Publications
Alciston Manor in the Later Middle Ages, by Judith Brent, published 1968 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 106, article, pp.89-102) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2191] & The Keep [LIB/500323] & S.A.S. library
The History of a Parish or Locality, by Judith A. Brent, published 1970 (handbook, 16 pp., East Sussex Record Office) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Review by G. D. J. [G. D. Johnston] in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1970:"The purpose of this publication is to familiarize those starting research on the history of their locality or parish with the printed and documentary sources likely to be most valuable to them." So are the opening words of the Introduction. This aim is well achieved; the various sources are set out under numerous headings and information given as to where unprinted documents can be seen or referred to. Every Local Historian in Sussex should obtain a copy and make full use of it.
A Catalogue of the Battle Abbey Estate Archives, by Judith A. Brent, published 1973 (75 pp., East Sussex Record Office, ISBN-10: 0900348054 & ISBN-13: 9780900348051) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/504704] & East Sussex Libraries
The Hickstead Place archives: A catalogue, by Judith A. Brent, published 1975 (124 pp., Lewes: East Sussex County Council, ISBN-10: 0900348062 & ISBN-13: 9780900348068) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12686][Lib 6135] & The Keep [LIB/504705] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
The Pooles of Chailey and Lewes. the Establishment and Influence of a Gentry Family, 1732-1739, by Judith Brent, published 1976 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 114, article, pp.69-80) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6476] & The Keep [LIB/500315] & S.A.S. library
A Day's Ramble in Lewes, by Colin Brent and Judith Brent, published 1977 (The Friends of Lewes Society)
A Dispute over Iron Ore between two County Grandees, edited by Judith Brent, published 1977 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 11, article, pp.20-26) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558] Download PDF
Abstract:Given below are extracts from correspondence between Sir Richard Sackville and Sir Edward Gage in 1560 and 1562 which is deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society. (G6/50) Sir Richard Sackville, first cousin to Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth, had established himself as a prominent member of the rising gentry before her accession, having grown rich by the exploitation of secularised monastic and chantry property. In 1558 he was elected M.P. for Kent and in 1563 for Sussex. Sir Edward Gage's father, Sir John Gage, a prominent and successful courtier under Henry VIII and Queen Mary, had also waxed rich through the purchase of monastic properties but the continuing allegiance of Sir Edward Gage to Roman Catholicism may have sapped somewhat his local standing and power. Rest Hills, the copyhold in question, lay on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest in the Manor of Maresfield but in the parish of East Grinstead adjoining the highway from Newbridge to Forest Row and consisted of 111/2 acres of arable and 511/2 acres of woodland.(see G6/10).
East Sussex Record Office: A Short Guide, by Judith A. Brent, published 1983 (22 pp., Lewes: East Sussex County Council) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
The Dedication of St Anne's Church, Lewes, by Colin Brent and Judith Brent, published 1993 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 131, historical note, pp.200-201) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12210] & The Keep [LIB/500300] & S.A.S. library
Printers' Scrapbooks: Unique Resource Catalogued - Valuable local history archive now on-line, by Judy Brent, published August 2010 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 121, article, p.9, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library View Online
Preview:A fine collection of Lewes handbills dating from 1768- 1777 was the subject of a detailed article by Stanley Godman in Sussex Archaeological Collections 97 (1959). However, six additional scrapbooks contain over a thousand posters, broadsheets, billheads and other printed ephemera. Each item has recently been catalogued by Library volunteers and entered on a database which can be searched by person, place and subject.
Danny House: A Sussex Mansion through Seven Centuries, by Colin Brent and Judith Brent, published 2013 (Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506764] & West Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Danny House, a splendid Grade-One Elizabethan mansion nestling under iconic Wolstonbury Hill, due south of Hurstpierpoint, boasts 141 rooms, including cellars. From 1657 Peter Courthope owned Danny for 68 years, allowing village cricket on his Sandfield, the earliest known ground in Sussex. In the 1720s his son-in-law Henry Campion gave the south wing a Baroque facade, elegant rooms and curving staircase. His descendants owned Danny until 1983. Danny's new owner is Richard Burrows.
