Records of the manor of Sheffield in Fletching, [1598]-1803, 1808

Introduction

In her account of Colin Godmans in Fletching, Lady Wolseley made use of 'the court rolls of Sheffield Park' and drew attention to a particularly fine volume, which seemed 'too good to be handed over to an estate-office' (Some of the smaller manor houses of Sussex; Medici Society, 1925, 170-71)

The documents had been shown to her by Arthur Gilstrap Soames (1854-1934), the owner of Sheffield Park. On his death the estate passed to his nephew Arthur Granville Soames (1885-1962), who sold the estate in 1953

Documents donated 2 June 2000 (ACC 8138)

The contents of Sheffield Park were auctioned by Sotheby's at the house in 1954 but these documents are not listed as a specific lot within the library sale. They were purchased on 5 March the same year from Sotheby's in London for the sterling equivalent of $36.40 by Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and it can only be assumed that they were extracted from the auction at Sheffield Park with a view to a private sale

Their export to the USA had been in contravention of the Manorial Documents Rules, and in June 2000 Duke University generously returned the documents to East Sussex, where they were received by the acting Master of the Rolls and the Lord Lieutenant in her capacity of Custos Rotulorum at a ceremony on 24 July

Not all the manorial records were included in the sale; in 1956 two court-book of the manor of Sheffield and one of Tarring Peverell were deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1956 by S Stacey, who had found them and other documents at Sheffield Park