Battle Abbey Archives: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Huntington Library staff and Diann Benti.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Overview of the Collection

Title: Battle Abbey Archives

Dates (inclusive): 1077-approximately 1830

Collection Number: mssBA

Creator: Battle Abbey.

Extent: Approximately 3,000 pieces

Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Abstract: This collection consists of two parts: the records of the Benedictine abbey of St. Martin at Battle, Sussex, England, dating before 1538, and the papers chiefly of the Browne and Webster families, who owned the Battle Abbey properties following the monastery's dissolution in 1538. The collection is particularly rich in monastic and estate accounts, court records, and deeds for lands possessed by Battle Abbey in Sussex and other counties.

Language: English and Latin.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Battle Abbey Archives, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Purchased from the estate of Sir Thomas Phillipps, through the agency of A.S.W. Rosenbach, 1923.

Custodial History

Around 1833, Sir Godfrey Webster, 5th Bart., offered the monastic records still in his possession, together with some family estate papers, to the London bookseller Thomas Thorpe (1791-1851), from whom they were in turn purchased by book collector Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872). After Phillipps' death, the collection, contained in ninety-nine leather-bound volumes, was transferred to the possession of his grandson Thomas Fitzroy Fenwick. With the confirmation of the Court of Chancery, the Huntington Library purchased the collection through the agency of A.S.W. Rosenbach in 1923.

Processing/Project Information

The collection was received by the Huntington in 1923 as 99 bound volumes. Volumes 1-33, 76, and 95-99 have been maintained as received, but most of the materials in volumes 51-55 and all of the materials in volumes 34-50, 56-75, and 77-94, which were scrapbooks of documents, were removed to folders and boxes by Huntington Library staff in the following manner:

Pre-dissolution deeds were removed from volumes 34-55 and placed in Boxes 1-36 (individual items are identified by ink numbers assigned by bookseller Thomas Thorpe in the 19th century). Note that there are 55 miscellaneous deeds still bound in volumes 51-55
Pre-dissolution materials (other than deeds) were removed from volumes 77-94 and placed in Oversize Folders 1-28 (individual items are identified by BA numbers between 1-995 assigned by Huntington Library staff)
The post-dissolution materials in volumes 56-75 were removed and foldered separately in Boxes 37-67 (individual items are identified by Thorpe's ink numbers)
Note: the empty bindings for volumes 56-75 have been retained; the bindings for volumes 34-50 and 77-94 were discarded.

The calendaring of this collection was done on-site at the Huntington by East Sussex Record Office senior archivist Christopher Whittick from 1991 to 2017.

Historical Note

The Benedictine abbey of St. Martin at Battle was founded by William the Conqueror to commemorate his victory over Harold at Hastings. The first abbot, Gausbert of Marmoutier, was consecrated in 1076 but the church, built on the precise spot where Harold fell in battle, was unfinished when William died, and not dedicated until 1094. The Conqueror bestowed upon his abbey extraordinarily wide lay and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, focused on the banlieu or leuga, a circle of land one league in radius centered at the high altar. Within this liberty (geographically within but legally separate from and comparable to the Rape of Hastings in Sussex) the abbey was free of all feudal dues and customs and was enfranchised to exercise royal judicial and administrative rights independent of both shire and hundred. These privileges, imperfectly recorded at the time they were granted, were confirmed (partly on the strength of forged charters) by Henry II nearly a century later.

The original endowment included, beside the leuga, the six manors of Alciston (Sussex), Brightwalton (Berkshire), Crowmarsh (Oxfordshire), Hoo [also Hou, Hoton] (Essex), Limpsfield (Surrey), and Wye (Kent), and churches at Reading, Collumpton, and St. Olave's, Exeter. Royal grants of two additional manors (Brornham in Wiltshire by William Rufus and Appledram in Sussex by Henry I), a group of East Anglian churches, and numerous abbey purchases (including Icklesham, Barnhorn, and Marshal in East Sussex, and Bodiam, added to the leuga itself) established Battle's landed estate at ten "home manors" in East Sussex and Kent and additional "income" properties in eight other counties. During the economically troubled 14th century most of Battle's estates were farmed out, and the manors of Marley and Wode "created" to encompass and administer the remaining demesne lands within and adjoining the leuga. The abbey's financial position improved slightly during the 15th century and was on a sound if not overly prosperous basis by the eve of the Dissolution. The last abbot, John Hammond, surrendered his house to the crown in May 1538.

