A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



of calves, lambs, wool, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, eggs, honey and wax, 

 mills, fisheries, venison, hemp and flax, gardens, garlick, onions, leeks, and all 

 pot-herbs (defined in 1409 as ' cabbages and leeks and other herbs of which 

 broth is made by the custom of the county ' 41 ), apples, pears, corn in the 

 sheaf or blade, and produce of orchards or gardens, and tithes of merchants' 

 wares, fish, profits of brewers, and all artificers. In return the vicar should 

 perform divine service on Sundays and holidays, and find bread, wine, and 

 candles for mass, and pay 1 8</. for synodals. When the church of Willingdon 

 was appropriated to the abbey of Grestain, in 1204, the vicar's portion was a 

 messuage and a third part of the issues. 42 



Another benefice early affected by this movement was Wilmington, to 

 which vicarage King John presented in 1209.'* Icklesham, 44 Oving," Medlers 

 (or Madehurst), and ' Islesham,' *' were all ordained about 1220 ; Portslade 47 in 

 1222 ; Horsham 48 in 1231 ; and West Dean, 49 near Chichester, in 1237. The 

 form in most cases is very similar, the vicar usually receiving a house, a 

 piece of land, all the obventions of the altar, mortuaries, and other dues, and 

 all the small tithes, and in return usually paying the fees due to the diocesan 

 officials for procurage, &c. At Horsham, on account of the size and 

 populousness of the parish, the vicar was bound to maintain another chaplain 

 and two assistants a deacon and a sub-deacon. 



Probably many more vicarages were appointed during the episcopate of 

 the saintly Richard de Wych, but only seven are now known Ifield and 

 Warnham 60 1247, Donnington " 1249, Cuckfield H 1250, Westfield " 1251, 

 Piddinghoe and Brighton '* 1252. Sele and New Shoreham " were ordained 

 in 1261, Mayfield" 1262, Framfield 67 1266, and Glynde 68 in 1279. No 

 more are recorded previous to the Taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1291, at 

 which time there were about 254 benefices in the county, to 107 of which 

 vicarages had already been appointed. Between 1291 and 1535 another twenty 

 were ordained, bringing the total up to 127, or just half the number of the 

 churches, a most unusually high proportion. 



The first vicarage recorded as instituted after the Taxation, and one of 

 the most interesting because of the elaborate nature of the details, is that of 

 Hailsham, ordained by Archbishop Winchelsey in 1296. After setting out 

 at great length the particular tithes, lands, &c., to be assigned to the vicar 

 the instrument stipulates that the abbey and convent of Bayham, to whom 

 the rectory was impropriate, should maintain the rectory barns and cause 

 their own great tithes to be stored therein and threshed there, and should also 

 keep in repair the chancel and provide the necessary books and ornaments. 

 The vicar, on the other hand, was to maintain a second priest skilled in 

 singing and reading, to provide bread and wine for mass, and incense and 

 wax for the lights of the high altar ; he was also to provide rushes for 

 the floor of the church in the summer, but in the winter the convent should 

 provide straw. 



41 Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 86. Add. MSS. 5706, fol. 345. 



41 Suss. Arch. Coll. iv, 54. Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 82. 



" Ibid. Praty, fol. 86. Ibid. Sherborn, fol. 72. " Ibid. fol. 84. 



48 Ibid. fol. 71. Suss. Arch. Coll. xliv, 145. 



* Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 72. Ibid. fol. 63. " Ibid. fol. 81. 



3 Add. MSS. 5706, fol. 38. " Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 81. 



" Suss. Arch. Coll. x, 120. * Ibid, xxvi, 65. " Ibid. 35. M Ibid. 49. 



49 Cant. Archiepis. Reg. Winchelsey, fol. 190 ; printed in full in Salzmann, Hist, of Hailsham, 100-2. 



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