The medieval downland village of Hangleton was situated just above the village of Hove about two miles from the sea, with an estimated population in the early 14th century of approximately 200.  Hangleton’s nearest towns were New Shoreham (4.4 miles) and Lewes (10.5 miles) and it was presumably to one or both of their markets that the villagers bought their surplus produce for sale.  The manor of Hangleton formed part of the Fishersgate Half Hundred, together with the neighbouring manors of Aldrington and Portslade, situated within the Rape of Lewes (Figure 1). The lords of the manor from 1291 to 1446 were the de Poynings, a Sussex gentry family with lands in Sussex, Kent, Suffolk and Norfolk.