LINGFIELD
Leangefeld (x cent.); Lingefeld, Lingefend, Lingfeld (xiii cent.); Lingesfeld (xiv cent.); Lyngefeld,
Lyngefeud, Lynkefeld, &c. (xv cent. and subsequently).
Lingfield is a village and a parish which occupies
the south-eastern corner of Surrey, adjoining the
county of Kent on the east. It measures nearly
3½ miles both ways, being roughly square, and
contains 9,191 acres. The northern part of the
parish is on the Wealden Clay; the southern half,
which includes Dormansland, Chartham Park and
Felbridge Park, is on the Hastings Sand. Several
streams run through it, converging to form the Eden
River, which flows by Edenbridge in Kent into the
Medway. The water-meadows by the river are noted
for their hay. When Manning and Bray wrote, the
hay and the aftermath were the property of various
farms in the parish, the produce of small strips being
apportioned to each. (fn. 1) These authors speak also of the
extensive commons, but are said to have overestimated
their acreage, as they certainly do that of the parish,
which they call 10,000 acres. Under an Inclosure
Act of 1809, (fn. 2) followed by an award of 9 July 1816,
nearly all the commons were inclosed. Beacon
Heath in the south of the parish, slightly rising
ground conspicuous over the lower country, is said
by tradition (which is probably true) to have been
the site of a fire beacon.
On the borders of the parish, near the county of
Kent, is a large entrenchment called Dry Hill or
Lingfield Mark or Marsh Camp. A flint arrowhead has been found in it, and it is probably
prehistoric. Of Sterborough Castle, fortified by
Lord Cobham in 1341, there are no remains.
The site is marked by the remains of the moat.
From a picture which Sir Thomas Turton gave to
Mr. Manning, (fn. 3) it appears to have been the usual
concentric castle of the period on a small scale, fortified
by a moat forming the outer ward and by curtain
walls with four round towers at the angles forming
the inner ward, and inclosing a small court. It was
for a short time the place of captivity of the Duke
of Orleans, who was taken at Agincourt. It was
perhaps more or less defensible at the time of the
Civil Wars, for it is one of the places which the
Parliament ordered to be dismantled in 1648, for
fear of its being occupied by a Royalist party during
the risings of the year. (fn. 4) Its final ruin seems to date
from that time. The other important mediaeval
foundation of Lingfield was the college, founded
in 1431. (fn. 5) The statement that it was founded for
Carthusian monks is not true, for the clergy here
were secular priests. It is possible that a confusion
has arisen from the licence granted to the Countess
of Pembroke in 1346 (fn. 6) to found a Carthusian
house in Horne, an intention, however, which
she never carried out. When Aubrey wrote the
house was nearly perfect. (fn. 7) It is said to have
been pulled down in the 18th century. (fn. 8) The
Guest House, now called Old Guest Hall, is still
standing, and it seems likely that it was part of the
building described by Aubrey. It is a picturesque
brick and timber 15th-century house, with a central
hall, once filled in by an upper story, but now
restored, and two rooms at each end of it, cellars and
solars, the latter overhanging the ground-floor walls.
There are also good 15th and 16th-century houses
in the village, notably the butcher's shop opposite
the Star Inn, which shows a 15th-century shop still
used for the same purpose.
There is a tradition of a chapel of St. Margaret in
the parish, but the site of this has been lost. (fn. 9) The
rising ground between Lingfield village and Sterborough is, however, still called Margaret's Hill.
To the east of the road from Godstone to East
Grinstead, and at the junction of the roads leading
to Lingfield village and Dormansland, is St. Peter's
Cross. It was built by Sir Reginald Cobham, founder
of Lingfield College, to mark the boundary between
Puttenden and Billeshurst Manors. The cross itself
has disappeared, and only the pedestal remains.
This is an obelisk of ashlar work in East Grinstead
stone, probably of 1437, about 20 ft. in height, and
measuring 5 ft. on each face. There are niches in
the sides, which are now empty. The north side is
partly hidden by the parish cage, a square building
with a tower, probably once surmounted by a cross,
of the end of the 18th century. (fn. 10)
The southern part of the parish is in the old
iron district. A forge and a furnace 'about Copthorne and Lingfield' were owned by Lady Gage in
1574, (fn. 11) and Clarke's pond and Cook's pond may
have been heads for water power to work hammers.
Iron ore is still very abundant in the Hastings Sand.
The parish was and still is for the most part agricultural, but since the opening of the railway station
on the London, Brighton and South Coast line from
Croydon to East Grinstead in 1884, the laying out
of the Dormansland estate with the
opening of a station there, and the
making of the Lingfield Park racecourse, where another railway station
has been opened, the village has
become a small town and building
has been carried on at Plaistow Street
and elsewhere.
The Victoria Memorial Institute
was built by subscription in 1901.
It contains reading rooms and a
library. A parish school and infants'
school were founded in 1849. The
old schoolhouse belonging to a school
which Lord Howard of Effingham
endowed with £3 a year (fn. 12) was sold
and the procceds applied to the new
schools. The school was rebuilt in
1860. The infants' school was carried
on in the old building until the latter
was rebuilt in 1906. Baldwin Hill
School was built in 1874 and enlarged in 1898.
The district called Dormansland,
at one time renamed 'Bellagio,' but
since known by its old name, was laid
out as a residential estate of villas and
so-called bungalows about 1880.
Richard Derman had land in Lingfield in 1435, (fn. 13) and in 1489 John
Underhelde of Lingfield granted to
Alice daughter of John Croker land
called Newhachecroft and Dermannysland, which, together with William
Gainsford, William Innyngfeld, and
William Broker of Dermannysland,
he held from Richard Derman. (fn. 14) The
land was between the land of the
Abbot of Hyde on the south and
west, of the Abbot of Battle on the
north and west, and by the highway
from Dermannysland to Edenbridge
on the south and east. This seems to fix it as northeast of the common called Dormansland Common,
one of those inclosed in 1816. The estate now gives
its name to a separate ecclesiastical parish. There is
a parish room with a large lending library. A school
was built in 1851 and enlarged in 1886. Lingfield
Park race-course and club were established in 1890,
after the closing of Croydon race-course, and have
already been described. (fn. 15)
Chartham Park is a large house in a park in the
southern part of the parish. It is the residence of
Col. A. R. Margary. Claridges is the residence of
the widow of Mr. F. H. Birley, J.P.; The Beacon,
Dormansland, of Mrs. St. Clair; The Dees, Dormansland, of Sir G. D. A. F. Wilson, K.C.B.;
Nobles, of Sir Lewis Dibdin, the Dean of Arches.
