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NEWSLETTER No. 5. Edited by A.J. Haselfoot
January 1975.
SIAS NEWS
Maps.
A complete set of 2½" O.S. maps covering the whole of Sussex has now
been purchased. These are available for short-term loan to any member on
application to the General Secretary,
New Books
"The Sussex Landscape" by Peter Brandon, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1974, price £3.95 is the Sussex title in The Making of the English
Landscape series which sets out to describe the marks made by man on his
surroundings. The book is a "must" for both the straight and the
industrial archaeologist and we in Sussex are fortunate that Dr. Brandon who is
the Editor of Sussex Archeological Collections, has been able to prepare this
study, From the industrial angle there is much to sharpen our eyes as we move
about the county, The prehistoric flint-axe industry is well brought out, as are
the lime and iron industries, but Dr. Brandon places the salt-boiling remains
much later into the medieval times than would be expected from Saxon records of
785 AD covering such operations in East Sussex. Altogether the book contains
many further pointers towards the further research and recording which lies in
our court to pursue. W.R.B.
East Grinstead. We have received from the East Grinstead Society, whose chairman
is M.J. Leppard, one of our members, a pack of 5 postcards showing photographs
of East Grinstead at the end of last century and the beginning of this century.
These are well produced and are of considerable interest to local historians.
Street scenes, a shop, the railway station'and the fire-engine are illustrated.
They may be obtained from the Treasurer' of the Society at Barclay's Bank, East
Grinstead, for 25p; per pack, postage extra. Individual cards are not available
by post.
A Ram Pump at Fulking
Fulking is a tiny hamlet. Although not important enough to have its own
church, it has had a separate existence for more than eight centuries. It was
mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name of "Fockinges". Passing
through Fulking from east to west, a sound of running water greets the ear. It
comes from a spring pouring out of the hillside, and by the road there is a
building housing a ram pump. On the building is a tablet with some words from
Psalms; 104 and 107:
"HE SENDETH SPRINGS INTO THE VALLEYS WHICH RUN AMONG THE HILLS. 0, THAT MEN
WOULD PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS GOODNESS."
John Ruskin was often seen at Fulking; it. is said that he loved to see the
sunsets there. Among his gifts was that of being a geologist and his advice was
sought by some local friends about the village water supply. He helped to
harness the spring to their use, and the pumphouse by the roadside was part of
the supply arrangements which continued until a new supply was provided in 1953.
There is a small fountain in the village which bore the following inscription
(no longer decipherable);
" TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN HONOUR OF JOHN RUSKIN PSALM LXXVIII
THAT THEY MIGHT SET THEIR HOPE IN GOD AND NOT FORGET BUT KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS
WHO BROUGHT STREAMS ALSO OUT OF THE ROCK"
It is not known who erected the tablet and fountain.
An Index of C.B.A. Cards
In the latter half of 1974 the Programme Secretary undertook the keeping of
the C.B,A. cards so far completed and recorded, as the basis on which will be
built up a central Archive for the Society.
There follows the first list of cards, relating to West Sussex.
The aim in publishing them in the "Newsletter" is two-fold; first, to
indicate to members just what has been recorded already, to eliminate wasteful
duplication of effort, and secondly, to let serious students and historians know
what is available from this source.
It is hoped that both these aims will encourage an increased number of completed
C.B.A. cards to be submitted. (Any member needing the 'blank' cards can obtain
them from A.J. Haselfoot, Esq.)
The cards relating to East Sussex will appear in future issues of the
"Newsletter".
C. B. A. CARDS: WEST SUSSEX
PARISH/TOWN l" O,S. M.R. SUBJECT REPORTER ST.
