The place was deserted
As a kid I lived in Hangleton in the early 1960s and remember Hangleton Manor very well. Friends and I used to sneak in and walk round the place. The manor was deserted; derelict in the kitchen area but still fully furnished everywhere else. Over time the place was vandalised but in 1964 when I first snuck in, I think at aged about seven years old, most of the place was clean and tidy – as though it had only just closed.
Do you remember the manor before it was renovated? If you do, please leave a comment below.
A very deep well
The kitchen however, was derelict, and papers and ledgers were strewn all over the floor. They dated back to 1920 as I recall. In the kitchen area was a well and as kids we threw stones in. It was uncovered and we could have fallen in – and it was very deep. There was a pig farm out the back, where the houses are now. It obviously fell into disuse for a period in the early 60s before it was revived as a pub.
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My great grandmother was the caretaker in the 1930s. We are just in the process of putting together my mums memories of a year she lived there as a child.
Sounds interesting Bev. If you would like to share them – please mail me
jennifer@mybrightonandhove.org.uk
Yes, I remember exploring around the back of the manor when it was deserted in the 60s, particularly the deep well. I am glad it has been put back into use rather than left to decay. My dad helped to restore the dovecote as a volunteer carpenter after he retired. I have a booklet about it. My parents also used to visit an elderly Miss Sackville who said that she grew up there so probably the family who owned it years ago.
I moved to one of the new tudor built houses which looked over the back of the manor in 1958 when I was eight. I remember playing in there and getting told off “you might fall down the well”. At the end of the road there were fields with a white horse called Heggarty. I used to play on the golf course and make camps with my friend Pat who lived in the old cottages round on Mr Broomfields pig farm, who was a scary man. I also remember the farm by St Helens church, with a huge brown bull behind big metal bars.
I love Hangleton and grew up there as a child , my aunt who I love visiting and hearing her stories of Hangleton manor still lives in Hangleton.
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