The abbey and its immediately adjacent lands, considered now as the Manor of Battle, together with most of the abbey lands in Sussex and Kent (including the additional manors of Barnhorn and Maxfield, Sussex), were sold in 1538 and 1539 to Sir Anthony Browne, Henry VIII's favorite and Master of the Horse, whose son Anthony was created 1st Viscount Montague in 1554. The property descended in the Browne family, despite a brief forfeiture for recusancy during the Commonwealth, until 1721, when the 6th Viscount sold it to Sir Thomas Webster, a prosperous London merchant who had moved into the land market some two decades before with the acquisition of Copthall in Essex. By 1725, with the assistance of a legacy from Henry Whistler, his wife Jane's grandfather, Webster also purchased the manor of Robertsbridge, Sussex, at which a profitable iron foundry had been located for over a century. He also leased the Beech Furnace ironworks in the town of Battle itself, and thereafter maintained an interest in the industry and contacts with London ironmongers. Sir Thomas was succeeded by his son Sir Whistler Webster about 1750, and thereafter the Battle estate remained in the family (with one 43-year interval in the later nineteenth century) until 1976. Since then it has been the property of the Department of the Environment.

Bibliography

Descriptive Catalogue of the Original Charters, Royal Grants, and Donations ... and other Documents constituting the Muniments of Battle Abbey ... [offered for sale] By Thomas Thorpe. London : [Thomas Thorpe], 1835.

Brent, Judith A. A Catalogue of the Battle Abbey estate archives. Lewes : East Sussex County Council, 1973.

Searle, Eleanor. Lordship and community : Battle Abbey and its banlieu, 1066-1538. Toronto : Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974.

Searle, Eleanor. "Obedientiary and Other Accounts of Battle Abbey in the Huntington Library," Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research XII (1934), 83-101.

Searle, Eleanor. "The Obedientiary Rolls of Battle Abbey," Sussex Archaeological Collections LXXVIII (1937), 37-62.

Searle, Eleanor, and Barbara Ross, eds. Accounts of the cellarers of Battle Abbey, 1275-1513. [Sydney] : Sydney University Press, 1967.

Whittick, Christopher. "Battle Abbey and the Vellomaniacs - Locating the Monastic Archive," Anglo-Norman Studies XXXIX Proceedings of the Battle Conference, (June 2016), 203-17.

Related Materials

Battle Abbey archives addenda, 1372-1528 (mssHM 82452-82457)
Archive of the Brown and Webster families of Battle Abbey (East Sussex Record Office)
Battle Abbey cartulary, 1240s, Hale Manuscripts, MS Hale 87, Lincoln's Inn Library

Scope and Content

This collection consists of two parts: the records of the Benedictine abbey of St. Martin at Battle, Sussex, dating before 1538, and the papers from 1538 onward, chiefly of the Browne family (1538-1721), Viscounts Montague, who purchased the Battle Abbey properties following the monastery's dissolution, and then the Webster family (1721-1857). The collection is particularly rich in monastic and estate accounts, court records, and deeds for lands possessed by Battle Abbey in Sussex, Berkshire, Essex, Surrey, and Kent.

The records prior to 1538 consist of a complete monastic archive, the product of one integrated religious institution. Document types include obedientiary and estate and manorial accounts; court rolls and other court records; deeds and charters; rentals and surveys, with related papers; and miscellaneous papers.

The papers created after the dissolution of the monastery consist of two major sub-collections, corresponding to Browne and Webster family papers, as well as of Cheke, Jorden, and Whistler. The bulk of this post-Dissolution material pertain to the Webster family, and deals with legal, financial, and estate matters. There is little correspondence. The latest document is dated 1778.

There are also two volumes (volumes 1-2) of paper slips containing handwritten descriptions of the items in the collection. These volumes, dating from approximately 1830, comprise a draft of bookseller Thomas Thorpe's 1835 published Descriptive Catalogue.

Note: many of the pre-1733 documents in this collection are written in Latin and/or with handwriting, symbols, and abbreviations that present paleographic challenges to most modern readers. The calendar of the Battle Abbey Archives (available as a PDF) provides full extracts, in English, of the substance of each document and in the case of charters includes all personal and place names found in the originals.

Calendar of the Battle Abbey Archives (PDF)

The calendar provides full extracts, in English, of the substance of each document in the Battle Abbey Archives, and in the case of charters includes all personal and place names found in the originals. Entries in the calendar contain the following fields (when applicable): description, witnesses, endorsements, cartulary references, seals, related materials, references numbers, and additional notes.

