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RINGMER is a village and parish, situated on the road from Lewes to Hailsham, 3 miles from Lewes, and 48 by road from London, in the Southern division of the county, Ringmer hundred, Lewes petty sessional division and county court district, Pevensey rape, Chailey union, rural deanery of Lewes (first division) and archdeaconry of Lewes and diocese of Chichester. The church of St. Mary the Virgin is an ancient building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel with aisles, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, containing 8 bells and a clock with Westminster chimes : the original tower was destroyed by fire about two hundred years since, but was rebuilt of Sussex sandstone in 1886, by the munificence of W.L. Christie esq. of Glyndebourne, in accord with the main fabric, from designs by Mr. Ewan Christian, architect, of London : the church contains numerous monuments and several brasses, and there are 400 sittings. The register commences in the year 1560. The living is a vicarage; average yearly value from tithe rent-charge, £323, with residence, in the gift of the archbishop of Canterbury, and held since 1863 by the Rev. Edward Symons, M.A., of Wadham College, Oxford. Col. Duncan is the lay rector and impropriator of the great tithes. Here is a Congregational chapel, built in 1871, with sittings for 230. Hay's charity, left in the year 1787 by Miss Hays, consists of £2,900 £2¾ Consols and £2,500 bank stock; the interest, now amounting to about £336 yearly, is divided between the poor of Ringmer and Glynde; the pensioners on this charity are now 2 at £20 yearly, 1 in each parish, 11 at £10 and 29 at £5 yearly; about £30 from Cheney's charity is expended yearly in the maintenance of an almshouse, and Thomas's and Stapeley's charity of £10 yearly is applied to educational purposes. Broyle Place, an ancient mansion, of which only a portion remains, is supposed to have been built by one of the archbishops of Canterbury, and is now occupied as a farmhouse. A part of the horse artillery barracks, formerly standing near the village, has been converted into a kennel for the South Down fox hounds, of which the Hon. Charles Brand is master. The pack hunts four times a week. Brighton, Lewes and Eastbourne are convenient places for hunting visitors. The principal landowners are William Langham Christie esq. D.L., J.P. who is lord of the manor, Lord Monk Bretton P.C. Sir James Duke bart. and Sir Charles William Blunt bart. J.P. The soil is clay; subsoil, chalk. The chief crops are wheat and beans. The area is 5,626 acres; rateable value, £7,761 ; the population in 1881 was 1,388.
POST, M.O. & T.O., S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office. - Thomas Miller, sub-postmaster, Ringmer green. Letters arrive through Lewes 7 a.m. & 4 p.m. ; dispatched at 1 & 6.30 p.m. on week days, & 11 a.m. on sundays WALL LETTER BOX, Park gate, cleared at 5.45 p.m. & 9 a.m. on sundays PILLAR LETTER BOX, Railway inn, Laughton road, cleared at 5.45 week days only A School Board of 5 members was formed in 1875 ; F.J. Jones, clerk to the board ; John Body, attendance officer. Board School, built in 1879, for 230 children ; average attendance, 215 ; Martin Luther Jackson, master ; Mrs. M.L. Jackson, mistress |
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PRIVATE RESIDENTS. Burgess Henry COMMERCIAL. Baker John William, Railway inn, Laughton road |
