The Chapel Barn.
This stood on Chapel Farm in a field opposite the entrance gate of Bohemia House, supposed to be the site of the ancient Hospital (or Almshouses) of St. Mary Magdalen. The hospital was disused as early as 1604, when it was agreed to let the house, farm and lands to one James Hunt. It formed part of the Magdalen Charity lands, which have so increased in value through the demand for building sites that the Charity has become a rich one, and part of the income was contributed to the building of the public Grammar School on the West Hill, Hastings, and also provides pensions of £15 per annum to decayed inhabitants of All Saints and St. Clement's Parishes.
Hastings, from the Hollington Road.
The view on page 253 was taken from the same locality as that on page 251, and where the farm cart is seen is now the Bohemia Road, formerly called the Hollington Lane.
Near the spot is Bohemia Mansion (as it was formerly called). It is prominent in several views, standing, as it does, on high ground. Previous to its erection the estate was part of the Collier Lands, and was farmed by one Samuel Cramp in 1762. In 1769 it came into the possession of General James Murray, who married a Miss Collier. In 1770 to 1782 the land was occupied by Benjamin Foster (whose descendants are still living in Hastings) and continued in this family until 1804,and thence passed to George Lewis Newnham Collingwood, who purchased it of William Green, who was, like General Murray, a son-in-law of John Collier. Mr. Collingwood built the Mansion, while the land was farmed by a Mr. Vincett, who then kept the Bell Hotel, Bexhill (1814). In 1830, the estate was bought and tenanted by Boykett Breeds, and the Mansion by Mr. H. Bonham, M.P. for Rye. In May of that year the Princess Sophia of Gloucester and suite resided there for three months. It was purchased from Boykett Breeds by Wastel Brisco, Esq., whose descendants owned the property until recently, when the Mansion and grounds were put up to public auction and purchased by the tenant occupier, and Bohemia House is now a Collegiate School.
Hollington Church-in-the-Wood (see page 254).
Here is Charles Lamb's description after a visit to this Church in 1823: "I have just returned from Hastings, where are exquisite views and walks, and where I have given up my soul to walking. . . I abused Hastings, but learned its value. There are spots, inland bays, etc., which realise the notions of Juan Fernandez. The best thing I hit upon was a small country Church (by whom or when built unknown), standing bare and single in the midst of a grove, with no house or appearance of habitation within a quarter of a mile, only passages diverging from it through beautiful woods, to so many farm houses. There it stands, like the first idea -
