In the nave of the church is the tombstone of William Hodsoll who died on 1st October 1616. Near to him is also buried another William Hodsoll - and who was the subject of our recent article "A 16th century Quitclaim" - who passed away a couple of years before the Spanish Armada. They were not however, father and son but were uncle and nephew and thanks to the nephew we have in the South Ash muniments the conveyance of the Crowhurst Estate from John and Anne Hope of Kingsdown to William Hodsoll and joining in the conveyance were the Great Great Grandfather and the Great Great Great Great uncles of both Queen Mary and Queen Anne as well as one of the collateral ancestors of Mr. Jeremy Scott, the Patron of the Church and the signatories on this Conveyance which is dated 1st December 1595 will be discussed in next month's edition of the Church newsletter.
Crowhurst was never part of the Manor of South Ash but formed part of the Manor of Chipsted Heaver Kingsdown Maplescombe and a Quit Rental of 15/10 � d was paid to the Lord of this particular manor.
The earliest quit-rental receipt in the South Ash muniments is undated but would be dated about 1595 and is as follows:
Kingsdowne:
| William Hodsoll for the moiety of the mannor | ) | vijs vjd |
| Of Chepsted purchased of John Hope and Anne | ) | ij capons viijd |
| his wife | ) | ij henns vjd |
| xx eggs jd | ||
| of him for the capitall messuage called | ) | vs iiijd |
| Crowers late purchased of the said John & Anne | ) | iiij henns xijd |
| dim henn jd ob | ||
| dim a share vjd | ||
| xlv eggs iid qr | ||
| Summa | xvs xd pb qr |
Which translated:
| Quit rent for half of Chepsted Manor | 7. 6 |
| 2 capons | 8 |
| 2 hens | 6 |
| 20 eggs | 1 |
| Quit rent for Crowers | 5. 4 |
| 4 hens | 1. 0 |
| ? hen | 1 ? |
| ? share (ploughshare) | 6 |
| 45 eggs | 2 ? |
| _____________ | |
| 15. 10 ? |
For the whole of Chepsted Manor the quit rent would be 15/- + 4 hens + 4 capons and 40 eggs.
Quit rents were rents due annually from the tenants of manors in lieu and in discharge of services and were abolished under the Law of Property Act 1925. Once the quit rent had been fixed in mediaeval times then it could not be altered as the following roll of the manor of Chipsted Heaver Kingsdown and Maplescombe dated 10th December 1886, nearly three hundred years later shows:
| Name of Tenant | Name of Occupier | Description of Property | Yearly Rent |
| Rev. John Wild | Himself | One moiety of Bloomfield Wood in the Parish of | 1. 6 |
| The Same | The Same | The other moiety of Bloomfield Wood | 1. 6 |
| The Same | E. Pink | A messuage called Crowhurst late parcel of Chipsted Manor and diverse parcels of land in The Parish of Ash | 12. 10? |
| 15. 10?d |
For the translation of the 1595 Quit Rental I must thank my good friend Mrs. Z. Bamping BA of Kingsdown.
Bibliography:
South Ash Manor Muniments. West Kingsdown, Z. Bamping 1991
A concise Law Dictionary, P.G. Osborn 5th edn. 1964
Leslie Morgan