RODMELL
Ramelle, Redmelle (xi cent.); Redmelde (xii cent.);
Radmelde (xiii cent.); Radmill (xviii cent.).
Rodmell lies on the right bank of the River Ouse, the
single street of the village leaving the main NewhavenLewes road just 3½ miles from each of those towns.
There is an inn on the main road, and the village
stretches thence for half a mile in a north-easterly direction towards the river, which is said to have once been
fordable at this point. (fn. 1) On the other side of the main
road, the street is continued as a deeply cut track climbing the high Downs behind the village.
The parish contains 1,933 acres of land. The river
here is tidal, and 8 acres of its water and 6 of foreshore
are included within the area of the parish. The population rose steadily from 256 in 1801 to 360 in 1841,
but then declined and in 1931 was 244. The highest
point in the parish is Highdole Hill, 408 ft. At its
summit are traces of an Early Iron Age and RomanoBritish settlement, which was explored in 1935. (fn. 2)
Another, more ancient, site may be seen on Heathy
Brow, along which runs the boundary between Rodmell and Iford. Tumuli and field-banks abound on the
site, which excavation has dated as being of the Bronze
Age. In Summersdene is a large tumulus called 'The
Burgh'. (fn. 3) On Mill Hill is the site of the medieval mill
of Rodmell; its successor stood in the village below. (fn. 4)
Many sheep find pasturage on the chalk Downs above
Rodmell, and the loamy clay and marl in the coombes
and along the river banks provides good arable land.
The village street contains a number of old cottages, at
least one of which has some windows with square oak
bars, fixed close together, in place of mullions, this
being the type of window in use before glass was available for cottage use. Rodmell Place, long the home of
the family of de la Chambre, stood immediately to the
south of the church, but only some cellars, now almost
filled in, remain to mark the site. Above these cellars,
which show stone walls, apparently of late medieval
date, is an enormous mulberry tree, having several
stems, each separated from the others by many feet.
Half a mile west of the church is the manor-house of
Northease, once a chapelry, the northern outshoot from
Rodmell corresponding to that at Southease on the
opposite side of the village. The present manor-house
has been very much altered and shows no traces of
antiquity. It was divided up into cottages before it was
again restored to its present use as a large house. Adjoining are two large aisled timber barns of perhaps
17th-century date. In the present dairy, at the northeast end of the barn nearest the main road, is the northwest angle and part of the west wall of an early medieval
building, which may have been the chapel of northease, which is said to have consisted of nave and chancel,
with a total length of 55 ft. (fn. 5) In 1780 it was said of it:
'the chapel of Northease is now converted, one part into
a cow-stall and the chancel into a pigeon house. It
stands east and west, and there are some faint remains
of paintings on some of the walls towards the west end.
At the south side there are some arches of free-stone in
the wall. Some old men remember pieces of carved
wainscot in this chapel.' (fn. 6)
Rodmell.
Among the more notable inhabitants of this parish
was the Rev. Henry Goodman, a Nonconformist
preacher, who was expelled from the church at the
Restoration. Subsequently on 29 May 1670 he went
down to Lewes to preach at the request of his friends.
'Great caution was used to prevent danger; but some
informers slyly mixed with the audience. He preached
on Eph. v. 16, "Redeeming the time", whereas they
fixed on the words following "because the days are
evil". Mr. Goodman, living at a distance, escaped
the fine; but unconscionable fines were levied on
many of his hearers, and they were levied still more unconscionably.' (fn. 7)
Manors
The manor of RODMELL was held by
Earl Harold before the Conquest for 79
hides. Of this, William de Warenne received 64 hides, the rest lying in the rapes of the Count
of Mortain and William de Braose. In 1086 the
manor was held in demesne by Earl Warenne and was
assessed for 33 hides. Norman held 2 hides of the earl.