Review by Margaret Thorburn in Sussex Past & Present no. 131, December 2013:In this modestly-sized volume, beautifully produced by Phillimore, the long history of Danny House and Park, situated below Wolstonbury Hill near Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, has been skilfully brought together to make an enthralling read. Not only have the authors, Colin and Judy Brent, been able to draw facts from various archive sources, there is also a wealth of illustrations - in fact there are 147 altogether, many in colour, to surprise and delight the reader.
The house and estate reflect, through their owners' lives, political, economic and personal events through the centuries. Formerly a medieval hunting park, Danny was revived as a country house by a rising Elizabethan called Gregory Dacre. But it was George Goring, also a rising courtier, who built the new house in 1582 on the E footprint, with a Great Hall 'its windows reaching from floor to roof' which can still be admired today.
Through the following century and during the disturbing events of the Civil War, Cavalier and Royalist Colonel George Goring based his family at Danny House. By the later seventeenth century, increasing prosperity resulting from commerce and industry, including iron-working, enabled the Courthopes, a gentry family based in Kent, to purchase Danny House and estates in 1653. A Courthope heiress, Barbara, married Henry Campion, and by 1728 they had remodelled the south wing, using a blend of red brick and Portland stone for the façade. This pleasing part of the house overlooks the rose gardens today.
The Victorian period proved to be a bountiful time for the Campion squires and their wives, dutifully carrying out the good works expected of them both locally and in a county context, including military duties. They enriched the gardens with exotic new fruits and planted specimen trees in the park and improved the farms. Here the book is enhanced by photographs of the Campion family taken in the setting of their beautiful house and gardens.
Then came troublesome times and two World Wars which greatly affected families trying to maintain large country houses in the twentieth century. Danny House changed to a 'letting house' and, for a period, to institutional use. Eventually in 1984 the momentous decision was taken for the 'Great Dispersal'.
The story of Danny is like a thriller - will there be a survival or final extinction? Of course the reader knows the answer, or they will if they read the Introduction by Richard Burrows, the present owner, and the final chapter. Now 35 residentshave comfortable apartments in the well-cared for mansion set in a delectable landscape.
The house and estate reflect, through their owners' lives, political, economic and personal events through the centuries. Formerly a medieval hunting park, Danny was revived as a country house by a rising Elizabethan called Gregory Dacre. But it was George Goring, also a rising courtier, who built the new house in 1582 on the E footprint, with a Great Hall 'its windows reaching from floor to roof' which can still be admired today.
Through the following century and during the disturbing events of the Civil War, Cavalier and Royalist Colonel George Goring based his family at Danny House. By the later seventeenth century, increasing prosperity resulting from commerce and industry, including iron-working, enabled the Courthopes, a gentry family based in Kent, to purchase Danny House and estates in 1653. A Courthope heiress, Barbara, married Henry Campion, and by 1728 they had remodelled the south wing, using a blend of red brick and Portland stone for the façade. This pleasing part of the house overlooks the rose gardens today.
The Victorian period proved to be a bountiful time for the Campion squires and their wives, dutifully carrying out the good works expected of them both locally and in a county context, including military duties. They enriched the gardens with exotic new fruits and planted specimen trees in the park and improved the farms. Here the book is enhanced by photographs of the Campion family taken in the setting of their beautiful house and gardens.
Then came troublesome times and two World Wars which greatly affected families trying to maintain large country houses in the twentieth century. Danny House changed to a 'letting house' and, for a period, to institutional use. Eventually in 1984 the momentous decision was taken for the 'Great Dispersal'.
The story of Danny is like a thriller - will there be a survival or final extinction? Of course the reader knows the answer, or they will if they read the Introduction by Richard Burrows, the present owner, and the final chapter. Now 35 residentshave comfortable apartments in the well-cared for mansion set in a delectable landscape.