SOUTHEASE
Suesse (xi cent.); Southesse (xiii cent.); Suthese,
Sueyse, Southese (xiv cent.).
The parish of Southease lies in the Ouse valley about
3½ miles south of Lewes. It covers an area of 850 acres,
of which about 4 acres are water. (fn. 1) Bounded on the
north by the parish of Rodmell, on the south by Piddinghoe, and on the south-west by Telscombe, the parish
covers Southease Hill between the limits of Cricketing
Bottom and Broadgreen Bottom. The eastern boundary
of the parish follows the old course of the river, which
formerly made a detour of rather more than a mile on
the Beddingham side. On both sides of the present
course of the river there is marshland upon which cattle
are pastured. On the slopes of Southease Hill corn is
grown and sheep-walks are found higher on the Downs
where the soil is thinner. The main road from Lewes
to Newhaven crosses the parish from north to south.
The small village of Southease lies upon a road
which descends from the high road to the river; the
population in 1931 was 79; (fn. 2) in 1831 it was 142. (fn. 3)
The occupation of the neighbourhood is mainly agricultural. Chalk also has been worked here. Formerly,
a ferry called Stock Ferry crossed the river at Southease, but an iron swing-bridge was constructed at this
point in 1880. (fn. 4) The path across the river leads to a
Halt on the railway from Lewes to Seaford.
The cottages in the village mostly date from the
beginning of the 17th century. A tall cottage at the
southern end of the village is raised over a basement
having a brick mullioned window. Immediately to the
north of the church is the present vicarage, which retains within it traces of a half-timber house of the end
of the 16th century. The remains are of a house of
three bays, two of which belonged to the hall and the
third to a parlour. The house ran north and south, and
along the west wall was the usual outshot aisle. The
mutilated three-centred or segmental door-heads from
the two main rooms to the outshot are still visible. A
gable on the west of the house has, built into it, a stone
panel about 7 in. square, set diagonally, and bearing
the inscription rivi raro re vi raro aridi. (fn. 5) In the
centre of the panel is the monogram of iohn rivers
and above the inscription is the date 1604.
Manor
The manor of SOUTHEASE included
the parish of Southease and part, at least, of
South Heighton, in Pevensey Rape. It is
said to have been originally
granted with 38 hides and a
church by King Edred to Hyde
Abbey. (fn. 6) Later, in 996, King
Edgar granted it to the abbey
with 28 hides of land and a
church. (fn. 7) At the time of the
Domesday Survey the manor was
assessed for 27 hides. There
were 130 acres of meadow, and
land for 28 ploughs. The manor
carried with it certain rights in
Lewes, where 10 burgesses
yielded 52 pence. (fn. 8)
Hyde Abbey. Argent a lion and a chief sable with a pair of keys argent in the chief.
The lords of the rape enjoyed the rights of freewarren and free fishery in the manor. (fn. 9) In 1268 John
Earl Warenne quitclaimed to the abbey for all their
men of Southease and Telscombe all exactions and demands 'for all kinds of enclosure of walls and all other
enclosures in his town of Lewes'. (fn. 10)
After the Dissolution, the manor probably remained
in the king's hands for a time, for in January 1546 John
Keme was appointed bailiff and collector of the manors
of Southease, Telscombe, and Heighton, (fn. 11) formerly of
the abbey of Hyde. In the reign of Edward VI, Southease was granted to Edward, Lord Clinton and Say,
Leonard Irby, and the heirs of Lord Clinton. (fn. 12) Afterwards the manor apparently reverted to the Crown,
for, in 1559, it was found by inquisition that Thomas
Gratwyke held a windmill in Telscombe of the queen
as of the manor of Southease. (fn. 13) In 1602 the manor was
granted to William Pennant and Richard Tomlyng for
£80. (fn. 14) The manor shortly afterwards passed to the
Sackville family, (fn. 15) and remained in that family at least
until 1621. (fn. 16) In 1623 Sir Thomas Springett was lord
of the manor, (fn. 17) and after his death in 1639, (fn. 18) his son
Sir Herbert Springett appears to have succeeded. (fn. 19) He
died in 1662, (fn. 20) and his widow Barbara held the manor
until her death in 1697. Of the five children of this
marriage, one, Elizabeth, married John Whalley, and
it was possibly a son, Herbert Whalley who, with his
wife Lucy, in 1688 quitclaimed their right in the
manor to Ezekiel Hutchinson, Thomas Watson, and
the heirs of Ezekiel Hutchinson, (fn. 21) and subsequently to
John Watson and his heirs. (fn. 22) In 1694 Thomas Harris,
senior, and Lucy his wife, late Lucy Whalley, made a
further quitclaim of the manor to John Watson. (fn. 23) The
latter held his first court as lord of the manor in April
1697. (fn. 24) Another John Watson held his first court in
May 1717 and, dying in 1722, left the manor to his
nephew John son of George Watson. (fn. 25) In 1735 John
Watson and Hannah his wife and George Watson sold
their interest in the manor to Thomas Barnard (fn. 26) who
held the manorial courts between October 1735 and
January 1749, being followed by Sir Thomas Barnard
who held the courts between October 1756 and
