MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
In 1066
SHERMANBURY was part of the estate that
centred on Kingston by Sea, being held then by
Azor from Harold and in 1086 by Ralph de Buci
from William de Braose. (fn. 33) The overlordship of the
Braoses and their successors was recorded until
1387; (fn. 34) a reference to John Fillol as overlord in
1496 (fn. 35) is unexplained. From Ralph de Buci the
undertenancy of Shermanbury descended with that
of Kingston in the Buci family until the 14th century. (fn. 36) Hugh de Buci and his wife Agnes, having
entailed their estates in 1313-14, were dead by
1348 when one of Hugh's daughters and coheirs was
Joan, wife of William of Fyfield. William and Joan
in that year received grants of Shermanbury manor
from John de Lislebonne and his wife Sibyl, another
daughter and coheir, and from Robert of Bulkmore
and his wife Anstice, (fn. 37) probably a third daughter.
The Lislebonnes' son John in 1341 and the Fyfields'
son and heir William in 1342 were born at Shermanbury. The elder William of Fyfield (d. 1361) (fn. 38) was
described as holding Shermanbury manor in 1349, (fn. 39)
and received a grant, evidently as a quitclaim, of it
and Kingston from another Hugh de Buci in 1356. (fn. 40)
With Kingston, Shermanbury passed from the
younger William Fyfield (d. 1387) to the Sandys
family. (fn. 41) In 1542 Thomas Sandys, Lord Sandys,
leased Shermanbury for 500 years (fn. 42) retaining there,
as at Kingston, an interest which was sold in
1752 by John Walker and his wife Ellen to Harry
Bridger. (fn. 43)
The lessee in 1542 was William Comber, who had
already bought a 40-year lease of the manor made
in 1512 to Thomas West, Lord de la Warr. (fn. 44) William
was succeeded in 1561 or 1562 by his son John (d.
1608), whose son William (d. 1625) had by his wife
Martha (d. 1635) four daughters. Of the daughters
Elizabeth (d. 1678) married John Gratwicke (d.
1642) and Eleanor married William Heath (d. by
1647). (fn. 45) Gratwicke and Heath appear not to have
divided their wives' inheritance, for Shermanbury
manor court was held in 1659 in the names of
Heath's grandson Robert Heath and Gratwicke's
younger son Thomas (d. 1664). Thomas devised his
moiety in trust to Robert Heath for his son John,
and in 1668 the manor court was held in the names
of Robert and John. By 1698 Shermanbury had been
assigned to John Gratwicke, (fn. 46) who in 1724 was succeeded there by his elder daughter Anne (d. 1744),
wife of John Lintott (d. 1730). Their daughter and
heir Cassandra Gratwicke (d. 1755) married Henry
Farncombe, who in 1753 acquired the freehold of
the manor from Harry Bridger. Farncombe's
daughter Cassandra Lintott succeeded him in 1757
and in 1762 married John Challen (d. 1794). Between 1795 and 1801 their son John Gratwicke
Challen (d. 1835), rector of Shermanbury, assumed
the lordship of the manor from his mother, who
lived until 1829. His brother and heir Stephen Hasler Challen was succeeded in 1858 by his daughter
Maria Harriet (d. 1873), wife of Henry Hunt (d.
1877), the manor being apparently held from 1845
or earlier by trustees. (fn. 47) Hunt sold it in 1874 to Sampson Copestake, (fn. 48) who had 516 a. in Shermanbury in
1910. (fn. 49) On his death in 1917 (fn. 50) Shermanbury was
sold to Harold Warren Coleman, the owner in 1921. (fn. 51)
In 1922 the estate with 550 a. in all was offered for
sale; (fn. 52) Campbell Bernard Hausburg owned Shermanbury Place with 86 a. in 1925, and was living
there in 1938, though Coleman was still described
as lord of Shermanbury and Ewhurst manors. (fn. 53) In
1984 Shermanbury Place and some land belonged to
Mr. William Greenwell.