Calendar of the Battle Abbey Archives (PDF)

The calendar summaries can also be searched online in the East Sussex Records Office catalog: The Keep. Search "heh/ba"

Arrangement

The collection is organized in the following manner:

I. Pre-Dissolution Records
- a-b. Accounts (Folders 1-23)
- c. Court Rolls and other court records (Folders 24-31; Volume 5)
- d. Rentals and surveys, with related documents (Folders 33-36)
- e. Cartularies (Volume 29-32)
- f. Miscellaneous records (Folders 32, 37-38; Volume 33)
- g. Pre-dissolution deeds (Boxes 1-36, Volumes 51-55)
II. Post-Dissolution Papers
- a. Court books (Volumes 15-22 and 26)
- b. Accounts and rentals (Volumes 3-25)
- c. Webster papers (Box 66)
- d. Post-dissolution deeds (Boxes 37-67; Volume 76)
- e. Manorial court rolls and rentals (Volumes 95-98)
III. 19th century manuscript catalog (Volumes 1-2)
IV. Empty bindings for volumes 56-75

Physically, the collection is housed in the following manner:

Folders 1-28: Pre-dissolution documents (removed from volumes 77-94 and now numbered BA 1-995)
Boxes 1-36: Pre-dissolution deeds (removed from volumes 34-55)
Volumes 51-53: Pre-dissolution deeds (55 miscellaneous deeds) retained in volumes
Volumes 1-33: Various bound pre- and post-dissolution volumes
Boxes 37-67: Post-dissolution documents removed from volumes 56-75 and foldered
Volume 76: Miscellaneous post-dissolution deeds retained in volume
Volumes 56-75: [Empty bindings]
Volumes 95-99: Post-dissolution manorial court rolls and rentals

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.

Subjects

Battle Abbey -- Archives.

Monasteries -- England -- Archives.

Benedictine monasteries -- Great Britain -- Archives.

Great Britain -- History -- Medieval period, 1066-1485 -- Sources.

Great Britain -- History -- 1485- -- Archival resources.

Great Britain -- Church history -- 1066-1485 -- Archival resources.

Great Britain -- Church history -- 16th century -- Archival resources.

Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603 -- Sources.

Great Britain -- History -- Stuarts, 1603-1714 -- Sources.

Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.

Forms/Genres

Manuscripts -- Great Britain.

Family papers -- Great Britain.

Estate records -- Great Britain.

Property records -- Great Britain

Additional contributors

Phillipps, Thomas, Sir, 1792-1872, former owner.

Thorpe, Thomas, 1791-1851, former owner.

Webster (Family)

Browne (Family)

Collection

To view an item-level inventory of the Battle Abbey Archives, see the:

Calendar of the Battle Abbey Archives (PDF)

I. Pre-Dissolution Records

a. Obedientiary Accounts

Abbey accounts (BA 139-142 , 144-151, 272). 1346-1383, 1508-1509

Note: numbers BA 147-151 not used.

Folder 1

Abbey accounts. BA 139-142, 144-146

Folder 18 (BA 141)

Account of the monastery of St Martin of Battle in the time of Sir Lawrence Champion abbot there at the time of his election ending on the vigil of St Michael 1H8'. [1508 December 8]-1509 September 28 BA 141

Ink number: 461

Folder 18 (BA 272)

Three pages of an abbey account. 1508-1509 BA 272

Ink number: 233

Almoners' accounts (BA 152-227). 1359-1418

Note: numbers BA 223-227 not used.

Folder 2

Almoners' accounts. BA 152-189

Folder 3

Almoners' accounts. BA 190-222

Cellarers' accounts (BA 286-334). 1306-approximately 1530

Note: numbers BA 331-334 not used.

Folder 11

Cellarers' accounts. BA 286-334

Chaplain's accounts (BA 278). 1520-1521

Folder 12

Abbot's chaplain's account. BA 278

Draft account of Dom John Benygne, chaplain of Lawrence [Champion], abbot of Battle. 25 Mar 1520 - 25 Mar 1521 BA 278

Ink number: 230

Sacrists' accounts (BA 228-271, 518). 1399-1513

Note: numbers BA 268-271 not used.

