Catalogue description Archive of the Nevill Family of Eridge Castle in Frant, Marquesses of Abergavenny

This record is held by East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office (ESBHRO)

Details of ABE
Reference: ABE
Title: Archive of the Nevill Family of Eridge Castle in Frant, Marquesses of Abergavenny
Description:

Records of title and administration of estates in Sussex, Kent, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Norfolk. Includes material relating to the development of Tunbridge Wells 19th - 20th centuries.

 

The list which follows is based on Ernest Gaisford's arrangement, and uses the same references.

Date: 15th-20th centuries
Related material:

The manorial records of the Abergavenny Estate in England, which had formed part of Gaisford's arrangement, passed to the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1932, and are available under the reference ACC 2953.

 

In the same year the manorial records of the Wales, Monmouthshire and Herefordshire estate were transferred to the National Library of Wales; for details, see ABE 74C2.

 

The Welsh estate in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire had been administered from an office in Abergavenny until its closure in about 1910 and thereafter from Eridge. In July 1978 these records were transferred to the Gwent Record Office where they were assigned the reference D.1583. A copy of the Gwent list is available in the search room and a concordance of their references and the old estate office references can be found as an appendix to this list.

 

Two 19th-century plans of the town and harbour of Harwich were transferred to the Essex Record Office in 1964 (ERO ACC 3852).

 

Records of the Kent estate (Birling and Ryarsh) were transferred to the Centre for Kentish Studies in 1960 (CKS U187).

 

John Dorrett's map of Scotland, 1750 (ACC 560/25) was transferred to Glasgow City Archives in 1966.

 

For two further major accessins of Abergavenny material, see ACC 364 and ACC 560.

 

For files concerning the management of the South Down Estate at Lewes, 1953-1979 see BMW/A 19/14/1-11; for a register of estate employees (which seems to be a draft of ACC 4784), c1827-1936 see ACC 4165.

 

For transfer to Gwent Record Office: ACC 363/26, 49, 55, 69, 88, 94, 114, 119-120; ABE 16.4, 24O, 27U

Held by: East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office (ESBHRO), not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Nevill family, Marquesses of Abergavenny

Physical description: 54 series
Immediate source of acquisition:

Documents deposited 26 Feb 1960 (ACC 374), 2 Feb 1987 (ACC 4784), 18 Apr 1994 (ACC 6300)

 

ACC 363 21 Jan 1960; map of Houndean, 1623 (+ maps ?extracted from ABE)

 

ACC 364 25 Jan 1960; estate and manorial ocuments (2 boxes, 28 vols, 47 roll maps) Listed as ABER 2/1-57

 

ACC 365 26 Jan 1960; estate accounts, 1587-1600 (2 vols) 18R; schedule of documents; copy of Abergavenny Acts of Parliament, sale particulars; terrier; Neville pedigree (ACC 560/47); Aberystwyth schedule; map of Hadlow Down (6 vols & 5 docs) Listed as ABER 2/58-67

 

ACC 374 26 Feb 1960; Abergavenny estate records (60 tin boxes, c80 vols, c150 maps) ?Listed as 1A - 91.17

 

ACC 560 5 Jun 1963; additional family and estate records (2 hampers)

 

ACC 2254 11 May 1978; records of Eridge estate, 1920-1960

 

ACC 2953 21 Jun 1982; Listed as SAS/ABER 1-139 (1929)

 

ACC 3625 21 Jun 1982; survey of various manors Listed as SAS/ABER 140

 

ACC 4784 2 Feb 1987; register of employees on the Eridge estate, c1930 (for register, 1835 see ACC 4165)

 

ACC 6300 18 Apr 1994; map of the Eridge estate, c1800

Custodial history:

Richard Dell, the then County Archivist, visited the Eridge Estate Office in January 1960 and reported that the records were contained in 60 tin boxes measuring 20" x 20" x 18", some 50 volumes on shelves, six outsize maps in a cabinet and about 60 rolled maps. They were kept in a strongroom so damp 'that even quite recent records are coated with thick white mildew - the most virulent I have ever seen' (deposit file).

Selection and destruction information:

In the 1960s, permission was given to weed and destroy documents considered to be of an ephemeral nature. That process was halted when it had reached ABE 19P, and this list includes, descriptions of the destroyed documents based on the details given in Gaisford's schedule, ACC 364/60.

Subjects:
  • Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Unpublished finding aids:

In about 1925 the estate steward Ernest Gaisford had arranged the documents, imposed a system of reference incorporating numbers followed by letters, and compiled several finding-aids.

 

The chief of these, listed as ACC 364/60, consists of a schedule of the Eridge, Tunbridge Wells, Frant, Rotherfield and Hadlow Down estates (pages 1-362), the Kent estate (pages 363-392), the Monmouthshire and Herefordshire estate (pages 393-610), the South Down estate (pages 613-804), the Worcestershire estate (pages 805-906), various sales of ancient date (pages 907-918), Suffolk estate (pages 919-949), London House (pages 950-957), miscellaneous (pages 958-999). It lists the box and parcel number, date, description of the property purchased and price, name of vendor, reference to map volume and notes, and includes an index.

 

ACC 364/61 consists of a schedule of agreements, leases, court rolls and rentals.

Link to NRA Record:

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