A considerable part of Shermanbury manor lay in
Cowfold parish, and other parts in Henfield and
Slaugham. (fn. 54)
The manor house, recorded in 1361, (fn. 55) was rebuilt
in the late 16th century or early 17th as a timberframed house of two storeys forming three sides of a
square. That house was replaced apparently in 1779
by a buff brick building of two storeys with a basement, three bays wide, flanked by lower two-storeyed
extensions. (fn. 56) The main building was enlarged to five
bays in the mid 19th century, when a tower was
added on the west. The house, usually known as
Shermanbury Place, (fn. 57) was also sometimes called
Shermanbury Park between the 1830s and the
1920s. (fn. 58)
In 1248 Robert le Pook was acknowledged to be
Robert de Buci's free man, holding ½ ferling of land
in Shermanbury which had earlier been held in
villeinage by Adam of the Weald. The holding was
presumably POOKS, and included the house and
fractions of land which were at issue between William le Pook and Robert le Pook in 1280. (fn. 59) The
minor taxpayers of Wyndham half-hundred included Richard le Pook and William Pook in 1296
and Robert Pook in 1327 and 1332, (fn. 60) and Robert
Pook was a juror in Shermanbury in 1341. (fn. 61) Henry
Pook and his wife Agnes in 1389 granted a small
piece of land in reversion after their deaths which
had evidently happened by 1399. (fn. 62) John Gratwicke
(d. 1557) of Shermanbury may have held Pooks, an
estate of 80 a. held of Shermanbury manor, which
passed from his son John (d. 1630) of Pooks in the
direct male line to John (d. 1665) and John (d. 1683)
of Pooks and afterwards of Horsham. (fn. 63) In 1669 the
last John sold Pooks, then 120 a., to Thomas Michell,
from whom it passed to John Michell (fl. 1707),
John's son John (d. by 1736) of Lewes who mortgaged Pooks in 1722 and 1730, that John's son
William, Henry Michell (d. 1789), and Henry's son
Henry C. (d. 1806) and widow Faith (d. 1809). In
1810 it was bought by trustees for Charles Marshall, (fn. 64) and c. 1840 Edward Marshall owned and
farmed Pooks, then 47 a.; (fn. 65) in 1845 it belonged to
William Stanford, (fn. 66) in 1874 to E. Stanford, (fn. 67) and by
1910 it had been added to the Shermanbury Place
estate. The farmhouse, timber-framed and once
partly tilehung, (fn. 68) has a late medieval three-roomed
plan. It retains some features of its screens passage
and, at the other end of the hall, a plank and muntin
wall surmounted by a moulded dais beam; the
original stair in the service end was replaced in the
late 17th century, perhaps at the same time as an
upper floor was put into the hall, by a stair with
decorated newels and shaped balusters.
In 1086 SAKEHAM, which lay south of the
Adur and had been held in 1066 by Brictuin from
Azor, was held with Woodmancote, Morley, and
part of Kingston by William son of Rannulf from
William de Braose. (fn. 69) Later reference to the ownership of the estate has not been found before the 16th
century, though Henry of Sakeham who was taxed
in Wyndham tithing in 1327 (fn. 70) and Robert of Sakeham who was a juror in Shermanbury in 1341 (fn. 71) may
have held the estate in fee. In 1524 and until 1595
Sakeham, amounting to c. 80 a., belonged to the
Shelleys of Michelgrove, (fn. 72) but by 1622 it had passed
to John Cheale (d. 1636), whose third son Richard
devised it in 1651 to his son Capt. John Cheale (d.
1685). Capt. Cheale devised it to his cousin Philip,
son of Philip Cheale of Shermanbury. (fn. 73) From the
younger Philip (d. 1716 or 1717) it apparently descended with Shiprods in Henfield. (fn. 74) It belonged to
the children of Robert Hoffman Faulconer c. 1835 (fn. 75)
and to the trustees of William Faulconer c. 1840
when it amount to 121 a., (fn. 76) and passed to Col.
