Pevensey Sussex Family History Guide

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Pevensey is an Ancient Parish in the county of Sussex.

Parish church: 

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1569
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1596

Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

PEVENSEY, a village, a parish, a liberty, and a rape, in Sussex. The village stands on the river Ashburn, and on the South Coast railway, 1½ mile NW of the shore of Pevensey bay, and 5 SE of Hailsham; occupies the site of the Roman Anderida on Ermine-street; was known to the Saxons as Pewenesea and Pefensea; was anciently a port, almost surrounded by the sea, which afterwards receded from it; appears, when a port, to have been a place of considerable note; was given in 792, by Bervald, a general of Offa, to St. Denis’ abbey at Paris; was ravaged by Earl Godwin; was the landing-place of William the Conqueror; figured in subsequent events, in connexion with a famous castle adjacent to it; fell into decay soon after the time of Henry III.

It is now a small place; gives the title of Viscount to the Earl of Sheffield; and has a post-office under Eastbourne, a railway station with telegraph, two hotels, a court-house, and a fortnightly cattle-market, on Thursdays, from the latter part of June till the beginning of Nov. The castle stands on an eminence; was built by the Romans, and rebuilt soon after the Norman conquest; was besieged in 1088, by William Rufus, in 1265, by Simon de Montfort, and, in 1399, by the partisans of Richard II.

It belonged, for a time, to the Earls of Mortaigne; went to Gilbert de Aquila, from whom the barony around it was designated the “honour of the Eagle; ” passed to, John of Gaunt, the Pelhams, the Comptons, and the Cavendishes; belongs now to the Duke of Devonshire; and is represented by extensive and picturesque remains. The outer walls enclose an area of nearly 10 acres, are about 12 feet thick and 30 feet high, and include many Roman bricks; and a mediæval structure, stands inward from the E wall, is quadrangular, massive, and grand, is surmounted, round the court, by five towers, is moated on the N and the W, and was formerly entered by a drawbridge. Roman coins and other Roman relics have been found; and two culverins of the 16th century are on the bank overlooking the S wall.

The parish comprises 4,351 acres of land, and 235 of water. Real property, £10,625. Pop., 385. Houses, 78. The property is much subdivided. Pevensey level extends northward into adjacent parishes. Pevensey bay may be said to extend 5 miles from point to point, but makes comparatively little incurvature on the land; and it affords some shelter for shipping, and is defended by a number of martello towers. P. Point is at its Extremity; and P. shoal, with from 2 to 3½ fathoms water, lies off that point. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester. Value, £1,100. Patron, the Bishop of Chichester. The church is early English, and has a low N tower. There are alms-houses with £100 a year, and a national school The liberty includes also Westham parish.: bears the name of Lower Pevensey; and is a borough by prescription. Acres, 9,574. Pop., 1,218. Houses, 257.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Historical Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

  • County: Sussex
  • Civil Registration District: Eastbourne
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) of Chichester for the Archdeaconry of Lewes
  • Diocese: Chichester
  • Rural Deanery: Pevensey
  • Poor Law Union: Eastbourne
  • Hundred: Pevensey Lowey
  • Province: Canterbury