Ardenrun Place is the property of Mr. H. H. König;
Carewell House of Mr. Walter Williams.
MANORS
A cartulary of the abbey of Hyde or
New Minster at Winchester records the
gift to the abbey, by Ethelflæd wife of
King Edgar and mother of Edward the Martyr, of
6 hides of land at Lingfield. (fn. 16) It is not recorded
among the abbey's possessions in 1086, and was possibly then considered appurtenant to Sanderstead,
with which it is associated in the will of Dux Ælfred, (fn. 17)
and with which it was given to the abbey by Ethelflæd. This association of an estate on the weald
with another on a drier and more inhabited soil is
not uncommon in Surrey. The abbot's property
appears later as the manor of LINGFIELD or
FELCOURT (Feldcourt, xv cent.). 'An Assize Roll
for 1279 records a case showing that in 1272 two
men had come into the abbot's
manor at Lingfield, and,
having been admitted to the
hall of the manor, they attacked
the abbot's bailiff and injured
him so severely that he died
the next day; they had also
seized the ploughman of the
manor, whom the had dragged
to the castle of the Earl of
Surrey at Reigate, where they
had thrown him into a dungeon and kept him prisoner
for a year. (fn. 18) In 1287 William
de Beauvais quitclaimed to
the Abbot of Hyde his land
called Feldlond in Lingfield. (fn. 19) In 1361 and again
in 1403 the Cobhams are found holding land in
Lingfield for which they paid rent to Hyde Abbey
at the abbot's manor of Felcourt in Lingfield, (fn. 20) and
this manor continued among the abbey's possessions
until the Dissolution.
Cross and Cage, Lingfield.
Hyde Abbey. Argent a lion sable and a chief sable with a pair of keys argent therein.
In 1539 Lingfield was granted in fee to Sir John
Gresham, (fn. 21) who died seised in 1556. (fn. 22) His son and
grandson, both called William, held successively. (fn. 23)
In 1589 the later alienated to John Valentine. (fn. 24)
Henry Valentine son of John, who inherited at his
father's death in 1594, (fn. 25) was during his tenure involved in law-suits with the Crown concerning land
in Lingfield called the Gildable, which was alleged to
have been Crown land time out of mind, the tenants
thereof enjoying common of pasture and other rights,
the sovereign taking profits, waifs and strays, &c.
Henry Valentine, as lord of Felcourt, the demesne
lands of which abutted on to the Gildable, had
made certain claims on it, alleging it to be part of his
manor. Similar claims, it was said, had been made
by his father and William Gresham, always, apparently,
without success, as every witness called declared that
the common was Crown land. (fn. 26)
In 1616 Henry Valentine and Mercy his wife
conveyed the manor of Felcourt to Edward Bysshe
and David Bassano (fn. 27) ; they held in 1625. (fn. 28) Bassano
was a trustee for the family of Turner of Ham in
Blechingley (q.v.), and in 1637 George Turner, a
member of that family, died seised of Felcourt, which
he left to a younger son John, (fn. 29) who held in 1657. (fn. 30)
At this date the manor appears to have been divided. (fn. 31)
In 1684 John Turner and his son George sold a
fourth to Anthony Faringdon, (fn. 32) and James Faringdon
held this in 1775. (fn. 33) In 1787 he sold it to John Field,
and it afterwards became successively the property by
purchase of William Tooke, F. L. Dillon and Sir
Thomas Turton, whose son held in 1848. (fn. 34) It afterwards passed to the Earl of Cottenham, (fn. 35) from whom
it was bought by Mr. H. Sturdy, who resides at
Felcourt.
What happened to the main part of the manor is
not very clear. In 1774 Robert Linfield of East
Grinstead levied a fine of the 'manor of Felcourt'
by way of conveying it to John Mylam of Lewisham
in Kent, (fn. 36) but an indenture of the same date between
the parties mentions only the 'messuage called New
Fellcourt' (fn. 37) with the lands belonging to it.
The family of Martin also appear as holding a
fourth part of the manor in 1809, (fn. 38) but probably most
of the lands belonging to it descended with the estate of
New Place. Manning, quoting from court rolls, states
that New Place became in 1729 the property of
John Hopkins, whose cousin inherited and died in
1754, when trustees conveyed it to Benjamin Bond
Hopkins. (fn. 39) He suffered a recovery of the 'manor of
Felcourt' in 1772. (fn. 40) His daughter and heiress
married Richard Maunsell Philipps, who held New
Place in 1808. (fn. 41) Courtenay Phillips suffered a
recovery of the manor in 1824. (fn. 42)
New Place is now the property of Mr. E. W.
Oliver. The house is of stone. The doorway,
removed to its present position from the west entrance
of the courtyard, bears the date 1617. Though it
was held with land belonging to Felcourt, it is not in
the same part of the parish.
In the later court rolls of Croydon, Lingfield
appears as a tithing of that manor. But there is no
evidence to show that the lords of Croydon had any
ancient title to jurisdiction over Lingfield.
