Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HAILSHAM

HAILSHAM, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Sussex. The village stands in a pleasant vale, on the Polegate and Uckfield railway, 1¾.mile E of the Cuckmere river, 5¼ miles NW of Pevensey bay, and 11 E by S of Lewes; is a seat of petty sessions and a police court; and has a railway station with telegraph, a post office‡ under Hurst Green, a banking office, three good inns, a church, a dissenting chapel, and charities £20. The police court house is a neat erection of 1861. The church is later English; consists of nave and two aisles; and has a low pinnacled tower. A cattle and sheep market is held on alternate Wednesdays, and is one of the largest in the county; and fairs are held on 6 April and 3 June. The parish comprises 5, 283 acres. Real property, £7, 392. Pop. in 1851, 1,825; in 1861, 2, 098. Houses, 403. The increase of pop. arose from the influence of the railway, and from the enlargement.of a ropery. The property is much subdivided. 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, partly by a farmhouse. A Premonstratensian monastery was founded, at Otham, by Ralph de Dene, and afterwards removed to Bayham; and traces of its walls still exist. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester. Value, £356. * Patron, Mr. Sheppard.—The sub-district contains also the parishes of Arlington, Herstmonceux, Wartling, Hooe, and Ninfield. Acres, 25, 245. Pop., 6, 005. Houses, 1, 107. The district comprehends also the sub-district of Hellingly, containing the parishes of Hellingly, Chiddingly, Langhton, Warbleton, and Heathfield. Acres, 54, 365. Poor rates in 1863, £8, 816. Pop. in 1851, 13, 289; in 1861, 12, 668. Houses, 2, 370. Marriages in 1862, 83; births, 388, of which 38 were illegitimate; deaths, 222, of which 56 were at ages under 5 years, and 9 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 833; births, 4, 326; deaths, 2, 267. The places of worship, in 1851, were 15 of the Church of England, with 3, 949 sittings; 8 of Independents, with 1, 707 s.; 4 of Baptists, with 1, 200 s.; 3 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 400 s.; 3 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 580 s.; and 2 undefined, with 200 attendants. The schools were 14 public day schools, with 1, 239 scholars; 41 private day schools, with 582 s.; 25 Sunday schools, with 1,867 s.; and 5 evening schools for adults, with 248 s. The workhouse is in Hellingly.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Hailsham CP/AP       Hailsham RegD/PLU       Sussex AncC
Place: Hailsham

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