Thomas Faulconer Wisden, the owner in 1874 (fn. 77) and
one of the chief landowners in Shermanbury in the
1880s; Mrs. Wisden had succeeded him by 1905. (fn. 78)
In 1910 Sakeham was owned by Col. Stephenson R.
Clarke as part of an estate of c. 574 a. in Shermanbury, which also included Park and Frylands farms. (fn. 79)
Clarke died in 1948, (fn. 80) and part of his estate north of
the Adur, including Frylands, was acquired by Mr.
Stephen Fowler. (fn. 81) Sakeham's land was farmed in
1984 from Fieldland Farm in Henfield. The former
farmhouse at Sakeham has a tall timber-framed east
end which probably once formed part of a larger
house. By the early 19th century it had been cased in
brick and a new brick west range had been added,
possibly in 1807. (fn. 82)
Before 1189 EWHURST was part of an estate of
2½ knight's fees held from the honor of Bramber by
William de Harcourt. It was disputed between
William's daughters, of whom Agnes and her husband William of Wiston agreed in 1202 that Ewhurst
should go to another daughter, Aline, late wife of
Ellis son of Bernard. (fn. 83) The overlordship of Ewhurst
was recorded in 1433. (fn. 84) The undertenancy by 1242
had passed with Sompting manor from one of
William de Harcourt's daughters to Andrew Peverel
(d. 1274), and descended thence to Andrew's son
Thomas (d. 1306) and Thomas's son Andrew (d.
1328), who held it jointly with his wife Alice (d.
1336). Sir Andrew (d. 1375), son of Andrew and
Alice, (fn. 85) held the manor jointly with his wife Catherine
who survived him, (fn. 86) but she had evidently died by
1378 when the manor passed with Offington in
Broadwater to Sir Edmund FitzHerbert (d. 1387)
and thence to the Wests. (fn. 87) William West, Lord de la
Warr, made a conveyance of Ewhurst in 1590 (fn. 88) but
at his death in 1595 still held the manor. His son and
heir Thomas (fn. 89) granted it in 1599 to Herbert Pelham (fn. 90)
on Pelham's marriage with his daughter Elizabeth,
and Pelham sold it the same year. By 1601 the manor
had passed to William Comber (d. 1625), (fn. 91) who in
1608 inherited Shermanbury and whose daughters
and sons-in-law, William and Eleanor Heath and
John and Elizabeth Gratwicke, (fn. 92) were dealing jointly
with Ewhurst in 1626. (fn. 93) Comber, however, had given
Ewhurst by will to William Heath, (fn. 94) who alone
owned Ewhurst park in 1628 (fn. 95) and was lord of the
manor in 1631 and 1642. From William Heath (d. by
1647) the manor passed in the direct male line to
four successive Roberts (d. respectively by 1668, in
1682, in 1708, and by 1736). From 1700 to 1731
courts were held in the name of Henry Pelham, who
had married Frances, widow of the second Robert
Heath, and whose son Thomas succeeded the last
Robert. Thomas Pelham's son Thomas, later earl of
Chichester (d. 1805), (fn. 96) sold the manor in or before
1785 to John Challen, (fn. 97) who thus reunited it with
Shermanbury manor. Between 1910 and 1916
Ewhurst was sold to H. W. Coleman separately from
Shermanbury, (fn. 98) which Coleman also bought in or
after 1917. (fn. 99) Ewhurst was offered for sale in 1922 as
a separate lot from Shermanbury Park, (fn. 1) and in 1925
was owned with 50 a. by W. H. Ellice; (fn. 2) he lived there
in 1934, (fn. 3) and his widow in 1938. Coleman was then
still described as lord of Ewhurst manor, (fn. 4) which
later belonged to Lt.-Col. R. W. McKergow (fn. 5) (d.
1947) of Twineham Grange. (fn. 6) The house was owned
in 1984 by Mr. Verner Wylie, who had bought it
from the Ellice family.