The manor of STERBOROUGH alias PRINKHAM was held of the Abbot of Battle and probably
originally formed part of the abbey's manor of Limpsfield. In 1280 William de Hever received a grant
for himself and his heirs of free warren in his demesne
lands of Lingfield. (fn. 43) Joan his daughter and heir
married Reginald de Cobham the eldest son of John
de Cobham of Cobham and Cowling by his second
wife Joan daughter of Hugh Nevill. (fn. 44) Reginald
and Joan held the Lingfield lands before the end of
the 13th century. (fn. 45) Their son Reginald succeeded
them and received a grant of free warren in his
demesne lands here in 1340 (fn. 46) ; in 1341 he was
permitted to crenellate his house at Prinkham, (fn. 47) afterwards called Sterborough, which became the principal
seat of this branch of the Cobham family. Reginald
de Cobham was summoned to Parliament in 1341–2
and in 1360, was knight banneret in 1339 and Admiral
of the Fleet in 1344. (fn. 48) He served with distinction in
the French wars, being in close attendance on the Black
Prince at Crecy (fn. 49) ; at Poitiers he was one of the
two barons who conducted King John as prisoner to
the prince's presence. (fn. 50) He met his death, however,
at home, being stricken down by the second pestilence
in 1361. (fn. 51) An inquisition on the death of his widow
Joan daughter of Lord de Berkeley mentions the
manor of Prinkham with a capital messuage 'wherein
is a little "forcelet" built like a castle with a very
strong wall, with hall, chambers, other buildings,
and a new garden.' (fn. 52) Their son Reginald was also
summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1371 and
1372. He married twice, his second wife being
Eleanor widow of Sir John Arundel. Her daughter
by her first husband was married in 1394 to William
Lord Roos, the ceremony taking place in the chapel
in Sterborough Castle. (fn. 53) Margaret, her daughter by
Reginald de Cobham, was also married in the chapel
in 1403, her husband being Reginald Curtis. (fn. 54)
Lord Cobham died in 1403, being buried, as his
father had been, in Lingfield
Church, and his son Reginald
succeeded him. (fn. 55) The son
was never summoned to Parliament. His chief claim to
distinction as regards the
parish lies in his position as
founder of the college of
Lingfield (q.v.). His sister
Margaret Curtis in 1446, the
year of his death, released all
her claim in the castle of
Sterborough to the feoffees of
Reginald. (fn. 56) After his death
Margaret daughter and heir
of his eldest son Reginald, who had predeceased
him, and wife of Ralph second Earl of Westmorland,
held Sterborough, with remainder in default of issue
to her uncle Sir Thomas Cobham (fn. 57) ; he became her
heir as she left no children at her death. (fn. 58) He died
in 1471, his daughter Anne, aged four, being his
heir. (fn. 59) Her maternal grandmother Anne, widow of
Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, appears to have been
her guardian and married her while still a child to
Edward Blount, Lord Mountjoy, grandson of Walter
Blount, whom the elder Anne had herself married. (fn. 60)
The young bridegroom died shortly after, however,
at the age of eight years, after which Sir Thomas
Burgh, who had obtained the
wardship, succeeded in marrying the heiress to his son
Edward, who became Lord
Burgh on his father's death
in 1496. (fn. 61) He was, however,
never summoned to Parliament, being 'distracted of
memory' (fn. 62) ; he died in
1528. (fn. 63) His son Thomas
held the castle and manor
after him, and they were held
by the successive heads of this
family until at the close of
the 16th century Robert
sixth Lord Burgh died young and unmarried, (fn. 64)
when the property was divided between his sisters
and co-heirs, Elizabeth wife of George Brooke fourth
son of William Lord Cobham and afterwards of
John Reade, Anne wife of Sir Drew Drury, Catherine
wife of Thomas Knivett and Frances wife of Francis
Coppinger. (fn. 65)
Corham of Sterborough. Gules a cheveron or with three stars sable thereon.
Burgh, Lord Burgh. Azure three fleurs de lis ermine.
The first three heiresses conveyed their reversions
in the manor and castle to Sir
Thomas Richardson, serjeant-at-law, before 1627, (fn. 66) the
Dowager Lady Burgh, their
mother, retaining the whole
for life. (fn. 67) Richardson was a
lawyer of note and in 1626
was made Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas; he was also
a member of Parliament. He
married Elizabeth Beaumont
widow of Sir John Ashburnham; she was in 1628 raised
to the peerage, being created
Baroness Cramond for life,
with remainder of the dignity
of 'Lord Cramond Baron of Parliament' to Richardson's son by his first wife Ursula Southwell. (fn. 68)
Richardson died in February 1634–5, his eldest son
Thomas in 1643. (fn. 69) The latter's eldest son Thomas
afterwards held these three-fourths of Sterborough as
Lord Cramond (fn. 70) and conveyed it with his wife Ann
to William Saxby in 1668. (fn. 71)
Richardson. Argent a chief gules with three lions' heads razed or therein.
The share of the fourth heiress Frances Coppinger
never came to the Richardson family. It appears, from
an 18th-century account given by John Coppinger, her
great-grandson, that the reversion of the remaining
fourth of Sterborough after the death of Frances
Coppinger was to the eldest son, but that he died
without issue; that Seymer the second son also died
without issue, having devised the reversion to his
steward William Walter to the exclusion of his three
remaining brothers, and that this will was disputed
by the family, but without success. (fn. 72) Thomas
Coppinger quitclaimed his right to William Walter
in 1684 (fn. 73) and Walter conveyed the fourth to William
Saxby in 1675. (fn. 74) This account is borne out by
documentary evidence. (fn. 75) Saxby thus obtained the
whole estate, which he devised by will, proved
1684, to his nephew William Saxby, who in 1695
conveyed to Nathaniel Hunt for the purpose of
barring the entail. (fn. 76) Saxby died in 1735 and was
succeeded by his son of the same name, who by will
of 1744 devised this property to trustees to sell. In
1751 they, with James Saxby son and heir of
William, sold to James Burrows 'the manors of
Sterborough and Prinkham . . . the messuage or
farm called Sterborough Castle or Dairy Farm . . .
the castle or reputed castle of Sterborough.' (fn. 77) Two
other sons of William Saxby were also parties to the
indenture, owing, as was stated in the deed, to the
fact that that part of the estate which stretched into
Edenbridge in Kent was subject to gavelkind; the
Lingfield property had, however, been disgavelled in
1539. (fn. 78) Burrows, who was afterwards knighted,
died in 1782. (fn. 79) His nephew and legatee Robert
Burrows died in 1793, having devised Sterborough
to John Law and Thomas Ludbey to sell. (fn. 80) The
purchaser was Thomas Turton, who was created a
baronet in 1796. (fn. 81) He sold in 1812 to Christopher
Smith, alderman of London, whose executors afterwards sold to John Tonge, who owned in 1841. (fn. 82)
It was afterwards in the possession of M. F. Bainford. (fn. 83) About 1870 the estate of Sterborough Castle
again changed hands, becoming the property of James
Stocks Moon. (fn. 84) In 1891 it belonged to Mr. Walter
Waterhouse. It now belongs to Mr. W. H. Topham.
