Compton

The earliest probable reference to Compton is in King Alfred's will (c. 899), in which "Cumtun" was bequeathed to his nephew Aethelm. In 1015 Aethelstan Aetheling granted "Cumtun" to Godwin son of Wulfnoth. By the time of Edward the Confessor the vill was held by Sbern (Osbern) of Earl Godwin. At the Domesday survey of 1086 it was assessed at 10 hides, with a further hide in Wotton Hundred, Surrey, attached to it, held by Geoffrey of Earl Roger de Montgomery. A church was recorded. The overlordship thereafter descended with the Honour of Arundel.

The mesne lordship was acquired by the St. John family. Roger de St. John granted the church of Compton to Lewes Priory before the middle of the twelfth century. About 1175 William de St. John confirmed that grant, stipulating a requirement of personal service. The St. John interest continued until Edmund de St. John, who died in 1347 as the last of the male line. His estate was divided: half a fee passed in dower to his widow Elizabeth, with reversion to his daughters Margaret (wife of John de St. Philibert) and Isabel. Isabel married first Henry de Burghersh and then Michael de Poynings; the St. John share came with the manor of Halnaker to the Poynings family.

Beneath the St. John lords the manor was divided among several families. Henry de Lyons obtained land at Compton in 1279 and was the largest contributor to the subsidy in 1296. John de Lyons held a quarter fee in 1329, 1336, 1347, and 1349, after which his name disappears from the record, possibly a casualty of the Black Death. Baldwin de Lisle purchased land from Geoffrey de Lisle in 1279. His widow Joan claimed dower in 1307. Joan de Lisle died seised of a life interest in 1349, leaving a grandson John de Lisle aged six. Elizabeth de Lisle, his heir, married John de Bramshott.

John de Bramshott's grandson John died in 1479, leaving two daughters: Elizabeth, who married Sir John Dudley, and Margaret, who married Sir John Pakenham. The Dudley moiety passed to Edmund Dudley, who was attainted in 1510. William Ernley acquired a third of the manor in 1531. A distinct second manor of Compton was granted in 1461 to Thomas Vaughan and Eleanor, formerly wife of Sir Thomas Browne, and descended through the Browne family.

In 1653 Robert Peckham acquired the manor from Thomas Pay. His son purchased a further portion from Sir William Morley in 1699, consolidating the estate. Richard Peckham died a minor in 1734, and the property passed to his sister Sarah, who married Thomas Phipps in 1742. Thomas Peckham Phipps bequeathed the estate to his godson Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby. By 1922 and 1938, Mrs. Pollock was recorded as the lady of the reputed manor and principal landowner in the parish.