ng
architecturally as Pevensey, or, indeed, any of the ruins that we have
seen.

Hurstmonceux Castle stands on the very edge of Pevensey Level, the only
considerable structure between Pevensey and the main land proper. In the
intervening miles there are fields and fields, through which the Old
Haven runs, plaintive plovers above them bemoaning their lot, and brown
cows tugging at the rich grass. On the first hillock to the right of the
castle as one fronts the south, rising like an island from this sea of
pasturage, is Hurstmonceux church, whose shingled spire shoots into the
sky, a beacon to travellers in the Level. It is a pretty church with an
exterior of severe simplicity. Between the chancel and the chantry is
the large tomb covering the remains of Thomas Fiennes, second Lord
Dacre of Hurstmonceux, who died in 1534, and Sir Thomas Dacre his son,
surmounted by life-size stone figures, each in full armour, with hands
proudly raised, and each resting his feet against the Fiennes wolf-dog.

In the churchyard is the grave of Julius Hare, once vicar of
Hurstmonceux, and the author, with his brother Augustus, of _Guesses at
Truth_. Carlyle's John Sterling was Julius Hare's first curate here.

[Sidenote: THE OLD SPACIOUSNESS]

Hurstmonceux Castle was once the largest and handsomest of all the
commoners' houses in the county. Sir Roger de Fiennes, a descendant of
the John de Fiennes who married Maude, last of the de Monceux, in the
reign of Edward II., built it in 1440. Though the Manor house of the de
Monceux, on the site of the present castle, lacked the imposing
qualities of Roger de Fiennes' stronghold, it was hospitable, spacious,
and luxurious. Edward the First spent a night there in 1302. One of the
de Monceux was on the side of de Montfort in the Battle of Lewes, and
the first of them to settle in England married Edith, daughter of
William de Warenne and Gundrada, of Lewes Castle.

How thorough and conscientious were the workmen employed by Roger de
Fiennes, and how sound were their bricks and mortar, may be learned by
the study of Hurstmonceux Castle to-day. In many parts the walls are
absolutely uninjured except by tourists. The floors, however, have long
since returned to nature, who has put forth her energies without stint
to clothe the old apartments with greenery. Ivy of astonishing vigour
grows here, populous with jackdaws, and trees and shrubs spring from the
least likely spots.

The castle in its old