From Kelly’s Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867
TICEHURST is a parish, giving name to a union, 8 miles south-west from Cranbrook, on the road from Tunbridge Wells to Battle and Rye, in the Eastern division of the county, Shoyswell hundred, Ticehurst union, county court district of Tunbridge Wells, Hastings rape, diocese of Chichester, and archdeaconry of Lewes. The church of St. Mary is a neat ancient structure, with square tower containing 6 bells and clock, with a low shingled spire: it has nave, aisles, chancel, and chantries; the two former are divided by four arches on each side, and the latter by two arches on each side: in the chancel and chantries are three piscinae: the communion table is covered with crimson velvet, with the monogram I.H.S., presented by the ladies of Ticehurst: there is a curious old font, with carved oak top: the church was restored in 1857, and affords accommodation for 725 persons: £160 was granted for the purpose by the Society for Building Churches, by which means 421 seats were made free: in June, 1855, whilst removing the old floor under the communion-table, a brass was discovered, consisting of three figures in good preservation, to the memory of John Wybarne, and dated 1490. The register commences in 1559. The living is a vicarage, value £700 per annum with 15 acres of glebe land, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, and held by the Rev. Arthur Eden, M.A. of Queen’s College, Oxford. The vicarage house adjoining the church is brick built, erected in 1852 by the Rev. Arthur Eden, M.A., the present vicar. The National schools, erected in 1846, are a handsome pile of buildings, built and supported partly by subscriptions and Government grant: about a hundred of each sex are instructed. The Union Workhouse is a fine building, a mile and a half south-east of the village: it was erected in 1837, and will hold about 200 inmates: adjoining is an infirmary. The following eight parishes compose the union, viz., Bodiham, Burwash, Etchingham, Frant, Lamberhurst, Salehurst, Ticehurst, and Wadhurst. The area of the union is 51,576 acres, and the population 1861 was 14,635. The Mechanics’ Institute was established in 1853; there are 65 members: it has a good library of standard works, and is well supplied with London and provincial newspapers and periodicals; the Rev. Arthur Eden, M.A., is president. The Agricultural Society has been many years established, and is well supported by the neighbouring nobility, gentry and clergy. The village of Ticehurst is remarkably clean, has some neat villa residences and two good inns. The station is 3½ miles south-west from the village, and the Wadhurst and Etchingham stations are of easy access. The annual fairs are on May 4th and October 7th; the former for cattle, and the latter a pleasure fair. Here are places of worship for Wesleyans and Calvinists. George Campion Courthope, Esq., and the Earl of Chichester are lords of the manor; the former and Nathan Wetherell, Esq., are principal landowners. The charities are £44 per annum. There are some very handsome residences in this parish. Whilligh, the seat of George Campion Courthope, Esq., J.P., 3 miles from the village, is a large brick-built structure, surrounded by fine trees, in the centre of an extensive park, the estate and manorial rights descending in succession from John Courthope, Esq., who inherited the same in 1512: attached to this manor is a chantry in the Parish church. Vineyard has been the family residence of the Newingtons for upwards of three centuries: the old residence yielded to time in 1852 and the present structure was erected on its site by the then proprietor, Charles Hayes Newington, M.D., now deceased; the style is Elizabethan and Tudor: it is encircled by trees and labyrinths of ever-greens, laid out with neat walks and slopes: it is now used for convalescent nervous ladies. Ridgeway, the residence of Samuel Newington, Esq., M.D. is modern, built on an eminence, near to the high road from Wadhurst to Ticehurst, commanding extensive views; and on its summit is an observatory, from which may be seen Hastings to the south, Rye to the east, Maidstone to the north, and Lewes to the west. Here are spacious horticultural houses, renowned for producing the finest hothouse plants. Highlands, the property of Dr. Newington, is a splendid range of buildings, conspicuously and delightfully situated on an eminence, on the high road leading from Tunbridge Wells to Hastings, 4 miles west from Wadhurst railway station and half a mile from the village of Ticehurst: for nearly a century this pleasant abode has been a private asylum of the first class for the nervous and insane: the grounds are spacious, occupying 200 acres of land, intersected with walks, carriage drives, plantations and pleasure grounds; in the park are cricket, croquet and archery grounds and a bowling-green; in the vicinity of the latter is the Chinese Gallery; there are billiard rooms and various other places of amusement, and a museum: here the mind may be amused by the fountains, varieties of birds, medallion carvings and curiosities; a large conservatory opens here, presenting a gay appearance of fruit and flowers, and is always open to inmates and their friends: in the main building is a handsome chapel. The establishment consists of five houses, viz. The Highlands, The Asylum, The Vineyard, Ridgeway, and Prospect House. Pashley House, built in the reign of James I., in the occupation of Nathan Wetherell, Esq., is worthy of a visit; the interior for its antique oak carvings, wainscot and pannelling, and the green-house for varieties of flowers and foreign plants: the manor and estate formerly belonged to the family of Pashley: it subsequently became the property of the May family, until the marriage of Caroline, only surviving daughter of Thomas May, Esq. with the Rev. Richard Wetherell, from whom the manor and estate descended to the present proprietor, Nathan Wetherell, Esq. Pickford, the neat residence of Edward Curry, Esq., is situated in a valley, a quarter of a mile from the village: it was erected about 1826, and has well laid out grounds. The parish comprises 8,202 acres; the population in 1851 was 2,850, and in 1861 it was 2,768.
STONEGATE, 2½ miles south-west, is a chapelry of Ticehurst. The living is a perpetual curacy, with residence, in the gift of G. C. Courthope, Esq., and held by the Rev. J. Dawson, B.A., of Pembroke College, Cambridge. The population in 1861 was 525.
FLIMWELL, 2½ miles east, is a chapelry of Ticehurst. The living is a perpetual curacy, annual value £100, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Chichester, and held by the Rev. F. Howlett, M.A., of Worcester College, Oxford. The population in 1861 was 894.
Parish Clerk., William Kemp