Thought to be built in the mid 16th century this fine timber framed building, that stood in a piece of ground originally measuring approximately one acre on the west side of Glynde Hill, was probably built as a farm house and was held as a copyhold of Glynde manor along with 13 acres of land and paying 14s 8d annually in manorial rent.

The first known owner was John Stert [sometimes spelt Start], who possibly lived in Firle, and the house may have been built for his tenant farmer to live in at Glynde. In the mid 17th century the house was owned and probably occupied by Abraham Cooper, a man of sufficient social status to be buried in the vault in Glynde Church and his memorial stone can be seen in the floor of the church. Cooper was left a legacy in the will of Colonel Harbert Morley, owner of Glynde Place, leader of the Parliamentary forces in Sussex during the English civil war and signatory to the king’s death warrant.

Cooper’s son, another Abraham, sold the property to the Read family who rented it out to at least two generations of the Burgess family. Henry Burgess, carpenter, died in 1731 leaving an inventory of his goods in the house. The Glynde land tax returns confirm that Henry lived at Harveys and his son Edward Burgess may also have lived there.

Edward Burgess’s widow Jane was living in the house in 1765 when she started a Dame School. The Dame School did not last long as Jane married William Farncombe of Denton, farmer, 7 November 1765 and in the same year the Read family then sold Harveys to John Tugwell of Glynde, cordwainerShoe maker.