A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



the quarry of greensand at Eastbourne supplied 

 the enormous quantity of stone required for 

 facing the great Roman walls at Pevensey, and was 

 subsequently used for the building and repairs of 

 the mediaeval castle of Pevensey. The regular 

 price of hewn, blocks of this Eastbourne stone was 

 5*. the hundred in 1290," exclusive of the cost 

 of carriage ; it was used in several neighbouring 

 churches, and was even carried as far as Hastings, 

 the churchwardens' accounts of that town con- 

 taining a payment made about 1580 'for bringing 

 of stone from Borne ' for the windows. 18 Three 

 quarries are mentioned in Domesday, one at 

 Stedham being valued at 6s. 8^., another at Iping 

 worth 9*. 4^., and the third at ' Greteham ' worth 

 ids. lod. ; there was also at Bignor a quarry 

 yielding stone suitable for millstones, which was 

 worth 4*. 19 The high values here given point to 

 the economic importance of stone as an article of 

 commerce, but in a large number of cases the 

 quarries seem to have been worked only for 

 building and repairs upon the estate. When the 

 erection of Battle Abbey was begun a quarry was 

 found so opportunely adjacent as to be considered 

 miraculous, 20 and in the case of Dureford Abbey 

 the founder made a grant of any quarry found 

 upon his land, and William le Vaisseler made the 

 specific gift of a quarry at ' Wyhus.' 21 A local 

 outcrop of sandstone seems to have been used for 

 building the church at Hailsham in the thirteenth 

 century, and in 1536 a quarry at Bolney was 

 worked ' for dyggyng of ston for the stepyll ' of 

 Bolney church. 22 At East Grinstead, when the 

 church tower was rebuilt about 1785, stone was 

 obtained from Wych Cross; 23 in the case of 

 Steyning the church quarry appears to have been 

 in Shoreham, 24 but in 1477 wnen repairs were to 

 be done to the bridge of Bramber the contractor 

 arranged to obtain his stone from the Isle of 

 Wight. 25 Sandstone was constantly required for 

 the iron furnaces, and was usually obtainable in 

 the vicinity, as in the case of the rebuilding of 

 Brightling forge in 1648, when 140 loads of 

 stone were dug in Dallington Forest at is. the 

 load for rough and 2s. 6d. for shaped stones, 26 or 

 at Waldron, where a quarry was opened on the 

 beacon hill in 1 704 for use at the furnace. 27 The 

 question of a tenant's right to dig stone was occa- 

 sionally raised, and in 1587 Roger Gratwick seems 

 to have been considered to have exceeded his privi- 

 leges as a lessee of iron mines in St. Leonard's 

 Forest in digging 200 loads of sandstone for his 



17 Exch. K.R. Accts. bdle. 479, No. 15. 



18 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxiii, no. 

 " V.C.H. Sussex, i, 367. 



- Chron. Battle Abbey (ed. Lower), 1 1. 



-' Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xxiii, fbl. 10. 



"' Suss. Arch. Call, vi, 246. 



81 Ibid, xx, 149. " Ibid, xxii, 7. 



25 Magd. Coll. D. ' Bramber,' No. 1 6. 



36 Add. MSS. 33155, fol. 43. 



"Ibid. 33 154, fol. 53. 



house at Cowfold. 28 The tenants of the Duchy 

 of Lancaster in Ashdown Forest had the privilege 

 of taking stone for the repair of their buildings 

 from the Stonequarry Hill at East Grinstead, 

 subject to the condition of leaving the quarry 

 clear of rubbish. 29 



The most economically important quarries in 

 Sussex were those of ' Horsham stone,' sometimes 

 called ' Horsham slates.' Dr. Burton, speaking 

 of Horsham in 1751, says, 'From the quarries of 

 stone there they work out split slabs and use them 

 instead of tiles to roof their houses.' * This 

 stone, owing to the readiness with which it could 

 be split laterally into comparatively thin slabs, 

 was at one time much used for roofing purposes, 

 and its warm tones still lend beauty to many 

 Sussex villages, though it has fallen into disuse, 

 owing no doubt chiefly to its great weight, which 

 not only renders its transport expensive, but 

 would prove disastrous to the unsubstantial tim- 

 bers of many modern residences. It is found 

 chiefly at Horsham and in Slinfold, where, how- 

 ever, it is difficult to work, 31 the largest hewn 

 blocks being probably those used in the cellars of 

 Chesworth manor-house. 32 An early reference 

 to stone of this nature, of which the place of 

 origin is not given, occurs in 1301, when 2,500 

 ' stones which are called scletes ' were bought for 

 the barn of Thorney manor. 33 About a hundred 

 years later, when repairs were being done at 

 Warminghurst, some 9,000 blocks of ' Horsham 

 stone ' were obtained at Sedgewick, 34 where there 

 was a quarry which was still working in i6oo. 36 

 In a lease of the manor of Littlehampton made in 

 1468 it was stipulated that the lessee, John 

 Cooke, should receive ' Horsham stones ' for 

 repairs from the lands of the abbess of Syon. 38 

 The quarries in this case were no doubt those at 

 Shortsfield, in an account of which manor for 1470 

 it is noted that there were no profits from the sale 

 of stone slabs (petras laterales) that year as none 

 had been sold, though five loads had been used 

 for repairs to the manors of Ecclesdon and Bur- 

 phamwick. 37 Slightly earlier than this we find 

 one Thomas Burgess, a ' stonehelyer ' of Hors- 

 ham, prominently associated with the rising 

 under Jack Cade. 38 Few references as to the 

 value of this material are available, but in 1550 

 when the church of South Mailing was pulled 

 down, the Horsham stone with which it was 

 roofed brought 5*. 8d. the load. 39 



18 Dep. by Com. 30 Eliz. Easter, No. 17. 



w Suss. Arch. Coll. xxiii, 245-70. 



30 Ibid, viii, 255. 31 Ibid, xl, 38. 



>2 Ibid, xxiv, 232. 



53 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1031, No. 2. 



34 Ibid. No. 9. 



35 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxv, 52. 



36 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 100, No. i. 



37 Ibid. bdle. 1 1 oo, No. 4. 



38 Anct. Indictments (K.B.), 122. 



39 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxi, 182. 



230 