There were also pertaining to the manor 44 haws in
Lewes. (fn. 8)
The manor descended with the rape until 1439,
when it fell to the share of Elizabeth, wife of Sir Edward
Nevill, Lord Bergavenny. (fn. 9) It subsequently descended
with Northease (q.v.). At the beginning of the 17th
century Edward, Lord Bergavenny, demised all the
demesne lands of the manor or farm of Rodmell to Sir
George Goring and his assigns for three lives. (fn. 10) The
estate was sold by Lord Abergavenny in 1919 and all
manorial rights have now lapsed. (fn. 11)
The custom of borough English prevailed in the
manor. (fn. 12)
One-sixth of a knight's fee here was held of the
barony of Lewes in 1439 by the heirs of Ralph de
Stopeham. (fn. 13) The overlordship fell to the Lady Bergavenny, the holder of the main manor of Rodmell, in
1439, (fn. 14) and continued in that family
until at least the beginning of the 17th
century. (fn. 15) This fee had descended by
1518 to John Leedes, then a ward of the
Lord Abergavenny; (fn. 16) Edward Leedes
also held this land. (fn. 17) In about 1618 this
1/6 fee was in the possession of John
Chambers (fn. 18) or de la Chambre, who had
built (fn. 19) or bought Hall Place in Rodmell
about 1586. (fn. 20) At this time the 1/6 fee
consisted of a tenement, a barn, and 6½
virgates lying in the common fields of
Rodmell. (fn. 21) John's heir was apparently
his brother, Richard de la Chambre, (fn. 22)
whose son Laurence held the estate, (fn. 23)
but is said to have sold Rodmell Place to
John de la Chambre in 1644. (fn. 24) The
family continued to be connected with
Rodmell until at least the end of the
17th century. (fn. 25) Rodmell Place is said to
have been held subsequently by a family named Montague and later sold, together
with the estate, by the Rev.
Moses Toghill to Charles Saxby,
who just before 1835 sold it
to the Earl of Abergavenny. (fn. 26)
Presumably it was then merged
in the manor.
De la Chambre. Argent a cheveron sable voided ermine between three chamber-pieces sable fired proper.
It is possible that this 1/6 fee
represents the manor held by
members of a family who derived
their name from Rodmell. As
early as 1203 Ralph de Radmelde
held half a hide here, (fn. 27) and in
1340 William de Rademeld sued
John de Parys and Margaret his
wife (who was widow of William's father, John) (fn. 28) for
waste, including destruction of a hall, a chamber, a
latrine, a barn, and other buildings at Rodmell, committed during their tenancy of ⅓ of the manors of
Rodmell and Allington, which Margaret held in
dower. (fn. 29) Lands in Rodmell were held for life by
Richard Weyvile and Agatha his wife, daughter of
John de Radmelde, (fn. 30) in 1400; (fn. 31) in 1412 Richard was
returned as holding a manor of Rodmell; (fn. 32) he died in
1417, (fn. 33) and Agatha subsequently married John Broke
and died in 1433. (fn. 34) The estate presumably reverted
to the trustees by whom it had been settled on Richard
and Agatha and may have been sold to a member of
the family of Leedes, but direct evidence is lacking.
The manor of NORTHEASE (Northhese, Northeise,
North Hes), later NORTHEASE CUM IFORD,
extends also into the parish of Iford (q.v.). The
tithe of Northease was confirmed to Lewes Priory by
William II de Warenne between 1091 and 1098. (fn. 35)
In the early 13th century, Isabel, wife of Gilbert de
Laigle (de Aquila), received one-third of the manor
from her brother, William, 5th Earl Warenne, in exchange for lands in Yorkshire. (fn. 36) She gave
this third in frankalmoign to Michelham
Priory, and, after her death, the priors held
it of successive Earls Warenne until 1367
when their representative, Richard, Earl of
Arundel, obtained it from the then prior. (fn. 37)
At the partition of the Warenne estates in
1439 the manor of Northease and the vill
of Iford fell to Elizabeth wife of Edward
Nevill. (fn. 38) Edmund Lenthall was to receive
from it an annual rent of £12 12d., 2/3 of a
penny and 2/3 of a halfpenny, (fn. 39) and the Duke
of Norfolk, 36s. 2d. (fn. 40) Nothing more is
known about the Lenthall rent. It seems
likely that the other rent belonged to the
Mowbrays until the death of John, 5th Duke
of Norfolk, in 1476. (fn. 41) It was probably the
same rent which, by the name of the manor
of Northease, Elizabeth his wife quitclaimed
to Elizabeth, wife of Edward IV, in the
same year, (fn. 42) and which, subsequently, was
settled upon Anne, the daughter of John, 5th
Duke of Norfolk, and upon Richard, Duke
of York, at the time of their marriage. (fn. 43) In
the 17th century, the Earls of Surrey and
Derby shared a rent of 36s. 2d. issuing from the
manor. (fn. 44)
The manor of Northease cum Iford descended with
the Bergavenny portion of the rape. At about the
beginning of the 17th century the site of the manor and
the demesne lands were leased for three lives, at a rental
of £10 per annum, to Sir George Goring, later Earl of
Norwich. (fn. 45) He afterwards borrowed money from Sir
Samuel Jones upon security of his office of Secretary to
the Council of the Marches of Wales, and when the
Civil War deprived him of this office, the manor of
Northease cum Iford with other estates was taken as
security. (fn. 46) The manor appears to have been in danger
of sequestration, owing to Goring's staunch support of
the king, and it was perhaps for this reason that Sir
Samuel Jones and George Pierrepont conveyed the
manor, together with Rodmell, in 1653, to Hatton
Berners and John Scrimshire for the lives of Charles
Goring and Diana wife of George Porter, (fn. 47) the children of the Earl of Norwich. In 1664 Jane Dove and
Sir James Phymer complained that Sir Samuel Jones,
like themselves a creditor of the Earl of Norwich, continued to exact a return from the manor of Northease
for his debt, although fully satisfied. (fn. 48) In October 1717,
however, George, Lord Abergavenny, was seised of the
manor, (fn. 49) which continued to descend in the family (fn. 50)
until 1919 when the estate was broken up and all
manorial rights have since lapsed. Northease farm is
the property of Mr. J. C. Robinson. (fn. 51) Northease
House is owned by Captain F. W. Hartman.
