History of Sussex - Norman Sussex

Norman Sussex

See also Norman conquest of England and English feudal barony

On Friday 13 October 1066, Harold Godwinson and his English army arrived at Senlac Hill just outside Hastings, to face William of Normandy and his invading army. On 14 October 1066, during the ensuing battle, Harold was killed and the English defeated. It is likely that all the fighting men of Sussex were at the battle, as the county's thegns were decimated and any that survived had their lands confiscated. William built Battle Abbey at the site of the battle, and the exact spot where Harold fell was marked by the high altar.

Norman influence was already strong in Sussex before the Conquest: the abbey of Fécamp had interest in the harbours of Hastings, Rye, Winchelsea and Steyning; while the estate of Bosham was held by a Norman chaplain to Edward the Confessor. After the Norman conquest the 387 manors, that had been in Saxon hands, were replaced by just 16 heads of manors.

	The owners of Sussex post 1066	Number of manors
1	William I	2
2	Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury	8
3	Stigand, Bishop of Selsey*	9
4	Gilbert, Abbot of Westminster	1
5	Abbot of Fécamp	3
6	Osborn, Bishop of Exeter	4
7	Abbot of Winchester	2
8	Gauspert, Abbot of Battle	2
9	Abbot of St Edward's	1
10	Odo**	1
11	Eldred**	1
12	William son of Robert, Count of Eu	108
13	Robert, Count of Mortain	81
14	William de Warenne	43
15	William de Braose	38
16	Roger, Earl of Montgomery	83
	Total	387

The 16 people, in charge of the manors, were known as the Tenentes in capite in other words the chief tenants who held their land directly from the crown. The list includes nine ecclesiasticals although the portion of their landholding is quite small and was virtually no different to that under Edward the Confessor, and it is possible that two of the lords may have been Saxon. This means that 353 of the 387 manors in Sussex would have been wrested from their Saxon owners and given to Norman Lords by William the Conqueror

The county was of great importance to the Normans; Hastings and Pevensey being on the most direct route for Normandy. Because of this the county was divided into five new baronies, called rapes, each with at least one town and a castle. This enabled the ruling group of Normans to control the manorial revenues and thus the greater part of the county's wealth. William, the Conqueror gave these rapes to five of his most trusted Barons:

• Roger of Montgomery - the combined Rapes of Chichester and Arundel.
• William de Braose - Rape of Bramber.
• William de Warenne - Rape of Lewes
• Robert, Count of Mortain - Rape of Pevensey
• Robert, Count of Eu - Rape of Hastings

Historically the land holdings of each Saxon lord had been scattered, but now the lords lands were determined by the borders of the rape. The unit of land, known as the hide, in Sussex had eight instead of the usual four virgates,(a virgate being equal to the amount of land two oxen can plough in a season).

The county boundary was long and somewhat indeterminate on the north, owing to the dense forest of Andredsweald. Evidence of this is seen in Domesday Book by the survey of Worth and Lodsworth under Surrey, and also by the fact that as late as 1834 the present parishes of north and south Amersham in Sussex were part of Hampshire.