MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
Shoreham
was held in 1066 by Azor and in 1086 by William de
Braose. (fn. 65) A small estate, ½ hide, was held of William
by Ranulph son of William, (fn. 66) 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. 67) It was perhaps in New
Shoreham that Maud de Clare claimed dower
against Reynold de Braose in 1219; (fn. 68) in 1268
William de Braose conveyed a life-interest in
Shoreham to Margaret de Clifford, (fn. 69) and in 1316
Shoreham was held in dower by the same William's
widow Mary; (fn. 70) 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. 71) and by Eleanor, widow of John
de Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, in 1462. (fn. 72) Successive
dukes of Norfolk have since been lords of New
Shoreham, (fn. 73) and in 1975 whatever remained of
manorial rights belonged to the Norfolk estate. No
record has been found of a manor-house. (fn. 74)
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. 75) Reynold de Braose granted Henry of
St. Valery, apparently his uncle or his uncle's
issue, (fn. 76) some property in Old Shoreham which
Henry later granted to Godstow abbey (Oxon.). (fn. 77)
Henry of St. Valery was dealing with a small estate
in Old Shoreham in 1229, as was Richard of St.
Valery in 1280, (fn. 78) 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. 79) Certainly Old Shoreham was among the
lands that passed to the Crown on the death of
Edmund, earl of Cornwall, in 1300, (fn. 80) though the
tallaging of Shoreham by Earl Richard in 1235 and
1242 (fn. 81) 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. 82) Rent from Old
Shoreham was granted in 1301 to Earl Edmund's
widow Margaret (fn. 83) and in 1316 to Margaret, widow
of Peter de Gaveston, earl of Cornwall, (fn. 84) to whom
the St. Valery lands had been granted. (fn. 85) Old Shoreham was said to be in the Crown's hands in 1316, (fn. 86)
but was allotted in 1318 to Margaret and her second
husband, Hugh d'Audley, (fn. 87) created earl of Gloucester. From Margaret's death in 1342 (fn. 88) the estate
formed part of the duchy of Cornwall; (fn. 89) 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. 90) to whose widow Joan Old Shoreham
manor was assigned in dower in 1376. (fn. 91) 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. 92) The manor, which was sold to John Urlin, a
Londoner, in 1652, (fn. 93) remained part of the duchy of
Cornwall from the Restoration until 1799, when the
duke of Norfolk bought it. (fn. 94) 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. 95) but he appears to have
held it as freehold by 1851. (fn. 96) His son Harry held
courts for Old Shoreham in 1876 and 1889, (fn. 97) but
courts continued to be held in the duke of Norfolk's
name until 1903. (fn. 98)
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. 99) Richard Lewknor held Court Farm as a
free tenant of the duchy manor in 1574, (fn. 1) and was
perhaps the successor of Mary Lewknor who in
1571 had the second highest tax-assessment in Old
Shoreham. (fn. 2) 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. 3) By 1643 Court
Farm belonged to Hamon Lewknor, (fn. 4) 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. 5) 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. 6) was
named as the earl of Cornwall's tenant of a messuage
and plough-land in 1300. (fn. 7) Richard Abberbury, who
had the highest assessment in 1327 and 1332, (fn. 8) 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. 9) died in
1346 leaving as heir his uncle Thomas Abberbury
and holding the manor from the prince of Wales. (fn. 10)
Later statements that the duke of Norfolk was
overlord (fn. 11) appear to be erroneous. The sub-manor's
dependence on the duchy manor had been entirely
forgotten by the early 17th century. (fn. 12) Thomas
Abberbury (fl. 1346) was apparently the father of
Richard Abberbury, (fn. 13) who in 1376 sold the manor
to John d'Arundel (d. 1379). The manor passed to
John's son John (fn. 14) (d. 1391), whose son and heir
John, later regarded as earl of Arundel, (fn. 15) held it at
his death in 1421, when his heir was his son John,
aged 13. (fn. 16) 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. 17) 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. 18) William's son
Thomas (d. 1524) and grandson William FitzAlan
(d. 1544) were lords in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 19)
On the death of Henry FitzAlan, earl of Arundel, in
1580 (fn. 20) 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. 21) and 1334, when the manor
included 278 a. of demesnes and assized rents of
26s. 8d. a year. (fn. 22) 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. 23) 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. 24) The overlordship descended with
the honor of Bramber and was recorded in the early
17th century; (fn. 25) 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. 26)
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. 27) 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. 28)
William of Wiston's share of Erringham, later
called the manor of BREWES BARN or ERRINGHAM BREWES
(fn. 29) after its lords from 1357 to
1426, descended with his manor of Wiston until
1564. (fn. 30) A later William of Wiston was granted free
warren there in 1252, which was confirmed to his
successor Adam de Bavent in 1285. (fn. 31) In 1292
Erringham manor was said to be held of Sir Thomas
Peverel, (fn. 32) and in 1399 was held of the duke of
Norfolk by service of 1/5 knight. (fn. 33) In 1564 Thomas
Shirley conveyed the manor to John Bellingham (fn. 34)
(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. 35) What was apparently the same twothirds was conveyed in 1294 by Richard Fillol and
his wife Margaret to Richard Hedges, (fn. 36) who had the
largest assessment for tax in Erringham in 1296,
1327, and 1332. (fn. 37)
John at Hyde, who with Sir Andrew Peverel held
¼ fee in Wyckham (in Steyning) and Erringham of
John de Mowbray in 1361 (fn. 38) and was recorded as of
Erringham in 1363 (fn. 39) and at some date before 1372, (fn. 40)
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. 41) from whom that part
of Erringham got the name ERRINGHAM
WALKSTEAD. (fn. 42) In 1490 Thomas Bellingham of
Lyminster died holding what was described as a
