ALDWICK MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry record is the Aldwick Manor of Pagham, Sussex, also historically associated with Little Aldwick. The supplied Pagham Bailiwick rentals, valuations, ministers' accounts, court rolls and surveys are consistent with the documented medieval and post-medieval manor of Aldwick, not merely the later civil parish or modern settlement. Local historical evidence records Aldwick as a separate manor by the medieval period, with its own manor house and courts, and traces the manor through the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Crown, Sir Richard Hotham and the Fletcher family.
Representative point: 50.7866, -0.6672
Basis: documented_estate_centre — Hotham Park House, formerly Chapel House and Bersted Lodge, was subsequently called Aldwick Manor. It became the residence of William Holland Ballett Fletcher after he inherited the lordship of Aldwick in 1899. The point is therefore a defensible documented later manorial/estate centre, although the building itself dates from 1793 and is not proven to be the medieval manor-house site.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence establishes the manor's location in the Aldwick tithing of Pagham and gives a quantified 1397 demesne extent of approximately 152 acres of arable land and 158 acres of pasture, excluding the manor-house site. It also identifies lost coastal land called Malemayns and later fragmentation of the manor's lands after the sixteenth century. However, the accessible sources do not provide a sufficiently clear, source-backed perimeter for the historical manorial land. The parish, modern Aldwick civil-parish boundary, Hotham Park boundary and later 575-acre Pagham Farm estate cannot safely be substituted for the manor boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Manorial Documents Register: Aldwick Manor, F255152: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F255152 — Registry identity, primary name, historical name Little Aldwick, and location in Pagham, Sussex.
- Aldwick Parish Council, Aldwick History: https://aldwickparishcouncil.gov.uk/about-aldwick/aldwick-history/ — States that Aldwick became a separate administrative and manorial centre of the Canterbury estates; records the 1397 extent of 152 acres of arable and 158 acres of pasture, the manor-house site, the lost Malemayns land, later ownership and the separation of Aldwick Farm.
- Aldwick Parish Council, Parish Design Statement: The History of Aldwick: https://aldwickparishcouncil.gov.uk/media/5249/parishdesignstatementjune15.pdf — Provides a fuller historical summary, including the medieval development of Aldwick Manor, the 1608, 1768 and 1786 surveys, the lost tithing of Charlton, coastal erosion and post-1542 subdivision of the manor lands.
- Historic England, A Delicious Retreat: The Marine Villa and its Setting in England c.1760-c.1840: https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/8852/ADeliciousRetreat_TheMarineVillaanditsSettinginEnglandC1760toC1840AContextualStudy — Identifies Hotham Park House as the 1792/1793 house built by Sir Richard Hotham, subsequently called Bersted Lodge and Aldwick Manor, and distinguishes it from the earlier manor history.
- Hotham Park House, listed building record based on Historic England entry 1027745: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101027745-hotham-park-house-bognor-regis — Supplies the mapped location and coordinates of Hotham Park House: OS grid SZ940994, latitude 50.7866, longitude -0.6672.
- The National Archives, survey and rental of Pagham Bailiwick, ED 2068: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14703503 — Supplied archival lead for the medieval territorial and tenurial structure of the Pagham Bailiwick, including Aldwick.
- The National Archives, survey of Aldwick and other manors, CLA/044/03/004/001: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14708623 — Supplied archival lead for the 1612 manorial survey relevant to identifying historical holdings and boundaries.
- The National Archives, survey of Aldwick and other manors, Add MS 6027: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14708797 — Supplied archival lead for the 1617 survey relevant to the post-medieval territorial extent of the manor.
- The National Archives, survey of Aldwick and other manors, CLA/044/03/006/019: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14709139 — Supplied archival lead for the 1625 survey relevant to historical manorial lands.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is a later documented house called Aldwick Manor, not a proven surviving medieval manor-house site.
- Aldwick Manor must not be equated with the whole ancient parish of Pagham, the modern Aldwick civil parish, the Hundred of Aldwick, Hotham Park, or the later Pagham Farm estate.
- The historical manor was affected by coastal erosion, including the loss of Malemayns and Charlton-related land, and by post-Dissolution subdivision; its extent therefore changed over time.
- No defensible historical manor polygon was found in the accessible evidence, so no boundary coordinates are returned.