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RINGMER is a village and parish, 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 is supposed to have been destroyed by fire in the 15th century, but was rebuilt of Sussex sandstone during the year 1884-5, 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 was restored in 1884-5 at a cost £3,002, and 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, £299, with residence, in the gift of the archbishop of Canterbury, and held since 1891 by the Rev. Frank Barrow Gribbell B.D. Cantuar. Col. Duncan is the lay rector and impropriator of the great tithes. Here is a Congregational chapel, built in 1871, with sittings for 230. Hays' 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. Delves House, an ancient and interesting building, pleasantly situated adjacent to Ringmer green, is the property and residence of Aubrey Balliol de Putron esq. Oaklands, a good residence at the extreme north of the parish, and the property of W.L. Christie esq. Is at present (1895) unoccupied. Broyle Place, an ancient mansion, of which only a portion now remains, is supposed to have been built by one of the archbishops of Canterbury, and is occupied as a farmhouse. The South Down Hunt Steeplechases are held here in April, and are well attended; the course is near Broyle mill. A part of the former horse artillery barracks, standing near the village, has been converted into a kennel for the South Down fox hounds, consisting of upwards of 50 couples, of which the Hon. Charles Brand is master. The pack hunts four times a week. Brighton, Uckfield and Lewes are convenient places for hunting visitors. William Langham Christie esq. of Glyndebourne, who is lord of the manor, Lord Monk Bretton P.C. and Sir James Duke bart. are the principal landowners. The soil is clay; subsoil, chalk. The chief crops are wheat and beans. The area is 5,626 acres; rateable value, £7,923 ; the population in 1891 was 1,497.
Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B., Express Delivery & Annuity & Insurance Office. - George Fredk. Hollaway, 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 Bank holidays 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 Pillar Letter Box (junction of Laughton & Shortgate roads), cleared at 6 p.m. week days only A School Board of 5 members was formed 16 Dec. 1875 ; John Miles, 73 High street, Lewes, clerk to the board ; John Body, attendance officer Board School, built in 1879, for 230 children, & enlarged in 1893 for an additional 70 children; average attendance, mixed department, 166; infants' department. 87; Martin Luther Jackson, master; Mrs. M.L. Jackson, infants'mistress |
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PRIVATE RESIDENTS. Benbow Hy. D.S.O., R.N. Merton ho COMMERCIAL. Andrew George Lovering, farmer, Plashett farm |