moiety of Erringham manor, which he had settled (fn. 43)
apparently on his second son, Edward Bellingham
of Erringham. (fn. 44) 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. 45) 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. 46) 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. 47)
Richard died in 1625, and his son and heir Thomas,
a minor at his father's death, (fn. 48) sold Erringham in
1650 to John Juxon. (fn. 49) Juxon's son Sir William sold
it in 1664 to Cecil Tufton who apparently was dead
by 1682 (fn. 50) leaving as son and heir Sir Charles, later
of Twickenham. (fn. 51) From Sir Charles the manor
passed directly or indirectly to Ayliffe, wife of
another Cecil Tufton, perhaps Sir Charles's
brother. (fn. 52) 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. 53) 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. 54) From Colvill Bridger (d. 1797), who
also acquired the adjoining estate of Buckinghams
and lived at Buckingham House, (fn. 55) Erringham
passed in the direct male line to Harry Bridger
(d. 1832), who owned all but 20 a. of the parish, (fn. 56)
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. 57)
In 1293, 1427, and 1449 Erringham Bruce
included a manor-house. (fn. 58) Erringham Walkstead
manor-house, recorded in 1578 as having belonged
to John Bellingham (d. 1576), (fn. 59) 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. 60) but moved his residence to Hayling
Island where his son and heir Richard lived in
1614. The house was thereafter let to tenants, (fn. 61) and
was enlarged or modified in 1710. (fn. 62) After 1787, (fn. 63)
and perhaps when a new house was built to the
south-west c. 1900, (fn. 64) It was converted into cottages
which were derelict in 1965. (fn. 65) 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. 66) In 1540 the abbey's
lands in Old and New Shoreham were granted to
John Gage and his wife Philippa, (fn. 67) 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. 68) Richard
Buckingham, M.P. for New Shoreham in 1301, (fn. 69)
John Buckingham, recorded 1329–41, (fn. 70) and Thomas
Buckingham, M.P. for New Shoreham in 1358 and
1362. (fn. 71) In the early 14th century the heirs of John
Buckingham held a chief house and 20 a. from
Battle abbey. (fn. 72) Another Thomas Buckingham died
in 1394 or 1398 holding from the abbey 8 a. in Old
Shoreham, which his son Robert (fn. 73) recovered in
1404. (fn. 74) Richard Buckingham had the highest
tax-assessment in Old Shoreham in 1378; (fn. 75) 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. 76)
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. 77) 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. 78) Another Richard
Lewknor made a settlement of the so-called manor
of Buckingham in 1550–1. (fn. 79) 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. 80) 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. 81) 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. 82) 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. 83) and the estate afterwards descended with
Erringham manor, (fn. 84) as outlined above.
A house called Buckinghams or Buckingham was
mentioned in 1541 (fn. 85) and was included in the estate
held by Sir Edward Lewknor in 1605. (fn. 86) 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. 87) Edward Blaker's house had
13 hearths in 1662. (fn. 88) By 1766 the main house was
said to be a large mansion; (fn. 89) 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. 90) 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. 91) 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. 92) 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. 93)
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. 94) A William Nuneaton was among
the taxpayers of Erringham in Old Shoreham in
1296. (fn. 95) The priory received rents from Old and
New Shoreham between the late 14th century (fn. 96) and
the Dissolution, (fn. 97) 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. 98) 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. 99) In 1326 the prioress of
Rusper was concerned with a conveyance of 2½ a. in
Old Shoreham, (fn. 1) and land there was held from her in
the 1390s. (fn. 2) 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. 3)
who sold them in 1552 to the Stephen Boord already
mentioned. (fn. 4) Boord died in 1567, having settled the
property on his younger son Thomas, (fn. 5) who in 1591
conveyed it to Thomas Higgins. (fn. 6) 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. 7) Thereafter it
descended with the Bridgers' estate of Erringham
and Buckinghams, (fn. 8) but all the holdings of the manor
recorded in the period 1786–1848 were in Brighton. (fn. 9)
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. 10) which was
referred to as a manor in the 15th century (fn. 11) but
appears to have been alienated, laid waste, or
merged in the two rectory estates. (fn. 12) 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. 13) and the priory held land in New
Shoreham in 1457; (fn. 14) some of it was granted to
Thomas Cromwell and in 1553 was to be sold by the
Crown, (fn. 15) and some that may have belonged to the
priory was sold by the Crown in 1592. (fn. 16)
The Knights Templar had an oratory or chapel,
with a cemetery, in the port of Shoreham by
c. 1170, (fn. 17) and in the late 12th century Alan Trenchmare, a sea-captain in the service of Henry II, (fn. 18)
gave to their preceptory of Saddlescombe some
land at Shoreham with a saltern, stretching between
his house and the sea. (fn. 19) 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. 20) established in that year by
Sir John de Mowbray, (fn. 21) and in 1325, at the king's
request, the Hospitallers transferred their title in the
former Templars' estate to the Carmelites. (fn. 22) The
Carmelites acquired further land in Shoreham, (fn. 23) 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. 24) 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. 25)
In 1199 Alan Trenchmare gave to the cathedral
church of Chichester land in Shoreham (fn. 26) 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. 27) 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. 28) The hospital of St.
James in New Shoreham was assessed to the
subsidy of 1327, (fn. 29) 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. 30)