Among the contributions to a lay subsidy raised in
1332 in Surrey is recorded a payment of 8s. 1d. by
William de Blockfield in Lingfield. (fn. 85) Manning says
that BLOCKFIELD was part of the lands held by
the Gainsfords which had formerly belonged to
Roland de Oxted. (fn. 86) The manor was held of the lords
of the manor of Oxted. From private deeds it appears
that Blockfield was held in 1477 by Richard Gainsford, and that William Gainsford his brother died
seised of it in 1483. (fn. 87) His son John Gainsford was
lord in 1519, (fn. 88) and this family continued to hold the
manor for another century and a half. (fn. 89) On the
death of William Gainsford, which occurred in 1669,
his daughters and co-heirs Margaret, afterwards wife
of Edward Johnson, and Dorothy, afterwards wife of
George Luxford, each inherited a moiety of Blockfield. (fn. 90) Dorothy Luxford conveyed her share to the
Johnsons in 1680. (fn. 91)
The son and grandson of Edward Johnson and
Margaret held successively, (fn. 92) and the last, William
Johnson, sold in 1727, according to Manning, to
Messrs. Lewis & Dugdale, whose heirs conveyed in
1763 to Andrew Jelfe. (fn. 93) From Jelfe the manor
passed in the following year to John Major, who was
created a baronet in 1765. (fn. 94) He had two daughters
and co-heirs, of whom one died without issue, while
Anne, the other, married Sir John Henniker and
inherited the manor. John Lord Henniker was in
possession in 1822. (fn. 95) It was afterwards the property
of Patrick Byrne, then of Mrs. Gwilliam, (fn. 96) and now
belongs to Mr. C. J. Fisher.
The house, which was also called Old Surrey Hall,
is a singularly picturesque example of a timber-framed
house, possibly of the 15th century, with unusually
elaborate ornamental woodwork on the outside. The
great hall has long been divided into rooms. It lies
in a very secluded position near the south-east angle
of the county at some distance from any main road.
The manor of FORD was also among the Gainsfords' possessions in Lingfield, before 1430, (fn. 97) and it
remained in this family, being always held by the
lord of Blockfield (q.v.) until the 17th century.
After 1682, however, the connexion ceased, as in
that year the Johnsons conveyed Ford to Robert
Linfield, (fn. 98) whose brother and heir conveyed it ten
years after to Anthony Faringdon. (fn. 99) The latter
settled it on his son Anthony in 1715, (fn. 100) and it
apparently remained in this family until 1775. (fn. 101)
In 1777 the estate was held by Samuel or William
Brown, (fn. 102) and according to Manning became in that
year the property of Sir James Burrows, who had also
purchased Sterborough (fn. 103) (q.v.), with which property
Ford was held until 1801, when Sir Thomas Turton
sold to Colonel Malcolm. (fn. 104) It was afterwards purchased of the latter by J. F. Elphinstone, who held
in 1841. (fn. 105) Norman Morris then bought the property and built a house there, which was afterwards
sold to James Spender Clay. (fn. 106) It is now owned by
Captain H. H. Spender Clay, M.P., J.P. The house
stands in a park of some size.
In 1272 John de la Lynde died seised of the manor
of PUTTENDEN
(fn. 107) (Podindene or Pudindenne).
His heir was Walter de la Lynde, but the manor
appears shortly afterwards in the possession of a
Simon de Puttenden. In 1281 he granted a messuage,
land and rent here to Geoffrey de Haspale for life,
with reversion to the sons of Simon. (fn. 108) An inquisition
taken in 1287 after Geoffrey de Haspale's death states
that he held the manor of Puttenden for life by the
terms of the above grant. The manor consisted
partly of lands held of the king in chief by rent of
10s. and suit at the hundred court of Tandridge,
and partly of other lands held of Roland de Oxted,
of the manor of Benchesham, and of the manor of
Croham. (fn. 109) Philip de Puttenden, younger son of Simon,
died in 1309, (fn. 110) and his son Adam did fealty for the
lands held of the king. (fn. 111) John de Puttenden son of
Adam succeeded his father in 1359, (fn. 112) but died very
shortly afterwards, his heirs being Agnes daughter of
Laurence Brown, aged fourteen, Mabel Eyr, and
Lucy wife of John Nicole, all described as his kinswomen. (fn. 113) Agnes widow of John de Hadresham
obtained the 'manor of Bure or Buer and Puttenden'
in 1430 (fn. 114) from William Cheyney and others.
How the manor passed to the Sondes is not evident,
but according to a rental of Sterborough Reginald
Sondes held the manor in
1477. (fn. 115) Robert Sondes died
seised of it in 1530, (fn. 116) and was
succeeded by his son
Anthony, (fn. 117) who died in
1575. (fn. 118) Sir Thomas Sondes,
kt., Anthony's son and heir,
left a daughter only at his
death in 1593, and by the
terms of a settlement the
manor passed to his brother
Sir Michael Sondes of Throwley in Kent, (fn. 119) to whom
Frances Leveson, the daughter
of Sir Thomas, afterwards
quitclaimed her right. (fn. 120) Sir Richard, the son, and
Sir George, the grandson, of Sir Michael held in
succession. (fn. 121) Sir George Sondes appears in possession
in 1655. (fn. 122) He was in 1676 created Baron of
Throwley in Kent (where the family had long held
estates), Viscount Sondes and Earl of Faversham.
In 1677 he died without surviving male issue. (fn. 123)
According to Manning the estate passed to Lewis
Watson, Lord Rockingham, who had married Sir
George's younger daughter and co-heir and who died in
1724, (fn. 124) and was afterwards sold by their nephew (more
correctly grandson Lewis Lord Sondes) to Abraham
Atkins, in whose family it remained as late as 1878. (fn. 125)
It now belongs to the Hon. Mark F. Napier, J.P.
Sondes. Argent three black men's heads cut off at the neck between two cheverons sable.