Folder 16

Sacrists' accounts. BA 228-249, 255-256, 267

Folder 17

Sacrists' accounts. BA 250-254, 257-266

Folder 21 (BA 518)

Sacrists' account (fragment). BA 518

Stewards' (Seneschal's) accounts (BA 143, 273-277, 279-285). 1488-1531

Note: numbers BA 281-285 not used.

Folder 18 (BA 143, 273-277, 279-280)

Stewards' accounts. BA 143, 273-277, 279-285

Treasurers' accounts (BA 111-138). 1350-1531

Note: numbers BA 134-138 not used.

Folder 19

Treasurers' accounts BA 111-138

Miscellaneous accounts (BA 516-517). 1312

Folder 21 (BA 516)

Fabric roll, [Brecon Castle]. 1312 BA 516

Folder 21 (BA 517)

Account of the almoner for Maxfield. Approximately 1340 BA 517

b. Estate and Manorial Accounts

Beadles' accounts (Battle) (BA 1-110). 1326-1527

Note: numbers BA 106-110 not used.

Folder 8

Beadles' accounts. BA 1-49

Folder 9

Beadles' accounts. BA 50-75

Folder 10

Beadles' accounts. BA 76-105

Accounts of the serjeant of Barnhorn (Sussex) (BA 335-435, 447). 1325-1494

Chiefly consists of bailiff, serjeant, and reeve's accounts.

Note: numbers BA 431-435 not used.

Folder 4

Accounts of the serjeant of Barnhorn. BA 335-358

Folder 5

Accounts of the serjeant of Barnhorn. BA 359-377, 379-389, 447

Folder 6

Accounts of the serjeant of Barnhorn. BA 390-408

Folder 7

Accounts of the serjeant of Barnhorn. BA 378, 409-430

Accounts of the serjeant of Icklesham (Sussex) (BA 436-446, 448-474). 1306-1390

Chiefly serjeant's accounts.

Note: numbers 470-474 not used.

Folder 13

Accounts of the serjeant of Icklesham. BA 436-437, 438a-b, 439-446, 448-474

Manor of Marshalls accounts (BA 475). 1325-1334

Folder 15 (BA 475)

Account of Thomas Tyting, keeper of the manor of Marshall. 1325-1326 BA 475

Ink number: 348

Manor of Marley (Sussex) accounts (BA 476-494). 1309-1511

Consists of Serjeant's and reeve's accounts and miscellaneous.

Note: numbers 490-494 not used.

Folder 14

Manor of Marley accounts. BA 476-482, 484-489

Folder 15 (BA 483)

Account of Nicholas ate Se, serjeant of Marshall. 1333-1334 BA 483

Ink number: n/a

Wye (Kent) accounts (BA 495-515). 1361-1526

Chiefly beadle's accounts and accounts of the deputy keeper of the woods.

Folder 20

Wye (Kent). BA 495-515

c. Court rolls and other court records

Note

The court rolls have been disbanded.

Battle

Abbot's leuga court rolls (including views of frankpledge called here, misleadingly, "hundred").

Manor of Battle court rolls (BA 546-892). 1406-1537

Folder 24

Manor of Battle court rolls. BA 546-655

Folder 25

Manor of Battle court rolls. BA 656-755

Folder 26

Manor of Battle court rolls. BA 756-857

Folder 27

Manor of Battle court rolls. BA 858-892

Folder 28

Gaol delivery rolls. 1303-approximately 1340 BA 893-899

Volume 5

Extracts from Battle court rolls, 1247-1580. 1538-1591

Physical Description: 28 x 20 cm

Phillipps number: 9919

Compiled in the 16th century and covering the years 1247-1532, continued contemporaneously through 1580.

Barnhorn (Sussex)

Folder 23

Court rolls, Barnhorn hallmoot (BA 523-545). 1307-1611

Bodiam (Sussex)

Folder 29

Manor of Bodiam court rolls. 1645-1650 BA 900-903

Marley (Sussex)

Folder 30

Manor of Marley court rolls. 1421-1537 BA 904-925

Wode [Atte Wode, Le Wode] (Sussex)

Folder 31

Manor of Wode court rolls. 1369-1403 BA 926-932

d. Rentals and surveys, with related documents

Battle

Folder 33

Battle rentals. 1252-1351 BA 943-946

Folder 34

Cellarers' rentals. Approximately 1380-1494 BA 947-954

Folder 36

Sacrists' rentals. Approximately 1380-approximately 1530 BA 968-973

Miscellaneous rentals

Folder 35

Miscellaneous rentals. Approximately 1320-approximately 1530 BA 955-967

e. Cartularies

Volume 29

Cartulary. [Approximately 1070]-approximately 1560

Access Information

RESTRICTED. Available with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery time.