The custom of Borough English obtained in this
manor. (fn. 52) In the 17th century the tenants of Northease
had a sheepdown of about 231 acres upon which they
were allowed to keep 26 sheep for every yardland, 'with
the help of the grottons'. (fn. 53) The tenants had also 22½
acres of meadow near Strawberry wall, 122 acres of
brookland, and a half of the common brook called Pullbar, containing in all about 160 acres. In the common
land of this manor the cottagers had no share. (fn. 54)
PARISH CHURCH of ST. PETER RODMELL
In the manor of Rodmell the tenants had a sheepdown of about 233 acres and 149 acres of marshland
in the Brooks, as well as 15 acres called the 'Hubberds'
for which last they paid 15s. yearly to the lord. (fn. 55)
Church
The church of ST. PETER stands a
little to the east of the end of the village
street of Rodmell. It consists of a nave and
chancel, each with a south aisle, and a western tower
having attached to it a baptistery formed by extending
the south aisle of the nave. The nave has a south porch,
and the chancel a modern vestry at its north-east corner.
The wall-facing shows flint with stone dressings. The
general plan of the nave and chancel appears to belong
to the middle of the 12th century, and the south aisle of
the chancel, with the remains of its west door, may also
be contemporary with the original church. The south
aisle of the nave and the west tower were added at the
very end of the century, the pressure of the new south
arcade necessitating the rebuilding of the chancel arcade
soon after. The whole of the north wall of the nave was
re-fenestrated, if not entirely rebuilt, during the 19th
century, and the south aisle wall, with its porch, is also
almost entirely a rebuilding.
The east wall of the chancel is lit by a large threelight window of the end of the 15th century. Jambs
remaining on either side of this show that the original
arrangement was probably three lofty single-light windows similar to those at the neighbouring churches of
Iford and Piddinghoe, which are of late-12th-century
date. A modern buttress supports the south arcade of
the chancel. The east window of the south chapel is a
restored two-light window of 14th-century date. The
south wall of the chapel seems to have been much
restored, and contains a small 14th-century door of
simple character. West of this is a modern pseudo-14thcentury single-light window, which may replace an
original. The south wall of the nave aisle has been considerably restored, and now shows three modern singlelight windows similar to that in the south chapel. The
south porch is a modern rebuilding of the original
structure. The north wall of the nave shows three large
single-light windows with a large round quatrefoiled
light at each end of the wall. These are all 19th-century
pseudo-Gothic. The tower is plain and unbuttressed;
its ground-floor is lit by a single light in the west wall,
and the belfry has similar windows in its north, west,
and south walls. A steep conical roof or spire, covered
with shingles, caps the tower.
Within the chancel, at the east end of its north wall,
may be seen one of the original windows, a single,
deeply splayed light of early- or mid-12th-century date.
Just west of this is a modern round-headed doorway
leading into the modern vestry, within which may be
seen the exterior of the little window. The south arcade
of the chancel consists of two obtusely pointed arches,
springing from the east and west walls of the chancel,
and meeting over a curiously squat column, restored,
but originally, if the restoration was accurate, of mid13th-century date. The two arches are quite plain,
having small chamfers at their edges, stopped at the
ends. The arcade is not original, having been erected
after the failure of its predecessor, owing to the pressure of the nave arcade having almost overturned the
east wall of the nave, crushing the chancel arcade,
and necessitating its rebuilding. (fn. 56) The original impost
moulding may be seen at the east end of the chancel
arcade. It is of rather primitive form, having merely a
chamfer and a quirk, which suggests that the chapel is
contemporary with the chancel itself. That the former
is earlier than the south aisle of the nave is shown by
the fragment of very early masonry, with its plinth,
remaining at the north-eastern corner of that aisle.
