Catalogue description Deeds of 24 Fisher Street, Lewes

In 1827 the property was described as:

a piece of land in Lewes St John sub Castro, with 2' 6" laid out for a footpath on its west; N (44' 10"): the rest of the land and a messuage now belonging to Stephen Duplock; S: the rest of the land and a messuage now belonging to Francis Scott; E (15' 4"): the rest of the land, now belonging to Francis Barber Kettle, separated by a wall owned by FBK; W: Fisher Street otherwise Star Lane; with half the party walls on the south and 2" of the walls on the north

On 24 and 25 April 1812 part of the site of a barn or building called the Riding House was conveyed by John Edwards Hargraves to Charles Wille the elder of Lewes, timber-merchant, and his trustee George Wille of the Cliffe, maltster (2).

At some date before 1827 Charles Wille sold part of the land, described as above, to John Ade of Lewes, coach-maker; the purchase-price was paid but no conveyance executed, and Ade sold the plot to John Hilton for £77 10s. On 2 and 3 October 1827 Charles Wille was joined by John Ade to convey part of the property, described as above, to John Hilton of Lewes, builder, and his trustee Henry Apsley Hilton of Lewes, builder. Francis Barber Kettle of Lewes, horse-dealer, the purchaser of the largest portion of the estate, covenanted to produce the deeds of 1812 to Hilton. The deed was witnessed by John Smith, clerk to [William] Cooper of Lewes, solicitor (1-2).

Hilton built a house on the site and on 15 September 1829 leased it for seven years from 29 September at £26 to Ebenezer Shaw of Lewes, grocer, and Abraham Shaw of Isfield. A stable then stood on Kettle's land to the east. The deed was witnessed by William Stone, clerk to King and Gell (3).

On 25 March 1833 John Hilton sold the property, now including a shop, to Ebenezer Shaw of Lewes, grocer, and James Shaw of Southover, grocer, for £475, of which £310 was raised by a mortgage at 5% to William Attwood and Nehemiah Wimble of Lewes, ironmongers, who were given a power of sale. The property on the east had been acquired by Stephen Duplock, owner of the house on the north (4).

Ebenezer Shaw died on 4 April 1857, having by his will of the previous day bequeathed the property to his widow Mary Shaw, who obtained a grant of administration with the will annexed on 12 May 1857. On 1 July 1857 Mrs Shaw conveyed the property to William Guy of Lewes, grocer, for £400, of which £300 was borrowed from Edward Beard and George Molineux of Lewes, esqs, the trustees of the Lewes, Eastbourne and East Sussex Building Society. The house to the north was owned by Lydia Duplock, whose land to the east contained a warehouse; Ann Woolgar owned the house to the south (5-6).

The mortgage was discharged on 3 July 1861, and the following day William Guy mortgaged the property to John Smith, actuary of the Lewes Savings Bank [and possibly the witness to the deed of 1827] for £300 at 5% with a power of sale. In 1866 an abstract of William Guy's title was drawn by Blaker and Son of Lewes (6-7).

On 31 January 1868 it was presented that William Guy had sold the property to Solomon Savage of Lewes, stationer (ACC 2327/3/1/3 p215).

Solomon Savage's death was presented on 26 November 1917. By his will of 29 August 1906, proved on 23 April 1917, he left his estate to his nephews Ernest Lewis Tappin, Arthur King Tappin, Frederick Savage and Henry Richard Stevenson in trust for sale. By 17 December 1917 they had sold the property to George Richard Pratt of Isfield, grocer, draper and butcher (ACC 2327/3/1/4).

In 2004 the inscription FAMILY GROCER in gold letters could still be made out on the front of the property.

For the apportionment of the quitrent of 6d between the purchasers from Charles Wille, 19 March 1827, see ACC 2327/3/1/2, pages 170-171.

For deeds of other parts of the Riding House Field see R/C 4/481 (26 Fisher Street) and DL/D 145/5 (parts of the Candle Factory site).

Documents given 16 January 2004 (ACC 8911)

Introduction

This property was built between 1827 and 1829 by John Hilton on land which had formed part of the Riding House Field, the area now limited by West Street, Fisher Street, Market Lane and Market Street. It was held as a freehold tenement of the manor of Southover by quitrents of 6d (a barn) and 1s 0d (a croft).

A memorandum of the sale to Hilton is endorsed on the deeds of the former County Music Centre at 26 Fisher Street (R/C 4/481), upon which much of the next paragraph is based.

In 1673 Sir John Pelham sold the field to William Spence, in whose family it descended until 1773, when it was sold by Luke Spence to William Hammond of Lewes St John, tanner; that conveyance contained the first mention of a building called The Riding House. Hammond died in 1780 and on the death of his wife Martha the property descended to their daughters Elizabeth, wife of John Hargraves of Brighton, merchant, and Ann Wimble of Brighton. On the death of Elizabeth Hargraves her share descended to her son John Edwards Hargraves, who early in 1811 sold part of the site to John Dennett and Stephen Steere (see the deeds of the Candle Factory site, DL/D 145/5/4). On 23 and 24 June 1811 Hargraves, a lieutenant in the Sussex Militia, bought the share in the property of his aunt Ann Wimble for £250, and on 24 and 25 March 1812 sold the part of the site on the corner of Fisher Street and West Street to Charles Wille of Lewes, builder, for £315.

The descent of the property after 1866, based on the court books of the manor of Southover, appears at the end of the list.