The house, built about 1510, is of timber. It has an
unusually high square hall, with, in the original plan,
two rooms on each side of it, one above the other,
and a kitchen at the back. It has a good 16th-century chimney-stack and mantelpieces.
In 1336 John de Chevening received licence to
have a chapel in his manor of BUER (Beure, xiv
cent.). (fn. 126) There is no earlier trace of any such manor,
but Adam de Puttenden and John his son both held,
besides the manor of Puttenden, some 40 acres of
land in Lingfield of John de Chevening. (fn. 127) Apparently
the Chevening manor afterwards passed to the holders
of Puttenden, as in 1430 Agnes de Hadresham was
seised of the manors of Buer and Puttenden (q.v.).
The former afterwards became absorbed in the latter,
henceforth called the manor of Puttenden alias Buer
or Puttendenbury.
The earliest mention of BILLESHURST (Billesersse, xi cent.; Byhgersse, xiii cent.) occurs in 1198,
when William de Puttenden and Lucy his wife held
land there. (fn. 128) In 1267 William de Billesherst and
Juliana his wife quitclaimed 40 acres of land in
Lingfield to John son of Gilbert, (fn. 129) and they probably
held their land here as a manor, as in 1345 John
Lucas granted the manor of Billeshurst with wardship,
marriage, courts, &c., to Sir Reginald Cobham,
stating that it had descended to him as nephew and
heir of Master Luke of London, rector of Lingfield,
who had it by grant of feoffment of Richard de
Billeshurst. (fn. 130) An inquisition on the lands of Reginald
de Cobham, taken in 1403, refers to 'the manor of
Sterborough in Billeshurst.' (fn. 131) In 1448 Ann Lady
Cobham and widow of Sir Reginald, the founder of
Lingfield College, joined with her son Sir Thomas in
granting this manor to the master and brethren of
this foundation, (fn. 132) by whom it was held until the
Dissolution. (fn. 133) Their Lingfield estate then included
rents amounting to £2 2s.2½d. and the park of
Lingfield called Billeshurst.
In 1544 Billeshurst was granted in fee to Thomas
Cawarden or Carden. (fn. 134) He, however, afterwards
surrendered these lands, which were then re-granted to
him and his wife Elizabeth to hold jointly. (fn. 135) He died
in August 1559 and his wife early in the following
year. (fn. 136) William Cawarden, his heir, son of his
brother Anthony, conveyed the manor in 1560 to
William Lord Howard of Effingham. (fn. 137) A claim to
the manor was set up in 1607 by Robert Cawarden,
a distant cousin of Sir Thomas, but it was found that
William Cawarden had been the rightful heir and
that Robert was merely tenant in the manor which
the Howards held. (fn. 138) It remained in this family
until the latter part of the 18th century. (fn. 139) Ann
Dowager Countess of Effingham, on whom the manor
had been settled, devised it in 1774 to trustees for
sale. (fn. 140) It accordingly passed in 1776 to Dr. Frank
Nicholls of Epsom, (fn. 141) whose son John afterwards held
it. A rental of the manor in 1794, during the
tenure of the latter, contains the statement that 'this
manor consists of freeholds only and the customs are
that the tenants hold by fealty, suit of court and the
payment of a heriot—viz. the best beast—while the
heir pays relief of one year's quit rent.' (fn. 142) In 1798
John Nicholls exchanged his lands here with Sir
Thomas Turton, who gave him Chellows in Crowhurst. (fn. 143) Turton sold in 1809 to the trustees of
Robert Ladbroke, (fn. 144) in whose family it remained until
after 1841. (fn. 145) It was held in 1878 by Mr. Harvey
Hughes, (fn. 146) and now by Mr. W. Gilbert.
After the Dissolution the SITE OF THE COLLEGE OF LINGFIELD was granted with the manor
of Billeshurst (q.v.) to Sir Thomas Cawarden and has
since been held with that manor, being known as the
manor or college of Lingfield or as the manor of
Lingfield. (fn. 147) In 1803 the conveyance from Turton
to Ladbroke's trustees included the college farm. (fn. 148)
In 1408 Sir John Dalyngridge was seised of the
manor of SHEFFIELD-LINGFIELD, and his wife
held it after his death. (fn. 149) It was held at the close of
the 15th century by Richard Lewknor. (fn. 150) Roger
Lewknor held in 1507 or 1508, when he apparently conveyed to Edmund Dudley and others. (fn. 151)
In 1511, after Dudley's attainder, a re-grant was
made to the other grantees exclusive of Dudley. (fn. 152)
They seem to have conveyed to Henry Earl of
Arundel, who died in 1580, (fn. 153) leaving no male issue.
He seems, however, to have settled the manor some
time previously on his daughter and her husband
Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk, as the latter held
in 1569. (fn. 154) Both the duke and his eldest son Philip,
who became Earl of Arundel on the death of his
maternal grandfather, were attainted. Philip's son
Thomas was, however, restored in blood in 1604, (fn. 155)
and this manor was granted in 1608 to the Earl of
Suffolk and Lord William Howard, younger sons of
Thomas Duke of Norfolk, (fn. 156) apparently in trust for
him, as he held in 1611. (fn. 157) The Howards held as
late as 1642, (fn. 158) but by 1665 the manor was in the
possession of George Compton. (fn. 159) The latter, in
1673, conveyed to Richard Biddulph, (fn. 160) and the
manor was still in this family in 1739. (fn. 161) Manning
states that it belonged, in 1808, to Viscount
Hampden, (fn. 162) who died without issue in 1824.
The family of Hexted or Heghsted held land in
Lingfield in the 12th and 13th centuries (see account
of the church), and a wood there belonged to John
de Heghsted in 1351, (fn. 163) but the earliest mention of
the manor of HEXTED, in 1403, shows it to have
been in the possession of the Cobhams of Sterborough,
who held it of the Abbot of Battle's manor of
Limpsfield. (fn. 164) It was granted by this family with
Billeshurst (q.v.) to the College of St. Peter in Lingfield in 1448, and, with that manor also, became the
property of Sir Thomas Cawarden after the Dissolution. In 1557 he conveyed Hexted to Thomas
Ramsay, citizen and grocer of London. (fn. 165) The latter
appears to have settled it on a John Browne and his
wife Alice, with remainder to the heirs of Alice, who
was probably his daughter. Alice's son John Browne
died seised in 1638. (fn. 166) This family seem to have
given their name to a manor called Browns, the
capital house of which was in Edenbridge. (fn. 167)
The site of the manor of Hexted was conveyed in
1606 to Richard Glover by John Robinson and Mary
his wife and William Bonner and Margaret his
wife. (fn. 168) Glover still held in 1648. (fn. 169) The manorhouse became a farm, and is now converted into three
cottages. Haxted is the name of an adjacent house.