ALDINGBOURNE SU,925041 . Watermill F. W. Gregory
BARNHAM SU.968038 . Windmill F. W. Gregory
BILLINGSHURST TQ.072271, . Rowner Watermill F. W. Gregory (D)
BOGNOR REGIS OS Parcel
No.220 . Ice House J. M. Monahan
CHICHESTER SU.836067 , Gothick Lodge J. A. Mudge
DUNCTON SU.945164 . Game Larder J. A. Mudge
DUNCTON SU.961163 . Lime Kiln R. H. Fox
DUNCTON SU,964166 . Watermill F. W. Gregory
EAST WITTERING SZ.797972 . Windmill F. W. Gregory
EARNLEY SZ.817983 .. Windmill " "
EBERNOE SU.981281 . Watermill/Wassel Mill " "
FUNTINGTON SU.807074 . W. Ashling Watermill " "
FUNTINGTON SU.812064 . Ratham Watermill " "
HALNAKER SU.925596 . Windmill " "
HENFIELD TQ.264118 . Woods Watermill " "
HORSHAM TQ.168303 . Town Watermill " "
IFIELD TQ.244364 . Ifield Watermill " "
KINGSTON-ON-SEA TQ.233050 . Malthouse A. Barrit (D)
LOXWOOD TQ.046311 . Brewhurst Watermill F. W. Gregory
LURGASHALL SU.940259 . Watermill " "
MIDHURST SU.889220 . North Watermill " "
PAGHAM SZ.892988 . Nyetimber Windmill " "
PARHAM TQ.046143 . Rackham Watermill " "
PULBOROUGH TQ.077203 . Farm Barn J. A. Mudge
PULBOROUGH TQ.078179 . Nutbourne Windmill F. W. Gregory
SELSEY SZ.843934 . Medmerry Windmill " "
SHIPLEY TQ.144218 . Shipley Windmill
SOUTH HARTING SU.765210 . Hurst Watermill " "
STEYNING TQ.173114 . Court Watermill " "
STORRINGTON TQ.088144 . Gatley's Watermill " "
SULLINGTON - . Tithe Barn C. Brady
SULLINGTON TQ.098142 . Old Windshaft R. H. Fox
TROTTON SU.830222 . Terwick Watermills (2) F. W. Gregory
WARNHAM TQ.168323 . Watermill " "
WASHINGTON TQ.119123 . Lime Kilns R. H. Fox
WORTHING TQ.122067 . High Salvington Windmill F. W. Gregory
Reference
Column No.5: ST. is an abbreviation of the word 'Status"; a
"(D)" denotes that the Subject of the card has been
"Destroyed" since the card was completed.
NB. Will the member who sent in the C.B.A. card and photograph of the new
Boiler-house at the Horder Centre for Arthritis, at Crowborough, East Sussex,
please let me have his or her name and if possible the 1" Ordnanace Survey
Map Ref. so that proper acknowledgement may be made when the East Sussex list is
published
Fulling and Fulling Mills
by Joseph Pettitt
"Cloth that cometh fro the weuyng is nougt comly to were Tyl it is
fulled under fote or in fulling-stokkes, Wasshen wel with water and with taseles
cracched Ytouked and ytented." William Langland, Piers Plowman (1377).
Here in a few lines is the core of the matter. In the textile industry fulling
was the process which followed weaving; it entailed cleaning, compacting and
tentering. Before the introduction of fulling mills the cloth was beaten with
bats or trodden with the feet in water troughs; cleaning materials were
chamber-lye, crude soap, fullers' earth or just water. Wool when wet felts under
compression and so the cloth was compacted. The process caused considerable
shrinkage so the cloth was tentered on frames, this process was to be done in
public view; overstretched cloth shrank in wear. The use of winches was
forbidden in the late Middle Ages though later racklike devices were used. The
cloth was held in position by tenterhooks. After this the cloth was often
teasled to produce a nap and eventually dyed.
There are three standard words for fulling: - fulling, walking and tucking. So
we have the surnames Fuller, Walker and Tucker. "Tuck" derives from an
ancient word allied to "tug" and meant to torment; "on
tenterhooks" is a metaphor of anguish; ecclesiastical and political
authorities found a use for the rack.
