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convenient residence in the Bartholomews, and to have the third of the tithe of hay. This order of things continued until the suppression of Lewes Priory in 1538, upon which the appropriation and patronage of this parish were granted by Henry the VIII. to his Vicar, General Cromwell, who, in that very year, ordered a public register of baptisms and burials to be kept at Bright-helmstone and in every other parish in the kingdom.^ On the death and attainder of Cromwell the Church was conferred by the King on his repudiated Queen, "Anne of Cleves" (who resided in the adjoining parish of Preston), and on her death, in 1557, it again fell to the Crown, and under Queen Elizabeth, if not sooner, the patronage and appropriation of this Church seems to have been severed. The former was attached to the See of Chichester and has continued so to the present time, and the latter has passed through several hands.
It is presumed that the Church of St. Nicholas, and grounds were not used as a place of sepulture by the inhabitants till after the destruction of the church and chantry, or free chapel in the Bartholomews, from the fact that the oldest tomb that we have on record and that can be found or traced in the same does not date farther back than that of the Rev. Jno. Bolt, who was Vicar here, and a preacher of the Gospel for the long space of 56 years. He died on the 2nd of November, 1669, and was blessed with 29 children and two wives, as stated on his tomb, which was situate at the North East corner of the Church, close to the entrance from Church Street. The tomb was brick-built, the covering stone being of perriwinkle, or Sussex marble. It became much dilapidated, and from its very peculiar appearance passers-by mischievously amused themselves by knocking off pieces, but its final demolition took place in 1853, on the restoration of the present Church. The grounds connected with the Church destroyed in the Bartholomews and the free |
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