Pevensey

PEVENSEY is a parish and railway station, in the Eastern division of the county, union of Eastbourne, rape and hundred of its own name, diocese of Chichester, archdeaconry of Lewes, rural deanery of Pevensey and county court district of Hastings, 65 miles from London, 5 south-west from Hailsham, and 5½ north-west from Eastbourne: it was formerly aplace of some note. Pevensey Bay affords a shelter for shipping, and is defended by a number of martello towers. The church of St. Nicolas is an Early English edifice, with nave and two aisles, and has a low square tower with 3 bells, and spire on the north side: the greater part of the chancel has long ceased to be used. The register dates from 1566. The living is avicarage, value about £1,100 per annum, in the gift of the Bishop of Chichester, and held by the Rev. Henry Browne, M.A., of Corpus Chris College, Cambridge. The Castle is of Roman origin, though the date is not known: it is constructed of Roman materials: the outer walls enclose an area of 10 acres, and are about 20 feet in height: within is a smaller fortification, moated on the north and west, and of a quadrangular form, with round towers, and formerly entered by a drawbridge: the eastern wall of both is the same, and stands upon a kind of cliff: the circumference of the inner castle is about 25 rods, and of the outer walls 250: it is one of the most perfect of the castellated remains of Roman origin, and when entire musthave been of great strength. In regard to the site of the Roman station Anderida, Pevensey has been considered as bestagreeing with the description of Gildas, "In littore oceani ad meridiem." The first authentic mention of Pevensey inhistory is in 792, when it was given by Bervald, a general of Offa, to the Abbey of St. Denis at Paris. It had twenty-fourburgesses in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and was ravaged by Earl Godwin. Soon after the reign of Henry III. It fell into decay. The Castle was attacked by William Rufus; by young Simon de Montfort, in 1205; and in 1339 by the partisans of Richard 11., when it was bravely defended by the Lady Jane Pelham. Dr. Andrew Borde, physician to Henry VIII., was born at this place. The liberty of the Town and Lowey (or mile) of Pevensey includes the parishes of Pevensey and Westham, and 1,500 acres in Hailsham: it is a borough by prescriptions governed by a bailiff and jurats, who hold courts of session and gaol delivery four times a year, and a member of the cinque port of Hastings, formerly had jurisdiction in capital felonies. Of the ancient hospital dedicated to St. John Goroglton, there remains an endowment of £100 per annum for almshouses. A cattle market is held here every alternate Thursday, from the latter end of June to the beginning of November, and is noted for its fine Southdown mutton. The Duke of Devonshire is lord of the manor of Sharnfold and Peeling, and Morgan Treherne, Esq., is lord of the manor of Downash and Bowley; and the Duke of Devonshire, the Earl of Ashburnham Lord Gage, Earl of Chichester, and Mrs. Gilbert, are the largest landowners. The area of the parish is 4,856 acres; the population in 1861 was 335.
CHILLY GREEN & HORSEYE are in this parish [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]