of Edward II. it passed to Sir John de Fienes, by marriage with Maud de Monceau. In 1430 Sir Roger de Fienes, son of Sir John, obtained a release from all feudal services due to the Honour of Hastings, and received the King's license to fortify his Manorhouse at Hurstmonceux. In consequence he erected the castle at a cost of £3,800. His son, Richard, married Joan, heiress of Thomas T Lord Dacre, whose family held it for centuries. Thence to the Earl of Sussex, in 1674, who laid out large sums on the Castle including richly carved wainscots by Grinling Gibbons. In 1708 the estate was sold by the Earl of Sussex to Mr. George Naylor, of Lincoln's Inn, for £38,215. Mr. Naylor's heir married Dr. Francis Hare, of King's College, Cambridge, who afterwards became Bishop of Chichester. He resided for some time at the Castle. His son, Francis Naylor, greatly neglected the building. At his death the estate devolved upon the Rev. Robert Hare, the Bishop's son,
second marriage, who found it so dilapidated that by the advice of the architect, Wyatt, its owner in 1777, decided to demolish the interior, and used the materials in building the mansion of Hurstmonceux Place. In 1807 the Rev. Robert Hare sold the estate to Thomas Reed Kemp, Esq., and after one other change, it became the property of the late Herbert Barrett Curteis, Esq. The Castle is still most grand and stately in its premature decay, with its huge front of red brick, covered with ivy. Although only built in the reign of Henry VI., it is said to have been the earliest large brick built house in England, after the time of Richard II., and a most valuable specimen of the transition of domestic building from a fortress to a Manor House. Horace Walpole describes its beauties in his letters. Hurstmonceux is visited by thousands from Hastings during the summer season.