Phillipps number: 9928

As well as containing the texts of royal and papal charters of grant and privilege, written out in full, the cartulary includes, in summary form, details of the many hundred grants of land which went to form the abbey's estates in eleven counties.

Additional Guides

View additional information and select digitized images from this item in the Digital Scriptorium.

Volume 30

Sacrist's cartulary, compiled by Sir John Waller, sacrist of Battle, 10 and 11 H4 [1408-1410]. 1408-1512

Access Information

RESTRICTED. Available with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery time.

Phillipps number: 9929

Additional Guides

View additional information and select digitized images from this item in the Digital Scriptorium.

Volume 31

Cartulary Casley Volume I [transcript of BA volumes 29 and 33]. 1727

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9930 vol. 1

Transcripts made by David Casley, keeper of the king's and Cottonian library, from manuscripts in the hands of Thomas Webster, bt.

Volume 32

Cartulary Casley Volume II [transcript of BA volume 30 and Cottonian manuscripts]. 1726-1727

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9930 vol. 2

Transcript of BA Vol 30 and Cottonian manuscripts relating to Battle Abbey above by David Casley, keeper of the king's and Cottonian library, from manuscripts in the hands of Thomas Webster, bt.

f. Miscellaneous records

Folder 22 (BA 519-520)

Almoners' rolls of charters of Maxfield. Approximately 1250-approximately 1270 BA 519-520

Folder 22 (BA 521)

Roll of charters of Webbings and Catermansland in Wartling, including the will of Adam Iwood (1418-1450). Approximately 1450 BA 521

Folder 22 (BA 522)

Treasurer's roll of charters of Snailham in Guestling. Approximately 1450 BA 522

Folder 32

External affairs miscellaneous. Approximately 1450-approximately 1640 BA 933-942

Folder 37

Documents concerning the liberties of Battle, fines in the royal courts and other legal proceedings. 1427-1514 BA 974-989

Folder 38

Subsidy returns. 1332 BA 990-995

Volume 33

Records removed from volume of transcripts of judicial and exchequer enrolments concerning the liberties of Battle, 1189-1323. Approximately 1323

Access Information

RESTRICTED. Available with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery time.

Phillipps number: 9931

Volume in illuminated bookhand.

Additional Guides

View additional information and select digitized images from this item in the Digital Scriptorium.

g. Pre-dissolution deeds

Box 1

Records removed from volume 34 (Nos. 622-796)

Box 2

Records removed from volume 34 (Nos. 802-[2000])

Box 3

Records removed from volume 35

Box 4

Records removed from volume 36

Box 5

Records removed from volume 37 (Nos. 656-1128)

Box 6

Records removed from volume 37 (Nos. 1117-1516)

Box 7

Records removed from volume 38 (Nos. 620-1003)

Box 8

Records removed from volume 38 (Nos. 1109-1506)

Box 9

Records removed from volume 39 (Nos. 625-993)

Box 10

Records removed from volume 39 (Nos. 1002-1529)

Box 11

Records removed from volume 40 (Nos. 621-1246)

Box 12

Records removed from volume 40 (Nos. 1251-1517)

Box 13

Records removed from volume 41

Box 14

Records removed from volume 42 (644-[2002])

Folder OV

Records removed from volume 42 (No. 1531)

Box 15

Records removed from volume 43

Box 16

Records removed from volume 44

Box 17

Records removed from volume 45

Box 18

Records removed from volume 46

Box 19

Records removed from volume 47 (Nos. 623-897)

Box 20

Records removed from volume 47 (Nos. 901-1525)

Box 21

Records removed from volume 48 (Nos. 635-899)

Box 22

Records removed from volume 48 (Nos. 929-1476)

Box 23

Records removed from volume 49 (Nos. 631-1050)

Box 24

Records removed from volume 49 (Nos. 1305-[2001])

Box 25

Records removed from volume 50 (Nos. 904-[2003])

Box 26

Records removed from volume 50 (Nos. 1313-1484)

Volume 51

Records remaining in volume 51

Physical Description: 48 x 51 cm

Phillipps number: 9894

Box 27

Records removed from volume 51

Volume 52

Records remaining in volume 52

Physical Description: 48 x 51 cm

Phillipps number: 9895

Box 28

Records removed from volume 52 (Nos. 686-978)

