Hailsham, Sussex

Historical Description

Hailsham, a small town and a parish in Sussex. The town stands in a pleasant vale, with a station on the L.B. & S.C.R., 56 miles from London, 5½ NW of Pevensey Bay, 13 E by S of Lewes, and If mile E of Cuckmere river. It .has a post, money order, and telegraph office; is a seat of petty sessions and a police court, and has a parish church, a chapel of ease at Polegate, and a mission room at Magham Down, two dissenting chapels, and a good public recreation ground. The church is Later English, consists of nave and two aisles, and has a low pinnacled tower; the building has been restored at different times. It has a peal of eight bells. The curfew bell is still rung here. A cattle and sheep market is held on alternate Wednesdays, and is one of the largest in the county. A cattle and sheep fair is held on 12 Aug. A priory of Black canons was founded at Michaelham, on the river Cuckmere, in the time of Henry III., and is now represented partly by a tower and partly by a farmhouse. A Premon-stratensian monastery was founded at Otham by Ralph de Dene, and afterwards removed to Bayham, and traces of its walls still exist. Acreage of parish, 5330; population, 3369. The living is a vicarage, with that of Polegate annexed, in the diocese of Chichester; joint net value,, £100 with residence. The manufacture of rope, twine, mats, and matting is carried on to a considerable extent.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Hailsham from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hailsham (St. Mary))

Maps

Online maps of Hailsham are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Sussex newspapers online:

• Mid Sussex Times
• Chichester Express and West Sussex Journal
• Sussex Agricultural Express
• Hastings and St Leonards Observer
• Sussex Advertiser
• Brighton Gazette
• Bexhill-on-Sea Observer