Laughton, (East Sussex)

OPC for Laughton is : Julie Silverson

Email: Julie Silverson.

Parish picture

Laughton is situated just off the main A22 road from Eastbourne to London, on the B2124 Hailsham to Ringmer road. The name has had several variants over the years, including Lacton, Leghton, and Layghton.,br>Until the Norman conquest in 1066, the area was owned by Earl Godwin, the father of Harold II, the last Saxon King of England. Under the Normans the ownership passed to Aquila who founded Michelham Priory and who started to build the church in 1229.

The church lies nearly a mile from the village, perhaps due to the impact of the Black Death.

Parish picture

In 1356 at the battle of Poitiers a local knight Sir John Pelham together with Sir Roger De La Warr captured Jean, the King of France. This act earned Sir John the Kings belt buckle as a badge of honour. This badge can be seen in many churches in the area showing the influence and power of the Pelham family.

The Pelham family bought Laughton Place, an old fortified manor in 1466, which was rebuilt by William Pelham in 1534. In the 1600s the Pelham family built a new house in Halland, but continued to be Lords of the Laughton manor.

The area was once a major brick producer with four brickworks nearby. The bricks were used to build Laughton Place, with production continuing until the 1930's.

During the Second World War the village was hit by a doodlebug (Flying Bomb) and unusually for the villages in the area four people were killed.

Places of worship:

Church details, together with baptism, marriage, monumental inscription & burial records can be accessed by clicking on the church name.

All Saints

Wesleyan Chapel

Census returns:

The OPC Database has no census returns for people residing in this parish yet.

People born in this parish but residing elsewhere:

10 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1851 census.

13 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1861 census.

5 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1871 census.

1 individual in the OPC Database for the 1891 census.

1 individual in the OPC Database for the 1901 census.

Maps:

Grid reference: 550500, 113500 ~ View on: Google Maps, Open Street Map, Streetmap, National Library of Scotland Map or Oldmaps.

Poll Registers:

The OPC database contains 44 poll register entries for people entitled to vote in this parish.

1641 Protestation Returns:

There are no protestation returns for this parish in the OPC database.

Gazettes:

The OPC database contains 18 entries for people associated with this parish mentioned in Gazettes.

Photographs:

There are 25 images depicting this parish in the OPC database.

POWPics (The new Roughwood churches album) contains 18 photographs of churches in this parish. This album will also display any postcards or other images of churches which are in the Sussex OPC database.

Postal directories:

The OPC database contains no postal directory entries for this parish.

Kelly's 1867 Directory for Laughton is available on the GENUKI site

Publications:

There is 1 book about this parish in the Sussex OPC Bibliography.

There are 4 articles about this parish in the OPC Sussex Archeaological Collections Index.

There are no people from this parish in the OPC Sussex Archeaological Society Members Index.

Wills:

The OPC database contains 1 will of someone who lived in this parish.

The OPC database contains 3 wills which mention this parish.

Interest in this parish:

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