Box 29

Records removed from volume 52 (Nos. 980-1392)

Box 30

Records removed from volume 52 (Nos. 1398-[2004])

Volume 53

Records remaining in volume 53

Physical Description: 48 x 51 cm

Phillipps number: 9896

Box 31

Records removed from volume 53 (Nos. 659-1358)

Box 32

Records removed from volume 53 (Nos. 1391-1615)

Volume 54

Records remaining in volume 54

Physical Description: 48 x 51 cm

Phillipps number: 9897

Box 33

Records removed from volume 54 (Nos. 724-1059)

Box 34

Records removed from volume 54 (Nos. 1302-1622)

Volume 55

Records remaining in volume 55

Physical Description: 48 x 51 cm

Phillipps number: 9898

Box 35

Records removed from volume 55

Box 36

Robertsbridge estate separated deeds.

16 deeds related to the Robertsbridge estate that were separated from volumes: volume 36 (1498, 1505, 1519); volume 37 (1221, 1502, 1520); volume 38 (1524); volume 41 (1510); volume 42 (1230); volume 43 (1528); volume 44 (1523); volume 47 (727, 808, 820); volume unidentified (662, 1504)

II. Post-Dissolution Papers

a. Court books

Battle (volumes 15-22)

Volume 15

Manor of Battle, draft court baron court books, 1631-1678, with memoranda of leases, 1560-1591. 1560-1678

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 1

Volume 16

Manor of Battle: draft court baron and high court books. 1677-1689.

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 2

Volume 17

Manor of Battle: draft court baron and high court books. 1686-1705

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 3

Volume 18

Manor of Battle: draft court baron and high court books. 1708-1721

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 6

Volume 19

Manors of Barnhorn, Swineham and Agmerhurst: draft court book; manor of Barnhorn stewards' papers. 1547-1728

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 7

Volume 20

Manors of Battle and Barnhorn: draft court baron courtbooks; manor of Battle: high court books. 1689-1714

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 4

Volume 21

Manors of Battle and Barnhorn: draft court baron courtbooks and stewards' papers, with other documents concerning the Battle and Essex estates. Approximately 1620-1766

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 5

Volume 22

Manor of Battle view of frankpledge: draft minutes, original presentments and estreats. 1700 September-1727 October

Physical Description: 35 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 9922 volume 8

Agmerhurst (volume 26)

Volume 26

Manor of Agmerhurst: draft court baron court book interleaved with presentments, original surrenders and steward's papers. 1627 May-1723 October

Physical Description: 33 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 9925

b. Accounts and rentals

Volume 3

Accounts of the Webster family at Copthall in Essex and Battle and East Grinstead in Sussex. 1710-1739

Physical Description: 22 x 18 cm

Phillipps number: 9917

Volume 4

Accounts of the Webster family at Copthall in Essex and Battle in Sussex. 1724-1737

Physical Description: 26 x 20 cm

Phillipps number: 9918

Volume 6

Accounts of the Browne family at Poynings and Battle, and yearly accounts of the Battle Estate. 1657-1711

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 1

Note: Part 3 onwards are all Battle.

Volume 7

Half-yearly accounts of the Battle Estate. 1711-1720

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 2

Volume 8

Half-yearly accounts of the Battle Estate, 1721-1725, furnace accounts, 1723-1729, tithe lists and rentals. 1721-1729

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 3

Volume 9

Half-yearly accounts of the Battle Estate, tithe lists and rentals. 1725-1729

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 4

Volume 10

Half-yearly accounts of the Battle Estate, 1729-1734, furnace accounts, 1729-1733, tithe lists and rentals. 1729-1734

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 5

Volume 11

Half-yearly accounts of the Battle Estate and other accounts. 1731-1736

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 6

Volume 12

Half-yearly accounts of the Battle Estate and other accounts. 1736-1775

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 7

Volume 13

Gathering of accounts and correspondence. 1720-1735

Physical Description: 35 x 23 cm

Phillipps number: 9920 volume 8

Volume 14

Account book of Richard Nairn. 1725-1739

Physical Description: 17 x 11 cm

Phillipps number: 9921

Volume 23

Rental of the manors of Battle, Agmerhurst, Swineham and Hastings College with its prebends and pensions, Feb 1595, annotated 16 Feb 1639. 1595-1639

Physical Description: 34 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 9923 volume 1

Volume 24

Rentals of farm rents and quitrents. 1652-1685

Physical Description: 34 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 9923 volume 2