There is a water mill about half a mile to the west.
CHURCHES
The parish church of ST. PETER
AND ST. PAUL consists of a
chancel, north chapel, south vestry
and chapel, nave, north and south aisles and southwest tower. With the exception of the tower and
the south and west walls of the nave in their lower
portions the church is wholly of the 15th century.
The tower, which is of 14th-century date, appears to
stand on the foundations of one of the 12th century,
and a few scattered 12th-century stones in the west
end of the building indicate that there was a church
on the site in that period. The roofs, which are
covered with Horsham slabs, may be of the 16th
century, except that of the chancel, which is original.
The shingled broach spire is also original. The
south vestry is an addition of c. 1490.
The chancel has an original five-light east window
with vertical tracery in a two-centred head. The
north side is occupied, save for a short spur at the
east, by an arcade of three bays of two-centred arches
on piers of four slender clustered columns with
octagonal plinths and capitals and hollow chamfers
between the shafts. The responds are of the same
pattern and the inner order of the arches is moulded
and set in a wide casement. In the south wall is
set a three-light window, whose sill is raised to clear
the roof of the south vestry, and to the west of this
window is a four-centred doorway to the vestry, down
three steps. West of the vestry the south side
consists of an arcade of two bays like those on the
north. The north chapel has an east window like
that of the chancel, now obscured by the organ, and
three north windows of three cinquefoiled lights in a
drop two-centred head. The south vestry is lighted
by an east window of two cinquefoiled lights in a
square head and a similar window on the south. It
has an external door with a four-centred head under
a square dripstone immediately to the west of the
south window, descending to the external ground
level by three steps owing to the slope of the site
from north to south.
The east window of the south chapel, which is
raised above the vestry roof, is two-centred and of
three lights with vertical tracery. The two south
windows are similar, and below the westernmost is
an external doorway at the foot of a flight of four
internal steps, with three more in the doorway to
reach the ground level.
The whole of the eastern part of the church is
raised on vaults some 5 ft. high, entered by a doorway
with an original door at the east end of the north
wall below the north chapel. Under the spur wall
between the chancel and north chapel is a good two-centred doorway, and there are traces of a communication between the chancel and the crypt
beneath. In the east walls of the chancel and north
chapel, below the floor level, are small trefoiled loops
in square stone frames, formerly lighting the vaults,
but now blocked.
The western bay of the chancel on both sides is
occupied by the quire stalls, which return under the
chancel arch with a central opening.
The chancel arch, which is supported by the
westernmost piers of the north and south quire
arcades, forms the centre bay of an arcade of three
bays running across the church from north to south
and separating the chancel and chapels from the
nave and aisle. The chancel arch and the north
chapel arch are four-centred, the north chapel being
nearly as wide as the chancel. That of the south
chapel, which is much narrower, is stilted and twocentred. All are like those of the chancel arcades in
detail.
The nave has a north arcade continuous with that
of the chancel, of four wide four-centred arches, the
easternmost bay being slightly wider than the rest.
The south arcade is of two bays only, which are narrow
and have two-centred arches and are continuous with
the south quire arcade. The western arch of the
south arcade rests on the west on a corbelled shaft
against the north-east buttress of the tower, whose
north face forms the greater portion of the south wall
of the nave, and is pierced in the centre by a two-centred doorway to the ground stage and above it
by a blocked pointed doorway to a former gallery.
West of it, the lower part of the wall is considerably
thicker than that above the sill level of a three-light
drop-centre headed window, which is the only
southern light of the nave. The west wall is also
much thicker in its lower than in its upper portion;
in the former is the plain chamfered two-centred
west doorway and above it, in the thinner part of the
wall, a three-light west window with a rather clumsy
three-centred head containing vertical tracery.
The north aisle has four north windows like those
of the north chapel, and a west window of three
lights with vertical tracery in a high two-centred
head. At the east end of the north wall is the
blocked door to the rood-loft, which seems to have
run right across the church. The door was approached
by a newel in a half-octagonal turret added externally.
There is no trace of the lower door from the aisle,
and the turret, which is now used as a furnace, has
an external doorway of 18th-century date.
The south aisle is bounded on the west by the
east wall of the tower, whose north-east buttress
projects into it; it is further reduced in size by a
large battered buttress of uncertain date which
runs out a considerable distance into the aisle
from the middle of the tower wall-face. The aisle
has two south windows of three lights, similar to
those of the chapel. A blocked doorway to the
ground stage of the tower is visible under the plaster
between the two buttresses.
The tower, which is of four stages undivided
externally, is a peculiar structure of considerable
height in proportion to its size on plan, with
right-angled buttresses of four offsets at the two
southern angles, while it was probably supported
originally at the northern angles by a thick nave wall,
of which its north-east buttress is a remnant. At
any rate, it is plain that it was much weakened by
the alteration of the structure of the nave, for it is
now supported on the east and west sides by huge
battered buttresses reaching almost to the parapet,
which are a very much later addition. The
eastern of these buttresses descends through the
roof of the south aisle, as also does the southern
buttress of the same face. The entrance to the
tower is on the south side by a two-centred doorway, wholly restored, which is set in the recess made
by a deep relieving arch the full width of the wall
between the buttresses. In the ground stage are a
window in the north-west angle, the trace of the
blocked door to the south aisle at the north-east, the
doorway to the nave in the north and a plastered-over
arcade of two small arches in the southern part of the
east wall. In the first stage, which is reached by a
ladder and has its original floor beams pierced by the
old bell-rope holes, are two windows blocked by the
battered buttresses of the east and west faces. The
two upper stages have windows in the south wall
only, the lower being two-centred inclosing an ogee
trefoil, and the upper two-centred and cinquefoiled;
both are filled with louvre-slats. Above the latter is
a clock face. The tower is surmounted by a pretty
parapet of blind quatrefoils with a coping. The bell
stage with its old framing is open to the broach
spire, whose timbers are all original.
