Catalogue description Plashett estate wages book

A lease of Nov 1384 refers to the manor of Plashett (ACC 3713/13), although the estate does not appear to have had full manorial status. Plashett Park was among lands exchanged by the Archbishop of Canterbury with Sir John Gage in 1543, and this was confirmed by letters patent in 1546 (SAS/G 8/9a; SAS/G 19/5)

Plashett's importance as a game park is emphasised in the probate (5 Oct 1633) of the will of Sir John Gage, Firle, which states 'I will that my parke at the Plasyett shalbe continued and kept stored with the number of one hundred or sixcore [six score] deere and noe more', and advises that James Gardiner shall continue as keeper (SAS/G 7/6). The park was leased out by the Gage family at various times: to Sir Henry Compton, 1626 (SAS/G13/76); to Francis and John Bagshawe in 1680, at which time the park's size was given as 300 acres (SAS/G 21/148); and to Francis Francis, 1715 (G12/25)

It is difficult to judge at what date the term 'Plashett estate' was used to denote an area which included Moat Park and part of Broyle Park, as well as Plashett Park. A sketch of 'The Mote, alias Moat Park and the Plashett Park with an allotment of the Broyle Park' by Thomas Budgen in the early 19th century (SAS/ACC 1236), shows Plashett Park then consisted of over 534 acres. It was considered to cover only an area inside the northern boundary of Ringmer, and is shown as Plashett Wood, Mount Wood and agricultural land to the south on the 1878 Ordnance Survey 6-inch maps (sheets 40 and 54). A draft plan of a similar area, however, which was also made in the early 19th century, indicates that Moat Park and part of Broyle Park were then considered as part of the Plashett estate: the plan appears to be titled 'Plashett estate', but it is not clear whether this is underlined or crossed out (ACC 5786/37)

The tithe map for Ringmer of 1840, has the southern boundary of Plashett marked on the map (AMS3440). The area described as Plashett Park on the 1878 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map (sheet 40) is named as Moat Wood and West Park, part of Moat Park, in the tithe schedule for Little Horsted, 1839 (TD/E 31)

The estate passed from the Gage family to William Langham Christie of Glyndebourne in the late 19th century. Christie held the estate by the time of the 'Domesday survey' of 1910 (IRV/1/59 and 113). A receipt dated Apr 1888 for the purchase of the deer on the Plashett estate which were bought by Christie from the Gage estate trustees, indicates that the transaction could well have taken place then (GBN 26/3). Tradition has it that Christie won the estate as a gambling debt

Sale particulars for the Plashett estate in 1965 (ACC 6220 box 11) show an area which includes Plashett Park, Moat Park, and a large portion of the land which was part of the Broyle Park enclosures of 1769-1771 (QDD/EW2; QDD/E3)

The wages book indicates that most duties were undertaken in the extensive woodlands, the deer park or concerned with game, as well as other estate duties. A considerable amount of work was undertaken in the brickyard, which may be that shown to the east of the junction of Harvey's Lane with the Tunbridge Wells road on the 1878 6-inch map (sheet 54)

John Griffiths, the land agent of the Gage estate who wrote in the wages book listed below, was born at Llangedwyn, Denbighshire, North Wales, around 1805. His note may mark the date that he started work. He was not living at Preston House, West Firle, the home of the agent, at the time of the 1851 census, but was there in 1861. Other members of his family listed are: Mary (wife), aged 58, born Chester, Cheshire; John (son), aged 24, born Kingswinford, Staffordshire; and Anna (also known as Anne) M[ary]. He died around 1878

In addition to the references cited above; for a plan of the estate, 1822, see SAS/ACC 929

Purchased 19 Nov 1994, ACC 6531