Fulling mills were introduced into Britain in the late 12th. century ; for
Sussex the earliest date known to the writer is 1309;2 they had
disappeared in Sussex by the late 18th. century. The last dates known to the
writer are these; 1767 - the date of a will of 'John Peckham, fuller,of
Shortbridge, Fletching3; 1784 - the date of a map of the estate of
Richard Hart in Uckfield showing by name and drawing a fulling mill a little
east-north-east of Clappers Bridge at about TQ.474210; - a mention of the use of
fullers' earth from Tillington in neighbouring fulling mills - the date is
probably 1793'.4
In such mills the cloth lay in a trough and was beaten with mallets operated by
camshafts or wheel-tappets "Stocks" originally meant the troughs but
later the "faller" assembly, i.e. the beating devices.
Evidence for fulling must be almost entirely documentary, more especially
records of field-names. Visible remains will be nil for pre-mechanised work; a
bay with a pond or a broken bay with alluvium upstream might indicate use of
water for a cornmill or iron mill or merely a fishpond or ornament. The last two
would have spillway gaps but no sluice gaps. A broken bay at the lower end of
Devil's Gill just above Sharnden in Mayfield - at TQ.610279 - is called locally,
as so often, "the old hammer pond bay"; however, estate documents
mentioning 'Where a fulling mill heretofore stood"5 enable one
to specify.
The best documentary sources of field-names are the Tithe Apportionment
Schedules of c1840, one for each parish with a map often of a scale of
26.6" to the mile. These are late but one often finds specific names such
as "Fulling Mill Mead"; "Tenters" or "Tainters" (a
common Wealden form) are not specific for mills, some occur away from running
water though a search of nearby streams might reveal a bay. Up till recently the
writer took "Drying Field" to indicate where the clothes -lines of the
"big houses" were, but in Clayton there is (was) a "Fulling Mill
and Drying Ground". So the search is opened up again.
"Fullers" is ambiguous but it may not always indicate an occupier with
that surname at a time when surnames had lost significance. What does one make
of "Fullers Wood" in Waldron, the parish of the ironmaster Fullers . A
"Henry le Fullere" of Waldron has been noted in the Lay Subsidy of
1296.7 D. Macleod found a "Weaver's Brook" with a small bay
in Heathfield Park and assumed a fulling mill.8 There are numerous
"Fullers", "Weavers" and" Dryers" fields.
Was "Tucker" a Wealden craft name and so of relevance in our subject?
A will of 1600 mentions a Tucker of Worth.9 So one might investigate
"Tuck(ers)" fields. Walker? Helena Hall records "Walker" and
"Walker Mill" as in Sussex speech but gives no evidence.10
There are several "Rack" and "Rackley" fields but . . .
One presumes that most parishes had fullers in the Middle Ages and Early Modern
periods and that most of them operated mills. The list below gives some evidence
for this in a part of the East Sussex Weald. The subject is ripe for
investigation, as is the whole textile industry of (the) Sussex (Weald),
especially in its decline.
The introduction of mills in rural parishes (against the interests of town
guildsmen) was probably the main cause of the development of the rural,
part-time, domestic, putting-out textile industry, though perhaps in Sussex the
industry was more directly developed from those times when men first separated
themselves from agriculture to become craftsmen.
Poor Rate records in the early 19th century, which saw the death of handloom
weavers all over Britain, give a few fragmentary clues and may contain more. One
finds payments for stock (allowed under the Poor Law of Elizabeth I, 1601) -
spinning wheels, wool and flax. In Heathfield poor relief was paid to John Read,
weaver in the years 1821-3.11 Was his occupation gone? In Ashburnham
there was, similarly, a "decayed" weaver names Jas. Burton who was in
receipt of Poor Relief inbetween selling cloth to the overseers - for pauper's
clothing? Did the textile industry last longest in the workhouse?
Dr. L.F. Salzman found evidence of a small textile factory in Hastings as late
as 1871. That was obviously sporadic and probably not a survival but a revival'.
