Pendean is a timber-framed house of the three-cell lobby entry type, with an internal axial chimney stack and back to back fireplaces. This house type, which could also be of two cells, became common from the late 16th century onwards, and has been described by Matthew Johnson as ‘closed’ to distinguish it from its ‘open’ hall predecessors. Dendrodating of its timbers revealed that they had been felled in 1609 suggesting that the house was built at around that date. The house has been reconstructed at the Museum as it would have been at the time it was built, including the rear (south) outshut. For the purposes of this article it is important to note that substantial modifications were undertaken in the late 17th century. The internal oven was removed to make way for a relocated staircase and outshuts were added to the east and north walls, providing a total of three external service rooms.

An article by the late Elizabeth Doff on the historic context of Pendean and the history of its occupants was published in the Spring 2002 edition of the Museum magazine.  Rather than repeat her findings, this article summarises the key information before moving on to discuss the social status of the occupants and evidence for room terminology and room use within the house.

Pendean in situ in the 1960s, before being dismantled for re-erection at the Museum.

The farm called Pendean was situated about one mile south of Midhurst in a detached portion of the parish of Woolavington (now West Lavington) and within the manor of Woolavington. The earliest reference to it is in a court book entry for 1489 when it was a copyhold property described as ‘one tenement and certain lands with appurtenances called Penden’. The word ‘tenement’ indicates that in the late medieval period there was already a farmstead there, including a dwelling house, which may have been the source of some of the reused timbers that were incorporated into the 17th century building. A subsequent reference to Pendean in the court book from 1551 describes it as having ‘by estimation’ 30 acres. In 1564 the farm, along with the majority of other copyholds on the manor of Woolavington, was converted to a leasehold property for the term of 10,000 years.

Identifying the earliest occupants of Pendean is far from straightforward. In 1609 John Coldham sold the lease of Pendean to Richard Clare, a yeoman resident in Woolavington. At that date Pendean comprised a house, barn and 40 acres of land plus rights of pasture for 100 sheep and 14 bullocks upon the commons and was described as ‘in the occupation of John Clare and Richard Figge’. John Clare was Richard Clare’s father who held an adjoining farm called Hurstlands or Horselands. This farm, comprising 100 acres, was a copyhold property held of the manor of Cowdray. We know that Hurstlands was John Clare’s place of residence since in his will, dated 12 June 1615, he describes himself as ‘John Clare of Hurstland in the parish of Woolavington … yeoman’. It is therefore probable that at the time Richard Clare bought the lease Richard Figge was living in the farmhouse at Pendean and John Clare was farming some or all of the land. The identity of Richard Figge remains unknown, since his name has not so far been discovered in any other contemporary records.

The coincidence of the date of the lease with the dendro-dating of Pendean suggests that Richard Clare built the 17th century house and it is reasonable to assume that he lived there as successor to Richard Figge at least until 1639 when he sold his lease to Francis Browne, 3rd Viscount Montagu (lord of the manor of Cowdray) for the sum of £410. From this date, evidence for the occupation of Pendean becomes tenuous. The Woolavington court book for the later 17th century continues to describe Pendean as a leasehold property held by the Montagus but does not record who actually lived in it. There is a single reference in a lease dated 1681 to a Nicholas Austen, ‘son of Nicholas Austen of Pingdeane’ in Woolavington. There is nothing else to connect Nicholas Austen the father with Pendean although, as discussed below, the description of his house contained in the probate inventory made after his death in 1697 appears to match precisely the layout of the house as it would have been at the end of the 17th century. Like John and Richard Clare, Austen was a yeoman.