The History of Nutley by Colin Hobbs. Nutley comprised mainly the manors of Duddleswell and Maresfield together with Masketts, a member of the latter, Courtlands alias Newenham which had some 20 acres lying over from Fletching to the south of Fords Green, and an acre or two at Pricketts Hatch belonging to the Fletching manor of Tarring Peverel. Also a three acre piece of the Withyham manor of Fiscaridge which lay to the south of Bell Lane near to its junction with the main road. The parish of Maresfield does not figure in the Domesday Book although most of its neighbours do. It is though, inconceivable that our Saxon ancestors did not penetrate the wilderness a little further on to Nutley. Indeed the name Sale, a suffix, occurs in old documents in a wide band from Nutley Street westwards to and including the present Hole and Alchorns Farm. This is the latter day form of the Saxon word gesell, meaning a shelter for pig drovers. Down Street runs south in an almost straight line to Isfield where it joins the road to the Downs at South Malling, an early settlement of the South Saxons. This is undoubtedly one of the ancient drof ways leading into the Weald. Another was via Mark Street to Fletching and the many villages in the Downs west of Lewes. A further track leads from Horsted Keynes via the Woolpit Oak to the forest at Pricketts Hatch. The Weald was settled from the Downlands at an early stage but the outliers were taxed with the parent manor. The extent of this was shewn up in East Grinstead which was transferred from the Rape of Lewes to Pevensey shortly before 1086. Because of this the many little settlements there were recorded separately in Domesday which would not have occurred if they had stayed within the Rape of Lewes. No written evidence has as yet appeared as to when the manorial system came to Nutley. A reasonable guess might be around the early years of the 12 th . century. The manors of Duddleswell and Maresfield are interesting. It is well known that the whole of Ashdown Forest lies in the Duddleswell Manor although outliers lay as far away as Piltdown Crossroads, the back of the Doma Nursery at Lampool Corner, Tinkers Wood in Bell Lane, Inhams almost opposite Mark Oak, part of Horney Common and Campishill to the east of the site of the old chapel. It is however little known that Maresfield Manor is intermingled with Duddleswell all around the periphery of the forest. It may be that at one time they were one but when Duddleswell was made a manor in its own right is not known. In the Duchy of Lancaster’s accounts for the Rape of Pevensey in 1392/3 the rent of the assarts of the Forest of Asshedon was accounted for by the Bailie of the Franchise separately. Since all properties in the forest were counted as assarts this might mean that the Manor of Duddleswell had not yet been cleared, enclosed and converted into arable. Michelham Priory in Arlington was founded by Gilbert de Aquila, the Lord of the Rape of Pevensey, shortly before 1229. At some later stage Sir Robert de Mankesie of “ Bradhurst”, Horsted Keynes, gave “Windebeche”, now The Vachery of some 100 acres near Horsted Keynes in the forest of “ Heseldon” which he had of the gift of Gilbert. The priory canons were to have fencing for enclosure under the direction of the woodreeves. Note, Horsted Keynes not Nutley. Does this infer that Nutley either did not exist or had not yet been named?. Also that the forest was under some sort of authority at this time ?. An interesting point is that in the 1546 Valor of the Manor of Maresfield a reprise was given for the Vachery which had been disposed of by the Court of Augmentations following the dissolution of the monasteries. Thus Maresfield had been used to receive the rent which would indicate that Duddleswell was not in existence at the time of its grant. It is said that the Vachery was a dairy farm, but one may think that the grazing on the forest was not of sufficient quality for dairy animals. Perhaps rough grazing for beef cattle is more likely. 