PLUMPTON
Pluntune, Plumtona (xi cent.); Plompton (xv and
xvi cent.).
Plumpton has an area of 2,450 acres, and is the strip
of country lying to the east of Streat. At the southern
end of the parish the Downs rise steeply to Plumpton
Plain, with a height of 665 ft. The altitude in the
north of the parish is about 130 ft. The road to Lewes
runs along the foot of the Downs, and another road
branches from it and runs north, straight up to the north
end of the parish, where it branches in four directions.
The road running north is crossed after about a mile
and a half by the lane from Streat to East Chiltington.
North of this is the Steeplechase Course and the railway
station, on the line from Haywards Heath to Lewes.
Beyond this the village of Plumpton Green straggles
along the road, with All Saints chapel of ease, built in
1893, and a Congregational chapel built in 1880. At
Sedgebrook in the extreme north of the parish is the
County Smallpox Hospital.
The soil is mixed, with a chalky subsoil in the south;
large quantities of bricks are made in the north. The
chief crops are wheat, oats, and mangolds.
Plumpton Place lies to the east of the church and
the County Agricultural College. Two cottages
designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens form an entrance,
with Palladian porch, leading to his modern bridge
over the moat. The house and rose-garden occupy
a square inclosure surrounded by water, the moat to
west and south and a lake to north and east. To Sir
Edwin Lutyens and the late owner, Mr. Edward
Hudson, (fn. 1) is due the transformation of the lake into
a water-garden of great beauty. Before this, Plumpton
Place had deteriorated into shabby cottage property.
The house is of mixed material, marking at least
four building periods. The north wing seems the
earliest, and a date-stone of 1568 with the initials I.M.
(John Mascall) (fn. 2) which has been found may refer to
this portion, for the west wing is apparently later,
probably c. 1600. In the 18th century there was some
rebuilding in brick, notably in the south-west, and
extensive additions have been made under Sir Edwin
Lutyens. The windows are all Georgian or modern.
The north front includes some original timber framing,
partly filled with Georgian brick at ground-level, and
with wide plastered panels above. The gabled west
front (fn. 3) is of two stories with cellars and attics. The
walls are a medley of flint with red brick, restored at
various times. This part was probably added c. 1600
to an older building, for the projecting central porch
and the shallower flanking bays are certainly askew,
also the north at least of the boldly projecting wings
which complete an elaborated E-plan. The porch is
gabled, with two stories and attics; its four-centred
arch is of chamfered brick, without rebates. The
entrance door within is original.
The early-17th-century screen dividing the hall and
entry has one opening to the hall. The opposite wall
of the entry is half-timbered, and has an original
opening to what was either the buttery or dining
parlour. East of this is a passage to the kitchen, which
has a wide lintelled fire-place in the east wall. East of
the kitchen a large music-room, built by Sir Edwin
Lutyens on the site of some old sheds, incorporates in
its south wall an original brick fire-place. From the
hall a door opens into a large room which forms the
south wing, containing a stone fire-place with flat fourcentred arch. Another door opens to the staircase,
which ends at attic level in a Jacobean turned newel.
The room above the kitchen has typical panelling
of c. 1600 with small-moulded rails, and a cornice.
The fire-place has a four-centred arch with ogee- and
roll-moulded stone jambs. The stair in this part has
18th-century newels and balusters. The fire-place over
the hall is of similar type to the above, and has blank
shields in the spandrels. Stop-chamfered ceiling beams
are exposed on both floors. The brick cellars in the
north part are of the late-16th or 17th century; the
south cellars are chiefly of the 18th century.
Manors
The manor of PLUMPTON in Saxon
times belonged to the church of Bosham,
and was held of Earl Godwin by Godwin
the priest for 32 hides. After the Conquest it was
given with the rest of the Rape of Lewes to William
de Warenne, and was held of him by Hugh son of
Rannulf for 30 hides. (fn. 4) There were then two mills (fn. 5)
on the manor.