Externally the church is of well-squared large
blocks of hard sandstone. Nearly all the stones on the
north side and very many on the south bear various
masons' marks lightly incised. There are fewer at
the east and west. Scarcely any restoration has been
necessary, the windows being practically untouched.
Three buttresses, all of two offsets, project at the
east—a diagonal at the angle of the north chapel and
two right-angled buttresses at the ends of the chancel
wall. At the south-east angle of the chancel another
buttress projects southward, but its lower portion is
absorbed in the east wall of the added vestry, though
the moulded parapet stops against the face of the
buttress. At the other point of junction of the
vestry with the church on the south is a peculiar
contrivance. The south-east angle of the south
chapel was built originally with a diagonal buttress,
against whose upper portion the vestry parapet stops.
Its lower portion, however, has been cut away, so as
to sink into the head of a right-angled buttress of a
single offset, which is built against the straight joint
between the vestry and south chapel walls and which
forms the first of a series of four buttresses on the
south wall of the church.
At the west end are a central buttress at the
junction of the nave and north aisle, and two diagonal
buttresses at the angles. The north aisle has three
buttresses. At the junction of the aisle and north
chapel rises the half-octagonal rood-stair turret with a
conical tiled eaves roof, now crowned by a chimney-pot. The north chapel has two north buttresses.
All the roofs are caved except that of the vestry.
At the south-west of the nave is a moulded cornice
below the eaves, but an extra course of rough masonry
has been added above it. There is no cornice elsewhere.
The roofs of the church are peculiar, having fourcentred principals and rafters, ceiled in between with
boarding. They rest on corbels, and that of the
chancel has moulded principals and ridge, but elsewhere all are plain alike. In the south chapel and
aisle the plain corbels on which the roof rests are too
low, so that the heads of the arcade arches are cut off
by the wall plate.
The chancel is inclosed on the north and south
sides by simple but graceful screens of original date,
having slender open arcading with cinquefoiled heads,
surmounted by a cornice with four-flowers and shields
in the hollow. On both sides are four-centred doors
with carved spandrels. The only modern piece is
the filling of the easternmost bay on the north side.
The last bay on the south and the returns under the
chancel arch (which have no screen above them)
contain fine mid-15th-century stalls with misereres
splendidly carved with portraits, arms and devices
referring to the families of Cobham and of Bardolf,
i.e. those of the rebuilder of the church and his wife.
At the north-west angle of the return is a good
Saracen's head, the Cobham crest. The stalls on the
north side are gone, and in the lower part of the
screen are some inserted panels of late 16th-century
carving with portraits, possibly of Philip and Mary,
and conventional designs. A reading-desk has recently
been made up of scraps of Jacobean carving.
The font is octagonal, of good 15th-century work
with panelled sides and stem and an ogee-shaped
wooden cover with crocketed ribs, which appears to
be old, and has a finial which seems to be a late
17th or early 18th-century repair.
At the west end of the nave is a fine 17th-century
brass candelabrum.
The church is rich in monuments, principally of
the Cobham family, to whom the rebuilding of the
church and its collegiate endowment are due. The
altar tomb, many times repainted, of Reynold first
Lord Cobham, K.G. (died 1361), stands on the south
side of the north chapel, beside the easternmost pier
of the chancel arcade. It has coloured shields in
quatrefoils, and narrow trefoiled panels between. The
cresting is battled. The effigy, in plates and basinet,
is coloured; its head rests on a helm crested with a
Saracen's head, and supported by seated angels. The
arms, Gules on a cheveron or three stars sable, are
carved and painted on the coat. The red thigh-pieces
are studded with gilded spots. On the left leg is the
garter, of which order Reynold Cobham was a first
founder. The feet rest on a reclining Saracen. The
arms in the panels are, on the east end: (1) Or three
wavy pales gules in a border ermine (Valoignes); (2)
Azure three roses or (Cossington). On the north
side: (1) Azure a flowered cross or and a martlet
or in the quarter (a clumsy repainting of Paveley);
(2) Gules three water-bougets argent (Roos); (3) Or
a fesse double cotised gules (Delamare); (4) Cobham
impaling Gules a cheveron argent (wrongly painted
for Joan Berkeley). On the west end: (1) Cobham;
(2) Berkeley, his wife. On the south side: (1)
Mortimer; (2) Bohun; (3) Vere; (4) Fitz Alan.
The panelled altar tomb of Reynold second Lord
Cobham (died 1403) is on the opposite side of the
chapel. The top is a massive Purbeck marble slab,
in which is a fine brass of the knight in plates with
a wreathed basinet and chain camail, the feet resting
on a dog and the head on a crested helm. Flanking
the head are shields, with enamel inlay, of Cobham
and Cobham impaling a fret for his second wife
Eleanor Maltravers. The shields, crest, and hilts of
the sword and dagger are restorations by the late
J. G. Waller. The marginal inscription, with
flowered stops, runs as follows, beginning at the
top:—
'De Steresburgh domin' de Cobham sic Reginaldus
Hic jacet hic validus | miles fuit ut leopardus (Sagax
in guēris satis audax oñibz) horis In cunctis terris
famam predavit honoris. Dapsilis in mensis formosus
moregerosus Largus in expensis imperitu | s generosus. Et quando placuit messie qd moreretur | Expirans obiit in celis glorificetur Mille quadringeno
t(erno Julii numeres tres) Migravit celo sit sibi vera
quies. Amen. Pater noster. |' (fn. 170)
To the east of this is another altar tomb with
elaborately panelled sides and a Purbeck marble slab,
of early 15th-century date, with no inscription or
effigy.
The huge altar tomb of Sir Reginald Cobham
(died 1446) and his second wife Ann daughter of
Thomas Lord Bardolf stands in the centre of the
chancel. The sides are panelled and contain coloured
shields of Cobham and Bardolf (Azure three cinqfoils
or), alternated with bouched shields of the Cobham
and Bardolf beasts, Gules a sea-wolf argent and Azure
a wingless wyvern respectively. The cresting is sunk
for an inscription brass, which is lost, a modern strip
with the beginning of an inscription being inserted
on the south side. The figures are of alabaster.
