Fairlight

FAIRLIGHT is a parish, 3 miles east from Hastings, in the Eastern division of the county, Hastings union, rape, rural deanery and county court district, Guestling hundred, diocese of Chichester, and archdeaconry of Lewes. The church of St. Andrew, which is about 3 miles east-north-east from Hastings, is a handsome structure, with nave, chancel. and a lofty embattled tower, in the later style of the Early English: the first stone was laid by Mrs. Milward (now Sarah Countess Waldegrave), May 19th, 1845: it stands on a very elevated site, and forms a landmark. The living is a vicarage, value £635 per annum, in the gift of, and held by, the Rev. Henry Stent, M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford. There is a very good school, which was erected in the year 1853, and a house for the schoolmaster. The site of the Mill, on the top of the Down, is 599 feet above the level of the sea. The Hall, the residence of William Drew Lucas Shadwell, Esq. is a noble and spacious modern stone-built mansion, in the Early Tudor style, situated in fine park-like grounds, commanding extensive land and sea views, including a range of hills in the neighbourhood of Boulogne, on the French coast, which, on a clear day, can be seen distinctly with the naked eye. This place is much frequented during the summer months by visitors from Hastings - the Dripping Well, Lover's Seat, and Ecclesbourne Valley are among the places usually visited. William Drew Lucas Shadwell, Esq., J.P., and Sarah Countess Waldegrave are the largest landowners. The population in 1861 was 600; area, 3,309 acres. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]