Fletching (St. Andrew and St. Mary)

FLETCHING (St. Andrew and St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Uckfield, hundred of Rushmonden, rape of Pevensey, E. division of Sussex, 3¾ miles (N. W. by W.) from Uckfield; containing 1914 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the road from London to Lewes, was the seat of encampment of a part of the forces of the barons, under the command of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, the night previous to the battle of Lewes, in the reign of Henry III. The parish comprises about 5830 acres, of which the greater portion is good arable land; and the river Ouse flows in a meandering course through it. Sheffield Place, the seat of the Earl of Sheffield, is a stately castellated mansion, in a park of nearly 600 acres, richly embellished. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £3. 6. 8.; net income, £167; patron, Lord Sheffield; impropriator, John Villiers Shelley, Esq. The church is a handsome cruciform structure, in the early English style, with a lofty tower and spire; the chancel is separated from the nave by a richly-carved screen of oak, and at the end of the north transept is the sepulchral chapel of the Holroyd family, in which are the remains of Gibbon, the historian. At Dane Hill is a chapel, erected by subscription in 1836, and containing 378 sittings, of which 276 are free. A national school has been established; and the parish derives £40 per annum from Henry Smith's charity.