he regulation of cottage building in seventeenth-century Sussex by Danae Tankard Abstract In 1589 a statute was passed entitled ‘An act against erecting and maintaining cottages’ which sought to regulate cottage building and the multiple occupation of cottages. his article examines the context of the act’s passage and its relationship to other legislation of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. It then ofers a detailed exploration of the way the act’s cottage clauses were enforced in seventeenth-century Sussex. It also considers the legal status of cottages that were ‘continued’ and looks at evidence for methods of cottage construction and the range of cottage types. In 1589 a statute was passed entitled ‘An act against erecting and maintaining cottages’ which sought to regulate cottage building and the multiple occupation of cottages. he preamble to the act set out its purpose: For the avoiding of the great inconveniencies which are found by experience to grow by the erecting and building of great numbers and multitude of cottages, which are daily more and more increased in many parts of the realm. he act made it illegal to build a cottage without four acres of land, to convert a building into a cottage without four acres of land, or to ‘willingly uphold, maintain and continue’ a cottage without four acres of land. he penalty for the irst two ofences was a ine of £10; the penalty for the third was a ine of 40s. for every month that the cottage was continued. here were a number of exemptions: cottages in towns or cities; within one mile of industrial areas or the sea or navigable rivers; in forests, chases, warrens or parks inhabited by under-keepers, warreners, herdsmen or shepherds; or inhabited by any ‘poor, lame, sick, aged or impotent person’. Prosecution of these clauses was vested in any of three authorities: the manorial lord at his court leet, the justices of assize and the justices of the peace. he justices of assize and the justices of the peace were permitted to make decrees allowing the continued habitation of cottages built without four acres of land for a set period of time ‘upon complaint’ made to them. 1 he act also made it illegal for cottages to be occupied by more than one family or lodgers (called ‘inmates’). Owners or occupiers who allowed multiple occupation were liable 1 31 Eliz. c. 7 (1589), cl. 1–5 (Statutes of the Realm (10 vols, 1810–28) [hereater SR] IV (i), pp. 804–5). AgHR 59, I, pp. 18–35 18