Selsey Manor of Bishop of Chichester (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Sellsey

In the civil parish of Selsey.
In the historic county of Sussex.
Modern Authority of West Sussex.
1974 county of West Sussex.
Medieval County of Sussex (Rape of Chichester).

OS Map Grid Reference: SZ85819376
Latitude 50.73717° Longitude -0.78521°

Selsey Manor of Bishop of Chichester has been described as a certain Palace, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Residential manor of the Bishop of Chichester. Included in licence to crenellate obtain by Bishop Moleynes in 1447. Thompson writes 'Possible traces in Manor Farm'

The Manor Farm, formerly the Manor House, a little to the north of the church and village, probably retains some part of the building erected or enlarged by Bishop Robert Sherburne early in the 16th century, but it has undergone many changes and it is not possible to trace the original plan of the house. It now consists of two parallel ranges forming together a rectangular plan facing west. The front is faced with squared rubble of Mixon Rock with flint chippings in the joints and has brick dressings to the windows and the angles, and a brick eaves cornice, all of the end of the 17th century.
At the time of the Domesday Survey SELSEY was a manor of the Bishop of Chichester, assessed at 10 hides, of which Geoffrey held 1 hide and William hide and virgate; there were 6 haws in Chichester attached to the manor. From this time the manor remained attached to the see until 1561. In that year Queen Elizabeth, by virtue of an Act passed in her first parliament, compelled the bishop, William Barlow, to surrender a number of manors, including Selsey, then valued at £53 4s. 10 d. clear yearly value, in exchange for various rectories and tithes. (VCH)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1447 Oct 28 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MWS1738 (deer park); MWS1680 (deer park).

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 440
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 168, 173
  Salzman, L.F., 1953, VCH Sussex Vol. 4 p. 206 online transcription
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1927, Calendar of Charter Rolls 5 Henry VI - 8 Henry VIII, AD 1427-1516, with an appendix, 1215-1288 Vol. 6. (HMSO) p. 94-5 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales (available via EThOS)

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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