Volume 25

Rental of the manors of Battle, Swineham, Hastings College with the prebend of Hooe, Barnhorn, new cottages built upon the waste [of the manor of Battle] and Agmerhurst. 1680 March 26

Physical Description: 22 x 17 cm

Phillipps number: 9924

Volume 27

[Henry] Westall's accounts for Panningridge Furnace [in Ashburnham]. 1546 January-December

Physical Description: 34 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 9926

Volume 28

Account book [of Richard Nairn] as rector of Hastings All Saints and St Clement, 1729-1740, Hastings tithes, 1650-1655, and accounts relating to the manors of Ewhurst, Udimore and Bodiam, 1624-1655. 1624-1740

Physical Description: 22 x 17 cm

Phillipps number: 9927

c. Webster Papers

Box 66

Records removed from Volume 75. Approximately 1720-1775

Phillipps number: 9939

Volume entitled "Webster Papers"; contains genealogical accounts, pedigrees, certified extracts, approximately 1720, letter from and notes by Arthur Collins, 1743, commissions, chancery petition related to the Whistler estate; correspondence concerning litigation, 1768; and litigation accounts.

d. Post-dissolution deeds

Box 37

Records removed from Volume 56. 1478, 1558-1603

Phillipps number: 9899

Contains deeds relating to the Battle Abbey estate, temp Elizabeth 1, including licence to receive in mortmain by Elizabeth [Woodville], relating to Godfrey's chantry land in the liberty of Pevensey, 24 February 1478; several documents removed.

Box 38

Records removed from Volume 57. 1603-1638

Phillipps number: 9900 volume 1

Deeds relating to the Battle Abbey and Bodiam estates, 1-13 Jas 1 (1603-1615), with one deed relating to Lenham, Kent; several documents removed. 1625-1638.

Box 39

Records removed from Volume 58. 1619-1624, 1646

Phillipps number: 9900 volume 2

Deeds relating to the Battle Abbey and Bodiam estates, 17-22 Jas 1 (1619-1624); only one document of 1646 remains.

Box 40

Records removed from Volume 59. 1625-1649

Phillipps number: 9901

Deeds relating to the manor of Lenham, Kent; a stray Barnhorn court baron presentment, 1631; four Battle copies of court roll; and deeds of the Powell estate in Bodiam; temp Chas 1 (1625-1649).

Box 41

Records removed from Volume 60. 1626-1742

Phillipps number: 9902

Deeds of the Battle Abbey estate in Sussex and at Lenham, Kent, and the London estate of the Webster family; many documents removed; temp Chas 1 - Geo 2.

Box 42

Records removed from Volume 61. 1653-1743

Phillipps number: 9932

Deeds of estates in Devon, Hertfordshire, Shropshire, Hampshire, Stafford, Surrey Yorkshire and Sussex.

Records removed from Volume 62. 1640-1712

Phillipps number: 9933 volume 1

Deeds of estates in London and Middlesex.

Box 43

Records removed from Volume 62 (Items 1-23).

Box 44

Records removed from Volume 62 (Items 24-33).

Records removed from Volume 63. 1713-1734

Phillipps number: 9933 volume 2

Deeds of estates in London and Middlesex.

Box 45

Records removed from Volume 63 (Items 1-26).

Box 46

Records removed from Volume 63 (Items 27-33).

Box 47

Records removed from Volume 64. 1736-1773

Phillipps number: 9933 volume 3

Deeds of estates in London and Middlesex

Records removed from Volume 65. 1507-1698

Phillipps number: 9934 volume 1

Deeds of property in Ongar, Stanford Rivers, and the Priory of Berden; four maps of the manor of Gubbions by Thomas Peachy, 1608; map of a house and land called Flips in Marks Tey by JC, 1672; all Essex.

Box 48

Records removed from Volume 65 (Items 1-22).

Box 49

Records removed from Volume 65 (Items 23-42).

Records removed from Volume 66. 1700-1778

Phillipps number: 9934 volume 2

Deeds of estates in Ongar, Waltham Holy Cross and Walthamstow, Essex, with one deed of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and various appointments of Thomas Webster bt to offices.

Box 50

Records removed from Volume 66 (Items 1-10).

Box 51

Records removed from Volume 66 (Items 11-26).

Box 52

Records removed from Volume 67. 1649-1675

Phillipps number: 9935 volume 1

Deeds of estates in Battle.

