|
Upper Tulleys Wells |
|
|
|
|
Extract from: Our Parish; Tales of Offham, Hamsey and Cooksbridge. Jack Harmer 1991. |
|
The house was built by Richard Ridge in 1735 on land purchased by him in 1715 from a Thomas Lidlow and known as Tulley Well. Tradition has it that the name derived from St. Olive’s Well, said to be a Holy Spring with a Chapel near Allington Farm. My father used to tell me of the dreaded African cattle scourge, 'Rinderpest', which was once found on the farm. The Ridge family The Ridges were a prosperous family. Richard was farming Upper Stoneham but moved into his new home with his wife and five children to enable his elder son, John, newly married, to take over Stoneham. Another son, William, eventually inherited Tulleys Wells when Richard died in 1755 - but in 1766 it was sold to a Thomas Dennett, who in turn, two years later, 1768-69 sold to Sir John Bridger of Coombe. Thus it came to be part of the Shiffner Estate. The first tenants were Samuel and Thomas Ellis, and from 1810 Thomas only. There is a record of much ill feeling when a steep rise in rents was imposed during the Napoleonic War. The Ellises were big farmers. I am under the impression that at one time they also held Hamsey Place Farm. The Ridges were fervent Dissenters, and some forebears fell foul of the Authorities for refusing to conform. But, at the time with which we are concerned, they were prominent members of the Westgate Meeting House Community, The building is still to be seen, much as it was then, close to Tom Paine’s lodging house in Lewes High Street.By 1810 when Thomas Ellis was the sole tenant, George Shiffner, who had married Mary Bridger, was the landlord. When Ellis died in 1834 the farm was let to William Lambe. This must have been the Lambe whose initials (W.L.) may be seen on the old Hamsey Church weather vane A brief mention must be made of the succession of tenants at Tulleys Wells after William Lambe. 1851 Richard Trower. 1878 William Chandler. 1890-1902 Albert Beeching. There is a Beeching tombstone in Old Hamsey churchyard and on it are Albert and his wife and the family of eight, three of whom died in February 1901. Cholera some said. My father used to tell me of the dreaded African cattle scourge, ‘Rinderpest’, which was once found on the farm. How the infection came was a mystery. Perhaps it was brought by soldiers returned from the South African War. The census of 1851 gives Richard Trower as employing twelve outdoor labourers, two boys and two indoor servants. Twelve people lived in the house. There was a large attic, access to which was by ladder and trapdoor. I suspect this was the dormitory for the unmarried men. It was at one time the custom to lodge the young lads in the farmhouses. This eased congestion in the small cottages no doubt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©2007 Sussex Archaeological Society
