WESTMESTON
Westmaestun (viii cent.); Westmestun, Westmyston
(xi-xv cent.).
This parish is a long narrow strip, about a mile wide,
running parallel with Ditchling and having Streat on
its eastern side. It has an area of 2,095 acres. In
1934 a detached portion including Novington was
transferred to East Chiltington, a parish which for
many centuries had been a chapelry of Westmeston.
The soil is loam, chalk, and clay, with a subsoil of
chalk and ironstone, and the chief crops are wheat,
oats, peas, beans, and turnips. The southern end of the
parish is downland, rising abruptly to an altitude of
800 ft. on the eastern side of Ditchling Beacon, and
running south to High Park Corner. At the foot of the
Downs a road runs eastward to Lewes, the church and
the few cottages of the village being situated at its
junction with Underhill Lane, coming from the west,
and the road from Ditchling, coming from the northwest. The altitude of this part of the parish is about
325 ft., and it slopes gradually down to 129 ft., rising
again to 200 ft. at the northern end. At that end it is
crossed by the road from Burgess Hill to Chailey, and
the railway line from Haywards Heath to Lewes.
There is a good deal of woodland in the north of the
parish. There is a church mission room in the north of
the parish, on the edge of Ditchling Common. Hailey
Farm lies north of the village, on the boundary of
Streat parish.
Westmeston Place stands on the west side of the road
from Ditchling, a little north of the church. The house
is of two stories with attics; the walls are chiefly flint,
plastered in part, with tile-hanging; the roofs are tiled,
with Georgian and later chimneys. The plan is Lshaped, with the ends to north and east, the west wing,
with a westerly projection, containing the kitchen and
offices. The south range contains the principal rooms
and incorporates work of several periods, with a modern
addition to the east. The west gable and most of the
south wall date from c. 1500, and there was alteration in
the mid 16th and early 17th centuries. This gable
contains two windows lighting the parlour; to the south
an early-16th-century two-light with four-centred
heads, chamfered mullion, and ovolo label, and north
of it a mid-16th-century three-light with filleted-roll
mullion and ogee-moulded label. Over each is a twolight window, the south of mid-16th and the north of
early-16th-century type. The attic window may be
possibly of the late 15th century, having three pointed
lights in a square head with hollow-chamfered mullions.
The scullery projection on this side shows at first-floor
level a remnant of 15th-century cinquefoil tracery in
three slender panels reset as ornament.
The south front, disguised beneath plaster or modern
brick, with tile-hanging, has a wide chimney projection. The porch west of this is of flint with sandstone
dressings, not central with the entrance, and is of doubtful date, its openings, of 16th-century type, being
possibly insertions. A chamfered four-centred doorway
opens eastwards, at right angles to the main entrance,
which is of similar form; the south wall has a fourcentred light in a square head with ogee-moulded
jambs, and in the west wall is an oblong chamfered
window. The north exterior shows work of various
dates and projections in flint and modern brick, with a
bay window to the hall. The kitchen range is in flint
pebble with brick quoins and has tile-hanging on the
north wall at first-floor level.
The early-16th-century hall was probably open to
the roof, with a two-storied parlour block to the west;
the main fire-place remains, though modernized, on the
south wall. The first floor may have been inserted
when the staircase was added, c. 1560–70; this shows
an early type of Elizabethan newel—one square central
post with a large finial at first-floor level; there is a
turned balustrade above. The staircase curtails the
bay window on the east side, but this six-light transomed
window has square heads and filleted-roll mouldings,
original only on the first floor, and does not seem much
earlier. Joining the bay to the hall are contemporary
moulded posts, the easternmost forming, on each floor,
the jamb of a square opening spanning a passage. These
suggest that the stairs led to a gallery along the north
side of the hall. The square opening is not in line with
the wall between the present dining-and sitting-rooms,
but that above aligns with the thinner wall between
two bedrooms. The easternmost of the bedrooms has
early-17th-century panelling, and a typical Jacobean
overmantel. The fire-place is apparently later. The
parlour, now the lounge, is separated from the entrance
passage by a screen, now open, with Elizabethan balusters. In the north-west angle of this room is a stone
fire-place, probably contemporary with the staircase;
it has a four-centred head and cavetto- and ogeemoulded jambs. The letters I and M are carved in
shields in the spandrels, probably for John Michelborne. (fn. 1) There is an iron fire-back dated 1571. The
attic stair is in a projection west of the bay window.
