MANORS.
The manor of ASHINGTON in 1786
included the whole of the main part of the parish
together with an adjacent detached part of Thakeham
containing Mutton's farm. (fn. 89) Before 1066 it was part
of Washington manor. In 1066, when it was rated as
2½ hides, it was described as held of Earl Godwin by
two allodial tenants, (fn. 90) but by 1073 it had been
granted to William de Braose. (fn. 91) In 1086 it was held
of him by Robert le Savage, (fn. 92) and thereafter the
mesne tenancy descended with Broadwater manor
until the later 15th century. (fn. 93) In 1580 Ashington was
said to be held of Bramber rape, (fn. 94) and in 1622 and
later of Knepp manor in Shipley. (fn. 95)
Ellis of Ashington (fl. c. 1140) (fn. 96) and John of Ashington (fl. c. 1230) (fn. 97) may have held the manor, and
Sir Robert of Ashington (fl. c. 1190-1203) evidently
did so, since he was the first holder of the advowson,
which later descended with it. (fn. 98) Richard Covert,
recorded locally in 1233, is said to have married a
daughter of Sir John of Ashington. (fn. 99) The Covert
family held the manor between that date and the
later 17th century. William Covert was recorded between 1235 and 1266, (fn. 1) and Roger, perhaps his son,
from 1274. Roger was dealing with the manor in
1288, and died in 1297, when it passed to his son
John. (fn. 2) John had died by 1350, when the reversion
was settled by Richard, possibly his son, on Roger
Covert. (fn. 3) Another John Covert held 2 knight's fees
in Ashington and elsewhere in 1361, (fn. 4) and may be the
same as John Covert of Ashington mentioned in
1393. (fn. 5) Baldwin Covert was lord of the manor apparently at some time in the later 14th or earlier 15th
century, (fn. 6) and in 1417 the advowson belonged to
John, son and heir of Thomas Covert, then a minor.
Between 1439 and 1443 John Covert held the advowson. Thomas Covert, apparently his son, presented
between 1479 and 1486, (fn. 7) and at his death c. 1495 the
manor passed to his son Richard (d. 1547). (fn. 8) Between
1503 and 1672 it descended with Twineham Benfield, (fn. 9) and in the latter year Sir John Covert (created
Bt. 1660) (fn. 10) settled it on his daughter Ann and her
husband Sir James Morton (fn. 11) (d. by 1700), (fn. 12) whose
son John (fn. 13) sold the demesne lands, called Court
farm, c. 1704 to Timothy Burrell of Cuckfield. (fn. 14)
After John's death in 1719 or before (fn. 15) his brother
and heir James sold the manor in 1722 to James
Butler of Warminghurst. (fn. 16) Thereafter it descended
with Warminghurst. (fn. 17) Court farm meanwhile was
apparently settled in 1713 on Elizabeth, wife of
Thomas Trevor, Lord Trevor; their daughter, Elizabeth Spencer, duchess of Marlborough (d. 1761), was
succeeded in them by her son Lord Robert Spencer,
who sold the lands in 1768 to Sir Merrik Burrell, Bt.
Thereafter they descended with West Grinstead
manor (fn. 18) until 1874 when Sir Percy Burrell sold them
to the Revd. John Hurst. (fn. 19) G. J. Mills was owner or
occupier in 1897, (fn. 20) and Mrs. G. J. Mills was
owner in 1910. George Goacher was tenant at
the latter date, (fn. 21) and in 1973 Church farm, so called,
of 119 a., was sold by the trustees of George Goacher,
deceased. (fn. 22)
The north range of the manor house, Church
Farm House, contains a partly reconstructed late
medieval open hall, with a service bay to the east; the
hall is of fine workmanship and has a crown-post
roof. Early in the 17th century an upper floor and
chimneystack were inserted, the chimney occupying
the site of a smoke bay; at the same time a short south
wing was added. The house was extensively restored
c. 1975.
The reputed manor of WEST WOLVES or
WOLVES, called a manor by 1571, (fn. 23) was held of
Ashington, (fn. 24) and presumably derives from the two
yardlands in Ashington and Warminghurst held by
Walter Wolf in 1323-4. (fn. 25) Other members of the
family had been recorded locally during the previous
fifty years. (fn. 26) The same or another Walter served as
juror in 1341. (fn. 27) John Wolf, son of another John,
held land in Ashington in the 1390s (fn. 28) and witnessed
a local charter in 1402. (fn. 29) William and Robert Wolf
of Ashington fought at Agincourt in 1415, (fn. 30) and
John and Roger Wolf, gentlemen of Ashington, were
pardoned in 1450 for their part in Cade's rebellion. (fn. 31)
Another John Wolf occurs locally in 1475, (fn. 32) and the
same or another John Wolf died seised of the manor
in 1526 or earlier, being succeeded by his son
Edward, (fn. 33) presumably the Edward Wolf of Ashington recorded in 1554 and 1557. (fn. 34) Another John Wolf
died seised of the manor before 1571, and was succeeded by his son Nicholas. (fn. 35) At Nicholas's death
in 1608 West Wolves passed to his namesake, son
of Thomas Wolf. (fn. 36) He or a namesake apparently
conveyed it in 1670 to Robert Leeves (fn. 37) (d. 1693),
who was succeeded by a cousin of the same name. (fn. 38)
The latter had died by 1700, when William Leeves
was lord. (fn. 39) By 1720 another Robert Leeves held the
manor; at his death c. 1743 he was succeeded by his
son and namesake (d. c. 1747), who was succeeded
by his brother Samuel. (fn. 40) Robert Lamport was lord
by 1777; (fn. 41) at his death in or before 1795 the manor
descended to his daughters and coheirs, Mary, wife
of Charles Groome, and Jane Lamport. (fn. 42) By 1801,
Mary having died, Jane was sole owner, (fn. 43) and at her
death in or before 1834 her nephew Thomas Groome
was her heir. He was succeeded in or before 1861 by
his son Charles. (fn. 44) The estate belonged to Mrs.
