sesses a charity school for forty boys. The abbey and grounds can be seen only on Monday.
ASHBURNHAM .
About four miles beyond Battle, and twelve from Hastings, is Ashburnham, from which a very ancient family derives its name. Bertram de Ashburnham was sheriff of the three counties, Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, when William of Normandy invaded England ; after the battle of Hastings he defended Dover Castle, and was beheaded by the Conqueror for not immediately delivering it up to him ; the family did not through this lose their estates, though they were looked upon by the king as his enemies, consequently they did not appear in public for along time. In the reigns of Richard the Second and Henry the Fourth, John Ashburnham was knight of the shire for Sussex, and sheriff of Surrey and Sussex ; his son and grandson Thomas, in Edward the Fourth and Henry the Seventh's reigns, held the same office. William Ashburnham was one of the first who took up arms for Charles the First ; he was major-general of the king's forces in the west, and governor of Weymouth. Though he committed a great mistake after the defeat of the king's party, by conducting his sovereign to Colonel Hammond, governor of the Isle of Wight, who gave him into the power of the army, yet his attachment to the king was never for one moment doubted, either by Charles the First or Second ; the latter, after his restoration in 1649, rewarded him with the place of cofferer. His elder brother John was groom of the bedchamber to their majesties Charles the First and Second .
In the church, which was built by John Ashburnham in 1633, are preserved in a glass case, lined with red velvet, some relics of the unfortunate Charles -
