THE HUNDRED OF DEAN
containing the parish of Patcham
There was no Dean Hundred at the time of the Domesday Survey
and Patcham was then in Preston Hundred. (fn. 1) Subsequently, from at
least 1296 (fn. 2) to 1665 (fn. 3) if not later, Patcham was included in Whalesbone
Hundred (q.v.). From at least the early 17th century there was in
this hundred a 'Constable of the Deane' whose duty it was to act as assistant
to the constable of Brighthelmeston (the other 'borrowe' of Whalesbone Hundred) 'for dispatch of business in Pecham Burrowe.' (fn. 4) By 1724 the hundred
of Dean was in existence and consisted of the parishes of Patcham and West
Blatchington, according to Budgen's map; but, if this is correct, the latter
parish must soon afterwards have reverted to Whalesbone Hundred.
Footnotes
| 1 |
V.C.H. Suss. i, 436 a. |
| 2 |
Suss. Rec. Soc. x, 41. |
| 3 |
Lay Subs. 258, no. 18. |
| 4 |
Bk. of J. Rowe, 144. |