Useful sources:

• The Local History Companion by Stephen Friar published by Sutton Publishing Limited in 2001
• Sussex Place-Names by Judith Glover published by Countryside Books in 1997

advowson ⇒ the right to appoint a priest to an ecclesiastical benefice

almshouse ⇒ charitable foundations to care for the elderly, poor, infirm and wayfarers

assert, assart ⇒ land newly cleared for tillage and cultivation

berg, borg ⇒ hill

bloomery ⇒ a forge that produced iron bars known as 'blooms'

boc ⇒ beech (e.g. Buxted - derived from boc stede or beech place)

bridle-way, bridle-path ⇒ a highway over which the public have rights of way on foot and on horseback

brook ⇒ a meadow abutting on a stream which is liable to flooding

burh ⇒ fortified town or dwelling

carucate ⇒ a plough-land

chapel of ease ⇒ a chapel provided for the ease of those living at some distance from the parish church

chuck ⇒ block of wood

close rolls ⇒ registered copies of private letters and documents of the Royal Court of Chancery such as conveyances and writs

copyhold ⇒ copyholders held their land by right of a title entered in the manor court rolls, a copy of which was given to them

curtilage ⇒ the court and outbuildings attached to a dwelling-house

demesne ⇒ land attached to a mansion

den or denn ⇒ woodland pasture (e.g. Birchden - a woodland pasture amongst birch trees)

estovers ⇒ the right to dig turf from the wasteland of a Manor

feet of fines ⇒ a formal conveyance of land

fleche or fletch ⇒ arrow (e.g. Fletching - where arrows were made)

frankpledge ⇒ the responsibility of a small community to ensure that anyone accused of an offence was available to answer the charge at court

gill ⇒ a narrow, steep-sided valley with a stream running through it

glebe ⇒ a piece of land serving as part of a clergyman's benefice and providing income

ham ⇒ settlement

hamm ⇒ water meadow (e.g. Blackham - a black water meadow)

hammer pond ⇒ a type of mill pond associated with the production of iron

hatch ⇒ a fenced enclosure

heriot ⇒ an obligation upon an heir to return property, donate the best animal or make a payment to the lord of the manor prior to being allowed to enter the inherited land

hoath ⇒ a clearing on heathland (e.g. East Hoathly - the eastern part of a clearing on heathland)

hundred ⇒ a tenth century administrative division of a shire or rape (e.g. Rotherfield hundred)

hurst or hyrst ⇒ wooded hill

knight's fee or service ⇒ a feudal obligation to provide military service to the Crown for forty days each year

manor ⇒ a feudal estate and, in essence, the forerunner of local government through its system of Manor Courts recorded in Court Rolls

marl ⇒ soil consisting of clay and lime, with fertilizing properties

marlpit ⇒ an open pit, the primary purpose being to obtain marl for improving the soil, and a frequent secondary one being the extraction of the iron ore below the marl

mere ⇒ pool (e.g. Maresfield - derived fom Meresfield - open land and pools)

messuage ⇒ a dwelling house with outbuildings and land assigned to its use

peculiar ⇒ property exempted from the jurisdiction of the diocese in which it lies

perry ⇒ pear or fruit tree (e.g. Perryfield - a field of fruit trees)

rape ⇒ an area consisting of several hundreds (e.g. The Sussex Rapes were - Chichester, Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, Pevensey and Hastings)

reredos ⇒ a decorative stone or wood screen

stede ⇒ place (e.g. Horsted - the horse place)

subsidy rolls ⇒ list of tax payers

tithe ⇒ a tax of one-tenth of the annual produce of land or labour formerly levied to support the clergy and the Church

tun ⇒ farmstead or manor

tye ⇒ an enclosed common or large open field (e.g. Holtye - an enclosed common by a hollow)

villein ⇒ an unfree tenant who held land subject to agricultural service and fines

virgate ⇒ a yardland, about 30 acres

weald ⇒ forest or woodland (e.g. Andredesweald - the forest of Anderida)