INDUSTRIES 



make iii caces of glass.' Moreover, the rival 

 parties came to blows, Becku's son-in-law, who 

 was in charge of his glass-house, being severely mis- 

 handled ; 8 accordingly, in August, 1569, Richard 

 Onslow and William More were appointed to 

 examine and inquire into the quarrel between 

 Anthony Breku (sic), John Carr6, Peter and 

 John Bougan (? Bongar) and others, glassmakers 

 in Sussex. 9 The end of the dispute is uncertain, 

 but the West Sussex glass-houses continued work- 

 ing for many years longer ; as only foreigners 

 were employed, the workers keeping their secret 

 jealously, they appear to have been unpopular in 

 the neighbourhood, and in April, 1574, the 

 bishop of Chichester recorded the arrest of 

 certain persons near Petworth who had planned 

 to rob the French glassmakers and burn their 

 houses. 10 



Besides the works near Wisborough there 

 were also glass-houses in the eastern portion of 

 the county, but whereas the former were mainly 

 for the manufacture of window glass and were 

 controlled by Frenchmen, the latter were for 

 drinking-glasses and ornamental glassware, and 

 were managed by a Venetian. In March, 1579, 

 Sebastian Orlanden, of Venice, was involved in 

 a dispute with John Smith, citizen and glazier of 

 London, concerning the glass-house at Beckley. 

 Stephen Duvall, of London, a Frenchman, de- 

 posed that the said Sebastian ought to have a 

 third share with Godfrey Delahay for the 

 making of ' bugles ' at Beckley, and that the 

 said Godfrey had sold to John Smith all the 

 wares, stuff, and instruments which were at 

 Beckley. Two glassworkers belonging to the 

 works also gave evidence ; John Okes, of Beck- 

 ley, said that, being a workman in the glass-house 

 at Beckley, he knew what was made there, and 

 that there were two great baskets of glass, two 

 ' paniers of canvas amell,' and ten cases of 

 ' ameld ' canvas. Sondaye Exanta, of Loraine, 

 glassworker, said that the above-named Godfrey 



on 1 8 January last past sold to John Smith all 

 his goods in the glass-house at Beckley, with all 

 the Stuff for making ' amells (? enamels) and 

 glasse in collers,' and tools, &c. u Smith's right 

 to a share in the works appears to have been 

 proved, as in 1581 we find a dispute in progress 

 between Jacomo Virzilini, glassmaker, and John 

 Smith and Sebastian Orlandini concerning a 

 certain furnace that had been pulled down. 13 

 This was evidently the Beckley furnace, as in 

 January, 1581, the authorities at Rye made a 

 note that a glass-house which had been of late 

 in Beckley had destroyed much wood, and now 

 another had been set up in the adjoining parish 

 of Northiam. 13 Their further declaration of the 

 harmfulness of glass-houses owing to the ease 

 with which they could be moved as the neigh- 

 bouring woods were exhausted seems to have 

 borne fruit, as in December of the same year the 

 Privy Council took action against one of the 

 Sussex glass works. It appears that one Gerard 

 Ansye, with certain other Frenchmen, had set 

 up a glass-house within a mile of Hastings, to 

 the annoyance and injury of the town ; Lord 

 Montague was therefore requested to inquire 

 into the matter and to forbid the felling of any 

 wood for use in the glass-house until the Council 

 had considered further. 14 Probably these works 

 were discontinued, but nothing more is to be 

 found about them, and, indeed, the history of 

 the glass industry in Sussex comes to an end at 

 this time, though apparently glass continued to 

 be made in the county as late at least as i6io, 15 

 but the final prohibition of the use of wood fuel 

 for glassmaking in 1 6 1 5 16 must have put a 

 definite end to the industry. The only con- 

 nexion of the county with the manufacture of 

 glass at a later date appears to have been about 

 the middle of the nineteenth century, when it 

 was found that ' the white sand of Hastings is 

 very good for glass ; a Mr. Sharpe took a contract 

 for from three to 4,000 tons annually.' 17 



TEXTILE INDUSTRIES 



Sussex with its turf-clad downs and well- 

 watered levels must always have been adapted 

 for sheep-farming, but it would seem that what- 

 ever the quantity of wool produced in early 

 times the quality was poor. In 1337, when 

 the king required 30,000 sacks of wool, the price 

 to be given for a sack of Sussex wool was fixed 

 at 6 marks, the lowest price being 5 marks for 



8 Antiquary, xxx, 212. 



3 Hist. AfSS. Com. Rep. vii, 621. 



10 S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 95, No. 82. 



11 Hist. AfSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. iv, 6z. 



" Acts of P. C. (New Ser.), xiii, 4. 



J3 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. iv, 76. 



14 Acts of P. C. (New Ser.), xiii, 281. 



that from the barren district of the four northern- 

 most counties of the realm, while Herefordshire 

 wool scaled as high as 12 marks. 1 According, 

 however, to the valuation of 1343 the best 

 Sussex wool was worth ^6, just the average 

 price for the whole kingdom, that from the 

 marshes being put at jS- 2 The religious houses 

 in the county at this time trading in wool with 

 the Italian and Flemish merchants were the 

 Cistercian abbey of Robertsbridge and the Pre- 



15 Speed. 16 Cal. S.P. Dom. 161 1-18, p. 287. 



17 Hastings Past and Present (1855), 72. 

 1 Close, 1 1 Edw. Ill, m. 32. 



1 Cunningham, Growth of Engl. Industry and Com- 

 merce, 628. 



255 



