All the water didn't begin to go away really until the late 13th century, when there were a series of rather nasty bits of weather which drowned Winchelsea and caused the river Rother to change course which isolated Rye and in Pevensey's case it stirred up the seabed so that the silt from the river Ashburn couldn't get out, so it began to silt up.

Two or three years ago they sent up to Dungeness and brought back 140,000 tons of shingle and put it back on the beach! That's the story of why Pevensey became such a useful port.

Now the map shows an enlargement of the peninsular with Pevensey castle at the end so that the peninsular was sticking out into the English Channel. At the moment we're sitting on what was the bottom of the sea!

The bit to the north was sheltered and that originally was the anchorage of the Roman fleet, and later became the port of Pevensey, and when they were digging foundations for cottages just past the village hall they came across traces of landing stages and jetties so we know it was a port.

When William (the conqueror) came he knew what he was doing because at that time the whole of Sussex was isolated from the rest of England by what is now the Ashdown forest. But at that time there was no way William could move an army though that forest to get up to London, the only way was from Hastings, which is why he had to start at Hastings. Hastings, however, is sheer cliffs, and you wouldn't invade.

William I believe landed at Pevensey, after a good look round, because he had parking space for his 700 boats, a ready made fortress and he could then occupy Hastings from this side.

It wasn't until 1287 that the tide really started to go out.

In 1204 King John got kicked out of his territorial positions on the continent, and the French had a nasty habit of crossing the channel and setting fire to the odd town etc. so he needed a bigger navy to control the straits, and he added Pevensey and Seaford to the confederation of Cinque Ports, which is why we have a town hall here.

Now outside the Royal Oak there is a tree with iron railings around it, and that was the site of the stocks where prisoners were kept until the time came for punishment, which was hanging, flogging or what have you. In a document dated 1356 it states that a 'free man' of a Cinque Port had the privilege of not being hung but being bound by hands and ankles and thrown into the sea off of Pevensey bridge!

CaSPIR... I think I'd rather be hung!

Jeff... Well it was a privilege you see! In 1886, by act of parliament they did away with rotten boroughs and places like this, like Pevensey that have changed in character. It's been a busy place but its hay day I suppose was just when the Port was beginning to fail, and smuggling became a local industry. Iron smelting was as well! It's not generally known but it was a very large iron producing county, up at Buxted and Ashburnham they were making cannon. They were floated down into Pevensey harbour and put on ships and taken round to London via the Thames or Chatham dockyards via the Medway.

But in 1541 the present Courthouse building was built in Henry VIII time. That was equipped with prison cells and the courtroom and originally there were quite a few cells. There is only two now but the house next door was built in about 1700 for the use of the Jailor, and in that house the foundations for about another 6 cells can be seen in foundation form.

You see there was no established law and order, you had the Beadle, he was responsible for law and order, court proceedings, and his original uniform is still in the courthouse along with his handcuffs, his wands of office and his rattle for summoning assistance if he wanted it! In the accounts we have very little records but some one has extracted our accounts at one stage, and to part share for arresting an armed vagrant, 5 and 4pence, but there were three of them arrested the armed vagrant, the beadle, another court official and an oddbod from outside and I reckon the 5 and 4pence was for the oddbod (laughs). The other two would have had their money added to their salaries, which means that 16 shillings was the going rate for an armed vagrant! (Laughs)

CaSPIR... You sound like you've enjoyed your time at the Courthouse?

Jeff... Being down there you dig into things and follow things through. People ask me things and if I don't know the answer I find out the answer. Quite often if you get the right people in you learn from them. I was shoehorned into this job about 8 years ago knowing very little but I've got enough books now to fill a library, I've learned a lot, and it's fascinating. It's given me a purpose in life. I spent about 4 or 5 years as a 24hr a day carer and I think taking this job on stopped me going into decline because these things hit you afterwards. Anyway I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I've done a fair amount of research on things but most of our records were burnt in 1886 when they dissolved the cooperation. The parish Clark saw what was going on and stopped it happening. Still some of the church records help started by Thomas Cromwell, he decreed that parishes should keep a record of all the births and marriages etc. So there's nothing before the 1500's anyway although a lot must have happened in the 1300's when it was a going concern but it's been fascinating to me all these years and a paranormal group used to come down and do what you're doing and they said there was a lot of activity especially down in the cells, little blobs of light, sources of energy, am I right?

CaSPIR... Sources of energy is what they can be yes.

