THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII to the English throne in 1485 ushered in a period on Ashdown for which we have unprecedented amounts of information and much more secondary analysis, quite unlike the preceding centuries. We can therefore gain a clearer idea of the landscape and the main actors and their interactions on or around Ashdown, and we now unfold something of the fortunes of the elite families, the landholders, the farming community and the many poor.

Following his victory at Bosworth the whole Duchy of Lancaster was vested in Henry VII, and the duchy thereafter was merged with the crown, although it continued to keep separate accounts. Following medieval precedent, Ashdown now went to Henry's wife, Elizabeth of York, a procedure also later followed by Henry VIII for Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour and Katherine Howard.

It is well known that Henry VII tightened expenditure to rebuild the royal finances: more feudal dues were exacted and attempts were made in 1489 to curtail illegal hunting in Ashdown Forest, where it was also seen that Maresfield tenants claiming common of pasture in Ashdown were misusing the custom to the detriment of the deer. Henry's Scottish campaigns in 1485 and 1496 also had implications for Ashdown, as we shall see, and we also find that Chelwood Vachery, formerly belonging to Michelham Priory, was now absorbed into duchy control.

A hierarchy of officials continued to administer Ashdown. The primary post remained that of master forester, a sinecure for members of the elite who might combine the post with being master of game. In turn, he normally employed a steward, and we find, for example, Thomas Fiennes (Lord Dacre) as steward of Ashdown in July 1519 and other well-connected men involved. George Neville, Lord Abergavenny, master forester 1503–22, was followed by Sir Thomas Boleyn of Hever (d. 1539) and George, his son (executed for treason in 1536); Thomas Culpeper in May 1541; and Sir Anthony Browne, son-in-law of Sir John Gage, in May 1542.