That of the knight is in plate armour and bare-headed,
the head resting on the crested helm and the feet on
the sea-wolf. The lady is in a wimple, close-fitting
dress and cloak with the arms of Bardolf; her head
rests on a cushion sown with cinqfoils and supported
by angels, and her feet on her beast.
In the north chapel, beside the tomb of the
second Lord Cobham, is the brass of Eleonore
Colepeper, first wife of Sir Reginald Cobham. The
head of the figure is gone and a plain piece of brass
has been inserted in its place. The figure is under a
canopy with a four-centred arch in a square battled
head, with buttresses on either side. From the
centre of the canopy rises a banner of Cobham
impaling Colepeper (a bend engrailed), and on either
side of it are shields of Cobham and Colepeper.
This lady died 5 November 1420.
Beside the tomb of the first Lord Cobham is a
large and splendid brass of a lady in 14th-century
costume (cote-hardi and cloak), with a pet dog at her
feet. The marginal inscription is lost and replaced
by plain brass. The brass is probably that of the
first wife of the second Lord Cobham, Elizabeth
Stafford.
Between these two is a brass of a lady, with an
inscription to Isabella wife of Reginald Cobham of
Gatwyk. She died 2 April 1460.
Other brasses in this chapel are: John Hadresham,
who died on the feast of SS. Simon and Jude, 1417.
He represented the county in six Parliaments between
1378 and 1399. The figure is in plate armour and
has an inscription plate at the feet, and shields above
and below of the arms a fesse between three leopards'
heads in chief and three fishes haurient in base; a
small half-length figure of a woman with the inscription 'Orate pro anima Katerine Stoket' (c. 1420),
and matrix (filled with plain brass) of a similar brass.
In the chancel are three brasses, one to the west
of the large altar tomb, with the half-length figure of
a priest and the inscription:
'Orate pro anima Johannis Swetecok nuper magistri
istius collegii qui obiit xix die maii ao dñi millīmo
cccc. lxix. cui' aĩe propicietur deus Amen.'
To the south of the altar tomb is a small figure of
a young girl with flowing hair and a chaplet, the
inscription plate gone and replaced by plain brass
(c. 1450).
Near the south vestry door is a brass of the halflength figure of a priest with the inscription:
'Hic jacet dñs Jacobus Velion (?) quondam presbet'
istius collegii qi obiit xxix die Maii Ao dñi cccc lviii
cujus anime propicietur de' am[en].'
In the chancel is also a stone slab to members of
the Agate family, 1691–1754. Set in the north wall
of the north chapel are two peculiar earthenware
pane's with incised and coloured figures under
canopies, probably of the late 16th century.
The organ case incorporates some old oak planks
from the north chapel flooring.
There are five bells, all inscribed 'BRYAN ELDRIDGE
MADE MEE. 1648.'
The plate consists of silver cup with cover of
1568, silver paten of 1709, silver flagon of 1639,
and two silver plates of 1712 and 1866 respectively.
The registers are contained in five books, the
baptisms dating from 1559, marriages and burials
from 1561.
The church of ST. JOHN, DORMANSLAND,
was built in 1883 and a parish assigned to it in
1885. The church is of stone in 14th-century style
with a bell turret.
There is a mission church at Baldwin's Hill and
there are two Baptist chapels in the parish.
ADVOWSON
Ethelflæd wife of King Edgar
and mother of Edward the Martyr
is said to have given the church at
Lingfield to Hyde Abbey. (fn. 171) The same cartulary
which mentions this benefactress and her gift gives
also a chronological account of the monastery, from
which it appears that Henry of Blois, Bishop of
Winchester 1129–71, who was always hostile to this
foundation, wrongfully took away this church from
their possession. (fn. 172) The family of Heghsted or
Hexted in this parish then held the advowson,
probably by grant of the bishop. Their right to it,
and the authority of the grant, was evidently a source
of dispute between them and the abbey. In 1187
Jordan de Hexted, with Walter and Alured his sons,
maintaining the justice of their claim, quitclaimed
the advowson to the abbot John. (fn. 173) No mention is
made in this surrender of the abbot's successors or of
the heirs of Walter and Alured, and possibly this
omission, whether accidental or intentional, led to the
resumption of the advowson by the same family, as in
1264–5 Ralph de Hexted finally quitclaimed all right
from himself and his heirs to the abbey. (fn. 174) After this
date New Minster remained in undisputed possession
until 1431, when the abbot and convent received
licence to grant the rectory and advowson to Sir
Reginald de Cobham and others who should transform it into a collegiate church and found there a
college called St. Peter's College. (fn. 175) The church was
apparently appropriated to the college, the master of
the latter being rector of the church.
After the surrender of the college, the advowson
and rectory were granted with the other possessions
of the college to Cawarden, and they afterwards
descended with these lands (q.v.), being held from
1560 to the late 18th century by the Howards
of Effingham, (fn. 176) passing from them to the Nicholls
family in 1776. The impropriators enjoyed both
great and small tithes, and paid a stipend to the
curate. (fn. 177) The living is now in the gift of the
Bishop of Southwark. It was a curacy until, by
the Act of 1868, it received the designation of
vicarage. (fn. 178)
CHARITIES
In 1654 John Hole left £2 8s.
yearly for the poor.
In 1684 W. Saxby left £10 10s.
yearly for clothes for five poor men and five poor
women.
In 1716 John Piggott left £2 yearly to be divided
into groats and given to the poor on Good Friday.
It was recently given in clothes.
These bequests were all charged upon land.
In 1734 the parish built a poorhouse, which was
sold after the Poor Law Reform Act and the proceeds
applied to the union workhouse.
Mrs. Hochee left two almshouses.
S. Turton left £2 16s. 8d. yearly for six widows.—Wearing left £2 3s. 4d. yearly for meat for
the poor.
John Smith left £24 yearly for coals for the poor.
Henry Smith's charity is distributed as in other
Surrey parishes.