For the existence of this book I make no apology; the compilation of the history of an obscure parish, if it does not render any great service to either literature or science, has its value, and if the result of my work be to induce others to perform a similar service for other localities - not, however, using this book as a model - it will have justified its publication. Writing for the antiquary, more especially the Sussex antiquary, rather than the general reader, I have preferred to keep my book within reasonable limits by cutting down the "padding" rather than by sacrificing any original material; I have, however, endeavoured to connect the details together so that the result may be something more than a dry string of facts; if I have failed, those who have attempted a similar task will, I am sure, sympathise with me.<br><br>The district covered in the following pages is practically untrodden ground: it is true that in 1884 Thomas Geering, shoemaker, of Hailsham, published a book entitled "Our Parish," containing some fifty chatty little essays on Hailsham and its inhabitants in the earlier part of the nineteenth century, but though amusing and locally interesting, it made no pretence to archæological value. Otham Abbey was the subject of a paper in the fifth volume of the Sussex Archæological Society's "Collections" by the Rev. G. M. Cooper, who also wrote an article on Michelham Priory in the next volume of the "Collections." Neither paper was very exhaustive and the latter especially contained several mistakes. Comparatively little, therefore, of the matter that follows has been brought together before, and much is here printed for the first time. While it does not contain any startling discoveries it will, I think, be found to throw a certain amount of light on the early history of this part of Sussex. I may mention, for instance, the probable identification of two Domesday names not previously located, and the exact date at which the manor of Laughton came into the Pelham family, which I believe was not known.