Bexhill Manor of Bishop of Chichester (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Bexhill.
In the historic county of Sussex.
Modern Authority of East Sussex.
1974 county of East Sussex.
Medieval County of Sussex (Rape of Hastings).

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ74640799
Latitude 50.84507° Longitude 0.47930°

Bexhill Manor of Bishop of Chichester has been described as a certain Palace, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

Description

Formerly a Manor House of the Bishops of Chichester. It is stone-built and of irregular plan. The oldest part is L-shaped, the two arms running N and W. At the junction there is a small wing, probably Elizabethan. There is evidence of 14th century work in places. The house was fortified in 1447 (VCH).
Considerable alterations and additions made to the original structure are in keeping with the style of the old house. The best original work is visible on the E side of the N wing, facing the court.
The Manor House was largely demolished 5-6 years ago, but some interior and exterior footings and walls, much restored, were incorporated into what is now known as "Manor House Public Gardens".
The gardens also incorporate the former barn, library and stables of the house (Field Investigators Comments–F1 GWR 26-MAY-52). (PastScape)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1447 Oct 28 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 414440.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MES67.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 440
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 168, 173
  Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1937, VCH Sussex Vol. 9 p. 116
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), 1927, Calendar of Charter Rolls 5 Henry VI - 8 Henry VIII, AD 1427-1516, with an appendix, 1215-1288 Vol. 6. (HMSO) p. 94-5 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Harris, R.B., Oct 2008, Bexhill Historic Character Assessment Report: Sussex Extensive Urban Survey Download copy
  Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales (available via EThOS)
  Martin, D., 1975, Bexhill – The Manor House (unpubl. Rape of Hastings Architectural Survey report 0183)

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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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