There is a wattle-and-daub partition between the hall
and parlour attics, with a four-centred opening in it.
The kitchen wing shows a wide blocked fire-place, and
some stop-chamfered ceiling beams.
Old Middleton, off the main road to Lewes, has a
late-18th-century brick front to a probably 17thcentury house.
There are a few early-17th-century cottages in the
north of the parish, on the road from Wivelsfield Green
to Streat. One, in a field near North America Farm,
is timber-framed with later brick and tile-hanging and
contains a central chimney-stack with wide lintelled
fire-places, and exposed ceiling beams. Whitecote,
opposite North America Farm, is probably contemporary, and has a wide fire-place and external stack.
Middleton Common Farm lies on the north side of
the road from Burgess Hill to Chailey. It is a timberframed house of two bays, with square panels, tiled
roof, and a modern brick extension to the north. The
central chimney is partly of 17th-century date, and
serves a wide fire-place with bread oven.
Manors
The manor of WESTMESTON was
held before the Conquest by Countess
Gueda for 12 hides. It was held of her
directly by her villeins and there was no hall or demesne
land. After the Conquest it was held of William de
Warenne by Robert de Pierpoint. (fn. 2) The overlordship
descended with the barony and rape in the same manner
as that of Hurstpierpoint in Buttinghill Hundred (q.v.).
In 1428 the manor was held as half a knight's fee. (fn. 3)
John de Warenne in 1312 received the grant of an
annual fair at Westmeston at Martinmas (11 Nov.). (fn. 4)
Westmeston descended for some time with Hurstpierpoint (q.v.), the chief seat of the Pierpoint family,
but round about 1284–5 was held in dower by Maud,
widow of Robert de Pierpoint. (fn. 5) She was still alive
in 1296, (fn. 6) but her son Simon appears to have been
holding it about 1317. (fn. 7) In 1412, when Sir William
Bowet was lord of the manor, Westmeston was valued
at £17. (fn. 8) It came, with Hurstpierpoint, into the possession of George Goring, but in 1607–8 was sold
by his widow Anne and her son George, to Walter
Dobell of Falmer, (fn. 9) who also acquired the neighbouring
manor of Streat (q.v.). With Streat Westmeston subsequently descended. The present owner of both the
properties is Miss Coke-Richards, but Mr. W. R.
FitzHugh retains such manorial rights as still persist. (fn. 10)
In this manor the custom of Borough English
obtained. (fn. 11)
The manor of MIDDLETON is first mentioned at
the end of the eleventh century, when the tithes from
it were given by William de Warenne I to the priory
of Lewes. (fn. 12) It was kept in the hands of the lord of the
rape, and is recorded as a demesne manor of the Earls
of Warenne in 1296 and 1327. (fn. 13) It passed with the
honor of Lewes to the Earls of Arundel, and descended
with them until the death of Thomas, Earl of Arundel,
in 1415. (fn. 14) On the division of his property Middleton
was assigned to the Duchess of Norfolk (fn. 15) and followed
the subdivisions of that third of the honor of Lewes
(q.v.), being eventually held in moieties by the Earls
of Derby and the Dukes of Norfolk. Henry, Earl of
Derby, in 1576 conveyed his moiety to Sir John
Jeffrey, chief baron of the Exchequer, who died in
1578 holding it by fealty and rent of 2d. (fn. 16) His
daughter and heir Elizabeth married Edward, Lord
Montagu, (fn. 17) and their daughter Elizabeth married
Robert, Earl of Lindsey, Great Constable and High
Chamberlain of England, who received a conveyance of
this moiety of Middleton from his father-in-law in 1634. (fn. 18)
In the same year, however, Robert, Earl of Lindsey,
and Elizabeth and their son Sir Montagu Bartie, Lord
Willoughby, sold the property to Nicholas Chaloner
of Chiltington for £300. (fn. 19) In 1637 Nicholas and his son
sold it to William Michelborne of Stanmer for £350, (fn. 20)
and it was sold by Edward Michelborne, his youngest
son, to Walter Dobell in 1666–7. (fn. 21) John Michelborne
had conveyed the estate to John Juxon in 1653, but
this claim was acquired by Walter Dobell in 1665. (fn. 22)
The other half of Middleton having been purchased
from Thomas, Earl of Arundel, by Dobell's greatgrandfather in 1611, (fn. 23) the whole manor was once more
in the same hands, and it has descended with the manors
of Westmeston and Streat (fn. 24) (q.v.) to Mr. W. R. FitzHugh, (fn. 25) who sold the house to Miss R. Coke-Richards.
