24 result of a bequest from John Dallingridge.
George Herbert Broadley has continued to delve into various archives, census returns and deeds to discover more of the rich history of the family and the building. 34-40 High Street is an exceptional medieval building and was of considerable importance in the town at the time. It is one of the original burgages that constituted the borough of East Grinstead from its foundation in the 13th century. It is unlike any other building in the town, far larger/grander occupying a 4-rod plot rather than the normal two of most other burgages. The original owner it is
thought was Sir Walter de la Lynde until his death when John Dallingridge assumed the title. They were prominent in the town enjoying privileges and were elected members of parliament. The family also owned Bodiam castle and interesting to note our building is at least 30 years older than the castle which was built in 1385. The timber framed building needs to be considered in two distinct periods pre-1350, the Black Death during the reign of King Edward 3rd and then in the early 15th century with the construction of the cross wing. This cross-wing dates from 1410-1420 and was the
© Peter Gray
The frames of this timber framed medieval building (See fig 1overpage), roof and floors were prefabricated by a carpenter on the ground to ensure each piece would fit with the others and then transported and assembled on site to form the complete building. Some key beams are numbered in roman numerals and also have the carpenters’ marks. These frames were always two dimensional and our building is made up a series of such frames. The building is centred round the Great Open Hall and was built on a box frame with oak beam construction. Since the 15th century it has comprised of two open hall type structures from barely seasoned oak quite possibly ships timbers. The main range (part of a timber framed building) is 36-40 and no 34 being a range end onto the street of at least 4 bays over cellars cut into the natural
© Peter Gray