References
1. E.N. Carus-Wilson "An Industrial Revolution of the Thirteenth
Century", Economic History Review XI (1941), 1, reprinted in Essays In
Economic History ,vol.1, (1954), pp.41-6 . Also R.A. Pelham Fullin Mills (n.d.),
No.5 of publications of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings.
2. Mawer and Stanton, Place Names of Sussex, Part Two (1930), p.252, where
"fulretta" means "fulling', not "foul stream".
3. East Sussex Record Office, (E.S.R.O.) Archdeaconry of Lewes Wills, A 61,p.547
(courtesy of Mrs; J. Brent).
4. a) Uckfield: Map of Estate; Sussex Archaeological Collections 4,
b) Tillingtone: Rev. Arthur Young General View of the Agriculture of the County
of Sussex (1813 but compiled in 1793), p.15..
5. E.g. Sussex Archaeological Trust, PN646 (1725).
6. The Fullers were not in Waldron before the late 16th century.
7. Place Names of Sussex, p. 407.
8. D. Macleod "Some Forgotten Smelting Sites" in Sussex Notes and
Queries,I,p.202.
9. L.F. Salzman "Industries" in Victoria County History of Sussex,voL
2,p.257b.
10. Helena Hall's expanded version o W.D. Parish's Dictionary o the Sussex
Dialect (1957).
11. E.S.R.O: Parish 372/31/12 (1817-26) 12. See 9.
List of possible FULLING MILL sites
PARISH |
GR in TQ |
EVIDENCE |
PARISH |
GR in TQ |
EVIDENCE |
Albourne |
- |
2b |
Frant |
605317 |
3h |
Ardingly |
334289 |
leh |
Rotherfield |
556296 |
3h |
" |
346309 |
lh |
Mayfield- |
- |
(lb) |
" |
331323 |
3h |
" |
610279 |
lh |
Clayton |
c315312 |
lh |
Wadhurst |
611337 |
3h |
Cuckfield |
c307271 |
3h |
Buxted |
483217 |
lh |
Hurstpierp'nt |
- |
2ab |
Framfield |
- |
lab |
Keymer |
306161 |
lh |
Isfield |
- |
lb |
Worth |
- |
2ab |
Uckfield |
- |
(ld) |
Plumpton |
362146 |
labh |
" |
474210 |
lh |
Barcombe |
- |
2b |
" |
462205 |
lh |
E. Grinstead |
?c373383 |
3h |
Chiddingly |
547148 |
lh |
Lindfield |
c349268 |
lh |
E. Hoathly |
c527138 |
3h |
" |
348254 |
3h |
Waldron |
?574193 |
2e |
Fletching |
429236 |
3h |
Arlington |
552185 |
lh |
" |
444217 |
3h |
Hellingly |
579123 |
lh |
" |
451213 |
lch |
|
or 583122 |
|
" |
- |
(lb) |
Ticehurst |
681301 |
3h |
Maresfield |
- |
2b |
Salehurst |
c736243 |
lh |
" |
- |
2b |
" |
c743238 |
lg |
Withyham |
" Buckhurst |
ld |
Burwash |
- |
2h |
" |
- |
(2ab) |
Heathfield |
595202 |
if |
" |
520358 |
3h |
Warbleton |
633189 |
3h |
NOTES
Parishes are ancient ones given in "Sussex Place Names", Mawer
& Stenton.
Grid References, where shown, are all on Sheet TQ.
Assessment of Evidence. Document Ives; Number
CERTAIN - Fulling Mill or Fulling Mill Field 20+(3)
(2) PROBABLE - Fulling Process or Fuller/Ticker as craftsman 8+(1)
(3) POSSIBLE - Tenter/Tainter Field 13
(4) 12 UNCERTAIN sites, where Fuller/Tucker Field may only indicate the name of
the occupier, have not been included in the table.
