard Weekes. (fn. 117)

Goodyers Farm, a private house in 1984, incorporates a timber-framed building of the 16th century with the remains of a smoke bay at the west end. An ashlar building of about the same size, including a staircase with turned balusters, was added on the west in the 17th century, perhaps when the earlier building was floored.

Robert of Wallhurst, who witnessed a grant of land in Cowfold in the 13th century, (fn. 118) may have been the predecessor of John of Wallhurst, lord of WALLHURST manor in 1289 and 1291, whose son John was lord in 1309. (fn. 119) No firm evidence has been found of whom the manor was held. It may have been held of Beeding manor, of which Welches, held of Wallhurst in the 16th century, was later part, (fn. 120) but in 1602 Wallhurst was said to be held of Edward Bellingham as of his manor of Woodmancote. (fn. 121) Wallhurst manor extended into Ifield, Nuthurst, Slaugham, and Warninglid. (fn. 122) One of the men called John of Wallhurst was taxed in Wyndham halfhundred in 1296, and the lord of 1309 may have been the taxpayer of that name in 1327 and 1332, (fn. 123) the juror of 1341, (fn. 124) and the witness to a deed of 1343. (fn. 125) By 1353, however, the manor was held by Ralph atte More. Record of the lordship has not been found between then and 1506, when John son and heir of John Agate held his first court as lord. (fn. 126) The younger John was presumably the John Agate (the surname was also rendered as Agates, Gate, and Gates) who was taxed in 1524 (fn. 127) and died in 1558-9. His son John (fn. 128) was dealing with the manor in 1565 (fn. 129) and died in 1588 having devised his estate to his younger son Thomas. Thomas died c. 1625 having settled Wallhurst manor on his sons in turn, (fn. 130) of whom Henry (d. 1641) and Ralph (d. 1661) were recorded as lord in 1634 and 1655 respectively. (fn. 131) Ralph's daughter and eventual heir Joan married Thomas Lintott (d. 1717) to whom the manor was conveyed in 1678. It passed to their son Thomas (d. 1730), who by his marriage with Anne Gratwicke acquired Shermanbury. (fn. 132) Wallhurst descended with Shermanbury (fn. 133) until between 1795 and 1797 (fn. 134) the Challens, while retaining Shermanbury, sold Wallhurst to Henry Wood (d. by 1816). Wood's son John died between 1830 and 1835, (fn. 135) and was succeeded in turn by his widow Lucretia (d. 1860), his niece Charlotte Broadwood, and a more distant relation, Henry Wood Rideout (d. 1887). Rideout's trustees sold Wallhurst in 1888 to William Cattlin, from whom it passed to H. A. Rigg. Rigg had the house rebuilt (fn. 136) in sandstone in 1890, (fn. 137) owned 169 a. in 1910, (fn. 138) and died in 1924. (fn. 139) His widow was living there in 1930, and the house was apparently sold in 1936 to Allan Gordon-Smith (knighted 1939, d. 1951). (fn. 140) The later ownership of the estate has not been traced; the house was in 1984 the home of Mr. Frank Haddock. The outbuildings were in 1984 in separate occupations, including Stable Court, a 19th-century house flanked by stables arranged as a courtyard.

Oakendene, of which the name suggests a pasture for swine, (fn. 141) had by 1279 given rise to a surname which was borne by locally prominent men (fn. 142) and was later used as a forename. (fn. 143) John Ockenden in 1555 held of Wallhurst manor an estate called NORTH or LITTLE OAKENDENE. (fn. 144) John Agate was living at Oakendene in 1541, (fn. 145) and the estate had passed by 1567 to Thomas Agate (fn. 146) (d. 1587-8), whose son Thomas (d. 1593) lived at Oakendene. (fn. 147) Three men called John Michell (fl. 1634, 1655, 1684) held it successively, and Anne, widow of the last, had conveyed it by 1709 to her son John who held it in 1722. (fn. 148) John Pilbeam owned it in 1745, and he apparently conveyed it to John Lintott, (fn. 149) who held it of Wallhurst manor in 1753; (fn. 150) he had inherited Oakendene manor, with which Little Oakendene was evidently merged. (fn. 151) It is not clear at which Oakendene Thomas Parson was living 1625- 57. (fn. 152)