It continued to be held of the lord of the rape for
1 knight's fee, (fn. 6) passing to Edmund Lenthall (fn. 7) and subsequently to the Dukes of Norfolk. (fn. 8) Hugh had a
daughter Fredesend, who perhaps succeeded to the
manor, since she was able to make a gift of tithes, (fn. 9) but
Plumpton passed early in the 12th century to Rainald
de Warenne and his wife Alice de Wormegay, who
were living from about 1118 to 1178. (fn. 10) Their son
William de Warenne left an only daughter Beatrice,
who married as her first husband Doun Bardolf, (fn. 11)
and Plumpton remained with the Bardolfs for about
two hundred years. Beatrice died before 12 December
1214 and her son William had livery of his lands on
28 August 1215. (fn. 12) He received a grant of free warren
in Plumpton in 1254 and died in 1275, when he was
succeeded by his son William. (fn. 13) Hugh, first Lord
Bardolf, son of this William died
in 1304, (fn. 14) and his widow Isabel
about 1323. (fn. 15) Their son Thomas
owned Plumpton for only five
years, and was then succeeded by
his son John. (fn. 16) William son of
John held the manor from 1363
to 1385–6, and his wife Agnes,
who afterwards married Sir
Thomas Mortimer, survived
him, (fn. 17) but their son Thomas,
Lord Bardolf, was concerned
in the rebellion of 1405 in favour of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, and his estates were forfeited. (fn. 18)
He died shortly afterwards of wounds received at
Bramham Moor, and Plumpton Manor, after being
retained for a time by Thomas, Earl of Arundel and
Surrey, the overlord, (fn. 19) was in 1408 granted for life
to Sir William Bardolf, with remainder to the two
daughters and heiresses of his brother Thomas, Lord
Bardolf, Anne wife of Sir William Clifford, and Joan
wife of Sir William Phelip. (fn. 20) Sir William Bardolf died
in 1423 and the manor was delivered to his nieces,
Anne having in the meantime married Sir Reynold
Cobham. (fn. 21) In 1438, however, the reversion of Anne's
moiety was granted to Joan and her husband. (fn. 22) Sir
William Phelip died in 1441, and Joan in 1447, (fn. 23) and
their property passed to William Beaumont son of
their daughter Elizabeth and John, Lord Beaumont,
the other part of Plumpton falling to him at the death
of Anne Cobham in 1453. (fn. 24) William, Lord Beaumont,
being a supporter of Henry VI, also experienced a
period of eclipse, and in 1462 Plumpton was granted
for a time to Sir William Hastings, and in 1472 to
Sir John Fogge. (fn. 25) Eventually Lord Beaumont recovered his estates, but died without issue in 1507,
leaving a widow Elizabeth who immediately married
John, Earl of Oxford. (fn. 26) She obtained a grant of Plumpton Manor as part of her dower in 1509, (fn. 27) but in
1514 the King granted the reversion to Nicholas Carew
and his heirs, the direct heir, Francis, Lord Lovell,
nephew of William Beaumont, being attainted. (fn. 28)
Nicholas himself, however, shared that fate in 1536 and
Plumpton once more escheated to the Crown, (fn. 29) but
was returned to his widow Elizabeth in 1539, with
remainder to his son Francis, the site of the manor
with the demesne lands being leased in the same year
to John Mascall for 21 years. (fn. 30) Francis Carew in 1555
converted this lease into a sale, (fn. 31) and the manor-house
(known as Plumpton Place) and the demesne land
remained in the Mascall family for 65 years. The rest
of the property, with the manorial rights, was sold by
Francis Carew in 1593 to Richard Leache, (fn. 32) who died
seised of them in 1596. (fn. 33) His widow Charity subsequently married Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, and died in 1618, after which the Earl married
Mary, daughter of Sir William
Cokayne and sister of Charles
Cokayne, first Viscount Cullen. (fn. 34)
The Earl died childless in 1642, (fn. 35)
and Plumpton Manor was conveyed by the Hon. Charles
Cokayne and Benjamin Scarlett
to Anthony youngest son of Sir
Thomas Springett in 1656. (fn. 36)
Meanwhile the mansion-house
and demesnes, after passing from
John Mascall to his grandson
Edward in 1571, (fn. 37) were sold by
Edward's son Richard Mascall (fn. 38)
in 1620–1 to Sir Thomas Springett, (fn. 39) who is recorded about that
time as the holder of one knight's
fee in Plumpton. (fn. 40) At his death
in 1639 the mansion-house and
demesne passed to his eldest son
Sir Herbert, (fn. 41) who is said to have
sold it to his brother Thomas. (fn. 42)
As Anthony, the third brother,
acquired the manor itself in 1656
(as already stated) and lived until
1695 the whole estate came into his hands on the death
of his brothers without male heirs, and passed to his
cousin and heir the Rev. Anthony Springett, (fn. 43) at whose
death in 1735 Plumpton Manor was divided among the
descendants of the four grand-daughters of his cousin
Sir Herbert, viz. Barbara wife of William Campion,
Elizabeth Briggs, William Dobell, and William Hay. (fn. 44)
In 1736 the three remaining heirs conveyed the manor
to James Pelham, (fn. 45) from whom it passed to his son
Thomas, Lord Pelham, (fn. 46) and descended in that family
to the present owner the Earl of Chichester. (fn. 47)
Bardolf. Azure three cinqfoils or.
