have God before their eyes, shall well and faithfully execute and fulfil effectually this present will. The residue of all my moveable goods not above bequeathed I give to Joan, my wife, that she may so order and dispose of in such manner for the health of my soul and the souls of all my benefactors as it shall seem most expedient to her. In testimony of which I have affixed my seal. Dated the day and year above written"
The subjoined small views represent the church before and after its restoration.
| ALL SAINTS' (the Upper Church) stands at the foot of the East Hill at the entrance of the town. It is large and lofty; the period of its erection is uncertain, some portion indicating the Early, and other the florid style of English architecture. It is mainly of the 15th century, and consists of chancel, nave, with aisles, south porch, and a western embattled tower 73 feet high, supported by buttresses in three diminished stages. The belfry-containing five bells, is vaulted with stone, and in the chancel are three sedilia and a piscina. On a slab of black marble at the east end of the north aisle are figures of a man and woman with clasped hands, which formerly bore the slate of 1458. There is also a brass for Thomas ALL SAINTS CHURCH, Goodenough, and Margaret his wife, for whom a Paternoster and an Ave are solicited. In 1586, Henry Elkes, B.A., was executed at Tyburn for counterfeiting the Queen's signature, to procure his presentation to the parsonage of All Saints. Here lie the remains of George Mogridge ("Old Humphrey") of pleasant memory. Titus Oates the ministerial informer, who rendered himself so notorious in the reign of Charles II., was officiating minister in this church. The house in which he lived is still pointed out in the All Saints' Street. His father, Samuel Oates, was also among the rectors. |
Another Query by "E. M." [Edward Marshall] was "Will anyone oblige me with a statement of Mr. Lower's opinion respecting the enclosure on the East Hill called the "Encampment", at greater length than in Hastings Past and Present. When was it fenced in and planted as a garden? What is the exact site of St. George's Burial Ground, mentioned pp 46-7 of the same work? “One of the groynes is called 'Rock-a-Nore groyne'. What is the meaning of the name and whence is it derived?" "In the Catalogue of Battle Abbey Charters, &c., mention is made of lands called 'Park-gate Hill, in the parish of St. Mary within the Castle of Hastings'. It occurs in a Rental of the College of Hastings', date 1594. Is the exact site of the lands called Park-gate Hill known and the name still in use? E. M."
No replies. There appears to have been - at that time - no replies to the last-named queries; but several years later, one of the questions was put to the editor of the St. Leonards Gazette, who gave the following:-
ROCK-A-NORE.
We have been asked, "From what did Rock-a-Nore originally receive its name?" As the solution has never been made clear to us, we do not feel competent to answer the question, but the following extract from old records may throw some light upon it:-
"On the 25th day of January, 1581, a special commission was held to receive the deposition of witnesses concerning the concealed Chantry lands and other property, when one of the presentments was as follows:-" Item, they die present one lytle plotte of waste grounde wher upon bath stande suine tymes one lytle shopp late in the occupacion of one Willyam Creassye; which shop aboute fower or fyve yeeres past was drawen from the said plotte of grounde by the sayd Creassye after he had bought the same of Mr. Hutton lyinge to the Mayne Kocke azainst the North, and to the gardeyn of the sayd Creassye against the west and to the Queen's high waye leading from Hastinge to the Pryory against sowth, worthe by the yere aboute-and sold by the sayd Hutton unto the sayd Croussye for the value of xiijs. iiijd or ther aboutes." This appears to mean (putting it concisely in modern language) that there was a small plot of ground against the cliff, or Rock at North (Rock-a-Nore) on which had stood a small shop, but which, 4 or 5 years ago, was removed southward (or south-westward) to the Priory out of the then limits of the town. It was the common practice even not more than 60 or 70 years ago for rope-shops belonging to the fishermen to be placed on low wheels, so that they might be drawn out of the reach of very high tides. We see here that the Priory is described as at the south, and it may be that what we now call Rock-a-nore was the Rock at north, in contradistinction to the White Rock, which even in our own time was greatly more to the south, and probably still more so, centuries ago, ere the action of the sea or some other effort of nature reduced its dimensions.
