238 THE BRIGHTON ROAD 



going on the highways : " I saw," says he, " an ancient 

 lady, and a lady of very good quality, I assure you, 

 drawn to church in her coach by six oxen ; nor was 

 it done in frolic or humour, but from sheer necessity, 

 the way being so stiff and deep that no horses could 

 go in it." All which says much for the piety of this 

 ancient lady. Only a few years later, in 1729, died 

 Dame Judith, widow of Sir Henry Hatsell, who in 

 her will, dated January 10th, 1728, directed that her 

 body should be buried at Preston, should she happen 

 to die at such a time of year when the roads 

 were passable ; otherwise, at any place her executors 

 might think suitable. It so happened that she died 

 in the month of June, so compliance with her wishes 

 was possible. 



XXXI 



And now to trace the Hickstead and Bolney route 

 from Hand Cross, that parting of the ways overlooking 

 the most rural parts of Sussex. Hand Cross, it has 

 already been said, is in the parish of Slaugham, which 

 lies deep down in a very sequestered wood, where the 

 head-springs issuing from the hillsides are never dry 

 and the air is always heavy with moisture. 



' Slougham-cum-Crole " is the title of the place in 

 ancient records, " Crole " being Crawley. It was from 

 its ancient bogs and morasses that it obtained its 

 name, pronounced by the natives " Slaffam," and it 

 was certainly due to them that the magnificent manor- 

 house — almost a palace — of the Coverts, the old lords 

 of the manor — was deserted and began to fall to pieces 

 so soon as built. 



The Coverts, now and long since utterly extinct, 

 were once among the most powerful, as they were also 

 among the noblest, in the county. They were of 

 Norman descent, and, to use a well-worn phrase, 



' came over with the Conqueror " ; but they are not 