HAILEY PARK in Middleton [Haylly (xv cent.);
Heyghley, Haileigh (xvi cent.)] is first mentioned as a
Park between 1442 and 1450 (fn. 26) when Stephen Wybbyshay was the Duke of Norfolk's keeper. It descended
with the manor of Middleton, and was still inclosed
in 1634. (fn. 27) It is now a farm.
STANTONS (historically part of Westmeston, but
transferred in 1934 to East Chiltington) originated
in the quarter knight's fee held in the 13th century by
John de Staunton of Simon de Pierpoint (fn. 28) lord of
Westmeston. It was possibly identical with the 3 hides
and 3 virgates in Westmeston held by a certain knight
of Robert de Pierpoint in 1086. (fn. 29) The mesne lordship
remained with the Pierpoints and the Dacres, but in the
15th century Stantons was held of their manor of Hurstpierpoint. (fn. 30) The undertenancy appears to have lapsed
and in 1428 this ¼ fee was held by the heirs of Michael
de Poynings. (fn. 31) His son Sir Richard died seised of lands
in Westmeston in 1387, and his widow held in dower
what was described as a 'manor of Westmeston', until
1394. (fn. 32) From Robert their son, who died in 1446,
Stantons passed to his grand-daughter Eleanor, wife
of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, (fn. 33) and in 1484 descended to her son Henry. (fn. 34)
Henry, Earl of Northumberland,
grandson of the latter, sold the
manor in 1531 to Sir Thomas
Neville, (fn. 35) who together with
Robert Southwell conveyed it in
1539 to John Michelborne. (fn. 36)
The manor, known as Westmeston alias Stantons, remained
in the Michelborne family until
1644, (fn. 37) when William Michelborne, grandson of the purchaser, sold it to John
Juxon. (fn. 38) Sir William Juxon, son of John, sold it in
1665 to Walter Dobell, (fn. 39) after which it descended with
the main manor of Westmeston (fn. 40) and presumably became merged in it.
Michelborne. Or a cross between four eagles sable.
Church
The parish church of ST. MARTIN
stands on a slight eminence off the LewesDitchling road. The walls are flint, plastered in part, with sandstone dressings; the roofs have
tiles on the north and chiefly Horsham slates on the
south. The nave was built soon after 1100, and the
original north doorway remains. It is probable that
the chancel was reconstructed in the 13th century, and
its east and north walls were again rebuilt, from the
base, in the 19th century. The arcade of the south aisle
dates to the early 14th century, and in the last years of
that century the whole west wall was refaced, and the
bell-cote probably reconstructed. The south chapel
was added c. 1500, but its east wall was rebuilt with
that of the chancel in the 19th century. The north
porch incorporates parts of the original 14th-century
structure.
The chancel (15 ft. 6 in. × 13 ft. 6 in.) has a rebuilt
east wall with modern three-light window. The north
wall is refaced, with two new lancet windows, but the
south wall is of 13th-century date, and has a trefoilheaded piscina with soffit cusps and roll mouldings to
its outer order; the sunk circular drain remains. West
of it is a late-15th-century arch to the south chapel:
it is of two orders, the outer chamfered with a plain
triangular stop, the inner hollow-chamfered and carried
on corbels, which are polygonal in form. The abacus
is chamfered with ogee under-surface, and the bell and
astragal roll-moulded. The chancel arch was recut in
recent years; it was of 12th-century date.
PARISH CHURCH of ST. MARTIN WESTMESTON
The south chapel (14 ft. × 11 ft.) was added c. 1500,
but the east wall has been rebuilt from the base, and
has a modern three-light window; it has a gabled
roof. The south wall has been refaced. The west
arch into the south aisle resembles the north arch
into the chancel, but there are squared abaci to the
corbels, which are larger and cruder, the polygonal
stem being straight instead of curved; the springing
is slightly lower to the north.
