Title:

Knight

First Name:

John

Last Name:

Lewknor

Memorial Type:

Burial site

Does the monument still exist?

No

Allegiance:

Lancastrian

Memorial Notes:

Sir John was born in 1418 in West Grinstead the younger of two sons to Sir Thomas Lewknor. Sir John was made Knight of the Bath by Henry VI prior to 1461. His family held large estates in Sussex including Bodiam castle. As a second son Sir John was never going to have land left to him by his father as it would naturally pass to his oldest brother Sir Roger. Nevertheless Sir John managed to create a good position in life partly by marriage and partly by friends like Sir Gervase Clifton (see churchyard) He did briefly follow his brother into local politics but soon found himself in debt and barred from any further opportunities. He suffered further under the Yorkist regime losing property and land to their appointee’s. He remained neutral when Warwick engineered the Readeption of King Henry in 1470. He was eventually recruited by Edmund Beaufort during his dash to meet Queen Margaret at Weymouth in March 1471. On 4 May he joined his brother and nephew (both called Roger), in fighting for the Queen. Sir John was killed during the battle but the other two managed to escape both the Bloody Meadow and the retreat to the Abbey. See M. Mercer, ‘Driven to Rebellion? Sir John Lewknor, Dynastic Loyalty and Debt’, Sussex Archaeological Collections 137 (2000), 153-60.