Religion in Sussex is situated at St. Hugh's Charterhouse, Parkminster near Cowfold. Protestant non-conformity was historically strong in the Weald and in the east of county, as well as some of the towns in the west. Non-conformity emerged in the Sussex Weald in the 14th century where some of the supporters of the Peasants Revolt of 1381 were Lollard followers of John Wycliffe or followers of John Ball. Over the centuries the Weald gained a reputation for being beyond state and church control, providing a haven for Lollard and early Protestant congregations. The towns of Rye and Winchelsea in the east of the
John Wycliffe into sin and that it ought therefore to give up all its property and that the clergy should live in complete poverty. The tendency of the high offices of state to be held by clerics was resented by many of the nobles. John of Gaunt, who had his own reasons for opposing the wealth and power of the clergy, possibly used a naive Wycliffe as his tool. Wycliffe was summoned before William Courtenay, Bishop of London, on 19 February 1377. The exact charges are not known, as the matter did not get as far as a definite examination. Lechler suggests