Jeff... One of my friends who helps down there is very receptive, and this team had a camera and my friend came in sat down on the bench and held out her hands and a whole cascade of blobs of light landed on her hands. The girl was petrified, 'I'll never strop again' is what she said (laughs).

CaSPIR... Was that captured on film?

Jeff... Yes, but I don't know whether it's still on film. But they played it back at the time and we watched it. They had some of us in to show us what they did but it was in November. It's an uncharitable place in the winter. We keep the storage heaters on in the winter to stop the costumes going mildew. The place is original, they beefed up the roof trusses, but the old Tudor beams are still there. The Magistrates bench and the Clarks bench I don't really know the history of. I think it's quite possible that they stripped the place when they vacated it, and I rather think that the Magistrates bench at least may have come from the old Pevensey school because it has the old ink wells in it and they didn't have that back then, they would have had a big pot with a quill pen and in any case it was the Clark who did the writing.

So I think this is probably how it was with a very small dock but there is an awful lot in the place which you can poke about and look at. We've got the old original town weights and measures which has everything from 2grammes up to half a hundred weight. Were you ever told in your youth that you would eat a peck of dirt before you died? There is a genuine 'peck' in there!

CaSPIR... I don't think I want to see that now! (Laughs)

Jeff... Well it's two gallons!

CaSPIR... Really? Well I guess you have to build up your immune system somehow! (Laughs) Do you know if there are any deaths associated with the Jail at all?

Jeff... I think on one occasion during the war. Well those benches that are in the cells now were put there in 1939, and if you look at them they are led covered, because the place was ear marked for possible use as a mortuary. On one occasion a doodlebug came down and a chap in one of the houses was killed and he possibly went in there. The probability is that in there was a muddy floor with a heap of straw and it probably served more than one person. I've tried to get our records out of the county archives but it's difficult. There's only one thing in there which is absolutely cut and dried. There was one chap in 1830 who was committed to the Pevensey house of correction for one week having been convicted of being, well a rowdy and idle person I should think (seeking arms from the vicar of Westham)! (Laughs)

CaSPIR... Is there electricity in there?

Jeff... Yes, there obviously was gas in the 19th century because there's a gas bracket in the robing room. There are fluorescent tubes downstairs. I got caught down there once, we had a meeting upstairs and for some reason they wanted the lights on downstairs and I had to do brail all the way down the hall to find the lights.

CaSPIR... Have you ever felt uneasy in the courthouse or had any strange experiences?

Jeff... Not in there, I've had a couple of odd experiences but not in there no. Most of the punishments were flogging or hanging. There is one story in there of a Mary Taylor, she pinched a bale of cloth and her punishment was being tied to the tail of a cart stripped to the waist and whipped all the way to Westham and back, until her back had been blooded. So that's the kind of punishments there were. The executions were very public as an example to everyone else. Then it became a public entertainment until about 1700's when they stopped making it public.

Both my odd experiences were with the dog. As you go past Westham church there is a squeeze gate, I went in with the dog and we got to the end of the footpath and all of a sudden the dog turned round and dragged me out of the churchyard about 20mph and then he looked back and stood up and peered back over the churchyard wall! On another occasion coming down the slope late one night with the dog I could see two men walking towards me down the slope, so I carried on but when I got to the street lamp they disappeared!

That castle has seen a lot of activity but it's very expensive to do there what you want to do. We do it for nothing at the courthouse but there is a donation box there if you'd like to put something in we'd be delighted. Our insurance has gone up to £1700 a year, and we're not covering our outgoings. Electricity costs quite a bit as we have to keep the lights on most of the year especially if it's a dull day!

Pevensey is a wonderful place to live, I came here in 1960 and we had a working farm back then. You could drive into Eastbourne park outside the shops, do your shopping and drive home again! You couldn't do that now (laughs).

We would like to thank Jeff very much for his time, his knowledge and his warm, friendly welcome to us. The Pevensey Courthouse & Jail Museum is a wonderful step back in time to the medieval years with many fascinating exhibits of local life and customs and is well worth a visit. There is a donation box within the courthouse itself and all donations, no matter how small, would be gratefully received.

The Pevensey Courthouse & Jail Museum is open from the 1st May to the 30th September every day from 10:00am to 5:00pm and can be found on Pevensey High Street.

Telephone: 07845 758213 for more details.

© County Society for Paranormal Investigation and Research - 2008

 

Last Updated 27/07/2008