Rhoda Steer in 1910. (fn. 45) G. S. Freeman bought it in
1924 and still owned it in 1929. (fn. 46) The later history
has not been traced.
A house at West Wolves was mentioned in the
later 16th century. (fn. 47) Parts of a timber-framed range
of the later 16th or earlier 17th century, with a brick
range to the north-east, survived in 1983. Both
ranges had, however, been reduced in size, and in
the earlier 19th century a block had been built in the
angle between them. Panelling and a staircase are
said to have been removed in 1926. (fn. 48) The house was
added to in the 20th century.
The manor of BUNCTON, comprising land in
both the two larger detached parts of the parish, (fn. 49)
was held by Lewin in 1066, and in 1086 was held of
Bramber rape, like Ashington, by Robert le Savage. (fn. 50)
Thereafter it too was held of Broadwater. (fn. 51) William
of Lancing (d. by 1207) held it, and it passed to
his daughter and coheir Alice, whose son Nicholas
Malmeyns (fn. 52) (d. by 1220) was succeeded briefly by
his son William, a leper. (fn. 53) The younger William's
brother Maurice was seised of the estate when John
de Braose (d. 1232) confirmed the mesne lordship to
the lord of Broadwater. (fn. 54) In 1242 Ranulph de Brock
held 2 knight's fees in Buncton and elsewhere. (fn. 55)
Niel de Brock was dealing with the manor in
1278-9, (fn. 56) and Thurstan de Brock held land at
Buncton in 1291. (fn. 57) Another Niel, Thurstan's son,
was recorded as holding the manor in 1299. (fn. 58)
By 1303 the manor had evidently been divided,
for a moiety descended from that date with Henry of
Guildford's Chancton manor in Washington. (fn. 59) The
other moiety was apparently never so called. Niel
Brock, possibly the man recorded in 1299, held it in
1337 (fn. 60) and apparently in 1346-7, (fn. 61) and was succeeded by John Brock before 1366. (fn. 62) Another Niel
Brock was apparently in possession between 1389
and 1411, when he held the advowson of Buncton
church which then evidently descended with the
manor. (fn. 63) Niel had apparently died by 1428, (fn. 64) and
in 1463 John Brock conveyed Buncton to his son
Richard; (fn. 65) another John held it in 1493-4. (fn. 66) The
two moieties seem later to have been united in the
possession of Sir Matthew Browne of Chancton (d.
1557), (fn. 67) whose kinsman Edward Browne appears to
have sold Buncton in 1588 to Sir Thomas Shirley of
Wiston. (fn. 68) From 1602 the manor certainly descended
with Wiston (fn. 69) until conveyed in 1648 by John
Tufton, earl of Thanet, to John Bishop, who still
held it in 1685. (fn. 70) In 1689 Thomas Badmering of
Buddington in Wiston was in possession; thereafter
the manor evidently descended with Buddington to
Joseph and Ann Chitty (fl. 1727-32), (fn. 71) of whom the
latter devised it in 1743 to Thomas Smith. In 1764
it was settled on Smith's daughter Mary and her
husband Philip Carteret Webb, who conveyed it in
1790 to Charles Goring. (fn. 72) Thereafter it descended
again with Wiston. (fn. 73) Edward Luckins, descendant
of a mortgagee of 1670, and the owner of adjacent
lands, unsuccessfully claimed the manor c. 1820. (fn. 74)
Upper Buncton farm, which had perhaps once
formed part of the manor, belonged to the Shelleys
of Field Place in Warnham in the 18th century, but
was sold in 1820 by Sir Timothy Shelley to Charles
Goring, (fn. 75) thereafter descending with the manor.
Nothing survives of the medieval manor house of
Buncton manor except the moat, of which more than
half was water-filled in 1983. The three-storeyed
north-east wing of the present Buncton Manor, with
dressings of brick and ashlar in elaborate mid 17thcentury style, was presumably an addition to an
older building on the south-west, which appears to
have been rebuilt with ashlar walls in the later 18th
century. There are cellars under both portions of the
house, and a 17th-century staircase.