September 1767. (fn. 27) In August 1769 Ezekiel Dickenson (fn. 28) was lord of the manor, and he was succeeded, in
October 1771, by Bernard Dickenson. (fn. 29) In 1835 the
manor belonged to Mrs. Dickenson (fn. 30) and subsequently
passed to the Rev. John Harman who owned it in
1853, (fn. 31) but sold it in 1870 to W. Langham Christie. (fn. 32)
The present lord of the manor is Capt. John Christie. (fn. 33)
PARISH CHURCH SOUTHEASE
The custom of Borough English prevailed in the
manor. (fn. 34) By the customs recorded in the 17th century
every tenant of a virgate had yearly to plow half an
acre and to harrow it 'two teyne for wheate and three
teyne for barlye'. He had also to supply a reaper to do
a day's work in each of two weeks on the lord's farm,
and to carry two loads of corn, 'the one
of wheat two sheafe high aboue the
lades, the other of barly two rearing
high the next weeke (friday & satterday
excepted)'. For these services the
tenant was given, on the first Sunday in
Lent, for every virgate of land, 6 good
herrings and one loaf and a half of
wheaten bread, each loaf weighing two
pounds and one ounce. While engaged
on boon-work, the tenants were fed by
the lord, each reaper being provided
with 'two drinkings in the forenoone,
breade & cheese, and a dyner at noone
consisting of rost meate & other good
victualls . . . & two drinkinges in the
afternoone, one in the middest of their
afternoones worke; & the other at the
end of their dayes worke, And drinke
alwayes duringe their worke as neede
shall require'.
The tenants in Heighton had to send
a reaper for each virgate for two days
in the year to Southease. (fn. 35) The reapers
had to be at Stockferry at sunrise to
begin work. When the weather was unsuitable, the
farmer had to be there ready to send the reapers away,
but if he were late and the reapers had already crossed
the ferry, it was reckoned a day's work. While at work,
the reapers of this manor were given bread and cheese
and drink fit for labouring men, and, at the end of the
day, apple-pies or such like repast.
Church
The church, of which the invocation is
unknown, stands at the northern end of the
village, just beneath the main road, and at
the north-west edge of the village green. It is built of
flint and rubble, with stone dressings. It consists of a
nave, the eastern end of which forms the chancel, a
circular western tower, and a south porch. It had in
addition a chancel, and short aisles on either side of the
eastern part of the nave. These aisles are in the form of
pre-Conquest portici, and as the nave is apparently of
the pre-Conquest period, the vanished aisles may have
been contemporary with it. The only visible connexion
between aisles and nave, however, is by a single late12th-century arch, now blocked, in each of the side
walls of the latter. The west tower is a 12th-century
addition to the nave. There is no trace of any chancel
arch, nor any remains above ground of either chancel
or aisles. The foundations, however, were discovered
during recent years, and their angles have been marked
out with metal strips let into the turf.
The present east window is an early-14th-century
one of three lights, and there are two two-light 15thcentury ones in the south wall of the church, the eastern
angles of which are supported by heavy modern
buttresses. Between the two windows noted above, is a
tall, modern single-light window, having a modern
buttress just to the east of it. The south door is 14thcentury, and is covered by a restored 16th-century
porch. Just east of this is a 14th-century buttress, and a
modern one supports the south-west angle of the nave.
Just west of the porch is a small mid-12th-century
window. In the north-east corner of the church may be
seen the arch leading to the vanished north aisle, in the
south wall of which are a piscina and a bracket to carry
a beam, possibly a rood-beam. The filling of the arch
has a small single-light 13th-century window in it.
West of the arch is a small single-light window, blocked,
with a semicircular head and raking jambs. Adjoining
this window is a modern single-light window, and another has been cut through the filling of the ancient
north door. In 1916 some medieval floor-tiles were
uncovered outside this door, which suggests that it may
at one time have had a timber porch. The circular
tower is an addition to the nave and is very plain, being
capped by a steep conical roof.
The interior of the east end of the church shows, on
either side, the blocked arches leading to the vanished
aisles. They are obtusely pointed, very plain, and spring
from simple late-12th-century impost mouldings. The
northern arch has in it the single-light window already
mentioned. The southern arch has a two-light 15thcentury window, and this has replaced an elaborate
window, apparently of the 13th century, the western
jamb of which remains, with a hollow chamfer stopped
at its foot with a stiff-leaf trefoil. The present chancel
was formed in the 15th century by constructing an oak
rood-screen and loft, the sawn-off ends of the beam of
which remain. Some of the original colour may be seen
on the eastern face of the north side of the screen-jambs.