Records removed from Volume 68. 1676-1696

Phillipps number: 9935 volume 2

Deeds of estates in Battle.

Box 53

Records removed from Volume 68 (Items 1-15).

Box 54

Records removed from Volume 68 (Items 16-36).

Records removed from Volume 69. 1677-1714

Phillipps number: 9935 volume 3

Deeds of estates in Battle.

Box 55

Records removed from Volume 69 (Items 1-16).

Box 56

Records removed from Volume 69 (Items 17-39).

Records removed from Volume 70. 1718-1767

Phillipps number: 9935 volume 4

Deeds of estates in Battle.

Box 57

Records removed from Volume 70 (Items 1-15).

Box 58

Records removed from Volume 70 (Items 16-38).

Records removed from Volume 71. 1621-1772

Phillipps number: 9936 volume 1

Deeds of estates in Sussex.

Box 59

Records removed from Volume 71 (Items 1-26).

Box 60

Records removed from Volume 71 (Items 27-33).

Records removed from Volume 72. 1546-1776

Phillipps number: 9936 volume 2

Deeds of estates in Sussex, 1673-1774, and of estates in Kent, of the Drayton family of Hackington and Chart, 1546-1745.

Box 61

Records removed from Volume 72 (Items 1-24).

Box 62

Records removed from Volume 72 (Items 25-47).

Records removed from Volume 73. 1632-1699

Phillipps number: 9937

Deeds relating to the manor of Samford Orcas, Somerset, 1640-1739, and to estates in Buckinghamshire, Minshull family, 1632-1699.

Box 63

Records removed from Volume 73 (Items 1-22).

Box 67

Records removed from Volume 73 (Items 23-28).

Box 64

Records removed from Volume 73 (Items 29-36).

Box 65

Records removed from Volume 74. 1701-1709

Phillipps number: 9938

Volume entitled "Relating to the Hudsons Bay Company"; contains documents relating to Godfrey Webster of London, merchant, as executor of Henry Summers of London, merchant, and of a suit brought against Webster in chancery by the beneficiaries.

Volume 76

Deeds miscellaneous; Minshall quietus; Langham Chances Land, Battle; early Webster of London; Battle estate. 1620-1760

Physical Description: 48 x 32 cm

Phillipps number: 9940

e. Manorial court rolls and rentals

Volume 95

Manors of Bayham and Battle: court rolls. 1553-1559

Physical Description: 54 x 35 cm

Phillipps number: 9914

Volume 96

Court roll, manors of Barnhorn, Bayham and Battle. 1560-1581

Physical Description: 54 x 35 cm

Phillipps number: 9915 vol. 1

Volume 97

Manor of Battle courts baron, views of frankpledge and high court, 1541-1546, 1581-1594; manors of Agmerhurst and Barnhorne, 1584-1591. 1541-1594

Physical Description: 54 x 35 cm

Phillipps number: 9915 vol. 2

Volume 98

Manor of Battle courts baron, views of frankpledge and high court, 1594‑1602; manor of Barnhorn courts baron, 1573, 1602. 1573-1602

Physical Description: 54 x 35 cm

Phillipps number: 9915 vol. 3

Volume 99

Manor of Battle courts baron and view of frankpledge, 1615‑1631; stray manor of Agmerhurst presentments and drafts, 1604‑1641; rental, all manors, badly disordered, 1704 (endorsed 1680, in error); rental, not including Barnhorn, 1639. 1604-1641, 1704

Physical Description: 54 x 35 cm

Phillipps number: 9916

III. 19th century manuscript catalog

Volume 1

Catalogus manuscriptorum Belli Abbatiae Tom 1. Approximately 1830

Physical Description: 36 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 8774 vol. 1

Volume of paper slips with manuscript descriptions of individual documents and a reference number, pasted onto paper pages; begins with undated material, and then runs in chronological order until 1406; the order at the beginning is not that of Thorpe; documents thought to be of special significance come first. The slips bear the ink numbers, and those on the first 4 pages have been re-numbered serially. The undated deeds annotated in pencil with notes concerning the existence of seals.

Volume 2

Catalogus manuscriptorum Belli Abbatiae Tom 2. Approximately 1830

Physical Description: 36 x 22 cm

Phillipps number: 8774 vol. 2

Same as volume 1, covering 1406-1742.

IV. Empty bindings

Empty bindings for volumes 56-75, each measuring 48 x 32 cm. The documents in the volumes have been removed to boxes 37-67.