My thanks to Elaine
Marshall for supplying the following information
(Click images for a larger view)
I have recently
been doing voluntary research work for Sussex University on funeral
monuments in Sussex Churches. We hope to eventually create a National
Database of funeral monuments in the period 1560-1820. One of the
churches I visited was at Alciston in East Sussex , which is between
Brighton and Eastbourne on the South Coast
On the exterior wall
of the church is a large monument to the Alchorne's of Cobb court,
Selmeston, which is a village close by. I have transcribed the inscription
for you, as not only does it have quite a lot of family information,
but I also found it to be quite amusing in the final paragraph.
It records the death
of William Alchorne who died in 1746 aged 70,his wife Ann who died
in 1739 aged 63, his daughter Ann who died in 1738 aged 24, his son
William who died in 1756 aged 36 and his son Richard who died in 1776
aged 65. The monument was erected by Ann Alchorne, Richard's niece,
"In Gratitude to his memory, from whom she received a large fortune"!!!
The top of the monument
has a stag's head on a white field, which I believe is the crest of
the Alchorne family
After my visit I tried to discover
whether there was anything on the web regarding the Alchorne family
and came across your site and the Allchin name. I also noticed the
contribution on your site by Michael Allchin
of Wiltshire, which states as follows:- "The next link of which
I've heard is of a manor near Rotherfield in the middle of the 15th
century: this was run by a family named Alchorne, and I've found
quite a few references to the connection between this name and what
ours is now. The only heraldic symbol which I've ever found to be
related to the family is a stag's head on a white field: this has
been borne by our lot by family tradition, but in reality it is
an Alchorne crest. I've also wondered if this might be a bit of
a pun: 'Alchorne' is not far from 'elk horn', which is closer again
to 'd'Alquin'. This link immediately associates us with this family
- another name which is still around, as well as Alcorns and maybe
Allkins, and quite probably a good number of other varieties from
the same stem."
I also noticed that East Sussex County Council have some archives
re the Alchorne family and the web site address is as follows:- http://www.eastsussexcc.gov.uk/archives/attachments/guide.doc
The two documents they hold are as follows:- Chancery lawsuit papers,
Alchorne of Eastbourne 1689-1707 (ACC 6857); and Photocopy proceedings
in Bowker v. Michell and Alchorne, 1620 (Equity side of Exchequer)
(ACC 7824);