Withyham

WITHYHAM (or WITHIAM) is a parish, 8 miles south-east from East Grinstead, and 7 south-west from Tunbridge Wells, in the Eastern division of the county, Hartfield hundred, East Grinstead union and county court district, Pevensey rape, Chichester diocese, and Lewes archdeaconry. The new line of railway from East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells, has a station about three quarters of a mile from Withyham. The church of St. Michael is a stone building, with square tower containing an excellent peal of 6 bells: in 1844 the interior was entirely renovated, and a new south aisle added: attached to the church, on the north-eastern side, is a private chapel, belonging to the ancient family of Sackville: here are the banners and arms of that family, beneath which is the vault, which for many centuries has been their place of burial: there are three fine monuments, executed by Nollokens, Flaxman and Chantry: in the north window, in stained glass, is the genealogy of the family, from the time of the Norman Conquest. The register dates from the year 1663. The living is a rectory, worth £700 per annum, with residence, in the gift of the Earl De La Warr, and held by the Rev. Thomas Frederick Rudston Read, M.A., of University College, Oxford. Not far from the church are a tower and other portions of buildings, which are the remains of the ancient house of Buckhurst, where the Lord Treasurer of Queen Elizabeth lived, and who was afterwards made Earl of Dorset: the heiress of that family is the Countess De La Warr (Baroness Buckhurst). Buckhurst Park, the residence of the Earl and Countess De La Warr, forms a beautiful feature in the picturesque scenery in this parish: the mansion is in the Elizabethan and Tudor styles. A fair is held yearly on Michaelmas Day. Earl De La Warr is lord of the manor and chief landowner. The area of the Parish is 8,086 acres, and the population in 1861 was 1,597. CROWBOROUGH is a hamlet, partly in this parish, 3 miles south from the church, where there is a chapel of ease (St. John the Evangelist), with parsonage and school house adjoining, near to which are almshouses for six aged persons (widows and widowers), erected a few years since by the Countess De La Warr. GROOMBRIDGE, 3 miles, north-east, is principally in the parish of Speldhurst, and county of Kent, a small portion only being in this parish. The new line of railway from East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells has a station here. There is a Wesleyan chapel. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]