Westham

WESTHAM is a railway station and parish, 65 miles from London, 14¾ west-south-west from Lewes, 5 north-east fromEastbourne, and 5 south-east from Hailsham, in the Eastern division of the county, Eastbourne union, Pevensey hundred, rape and rural deanery, Lewes county court district and archdeaconry, and in the diocese of Chichester: it closely adjoins the town of Pevensey, of which it was formerly considered a hamlet: it takes its name from its situation on the west side of Pevensey Castle. The church of St. Mary is a large stone structure, partly in the Decorated style of English architecture, having at the west end a large square tower. The register dates from 1571. The living is a vicarage, value £550 per annum, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire, and held by the Rev. Henry Thomas Grace, M.A., of Pembroke College, Cambridge, who is also rector of Jevington. Here are almshouses for four aged people; also a National school, for the education of boys and girls, supported by subscription of this and the adjoining parish of Pevensey. The Brighton and South Coast Railway Company have a station in this parish, generally known as the Pevensey station. The Duke of Devonshire and Sir James Duke, Bart., are the largest landowners. The parish comprises 4,718 acres and the population in 1861 was 850.
HANDCOMBE, Langley, Peeling, Montague, Blackness, Glynleigh, Priest Hawes, and Friday Street are in this parish. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]