Catsfield (St. Lawrence)

CATSFIELD (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Battle, hundred of Ninfield, rape of Hastings, E. division of Sussex, 3½ miles (S. W.) from Battle; containing 589 inhabitants. It is intersected by the road from Lewes to Hastings, and comprises 2938 acres, of which 875 are arable, 1447 meadow and pasture, 520 woodland, and 50 acres hops: the surface is alternated with hill and dale, and enriched with woods and plantations. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 9. 4½., and in the patronage of the Earl of Ashburnham: the tithes have been commuted for £370, and the glebe comprises 34 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is a handsome structure, partly in the early and partly in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a low shingled spire: in the chancel is an elegant monument to the memory of J. Fuller, Esq., by Nollekens. At the gate of the churchyard is a remarkably fine oak, more than 40 feet in girth at a few feet from the ground.