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The Landscape of Sussex in the Tudor period

Perhaps the most obvious feature of the early modern Sussex landscape, at least to 21st century eyes, is the proliferation of country houses built - from Stansted and Cowdray in the west to Ashburnham and Brede Place in the east, these great houses certainly made their mark on the landscape.  But the aspirations of these gentry can be seen in the landscape as well – the rise of iron and glassworks in the Weald, the changes in use from parkland to sheep pasture, and new buildings in towns such as Chichester, Brighton and Lewes.  They exchanged property and changed manorial tenure, built schools and almshouses, and opened up new markets for international trade.  These men used the wealth provided by the dissolution of the monasteries and new opportunities at court and in government, to create local power bases where their name was known and their influence could be used for their own benefit.  Their renewed interests in their estates paved the way for modernisation of the Sussex landscape and in turn the agricultural and industrial revolutions in the centuries that followed.

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  • The Landscape of Sussex in the Tudor period
    The Landscape of Sussex in the Tudor period
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    Members - The Landscape of Sussex in the Tudor period
    £12.00
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    Volunteers - The Landscape of Sussex in the Tudor period
    £5.00
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The Landscape of Sussex in the Tudor period

Perhaps the most obvious feature of the early modern Sussex landscape, at least to 21st century eyes, is the proliferation of country houses built - from Stansted and Cowdray in the west to Ashburnham and Brede Place in the east, these great houses certainly made their mark on the landscape.  But the aspirations of these gentry can be seen in the landscape as well – the rise of iron and glassworks in the Weald, the changes in use from parkland to sheep pasture, and new buildings in towns such as Chichester, Brighton and Lewes.  They exchanged property and changed manorial tenure, built schools and almshouses, and opened up new markets for international trade.  These men used the wealth provided by the dissolution of the monasteries and new opportunities at court and in government, to create local power bases where their name was known and their influence could be used for their own benefit.  Their renewed interests in their estates paved the way for modernisation of the Sussex landscape and in turn the agricultural and industrial revolutions in the centuries that followed.