Sources of Evidence (a) Dr. L.F. Salzman (e) Mawer & Stenton
(b) Dr. C. Brent (f) Col. D. Macleod
(c) Mrs. J. Brent (g) Sussex Record Society
(d) Prof. E. Carus-Wilson (h) Various Documents
Promotion If a (3) or (4) site can be proved to have a bay, then promote to (1)
If a (3) or (4) site is away from a stream search along adjacent
streams is warranted. If a bay is found possibly promote. Tithe Apporttopentsa
c.1840.
Some parishes 25 in the east await examination. Some 2S parishes in the west
have proved barren.
INDUSTRIAL SITES OF THE 18th & 19th CENTURIES IN THE VALLEY OF THE
RIVER OUSE SOUTH OF LEWES
by Sue Farrant.
Manufacturing industries were generally geared to the needs of agriculture,
supplying them whenever possible from the local resources such as chalk from the
downs, clay from pockets in the floor of the Ouse valley and tributary valleys
in the Downs, wood from the Weald (brought down river).
Chalk from the Downs was used to manufacture lime for cement and for
agricultural use. Near Lewes, on the east bank of the river at TQ.425995, a
chalk outcrop which had been eroded by the river provided a site for the
construction of limekilns, which was conveniently close to a centre of demand,
Lewes, and so sited that the river could be used to transport the product which
was of relatively low value. Lime was also produced by farmers, who sold the
surplus from their kilns to neighbours, incidentally creating the small pits on
the lower slopes of the valley's sides as at TQ,437088, just to the south of
Mount Caburn.
The other extractive industry utilised the pockets of clay on the floodplain
that were suitable for the manufacture of bricks and tiles- such pockets existed
near the village of Piddinghoe at TQ.433031 and TQ.433033 now marked by small
ponds. The bricks and tiles were fired in a kiln which still stands at
TQ.431031, close enough to the river for the products to be conveniently loaded
on to a barge.
At Newhaven small craft were built from Wealden timber brought down the Ouse.
Several inventories of the equipment of Newhaven boat-builders exist, the
contents of which suggest that the craftsmen worked independently. The construction
and repair of boats was undertaken on the slip-off slope of the meander which
now forms the western channel round Denton Island (the original river course),
Here the gentle, alluvial covered incline provided land which was suitable for
beaching or launching, Both the angle of the bend and its distance from the
river's mouth provided shelter from rough seas and the prevailing south-westerly
wind The craft were used to export agricultural produce from the valley. On this
site developed the shipbuilding industry of the early 19th century
Newhaven served as the major centre for primary processing for most of the area,
although parishes just to the south of Lewes were probably served by Lewes.
Inventories for Newhaven mention maltings, a brewery, a windmill for milling,
smiths and boat builders and carpenters. Locating the buildings is difficult as
the earliest town plan is the tithe map of 1841, on which there are a mill, a
brewery and maltings, may be those mentioned in inventories of the previous
century,
The only large scale industrial development in the valley to the east of
Newhaven was on the flood plain in the parish of Bishopstone at TQ.462002, where
a Tidemill was constructed in the mid 18th century. It reached the peak of
prosperity in the early 19th century; its origin and development will be
discussed in a forthcoming article.
Not until the railway was built between Lewes and Newhaven in 1847 did the
Pattern or extent of industrial development in the valley change from that
established Ln the 18th century. The railway influenced particularly the
extraction of chalk, and the port of Newhaven.
The site of the Lewes Railway Station proved to be advantageous when the
decision was made to extend the line to Newhaven. Lewes station is located on a
river terrace just to the south east of the town and the extended line could
conveniently connect with the line from London to Lewes which ran through the
river gap to the east of the main part of Lewes. Thus the line to Newhaven was
built down the east side of the Lewes Levels, crossing the course of the river
once, just to the south of Lewes
Additional advantages of the east bank route were that a cutting was necessary
only at one point, just to the south of the railway bridge, at TQ.425092, and
that embanking to control the gradient of the track did not need to be very high
as the Company was able to purchase land sufficiently close to the side of the
valley to avoid most of the dangers of flooding. The relative flatness of the
floodplain, and the availability of river transport for heavy railway sections
must have made construction fairly easy; it was quite rapidly completed.
