England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Herstmonceux All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Herstmonceux (the spelling often contains an addition "a" as Herstmonceaux) lies in southern Sussex about 4 miles east of the market town of Hailsham. Herstmonceux is a large and compact village which sits on and mainly north of the A271 road which links Hailsham with Battle. The A271 forms the spine of the village but there are also many properties lining and either side of the lane heading northwestwards towards Cowbeech, smaller subsidiary settlements can be found to the east at Windmill Hill and to the northwest at Stunts Green. Herstmonceux sits on the boundary between The Weald and the Pevensey Levels, a position which gave it a varied farming regime, the soils of The Weald are notoriously poor and were generally used for woodland management, to this day the north of the parish is littered with small coppiced woodlands, to the south the rich grazing marshes of the Pevensey Levels would have provided pastures mainly for cattle. Herstmonceux , as a large village, would have met some of the criteria for a small market town in that specialist services could have sufficient market to survive. The parish is dominated by Herstmonceux Castle, curiously, and together with the church, some 2 miles south of the village which shares its name, crenelated in 1440 the castle was a ruin in 177 before early 20th century restoration created one of the region's principal tourist destinations. Small streams drain the short distance into the Pevensey Levels where man-influenced drainage takes over with Hurst Haven & Pevensey Haven directing water swiftly through to the nearby English Channel. Herstmonceux village is sited at around 50 metres above the sea with castle and church some 25 metres lower, land rises to a little over 80 metres at nearby Cowbeech. Herstmonceux was an extensive parish, as are many in The Weald, covering just over 5,000 acres it would have supported a population of around 1,400 parishioners. In Domesday times Herstmonceux was a holding of Count Robert d'Eu and was already a substantial settlement in the top 20% of manors by population recorded in that book, its assets were 19 ploughs, a small meadow and the extensive Wealden woodland.

The Church

As already mentioned All Saints' church sits over 2 miles away from its village, accessed along the narrow lane of Church Road and sitting immediately west of the castle. All Saints is a church with two distinct dates to its fabric, the earliest era, that of the late 12th century, Pevsner says between 1180 & 1200, is represented by both the northwestern tower and its adjacent northern arcade. The lancet style of the tower's bell-openings is characteristic of this Early English Gothic period, the shingled broach spire which tops that tower dates from the second era. The main body of the church is from a later rebuild with 14th century style straight-headed windows of the Decorated era. The northern, brick, chapel is more confidently dated by Pevsner to c1440 which seems to fit the architecture too. Like most churches there was a Victorian restoration, Pevsner neglects to give a date for this work but it was clearly extensive. Two lanes take you to the church from the A271, a white sign points the way onto Chapel Road , a timely warning it has no access to the castle, eventually Chapel Road leads onward into Church Road and the church, itself. Both verges are widened for parking, something of a relief given the long winding lane, allowing an easy visit, a small wooden gate grants entry to a churchyard which has few obstacles for the photographer.