Summary

Medieval Customs House, 45m north-east of Town Hall Chambers.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 29 October 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a medieval house, thought to be a Customs House, situated on the north side of the high street at Shoreham-by-Sea, a short distance from the River Adur.

The medieval house is a two-storey building dating between the 12th and 14th century. The south front, facing the high street, is a chequerboard of squared dressed stone and flint with stone dressings and a rendered gable end above. It has pointed doorways on the ground floor and three pointed windows. The house has a Horsham stone slab roof, which is hipped to the north. On the east side, facing middle street, the wall is of flint and pebble with some red brick patching. There are three large casement windows on the first floor and two small depressed-arched windows on the ground-floor. The interior includes a collar-purlin roof supported by two queen-posts in the centre and on crown-posts at the ends. The original 14th century floor survives. In 2002, archaeological investigations on the site recorded a stone-lined pit, possibly part of a garderobe, and several other medieval and post-medieval pits. The original use of the building is thought to have been a Customs House for wine or beer duty. It has also been suggested that it may be part of the remains of a Carmelite friary, which was founded in 1316 to the south of the High Street. In 1348, a grant of one and a half acres was given by Sir John de Mowbray to allow the friary to extend north of the High Street, further from the sea.

It is Grade II* listed.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A Customs House was an office, usually at a seaport, whereby duty or customs were collected on imported or exported goods. The Customs House was used to collect custom duties, impound illegal goods and combat smuggling. Early Customs Houses were often architecturally imposing but those built later, from the C19, were usually more modest, partly because the growth of free trade led to the abandonment of many customs duties.

The medieval Customs House, 45m north-east of Town Hall Chambers survives well with some outstanding medieval masonry features. It is a significant feature of the medieval landscape of Shoreham-by-Sea. As a monument accessible to the public it forms an important educational and recreational resource.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
West Sussex HER 3662 - MWS505. NMR TQ20NW8, TQ20SW1. PastScape 398702, 398929. LBS 297291

Source: Historic England