A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



gates besides the various gates peculiar to a forest, the ' hatches' namely, such as Prickett-, Flaw-, 

 Coleman-, Chuck- and Braby's-hatch. 



In 1660 Richard earl of Dorset petitioned for a grant at the rental of 5 of the office of 

 master of Ashdown Forest and Broyle Chase, ' his ancestors having for centuries past had custody 

 of the forest, as lying near their estates,' 22 and in June of the same year he obtained this 

 appointment. 



In 1 66 1 George earl of Bristol obtained a grant of Lancaster Great Park, Ashdown Forest, 

 with leave to disafforest. 821 The earls of Dorset and Bristol appear to have come to a mutual agree- 

 ment concerning the forest, which however fell through, the matter being involved in some 

 confusion. What is certain is that those parties obtaining demises of portions of the forest-land 

 failed to realize the profits prospective, owing to ' the crossness of the neighbourhood ' as it was 

 termed. For the tenants of surrounding holdings, considering themselves deprived of their 

 immemorial rights in pasturage, pannage, and wood by the various inclosures made, took the law 

 into their own hands, and destroyed the offending fences and pales. These disputes went on for a 

 considerable period, particularly in connexion with the tenants of Maresfield and Duddleswell 

 manors, until at length, early in the reign of William III, a commission issued dividing the forest of 

 Ashdown, or Lancaster Great Park, between the proprietors and the tenants claiming common of 

 pasture and allowance of timber. No less than 6,500 acres were allotted to the latter, and divided 

 in proportion to their holdings ; and since the whole amount of forest-land inclosed within the 

 pales was 13,000 acres, the possession of half of it now granted to the tenants must be regarded as 

 distinctly advantageous when compared with the mere exercise of privileges decidedly restricted in 

 their nature. 



Various banks or dykes in Ashdown Forest were utilized as boundaries in the new allotment 

 and award. 222 Like this award, which remains the land arrangement of to-day, these earthen 

 banks still exist in many places, in some cases inclosing rectangular spaces. Possibly these were 

 inclosures into which the deer were driven to be fattened previous to the autumnal salting-down for 

 winter use. Or they may be remains of the ' parrocks ' of olden time, whatever they were. 

 Whether of a kindred nature to the fatting inclosures, or whether they were little or back-parks, 

 ' parrocks ' appear to have existed chiefly in this part of Sussex, particularly in the archbishop's 

 manors in the woodland. Though as early as the reign of Richard II the word ' parrock' came to 

 be used as a name for the ' pannage ' court, 223 yet originally it denoted some kind of inclosure, as is 

 seen by an Account Roll of South Mailing in the time of Edward II, wherein are recorded payments 

 for mending the pales around the parks and the parrocks. 224 



These ancient banks are practically the sole relics of the aforetime forest. Its timber has left 

 few remains except such as is preserved in the various parks, as Withyham and other possessions 

 of the Dorsets, still the chief landowners in the forest-land. Some idea of the amount of 

 timber remaining in Ashdown Forest early in the eighteenth century may be obtained from a 

 rent-roll of the Duke of Dorset in lyao. 225 Thus even in days when wood was so cheap more 

 than 680 was received from wood-sales of standing timber, pollards and poles; 279 loads being 

 felled in Withyham alone that year, and 3,850 faggots sold from Bramblegrove Wood. In Fletching 

 there was some particularly fine timber as late as 1771. In that year 



two oak trees, whose tops were quite decayed, sold standing, at the risk of being unsound, at 69. 

 They contained upwards of 23 loads, or 1,140 feet of square timber. The carriage of them to the 

 water-side, only 9 miles, on a good turnpike road, cost upwards of ^30. Each tree was drawn by 24 

 horses, on a low carriage made for the purpose, and travelled only 4^ miles a day. They were floated 

 from Landport, near Lewes, to Newhaven, where they were with difficulty embarked for the use of 

 the Navy at Chatham. 116 



The wild deer, both red and fallow, are now entirely beings of the past on Ashdown. According to 

 Mr. Turner ' the last, a doe, was accidentally sprung from a patch of brakes, just below Gill's Lap, 

 by the Hartfield and Withyham Harriers, while pursuing a hare, and after a run of two hours, 

 killed, about the year 1808. Of this I was an eye witness.' 237 So too with regard to the black 

 game, which at the period of this doe-hunting episode were as numerous on Ashdown as pheasants 

 in a modern preserve, the continual cutting of the heather and cranberry, the cover and the food 

 of these fine grouse, has brought about their total disappearance. 



But if the wild deer have become things of the past there are both fallow and red deer 

 preserved in various parks in this forest-land. Buckhurst, a beautiful park with some fine old timber, 

 has a herd of about 600 deer, red and fallow, roaming over its 2,000 or more acres. Buxted, 



" S.P. Dom. Chas. II, vol. 5, No. 36. m Ibid. vol. 40. "* See Duchy of Lane. Maps, No. 85. 



m e.g. ' Et de vi" iii 5 x d de parroco tento in yeme.' Ct. R. Lambeth, 17 Ric. II. (No. 929). 

 "' Mins. Accts. 7 Edw. II, P.R.O. m Suss. Arch. Coll. rxxix, 140. 



" Horsfield, Hist, of Suss, i, 377. " 7 Suss. Arch. Coll. xiv, 62. 



322 



