Boarhunt

At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, Tezelin held one hide of Hugh de Port at Boarhunt. Lefsi and Merman had held it as an alod under Edward the Confessor. The manor paid geld for one hide. There was land for one plough on the demesne. The survey records one mill worth five shillings. The total value was twenty shillings.

In the reign of Henry III, Herbert de Boarhunt held the manor of Robert de St John and owed the service of two knights' fees. The family took the name Boarhunt in the early thirteenth century. Thomas de Boarhunt held the manor in 1262.

In 1312 Sir Herbert Boarhunt was murdered. The manor was divided between his two sons. Richard, the elder, retained the manor proper as Boarhunt. Henry, the younger, received the portion later known as Boarhunt Herbelyn.

Sir Richard de Boarhunt settled the manor on his son Thomas in 1305 for his own lifetime. In 1314 it was settled jointly on Thomas and his wife Margaret in fee. Thomas held the manor in 1316. He died seised in 1339. Margaret married William Danvers as her second husband and held the manor until her death before 1359.

In 1358 Richard de Boarhunt received a grant of free warren in his demesne lands. He also received the right to hold a market every Saturday and a fair annually for three days on the eve, day and morrow of St Thomas the Apostle. No trace of the fair survives.

In 1359 the manor passed to John de Boarhunt and his wife Mary des Roches. John died seised in the same year, leaving a son John aged fourteen. The younger John appears to have died soon after.

In 1363 Mary, now wife of Bernard de Brocas, held the reversion. She transferred her interest to Valentine atte Mede of Bramdean. In 1365 Bernard de Brocas and Mary conveyed the estate to William of Wykeham, then archdeacon of Lincoln. In 1367 Valentine atte Mede granted his rights to William of Wykeham, now Bishop of Winchester. The manor was sometimes called Boarhunt Herberd after this date.

In 1369 the king confirmed the manor to William of Wykeham to give to the prior and convent of Southwick, including all lands formerly held by John de Boarhunt. The priory held the manor until the Dissolution.

In 1543 the manor was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. In 1544 a licence was granted to alienate it to John White of Southwick. The manor followed the descent of Southwick manor thereafter. At the time of the VCH publication, the lord was Alexander Thistlethwayte.