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The Beard Family [7] were the largest landowners in the area during the late 17th and 18th centuries. Thomas Beard was the first owner of the Beacon Hill windmill [view] - erected in 1802. 

Most of the Beards were Quakers, and 96 of the 102 burials in the nearby Quaker Burial Ground are understood to have been members of this family. Nicholas Beard established a Quaker Meeting at his home, Challoners [view], as well as providing land for non-conformist interment. He spent nearly five years in prison for his non-conformist activities, particularly because he refused to pay church tithes to Reverend Richard Baker, the then vicar of St. Margaret's.

Nicholas Beard's descendant, Steyning Beard, benefited from this heritage in terms of land and status, and as a major employer of farm labourers he was a powerful figure in the area. Steyning Beard is also listed as one of the players in the earliest mentioned Rottingdean cricket match in 1758. A year later Steyning Beard is recorded as being the captain of the Rottingdean cricket team in a match against Brighton (at the time Brighthelmstone).

A plaque commemorating Steyning Beard can be found inside the churcn

Between 1619 and 1909 the Beard family intermittently owned Down House [view] at the back of Kipling Gardens. 

_{Information about the Quaker Burial Ground, provided by Rottingdean Heritage.}

_{The plaque commemorating Steyning Beard, and wife Elizabeth, inside the church.}