Other land called Oakendene was held of Ewhurst manor in 1631 by John Gratwicke (d. 1642) of Gervaise; it was presumably John Gratwicke (d. 1639) (fn. 153) who was living there 1613-20. (fn. 154) Another distinct estate, the small manor of OAKENDENE, also called GRANGE manor in the 1790s and in 1870, (fn. 155) was held in 1524 by John Caryll as heir to his father John (fn. 156) (d. 1523). The younger John held the manor as of Bramber barony and was succeeded in 1566 by his infant grandson, (fn. 157) who as Sir John Caryll (d. 1613) (fn. 158) had the manor in 1594. His son Sir John granted the manor in 1625 to Cassandra Cotton, whose supposed heir in 1654 was Charles Cotton. Charles was dead by 1660, when a younger Charles Cotton conveyed the manor to Henry Lintott (d. 1682), from whom the manor passed by direct descent to John (d. 1721-2), whose Oakendene estate contained 200 a. in 1691, John (d. 1744), and John (d. 1781), all of whom lived at Oakendene (fn. 159) and the last of whom added Little Oakendene. (fn. 160) The last John's son, John Henry (d. 1803), (fn. 161) evidently sold the estate before 1793 (fn. 162) to William Marshall, the occupier 1789-94, (fn. 163) who sold it to Thomas Norton (d. 1803). Norton's successors sold it to the occupier, John Pringle (d. 1813), whose widow Mary Anne was owner and lived there in the 1830s. John's son Mark (fn. 164) sold the estate in 1840 (fn. 165) or 1847 to trustees for John Norton; (fn. 166) Harnden Norton was the owner in 1870, (fn. 167) and Bridger Norton in 1900. (fn. 168) The house called Oakendene Park was occupied in 1903 and 1926 by G. S. Brown, (fn. 169) who owned 135 a. there in 1910, (fn. 170) and in 1939 by Capt. Gordon Monroe. (fn. 171) It was bought after 1945 by Lt.-Gen. M. B. Burrows (d. 1967) to whose daughter, Mrs. Jennifer Langlands Pearse, it belonged in 1984. (fn. 172) The earlier part of the house is timber-framed of two storeys with attics; on its east side a three-storeyed ashlar building, with an east front of five bays and a central doorway, was added in 1744, and on the west side there was a single-storeyed pedimented building. (fn. 173) The house was refronted or remodelled in the early 19th century. (fn. 174)

The manor of HIGH HURST, centred on the detached part of Nuthurst and including land in Cowfold, West Grinstead, and Slaugham parishes, (fn. 175) may derive from the messuage and ploughland in Nuthurst, West Grinstead, and Cowfold which Osbert of Cowfold held from Reynold de Murseng for life in 1255 in right of his late wife Annore. (fn. 176) It is presumably to be identified with the fee in High Hurst held of Bramber rape in 1316 and 1361, the tenant in 1361 being Robert of Halsham. (fn. 177) In 1442 Sir Hugh Halsham's lands in Nuthurst and Cowfold may have been High Hurst. (fn. 178) About 1548 an estate of 100 a. called High Hurst was part of the endowment of the dissolved St. Leonard's chapel in Lower Beeding. (fn. 179) In 1561 Thomas Carpenter conveyed what was then called High Hurst manor to Thomas Shelley. Shelley sold it soon afterwards to Sir Richard Sackville who exchanged it in 1565 with the dean and chapter of Chichester cathedral. (fn. 180) The manor afterwards belonged to the dean and chapter; during the Interregnum it was conveyed by Richard Boughton and his wife Mary to William Freeman in 1650. (fn. 181) Later the dean and chapter leased it for lives on renewable leases. (fn. 182) In 1866 or 1868 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners sold it to Richard Ankerson, who was farming there in 1867 and was described as lord of the manor in 1879. (fn. 183) The estate remained in his family in 1939, when S. J. Ankerson was of High Hurst Manor; (fn. 184) F. W. Page, recorded there in 1903, (fn. 185) was presumably a tenant. In 1949 the Ankerson family sold it to Col. C. B. R. Hornung, who in 1950 moved his stud farm from West Grinstead to High Hurst, and although High Hurst was offered for sale with Ivorys in 1979, following the death of Col. Hornung's son and heir, Lt.-Col. Sir John, it was retained by Sir John's brother, Mr. Stephen Hornung, who in 1982 sold it to the Camelia Botnar foundation. (fn. 186) The small messuage that was the manor house in 1650 (fn. 187) may have been moated: in 1845 a close called Moat plat lay 200 yd. east of High Hurst Farm, (fn. 188) later High Hurst Manor. The house was rebuilt in the mid 19th century.