This masonry was apparently once external, and
appears to have formed part of the northern jamb
of the original western door of the south chapel, once
the private chapel of Place House, to the south of
the church. (fn. 57) At the west end of the north wall of the
chancel is a large single-light 14th-century window
with a foliated head, which appears to have replaced an
earlier window, the scar of which remains externally. (fn. 58)
In the east wall of the chancel, next the south arcade, is
a fine 14th-century piscina with shelf and foliated head,
and in the south wall of the south chapel is a small plain
piscina which may be of early date.
The wall between nave and chancel now contains an
elaborate pseudo-Norman chancel arch which is entirely
modern. It replaces an arch which was pointed instead
of semicircular, as at present, but had mouldings which
have been exactly reproduced in the modern arch. (fn. 59)
South of the arch is a curious squint, roughly square,
and with a central shaft formed out of part of a black
basalt column having elaborate cheveron ornament,
and supporting the inverted base of a shaft, with spurs.
The shaft-stone stands on a drum from another, larger,
column. The form of the shaft-stone and base is
identical with those which were discovered in the
ruins of the cloister lavatory of Lewes Priory, (fn. 60) and
the whole squint is obviously made from material
taken from the priory after its destruction in 1537.
The elaborate ornamentation of the stonework of the
chancel arch suggests that it, too, came from the priory,
and these facts, coupled with the appearance of the
walling, suggest that the whole of the lower part of
the wall between nave and chancel was rebuilt in the
16th century or later. The arch between the south
aisle of the nave and the south chapel is semicircular
and a modern rebuilding, although the imposts of the
original late-12th-century arch remain and show a
broad hollow chamfer and quirk. Behind the choir
stalls, on the south side of the chancel, may be seen the
remains of a 14th-century parclose screen which is
believed to have once filled this arch. Corbels to carry
the rood-beam remain at either end of the wall between
chancel and nave, and there appears to have been
another beam across the arch into the south chapel.
Above the chancel arch is a small single-light window
with a round bulls-eye on either side, all apparently of
late-12th- or early-13th-century date.
The south arcade of the nave consists of two very
large semicircular arches, with plain soffits chamfered
and stopped. The arcade has been cut through the
original south wall of the nave, a portion being retained
at the west end to serve as impost. There is no respond
at the east end, the arch springing from a simple moulding of hollow chamfer and quirk similar to that at the
west end of the arcade. The central pillar of the arcade
is of unusual interest. It is of a type which is best seen
in the church of St. Anne, Lewes. The capital is square
and elaborately ornamented with stiff-leaf foliage. The
bell is planned for a centre column and engaged shafts.
The actual column, however, has no shafts, so the little
secondary capitals are supported by beautifully carved
corbels of stiff-leaf design. The north-eastern corbel,
however, has a tonsured head in place of stiff-leaf
carving. The column rises from a water-holding Attic
base on a square plinth. The arcade is badly distorted,
and has almost overturned the east wall of the nave.
The tower arch is plain, pointed, has no responds, and
was apparently cut through the west wall of the nave at
the end of the 12th century. The tower has been
clumsily built up against the arch, hiding part of the
chamfer on its western face. The arch at the west end
of the south aisle has been rebuilt, although its responds
appear to be of the end of the 12th century. It is later
than the tower, however, as the external plinth of the
latter may be seen within it. The west window of the
baptistery is also of the end of the 12th century, being
a single tall light, which may, however, have been removed from the end of the aisle when the baptistery
was built. The structure has been so much restored at
this point that it is difficult to tell the period at which
this was effected, but the walls are medieval. The
font has only been here since the modern vestry was
built.
The roofs of both nave and chancel appear to be
modern, though the queen-post trusses of the former
may be original. The font has a simple square bowl
ornamented with rather crudely incised arcading, and
is of the end of the 12th century. There is a simple
four-panelled cover of late-16th-century date. On the
north wall of the baptistery is an old weather-vane from
the tower, a fine piece of 18th-century ironwork, of
which the present vane is a copy. A palimpsest brass
hangs on the north respond of the arch between the
south aisle and the south chapel. (fn. 61)
The church has three early bells, one uninscribed,
one by Bryan Eldridge, 1641, and the third dated
1664. (fn. 62)
The church possesses a communion cup and paten
bearing the mark for the year 1568, and another paten
dating from about 1680. (fn. 63)
The registers date from 1705. The church was
restored in 1858.
Advowson
There was a church at Rodmell at
the time of the Domesday Survey.
Between 1091 and 1095, William II
of Warenne granted the church to Lewes Priory. (fn. 64)
The advowson appears afterwards to have passed to
the Bishop of Chichester, who has been patron at least
since 1305. (fn. 65) In 1291 the church was valued at
23 marks, (fn. 66) and in 1535 at £15 6s. 0½d. (fn. 67)