Mascall. Sable six fleurs de lis or and a border engrailed argent.
Springett. Party fessewise and wavy argent and gules a fesse between three crescents counter changed.
PLUMPTON BOSCAGE [Buskegage (xvi cent.)],
which is first mentioned in 1507, (fn. 48) was a part of the
manor of Plumpton, and remained with it (fn. 49) until 1657,
when it was alienated by Charles Cokayne, Viscount
Cullen, to Robert Frere. (fn. 50) It appears to have come
soon after into the possession of Sir John Smith, who
held his first court there in 1661 but died in the
following year. (fn. 51) His widow Catherine and her second
husband Sir William Courtney, bart., held the manor
until 1672, after which it passed to Catherine's son
John Smith, who held courts there until 1697. (fn. 52)
About 1702 it was acquired by John Wakeman, (fn. 53) who
sold it to Leonard Gale in 1717. (fn. 54) After the death of
the latter in 1750 Plumpton Boscage was divided
between his three daughters and their husbands, Sarah
and Samuel Blunt, Philippa and James Clitherow, and
Elizabeth and Henry Humphrey. (fn. 55) Eventually, however, the whole manor came to Henry Humphrey
about 1765, and he was holding courts there up to
1791. (fn. 56) From 1794 to 1840 William Bryant was
lord of the manor, in which year it passed to Charles
Innis and remained in his family until 1868, Thomas
Innis, M.D., holding courts from 1848 to 1860, and
a second Thomas Innis after that. About 1877 it was
acquired by Charles Hubert Husey, who was still
holding it in 1887. (fn. 57)
Plumpton Church
Church
The parish church is of unknown dedication but associated by tradition with
St. Michael. It stands isolated in a field,
and is reached by a lane and field path from the
Lewes-Ditchling road. The walls are of flint and some
Sussex marble with sandstone dressings; the roofs are
tiled except for some Horsham slates on the porch.
The nave dates from the early 12th century. The west
tower was built c. 1200 and has 14th-century additions; the chancel was rebuilt rather later in the 13th
century, but the east wall is modern. The porch
probably dates from the 17th century, and the vestry
is 19th-century work.
The chancel (25 ft. 4 in. × 18 ft. 8 in.) has an east
wall rebuilt before 1854 (fn. 58) with buttresses and lancet
windows; Sharpe's drawing of 1802 (fn. 59) shows an east
window of three oblong lights and a rough south
buttress. The north wall is of 13th-century date and
has a good chamfered lancet with splayed jambs, sill,
and segmental-pointed rear-arch. West of it is a
modern lintelled opening to the vestry, built in 1886.
The south wall is 13th-century but refaced, with two
restored lancets, having flatter rear-arches than the
north one; the west lancet has been prolonged to form
a low-side window. The present chancel arch was
built in 1932 replacing one of 1867; in 1851 Nibbs
describes three romanesque arches as dividing nave and
chancel.
PARISH CHURCH of ST. MICHAEL PLUMPTON
The nave (38 ft. (N.); 38 ft. 10 in. (S.) × 23 ft. 4. in.