Practically the whole of the screen has been removed,
and a modern timber arch inserted. A modern window
fills the space once occupied by the entrance to the
rood-loft. To the west of the screen, high up in the
north wall, may be seen the wide reveal of the early
window noted on the exterior of the church. It is
remarkable in that it has no splay, and this fact, coupled
with the rake of the external jambs, suggests that the
window is pre-Conquest or very early Norman in date.
High up in the north-east corner of the church is a small
length of a very coarsely formed string-course or internal
cornice, which seems almost certainly pre-Conquest.
At the south-west corner of the nave may be seen the
deeply splayed later Norman window.
There is a simple rectangular aumbry in the northeast corner of the church, and in the eastern reveal of
the south door is a stoup formed from a Norman cubical
capital, apparently once the head of a pillar piscina.
The font is plain, probably later 12th century, and has
been repaired. There is a good altar-rail of early-17thcentury character, and some of the old pews remain.
These may be late-16th-century; some of them are
carved with bands of ornament. There is a Georgian
Royal Arms painted on a panel. The church is notable
for its mural paintings, carefully restored in 1934–5. (fn. 36)
The line of the early string-course noted above has been
carried along the north wall with an ornamented
cheveron pattern. Below this is a series of scenes depicting the Life of Christ. These paintings are considered to date from the middle of the 13th century.
The west wall has a Majesty above extensive subjects
now indecipherable. These are believed to date from
the end of the 13th century. Two painted consecration
crosses may be seen on either side of the tower door.
In the chancel is the grave of Dr. Edward Boughen,
a notable royalist divine, who died 9 November 1653. (fn. 37)
The tower contains two medieval bells, one of which,
considered to be late-13th-century, is inscribed with
the name of the founder, John Aleyn. (fn. 38)
The church possesses a communion cup having a preReformation foot, and a paten probably dating from
about 1500 with an added foot marked for 1568. (fn. 39)
The registers date from 1556.
Advowson
The advowson of the church of
Southease was granted to the abbey of
Hyde by King Edred (fn. 40) and confirmed
to the abbey by the grant of King Edgar in 996. (fn. 41)
The patronage appears to have remained in the possession of the abbots until the monastery was dissolved by
Henry VIII. In 1291 it was valued at 12 marks (fn. 42) and
in 1535 at £16 0s. 6d. (fn. 43) In 1544 William Burnell
bought the advowson in the Court of Augmentations. (fn. 44)
It afterwards belonged to John Kyme, who died in
April 1585, bequeathing it to his niece Joan, the wife
of George Pawlett, (fn. 45) who in 1590 conveyed it to Seth
Awcock, (fn. 46) the son of Kyme's sister. In the following
year, Awcock was amerced because the advowson had
been alienated without royal licence. (fn. 47) He conveyed it
to the Rev. Edward Rose, (fn. 48) and in 1603 Seth Rose was
granted licence to alienate it to John Rivers. (fn. 49) The
latter is said to have conveyed it in January 1604 to
Thomas Comber, (fn. 50) but according to another authority
Thomas Comber bought it of George Awcock or his
heirs. (fn. 51) Comber was later amerced for purchasing the
advowson without licence, but was pardoned in 1608. (fn. 52)
In 1613, by his will, Thomas Comber devised the
advowson to John Alwyn, 'my daughter's son', (fn. 53) and he,
together with John the son of Thomas Comber presented to the church in 1615. (fn. 54) Two years afterwards,
the advowson was sold to the Rev. Geoffrey Amherst,
the vicar, (fn. 55) who in 1647 left it to Arthur Amherst his
eldest son. (fn. 56) In 1723 Geoffrey Amherst presented
Thomas Chatfield to the living, apparently on the under
standing that the latter's father, the Rev. Thomas
Chatfield, rector of Balcombe, would purchase the advowson. (fn. 57) By his will, the rector of Balcombe in 1730
bequeathed the advowson to his son John Chatfield
with the proviso that his son-in-law Henry Bray and
Sarah Chatfield his widow, should present his son John
to the living at its next voidance. (fn. 58) The advowson
belonged to the Chatfield family until 1811 (fn. 59) when
the Rev. Henry Chatfield sold it to Dymoke Wells.
The latter conveyed it in 1835 to Fuller Wenham
Lewis, (fn. 60) of whom it was purchased in 1843 by William
Alfrey. (fn. 61)
In 1854 Lawrence John Torkington undertook to
buy the advowson from William Alfrey. (fn. 62) When
William Alfrey died, two years later, Torkington had
not completed payment and so a fresh agreement was
made by which the advowson was conveyed to Samuel
Webb Thomas, (fn. 63) who was still patron and incumbent
at his death in 1904. (fn. 64) The present patron is the Rev.
W. W. Thomas. (fn. 65)