Ewhurst manor extended into the parishes of
Cowfold and Henfield. (fn. 7)
The medieval manor house stood within an oval
moat, much of which survives; it is filled on the
north where a stone gatehouse with a vaulted entrance
passage survives from the earlier 14th century, (fn. 8)
attached to a short contemporary range. In the early
16th century Thomas West, Lord de la Warr (d.
1525), lived at Ewhurst before settling at Offington, (fn. 9)
and the house included a chapel in 1536. (fn. 10) Another
Thomas West, Lord de la Warr, on his death in 1554
left furniture in the great chamber there, (fn. 11) but the
house presumably did not remain much longer. In
the late 16th century a timber-framed house, the
mansion of William Comber recorded in 1625, (fn. 12) was
built in the south-east quadrant of the moated area,
and in 1727 it was L-shaped. (fn. 13) One range of that
house survives as the main building and has a fourroomed plan with external stacks on the east side. It
was enlarged in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The hospital of St. Edmund Rich at Wyndham,
for infirm clergy and held to have been founded c.
1250 by St. Richard Wich, bishop of Chichester, (fn. 14)
but possibly in existence by 1236, (fn. 15) had ½ hide of
land in WYNDHAM (fn. 16) which may have included a
yardland recorded in 1219. (fn. 17) On the suppression of
the hospital c. 1520 the land passed to the prebend of
Wyndham (or Windham) (fn. 18) and in the 19th century
was incorporated in ABBEYLANDS farm (the
warden of the hospital having been known locally as
the abbot), which became part of the Goring family's
estate. (fn. 19) In 1984 the land was farmed from Fieldland
Farm in Henfield. The former farmhouse is a timberframed building, mostly cased in brick; the short
17th-century north range was probably built against
an earlier building to the south, which was replaced
by the existing main range in the 18th century.
The tithes which William de Braose gave to the
church of St. Nicholas of Bramber may have included some from Ewhurst. (fn. 20) The estates of St.
Nicholas's passed to Sele priory, (fn. 21) which c. 1230 had
great and small tithes in Ewhurst (fn. 22) and other possessions in Shermanbury; (fn. 23) in 1291 the priory had
5s. a year from Shermanbury, (fn. 24) and in 1341 it had a
portion of the great tithes worth 3s. 4d. At the last
date the rector of Woodmancote had a similar portion worth 7s. (fn. 25) Later record of the Woodmancote
portion has not been found. Sele priory's tithes were
replaced in 1352 by 12s. a year from the rector of
Shermanbury, (fn. 26) and its land may have been that
called Priors which two men both called Richard
Farnfold were disputing in 1574. (fn. 27)
The estate later called SHERMANBURY
GRANGE seems to have derived from one called
Perriers, which was apparently named from a family
living in the parish in 1428 (fn. 28) and belonged to the
family of Wood or Awood in the 17th century. (fn. 29) A
building on the site of the later Shermanbury Grange
belonged c. 1840 to John Borrer, (fn. 30) and in 1843 John
Hoper had a large house, lately built on Perriers
farm; (fn. 31) in 1867 Mrs. Hoper lived at Shermanbury
Grange, which had a small park in 1875. (fn. 32) The
estate belonged to Richard Hoper in 1874. (fn. 33) In 1887,
the date when the surviving house is said to have
been built, (fn. 34) it was occupied by Forrester Britten (d.
1903), and in 1905 by Mrs. Britten, (fn. 35) who owned the
Grange and 511 a. in 1910; the purchase of Wymarks
and other farms in 1890 and of Oatlands, Morley,
and Green Tree farms in 1897 had enlarged the
estate by c. 380 a. (fn. 36) The Grange was occupied in
1930 by Lieut.-Col. Forrester F. Colvin (d. 1936),
and in 1938 by R. G. Heaton, who had a considerable estate. (fn. 37) After the Second World War the house
was used by the county council as a girls' home. (fn. 38)
The manors of Slaugham, Twineham Benfield,
and Woodmancote extended into Shermanbury
parish. (fn. 39)