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The Priest House (Wealdon)

Published: March 13, 2007

THE HISTORY OF THE LOCATION

The Priest House is one of most amazing buildings we have come across. Sitting in the beautiful small village of Wealden, the house stands in a beautiful garden, which surrounds this cottage on the western edge of the Ashdown Forest. The Priest House is a 15th century timber framed hall house. Outside there is a formal herb garden containing over 170 culinary, medicinal and folklore herbs.

In 1392 Pope Urban VI gave the Cluniac Priory of St. Pancras in Lewes permission to purchase property in the parishes of West Hoathly, Patcham, Ditchling & Wivelsfield to recompense the Priory for revenue, which were lost during the raids on the Sussex coast by French & Spanish. Created from the land was The Manor of the Rectory of West Hoathly that had previously been part of the Manor of Lindfield.

In 1426 the parishioners petitioned Pope Martin V about the Priory’s management. In the late 1420’s an estate office was built which became known as the Priest House. In 1524 John Browne, a “husbandman” of the parish the Priory, leased the Rectory Manor & The Priest House it became a family home. In 1538 Henry VIII seized all property belonging to Lewes Priory and Browne’s Manor was given to the King’s secretary, Thomas Cromwell. In 1540 when Cromwell was beheaded the Manor became part of the divorce settlement of Anne of Cleves. John Browne, however, was allowed to continue as tenant until his death in 1546. His son Thomas succeeded him.

After the death of Anne of Cleves the rent was paid to Queen Mary & then to Elizabeth I. The Queen sold all the property that had once belonged to Lewes Priory in 1560 & Thomas Browne The Priest House and the Manor lands, which he set about modernizing. The original house had an open hall, with a living room & upper chamber on the north end. The service end had a buttery and pantry with a solar to the south. The roof was probably originally thatched. Thomas begun to mine iron ore on the land for the foundries around West Hoathly. He began to refer himself as “yeoman” & needed a home to match his new status. By the end of the 16th Century Thomas Browne began to call himself “squire”, as the Priest House was probably the finest building in the village.

The house remained within the Browne family for another hundred years but their luck began to run out and by the end of the 17th century they were bankrupt. In order to pay their debts the house & Manor had to be sold in 1695. Mrs. Anna Hooper of Barbados purchased the property. While Mrs. Hooper never visited West Hoathly she took very little interest in her property. The house was divided into two cottages. One side being rented to George Payne and the other to Samuel Parks. Thus began the slow and sad decline of this beautiful property. The land was sold to Robert Bostock of Otford, Kent in 1731.

The house was barely maintained by The Bostock family; who held the land for 150 years. They were the carter & cowman working for the tenant farmer in the neighbouring Manor House. The land was sold in 1879 to John Cotton Powell. At the beginning of the 20th Century the house was almost a ruin after years of neglect. In 1905 it was bought by John Godwin King, of Stonelands, West Hoathly & over a three-year period he had the house restored. In 1908 it was opened it to the public, as a museum in the north end and housing for a resident custodian in the former service end. John Godwin King presented the house & its contents, with an endowment, to the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1935.

THE INVESTIGATION

On a cold and rainy evening the Haunted Britain team journeyed down a small winding country lane to find the small picturesque village of Wealden. Sitting in the middle of a well loved for garden sits the beautiful Priest House. Small in stature, first sight can be deceiving, as when you arrive inside the rooms seem to fold out before you. The investigation was to be confined to the three up and two down rooms, which is the museum area of the house. Walking into a small entrance we were met by the curator/caretaker of The Priest House. After introductions and a discussion about who we were and how we conduct our investigations. Peter and Nino began to discuss the history of the house, at which point, Gemma and Carol went outside to investigate the garden. A number of photographs were taken, but one of the most amazing, was the flying orb in front of the chimney.

After returning to the house, we settled in to investigate this wonderful house. As there were only four of the team on this investigation and it was a three up and two down home, it was decided that we would split into two teams. In the first half, Carol and Nino would go upstairs and Peter and Gemma would investigate the downstairs area. The downstairs area consists of a kitchen and dining/sitting room. Furnished in a comfortable manner, one can imagine a very happy family living in this house. The upstairs (which was originally one open room) had been sectioned off into one large and two small rooms. Locked off cameras were place downstairs facing the stairway and upstairs facing the bed and cradle in the master room. Baseline readings were taken every 15 minutes on both levels. Hand held cameras were used on both levels to conduct investigations in the other rooms. As Nino and Carol began upstairs the temperature seemed to begin to drop, but the reading showed that the temperature was actually rising. This was strange, as the sun was beginning to go down and the laws of nature shows that it should be dropping. The area directly over the cradle seemed to emanate a strong energy, but nothing appeared on the EMF meter. All seemed quite and peaceful.

Downstairs, it seemed to be the same. While you could feel yourselves being watched, nothing seemed willing to manifest itself. Gemma and Peter sat quietly waiting, calling for anyone who wished to show him or herself. There appeared to be little activity on either floor. It was decided at approximately 8 pm that the two teams would switch their areas of investigation.

Peter and Gemma began calling out upstairs and the sound of a key or door hinge being thrown could be heard in the display room, but upon searching the room for what could have caused the is sound, nothing could be found. Nothing further appeared to happen during their vigil. Downstairs Carol and Nino sat down on a near by bench to call out and listen for a response. A noise was heard in the kitchen and upon standing in the doorway Carol saw a dark figure standing momentarily in front of the fireplace. At this point Carol took a number of photographs although nothing appeared.

At 9 pm it was decided that all members would gather upstairs for a final try at contacting a spirit. The temperature again began to drop, but the readings showed, again, a raise. It appeared as if the house had gone to bed and all was quite. We would have very happily laid down on the comfortable looking bed and went to sleep with them. It was now 9:30 and at this point the investigation was called to a close and as we packed up our kits, we thanked our host for allowing us into this never before investigated home.

After going through the information on recorders, photographs and camcorders, there appears to be a number of EVPs and orbs; which appear on the photographs. There are a number of stories of sightings in the house and a definite presence could be felt, they appear to be a very happy lot and wish to be left in the peace of their beautiful home. The best photograph we have was captured by accident and seems to be a light anomaly during the day time floating past the chimney stack of the location. Take a look below.