Manor Profile
Slindon, West Sussex· Aldwick Hundred· 1086 – 1949
Slindon appears in the Domesday Survey as an 8-hide manor in the hundred of Binsted, held by Hugh under Earl Roger of Shrewsbury. Azor of Slindon had held it before the Conquest. The manor was valued at 20 pounds TRE, falling to 16 pounds in 1086, with 23 villeins, 12 bordars, 1.5 demesne ploughs, 7 men's ploughs and a church.
Shortly after Domesday, the manor was given to Christ Church Canterbury. In 1106 Henry I, at Archbishop Anselm's request, restored Slindon to the archbishopric, to be held as two knights' fees. The archbishops used Slindon House as an occasional residence. Stephen Langton died here in 1228. Archbishop John Pecham held ordinations in the chapel in 1288 and 1291. In 1451 Robert Huberden farmed the manor at 26 pounds 13s. 4d. In 1535 the manor was valued at 37 pounds 18s. 11d.
In 1542 Archbishop Cranmer exchanged Slindon with Henry VIII. In 1552 it was granted to Sir Thomas Palmer, who forfeited it upon his execution for supporting Lady Jane Grey. Anthony Kempe received the manor in 1555 and died seised of it in 1597. The Kempe family held Slindon through the 17th century. Anthony Kempe, the last male of the line, died in 1753 aged 81.
Anthony Kempe's daughter Barbara married James Bartholomew Radcliffe, Earl of Newburgh. When Anthony James, the 5th Earl of Newburgh, died in 1814 without issue, the estate passed to his cousin Francis Eyre. Francis Eyre's daughter Dorothy (claiming to be Countess of Newburgh) married Colonel Charles Leslie. After their deaths the estate descended to Charles Stephen Leslie (d. 1916), whose son sold it before 1930.
Frederick Wootton Isaacson purchased the estate and bequeathed it in 1949 to the National Trust. The estate comprises 3,500 acres of agricultural land and woodland on the South Downs.
Held by Azor of Slindon before the Conquest. Assessed at 8 hides in 1086. In the hundred of Binsted (later transferred to Aldwick). Part of the Rape of Arundel under Earl Roger of Shrewsbury. Value had fallen from 20 pounds TRE to 16 pounds in 1086.
| # | Name | From | To | Acquired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azor of Slindon | 1066 | held TRE | ||
| 2 | Hugh | 1086 | grant (under Earl Roger) | Held of Earl Roger of Shrewsbury in the Rape of Arundel. | |
| 3 | Archbishops of Canterbury | 1106 | 1542 | royal grant (Henry I to Archbishop Anselm) | Held as two knights' fees. Stephen Langton died at Slindon 1228. Archbishop Pecham held ordinations 1288, 1291. Farmed by Robert Huberden at 26 pounds 13s. 4d. in 1451. Valued at 37 pounds 18s. 11d. in 1535. |
| 4 | Henry VIII (Crown)(King of England) | 1542 | 1552 | exchange with Archbishop Cranmer | |
| 5 | Sir Thomas Palmer | 1552 | 1553 | royal grant | |
| 6 | Crown | 1553 | 1555 | forfeiture of Palmer | |
| 7 | Anthony Kempe | 1555 | 1597 | royal grant | |
| 8 | Sir Garrett Kempe | 1597 | inheritance | Son of Anthony Kempe. Rebuilt or extended Slindon House. | |
| 9 | Philip Kempe | inheritance | Eldest son of Sir Garrett Kempe. | ||
| 10 | Garrett Kempe | inheritance | Brother of Philip Kempe. |
Earl of Arundel
Annual venison render of 13 bucks or harts of grease and 13 does or hinds, agreed 1259.
Source: VCH Sussex Vol. 4, pp. 234-237
Crown (formerly Honour of Arundel)
Held as two knights' fees from 1106 when Henry I restored the manor to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Source: VCH Sussex Vol. 4, pp. 234-237
Christ Church Canterbury (Archbishopric)
diocese · held · 1106 – 1542
Henry I restored Slindon to the Archbishop at Anselm's request in 1106, to be held as two knights' fees.
Lewes Priory
priory · granted church · 1154
Archbishop Theobald dedicated the church c. 1154 and granted it to Lewes Priory, but the grant did not take effect.
Crown (Henry VIII)
crown · held · 1542 – 1555
Archbishop Cranmer exchanged Slindon with Henry VIII in 1542.
National Trust
charity · held · 1949
Frederick Wootton Isaacson bequeathed the 3,500-acre estate to the National Trust in 1949.
Slindon House survives as a substantial building with 13th-century, 16th-century and later phases. The archbishops used it as an occasional residence: Stephen Langton died here in 1228 and Archbishop Pecham held ordinations in 1288 and 1291. A 13th-century arch was discovered on the west front in 1870, "half underground and only big enough for a man to creep through." The house was rebuilt in the Kempe era (16th century) with angle turrets described as "circular with onion cappings" in 1791. A square gatehouse of flint and stone with buttresses dates from the 15th century or earlier. In 1921 Mervyn Macartney FSA FRIBA restored the building. Now Slindon College. The parish church of the Blessed Mary retains 11th-century fabric, a 13th-century font on five shafts, and an oak effigy of Anthony St Leger (d. 1539). A Lady Chapel (13th-century origin, demolished 1804) formerly stood inside the churchyard.
Phillimore edition, digitised by Anna Powell-Smith.
Main VCH entry for Slindon parish and manor.
VCH Closing Statement
“It was bought by Frederick Wootton Isaacson and bequeathed by him in 1949 to the National Trust.”
VCH Sussex, Vol. 4, pp. 234-237