1 It is also said that a building once stood there which was still visible last century ?. It is amazing that the Rev. Edward Turner, Rector of Maresfield and one time Secretary of the Sussex Archaeological Society did not record its position. In 1176 Richard de Aquila the Lord of Pevensey Rape founded the Free Chapel of Nutley with the endowment of land from Pestridge. Though why build a chapel half a mile from the centre of the present village ?. Very likely the village was originally centred around Masketts which had a spring nearby, the village then being drawn to its present location on the main road from Pevensey to London when the castle at the former place became the administrative centre of the Rape. Some support for this theory may be gained from the fact that the sub Manor of Masketts was centred around the site of the chapel, although that was in the Manor of Maresfield. Duddleswell also had a few acres here. The earliest manorial rentals show a goodly number of small crofts and tofts in this area. The habitations of which disappeared over the years as they were engrossed into bigger units. A toft is an enclosed piece of land usually adjacent to a house. A croft is a piece of ground on which a house stands or formerly stood. The chapel went out of use before 1541 when its chalice was presented to the Church of Maresfield. Presumably it had fallen into disrepair, which was the fate of many sparsely populated parish churches at that time. Another essential feature of the medieval manor was the mill. In early days this was always driven by water. Nutley mill was situated just to the west of Millbrook Hill. It would have been one of the first buildings to have been erected in the village and made of wood. Crown property was notoriously badly maintained being in the hands of officials who at the best had little concern or at the worst plundered their responsibilities. How many times Nutley mill fell down is not known, but certainly by 1546 when the Manor of Maresfield was valued pending it’s sale to Sir John Gage of Firle it was in disrepair. By 1645 however the mill appeared to have been working since a corne and water mill 3.5 acres and two crofts adjacent to the forest called Penncrofts was leased to Thomas Wood of Maresfield. The account of Land Tax for 1754 makes no mention of the mill. The Tithe Appropriation map of 1841 shows the site of a defunct mill no longer in water. The following rentals are the earliest known properties in Nutley/Mark Street. The Chantrysale of 26 acres to the north west of Pricketts Hatch at one time belonged to the Chantry of Maresfield. It was appropriated by the Crown under the Chantry Acts of Henry VIII and Edward VI.. This was bought shortly after by Sir John Gage from speculators and held by him of the Crown Manor of Hampton Court. There are not any other exceptions known. All early properties of Nutley are here. MAP OF ASHDOWN FOREST AND THE SURROUNDING AREA 1610 2 The first extant surveyor of the Duddleswell tenantry was not until 1564 when a jury of 24 of the principal tenants of the manor met. The following are the Nutley properties they reported upon. All are treated as assarts and thus copyhold. PROPERTY TENANT ACRES RENT Besschents ( cottage ) Walter Afforde 1.5 1/6.5 Le Shelfe ( tenement ) Walter Afforde 3 Holltrowghe Walter Afforde 1 ( cottage ) Thom Bertelet 2 7 Thom Bertelet 1.25 Prickettshatch ( cottage ) Thos Gavel 8 Inholms Michael Hawkins 3 4.5 Millbrook Margaret Inffelde 1 6 Shepardes Margaret Inffelde 1 Johane Dynes ( tenement ) Johnes Infelde 2 4 Newecrofte ( cottage ) Johes Penyfolde 2 ½ Le Lepe ( tenement ) Johes Penyfolde 2 Johes Penyfolde 1 Shelf House ( house ) Thom Shelley 2 1/8 Campishill ( house ) Thom Shelley 5 Symis/Nether/Sawters ( tenement ) Thom Sponer 2 10 Castelltrowghte Ricus Yeoman 1/8 Nutley Inn Rogerus Yeoman 40 10/- TOTAL 69.75 The Court records of properties do not survive earlier than 1615 and the next rental of tenants was not until 1636 when some further properties had come into being. Sale (messuage ) John Penfolde 9 8 Butt Place ( cottage ) Maria Sheppard 0.25 2 Shopcroft/Greencroft Richard Croft 4 8 ( cottage ) Les Marles Richard Croft Nutley ( cottage ) Richard Awcocke 0.5 2 Prickettshatch ( cottage ) John Bullock 6 Larretts ( cottage ) Roger Larrett 2 Nutley Gate ( cottage ) John Weekes 6 Brabies Hatch ( messuage ) Illegible 1 4 Tinkers Thos Awcocke 11 4.5 Records only exist for the grant of 20 perches to John Bullock in 1629 for the above. This being a time when encroaching on the forest was hotly resisted and from the very small rent per acre of these properties it would seem likely that they had been granted many years before. The rent of 4d per acre was the going rate from at least 1380 until the inflationary times of the late 16 th . and early 17 th . centuries. This raises a problem, undoubtedly the 24 good men and true of the manor would have known of all the property there in 1564. Why some properties were omitted from the schedule is a mystery.