The nave (31 ft. 5 in. × 18 ft. 2 in.) has a 12thcentury north wall, with, towards the east, an early14th-century trefoil-headed window, probably inserted with the south arcade; the restored segmentalpointed rear-arch is similar to those in the north wall
of the chancel. The western window is a modern copy,
and does not occur in Sharpe's drawing. (fn. 41) West again
is the north doorway; it has a round chamfered head
and projecting imposts, with roughly chamfered underside, and restored flat-headed rear-arch. The south
arcade and aisle date from c. 1330. The arcade is of
two bays with obtuse-pointed arches of two chamfered
orders; the outer order has its chamfer continuous to
east and west, but the inner is there carried on corbels.
The pier is octagonal with scroll-moulded abacus,
roll astragal, and chamfered base. The corbels are
contemporary, but of smaller size and more delicate
mouldings.
The west wall of the nave was refaced at some
period in the late 14th century, and right-angled buttresses were added at the north-west angle of the nave,
and a similar buttress in two stages bonded in to nave
and aisle on the west. These buttresses have a hollowchamfered plinth which continues along the west wall
almost to the south-west angle of the aisle. (fn. 42) It turns
down on either side of the contemporary west doorway.
This has an equilateral arch in two orders, the outer
hollow-chamfered, with a spear-shaped stop, the inner
wave-moulded and worn; the hood has a straight
chamfer and returned ends; there is a restored flatheaded rear-arch and original chamfered jambs with
triangular stops. Above it is a window of similar date,
with two ogee-trefoiled lights with ogee frame and a
label of similar profile to that of the doorway; there is a
flat rear-arch. North of the window the wall is plastered externally, but appears to resemble in material
the rest of the west wall—namely well knapped flint.
The south aisle (33 ft. 6 in. × 7 ft. 7 in.) is 14th-century,
and the nave roof continues over it. The south wall is
old and leans outwards but modern brick cellarage and
steps have been built underneath, with a new flint
plinth. The old part is plastered and separated from the
wall of the chapel by a low buttress. In the west bay is a
14th-century south doorway with flat chamfered reararch, blocked externally. The vestry is screened off
west of it. The west wall, except for the modern southwest angle, is part of the later 14th-century rebuild, and
has a trefoiled ogee window with triangular rear-arch.
The north porch has a 16th- or early-17th-century
brick base on which is re-used 14th-century timbering
on the north side, an obtuse-pointed arch, and trefoiled
barge board. The bell-cote to west is probably repaired
late-14th-century work, with shingled sides and pyramidal cap. There are louvre openings to north and
south. The roofs: there are two old ties, slightly chamfered, in the nave, and timbering strengthening the
bell-cote at the west wall. The floors are tiled—there
are three steps and a low wall at the chancel arch and
one step at the altar rail.
The font is of 12th-century chalice form. The pulpit dates to the later 17th century. There are no signs
anywhere in the church of the mural paintings discovered in 1862. These were: east wall of nave,
Agnus Dei, 12th century: north side, Scourging and
Magi, 12th century; below, part of a 13th-century
subject. South side: Descent from the Cross, Christ
delivering the key to St. Peter and book to St. Paul—12th century. Below, Crucifixion—13th century. Soffit of chancel arch—Signs of the Zodiac, and on a panel
below—Demon threatening a soul in a shroud. North
wall of nave—? Betrayal, St. Peter cutting off the ear
of Malchus, Martyrdom of St. Vincent, part ? of
Doom—all 12th century. (fn. 43)
There is a War Memorial of 1914–18 on the south
wall of the nave. There are three bells, one dated
1712, by Samuel Knight of London, and the others
1636, by Bryan Eldridge of Chertsey. (fn. 44) The plate
includes a cup and paten with 1718 hall-marks, and a
flagon with 1746 hall-mark. (fn. 45)
The registers date from 1587.
Advowson
The advowson of the rectory of
Westmeston appears in the possession
of Simon de Pierpoint in 1329 and
1331. (fn. 46) It descended with the manor until the beginning of the 19th century, (fn. 47) and was held in 1805 by
Thomas Lane. (fn. 48) Before 1809, however, it had been
acquired by William Campion of Danny, and has since
descended in that family. (fn. 49) The living was united
with that of Streat in 1909, presentation being made
alternately by the two patrons. Col. Sir William
Campion, K.C.M.G., D.S.O., presented in 1935.
The chapelry of East Chiltington (q.v.) was attached to Westmeston until 1909, when it was transferred to Plumpton.