(E.); 22 ft. 3 in. (W.)), is of early-12th-century build
and wide for its length; the north wall slopes back considerably. There is a modern buttress at the north-east
angle, another of one long slope, in tile and brick,
between the two westernmost windows, and one of
three stages which is in line with the west nave wall,
but 10 in. thicker (3 ft. 7 in.) than the wall. Nibbs'
drawing of 1851 shows three 17th-century two-light
transomed windows with flat heads. The present
traceried windows replaced these in 1867, but the
rear-arches may be older. Just west of the easternmost window there is a narrow blocked 12th-century
window, of which the round head and west jamb are
visible externally. The south wall is contemporary
and has a similar west buttress; that in line with
the chancel arch has restored quoins incorporating
two worked stones; on the south face a floriated shield
bearing a chief, flanked by cinquefoils, in an engrailed
border, upside down; and on the west a floriated cross
in a circle. (fn. 60) It has a straight joint to the chancel but
is bonded in to 6 in. of the nave wall. West of this is
modern or refaced walling including a square modern
window of two ogee-headed lights. Behind and west
of the porch is the 12th-century wall; the south doorway has a plain semi-circular head and slightly projecting imposts with groove and chamfered under-edge;
there is a modern rear-arch and a brick jamb, to west
of which is a recent thickening of the wall internally.
The west buttress has two off-sets, the top slope being
long and tiled, and continuing up to the tower; it is
contemporary with the north-west buttress, and like
it was probably thickened when the tower was built.
The south porch is a rough erection of flint, cement,
and brick, dating probably from the 16th century.
The west tower (11 ft. 3 in. × 12 ft.) bears strong
affinities to those at Barcombe and East Chiltington.
It dates c. 1200 and is of two stages undivided externally, finished with a shingled broach spire. The east
wall has an equilateral doorway to the nave, and above
the roof of the latter can be seen a brick-lined opening
blocked with wood. In the west wall is a late-14thcentury equilateral doorway with widely chamfered
head and jambs, and segmental rear-arch. Above it,
under a pointed relieving arch, is a contemporary
window, of two ogee-trefoiled lights with chamfered
label. The west wall seems to have been nearly rebuilt at the same time and buttresses were added
projecting west almost to roof level at each angle;
these are of three chamfered stages with plinth. The
north wall has a small round-headed window in the
top stage, but there are no openings in the south wall.
The roofs are modern, except for three old ties,
chamfered king-posts, and four struts re-used in the
nave, and one tie-beam in the chancel. The floors are
of brick, tiles, and wood, with some stone in the tower;
there is one step from the tower to nave, one at the
chancel arch, and another to the sanctuary.
The font has a square bowl, marked 1710, with a
late-12th- or 13th-century base; it has a central
octagonal pedestal and angle shafts with roll capitals
and bases. There are 18th-century Commandment
Tables on the west wall of the nave. There are no
traces of the wall-paintings discovered in 1867; these
were on the east wall of nave: east face, the Flight into
Egypt: west face, Doom and Company of Angels. On
the soffit of the chancel arch, Agnus Dei—12th-century
and later. (fn. 61)
There is one bell, by Bryan Eldridge, 1639. (fn. 62)
The plate is modern.
The registers date from 1558.
There are several fine yews in the churchyard.
ALL SAINTS' (fn. 63) church at Plumpton Green was
founded in 1893, and built of flint with dressings of stone
and brick. It consists of chancel and sanctuary, shingled
spire, south transept, (fn. 64) nave, and baptistery. The font is
said to have come from St. John-sub-Castro, Lewes.
Advowson
The church of Plumpton is mentioned in Domesday, and was granted
by Rainald de Warenne to the priory
of St. Mary, Southwark, in the 12th century. (fn. 65) But in
1275 the prior released it to William Bardolf, (fn. 66) and it
remained thereafter with the manor (fn. 67) until the end of
the 16th century. Richard Leache was holding it at
his death in 1596, when it passed to his widow Charity
with the manor. (fn. 68) In 1635 the advowson was conveyed by the Earl of Nottingham and Mary his wife
to William Hampton, then rector. (fn. 69) It remained in
the possession of the Hampton family for about 150
years. The last member of this family, Charity
Hampton, married Richard Weekes, and sold the advowson between 1771 and 1786 to John Woodward. (fn. 70)
The Woodwards retained it until 1931, when it was
conveyed by Mr. W. A. Woodward to the Bishop of
Chichester.
Charity
Thomas Travers by will dated 26 Sept.
1710 gave his messuage with the land and
garden in Plumpton to the churchwardens
and overseers to be inhabited by two poor families of
the parish. The property was sold in 1866 under
the authority of the Charity Commissioners, and the
proceeds of sale as invested produce £5 9s. per annum,
which is distributed in groceries to the poor.