afterwards converted into a religious house. The present building is quite modern. About the house and grounds, relics of antiquity are not unfrequently found.[1]
CROWHURST
was one of the many lordships possessed by Harold, Earl of Kent ; after the Conquest it was seized by the king, and by him given to Alan Fergant, Earl of Brittany and Richmond, as a reward for the services rendered by him at the battle of Hastings. The manor now belongs to Mrs. Papillion, the descendant of a younger branch of the ancient family of the Pelhams. The seat is situated on a gentle rise of the park, commanding most extensive views of the sea and surrounding country. About a mile and a-half from the seat is the church of Crowhurst, a plain simple edifice, having nothing worthy of particular attention ; in the churchyard are three or four yew trees, one in particular of a remarkable growth, measuring twenty-four feet in circumference. Adjoining is the ruin of an ancient chapel, supposed to have been built by one of the lords of the manor ; part of the ruin is now used for agricultural purposes ; there is a fine pointed arch window with trefoils in good preservation. The drive to Crowhurst is considered one of the most pleasant in the neighbourhood of Hastings.
BATTLE,
a market town in the hundred of the same name in the rape of Hastings, from which place it is distant seven miles, consists of one street running along a -
- ↑ Horsfield's History of Sussex, page 438
