East Dean
Major Settlement in the Parish of East Dean
Historical Forms
- Estdena in 1150 (1227) Ch
Etymology
Neither East nor West Dean is mentioned in DB. Alfred had a manor called Dene (BCS 553) which was probably in Sussex and identical with the Sussex villa regia where Asser (c. 79) first saw him, but that is almost certainly Eastdean in Pevensey Rape (v. Asser , ed. Stevenson, 312). One or other of the Deans is probably the æt Dene granted by Nunna to the Bishop of Selsey in 725 (BCS 144). East Dean is Estdena in 1150 (1227) Ch. 'East valley' v. denu . Distinguished from the other Eastdean as East Dean occidentalis (Lower i. 130). v. Addenda xlv.