The main line terminates on the east bank, opposite the town of Newhaven; the
Company never constructed a line across the river for passengers as they
considered the town station on the east bank close enough to this small town
although a light railway ran over the swing bridge to serve the west bank quays.
The railway had been extended to Newhaven for the purpose of attracting
passengers from London to use the cross-channel 'ferry service which the
L.B.S.C.R. considered to be worth developing. An additional attraction of the
east bank was the availability of a large area of flat land of low agricultural
value which could be cheaply improved for the construction of railway workshops,
an improved ferry terminus and marine workshops. A gas works was also built and
some accommodation for employees. The growth of the town, recorded on .a graph,
accelerates rapidly from 1841 due to the increased opportunities for employment
offered.
The proximity of the railway to outcrops of the Downs on the east side of the
valley suitable for the manufacture of lime and cement was to stimulate the
develop-ment of modern, large-scale chalk extraction at Southerham (TQ.426094),
and Asheham (TQ.435064), which are still in operation, at South Heighton (called
the Newhaven Cement Works, TQ.443037) and at Newhaven (The Meeching Whiting
Works, TQ.445004) which closed before the Second World War. All the works were
connected to the main railway line by sidings, the Meeching Works sidings ran
over the swing bridge at Newhaven. Only at Southerham are sidings still visible,
but, as at Asheham, transportation today is by road. Both Southerham and Asheham
used barges on the Ouse during the late 19th and early 20th century to transport
some of their exports to be loaded into cargo ships in the harbour. Such an
arrangement would have been impracticable without the harbour improvements that
the L.B.S.C.R. had made to improve the ferry service.
The manufacture of cement necessitated the 'quarrying' of another local raw
material, clay. The Newhaven Cement Works at Heighton was supplied by pockets of
clay in the floor of the valley just to the south of the chalk quarry, leaving
the water-filled depressions that are marked on the sketch map of the complex.
Similarly the Meeching works secured their supplies of clay from the immediate
locality, creating the area that is now the recreation ground to the east of the
chalk quarry, at TQ.446006. At Asheham clay appears to have been extracted just
to the north of the present works, at TQ.436066 and TQ.438068. Southerham,
however, appears to have extracted clay from a large pit just to the south of
Piddinghoe village, at TQ.438028; a tramway was constructed and extended as the
extraction proceeded so that the clay could be loaded, via the tramway, into
barges which conveyed it up the river to Southerham.
Only at Newhaven have derelict quarries been successfully re-utilized, albeit
for an unattractive small industrial estate and as a car-breaker's yard, but
neither are unnecessarily obtrusive. The clay pits are, as mentioned before, a
recreation ground. Additionally, marked on the accompanying sketch map, is the
site of a series of claypits that served a brickyard in the 19th century; this
too has been adapted, with suitable landscaping, and forms part of a small park.
The quarries at Heighton have become the unsightly residence of a caravan site
and a dump. What will ultimately be done when Southerham and Asheham close is
undecided but perhaps their place in the local environment will be more
successfully evaluated.
The expansion of the port of Newhaven stimulated the shipbuilding industry and a
proper yard developed just to the north of the bridge that now leads to Denton
Island. The brewery also expanded but the remainder of the industrial
development was connected to the L.B.S.C.R. policy of improvement and expansion
previously mentioned.
Note. The Newhaven town gasworks was just East of the Northern section of
"C".
Windmills include one near Newhaven church, and others in the parishes of
Beddingham, Piddinghoe, Rodmell and Kingston (just north of Iford). There was a
paper mill on the Southern boundary of Lewes (water-driven). A watermill at
Glynde is still stand-ing at TQ.457088. A forge is operative at Rodmelll, behind
the garage on the Rodmell cross-roads, TQ.418059, where shoeing of horses may-be
seen. The smithy has most of the equipment associated with a typical 19th
century forge.

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