Dedisham Manor (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Dachesam; Dachesham; Daddesham; Dodesham; Deadsome; Detsum Place; Detsom; Mansfield Park

In the civil parish of Slinfold.
In the historic county of Sussex.
Modern Authority of West Sussex.
1974 county of West Sussex.
Medieval County of Sussex (Rape of Bramber).

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ11123287
Latitude 51.08440° Longitude -0.41489°

Dedisham Manor has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are earthwork remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

"Detsom" Manor, Slinfold, has had a long and chequered history, and a lot of digging in the archives is needed to study what exactly went on here. The building itself is a "listed" building, and has in centuries past, been also known as, or recorded in historical documents as, Dachesam or Dachesham, We know that, in 1329, Thomas Trego was granted a licence to crenellate 'Dachesam'. and some circles this site has been suggested as Great Dixter, but tenurial history suggests it is the "Mainly C18 house enclosed by a semi-circular moat which joins the River Arun to form the north side. A Medieval fishpond is present to the southeast of the house."
It was the principal manor of Slinfold Parish; It was divided between Slinfold and Rudgwick. Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as Dachesam; Dachesham, Dackesham, Dodesham, or Daddesham., and often also, the capital "D" was replaced by the letter "T", so we had taddesham, Toddesham, etc. It is situated partly in Slinfold and partly in Rudgwick; Winbolt speculates “that Dedisham, like so many medieval manors, rose near the Roman Road, and, naturally enough, in its construction were used freely the building materials found on the site of the camp” (of Alfoldean). He also observes that “Roman Brick has been turned up in its gardens” (SAC Vol LXIV., P. 84). (Symond 2007 – the quote is from PastScape)

At Dedisham House repairs laid bare a fine example of Sussex daub and wattle work (Apedaile 1928). Roman material from the site of Alfoldean Roman station has been used in the construction of Dedisham, and Roman brick found in the gardens (Winbolt 1923). The building suffered bomb damage during WWII, but has been repaired (OS. 1956) Dedisham, a much restored house of mainly C18 appearance and of little architectural interest. Now divided into two residences. Not outstanding. It is enclosed by a semi-circular homestead moat, the open ends adjoining the River Arun which forms the N side. A pondbay across a small stream to the W impounded water to fill the moat, but only the SE side is now wet. The original causewayed entrance over the E side is flanked by short lengths of earthen rampart. The present rampart is across the pondbay from the W at TQ11300264, 200 m SE of the house, is a rectangular, probably Medieval, fishpond, waterfilled and in good condition (OS. 1971). (West Sussex HER)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1329 Sept 30 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1026901
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 396842.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MWS6662.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- 'wasfu-man' (Richard Symond), 2007 June 23, "Detsom" manor, Slinford (A blog by a professional archaeologist)
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 439
  Jones, R., 2003, 'Hastings to Herstmonceux: the castles of Sussex' in Rudling, D. (ed) The archaeology of Sussex to AD2000 (Great Dunham: Heritage Marketing and Publications) p. 171-8
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 475 (possible)
  Elwes, Dudley George Cary, 1876, A history of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex (London: Longmans) p. 204 (misidentified as Dixter) online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 409 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Apedaile, E.G., 1928, Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 69 p. 233
  Winbolt, S.E., 1923, Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 64 p. 84
  Blaauw, William Henry, 1861, ' Royal Licenses to Fortify Towns and Houses in Sussex' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 13 p. 104-117 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1327-30) Vol. 1 p. 495 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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