I extract the following from Horsfield's " History of Sussex" :
"Hurstmonceux was built in the reign of Henry VI. by Roger de Fynns, Treasurer to the Royal House hold. The building was formerly said to be very similar to Eton College, the kitchen more particularly so. A letter from Walpole says, ' They shewed us a dismal chamber, which they called " Drummer's Hall," and it is supposed that Addison's comedy is derived from it. This chamber was situated on the left on entering the Castle. It took its name from the intrigues of one Tartare or Tart, a French gardener, who alarmed the family by beating after the manner of a drum to frighten the inmates- no doubt done to conceal the operations of the smugglers, who frequented the Hall, and whose friend the gardener was.'
"An iron chest was accidentally discovered in a recess leading to the attic in 1738 by one John Miller, a domestic in the family, and young Lancaster, a son of the steward, then boys at play. They found the chest in the wall, with two large hammers affixed thereto -- they removed it into the room, and on striking it the sound resembled that of a kettle-drum . They ran to communicate the joyful tidings to others, and on their return the chest was gone, and never after heard of, though every means were used to discover the thief.
Report says, three persons rose suddenly from poverty to affluence, and every one of them died mad.
