The Parks and Forests of Sussex ... With biographical notices of some of the former owners

Preface

. Sparsa coegi. The following pages bring together from printed books, MSS., records, and private papers and communications, what could be collected on a special subject. This has never before been attempted. Other special subjects connected with Sussex have already been treated, as the Ornithology, in Mr. Knox's charming volume; the Churches, in Mr.Hussey's -work; the Rivers, by Mr. Lower, in the " Sussex Archæological Collections ; " the Parlia mentary History, the Botany and Geology of the County, in Horsfield' s and Dallaway 's Histories ; whilst matters of minor interest have received attention in the volumes of the S.A.C. The Parks and Forests of the County is a fertile theme ; half-a-dozen volumes might be written on them if the Public Records were explored for the purpose, but this would take years of labour.

A volume on Ashdown Forest alone might be compiled from the Records of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Public Record Office. The volume now presented to the public is chiefly a compilation, and necessarily a compilation, as most works of this and a kindred character are, and of course con tains many errors of omission and commission. The more important of the Parks and Manors are treated at some length, because the labours of special previous enquirers have enabled me to do so. Others are treated more briefly, because there were no accessible materials for a fuller description ; and many new places are devoid of his torical or antiquarian importance. Some are treated with PKEFACE. IV perhaps unmerited brevity ; this is the fault of their owners, as they have all received prospectuses of the work, and failed to send any account of their parks.

It has been suggested to me that I should give a map of the county, delineating the Parks and Forests. It is evident that several maps for different periods would be required for this purpose. If I had reproduced the maps of Saxton, Speed, and Budgen, they would be most inaccurate for their respective periods, as they all omit some of the most ancient and important Parks. For the present century, first, the Ordnance Map, and then those of Greenwood, Horsfield, Dallaway and Cartwright, ex hibit pretty faithfully the Parks of the County, and most of the readers of the work possess a map of Sussex in some form. I have indicated, I think, the sources of my information almost invariably ; without the 33 volumes of the " Sussex Archæological Collections," this work could hardly have been written, or only in a very compendious or inadequate form.

My best thanks are due to the Committee of the Sussex Archæological Society for the loan of the wood cuts which illustrate the book, and to my publisher for the vignette of the title page. Œfje parfts antr forests of Sussex*