Seaward Sussex Part 2

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EASTERN DOWNS.]

CHAPTER II

TO EASTBOURNE AND PEVENSEY

Two miles distant from Lewes on the Eastbourne road is Beddingham, whose church shows a medley of styles from Norman to Decorated. About one hundred years ago a discovery was made near the village of a quant.i.ty of human remains together with weapons and accoutrements, pointing to the probability of a forgotten battle having taken place in the pa.s.s between the hills. A religious house dedicated to St. Andrew is conjectured to have existed at one time in or near the village.

Monkish records relate that a s.h.i.+p hailing from Dunkirk and having on board a monk named Balger was driven into Seaford by a storm. This Balger was of an enterprising turn; making his way inland he helped himself to the relics of St. Lewinna, a British convert, which reposed in St. Andrew's Monastery. The adventures that overtook the relics and their illegal guardian during the journey back to Flanders make up a medieval romance of much interest and throw a curious light on the mental att.i.tude of the religious, as regards the rights of property, during the Dark Ages.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIRLE BEACON.]

A mile farther along the high road is the turning which leads to Glynde station and village, for which the most pleasant route is over the hills. The name is possibly a Celtic survival and describes the situation between opposing heights. "Glyn" is common throughout the whole of Wales. The church is in a style quite alien to its surroundings and might well belong to Clapham or Bloomsbury. It is a Grecian temple built about 1765 by the then Bishop of Durham, Dr.

Trevor, and here the Bishop was buried. There are few more charming groups of cottages in Suss.e.x than this beautiful village. Glynde Place, the seat of a former Speaker of the House of Commons, boasts the largest dairy in Suss.e.x if not in England; between 700 and 800 pounds of b.u.t.ter are made here daily. John Ellman, the famous breeder of Southdown sheep lived here for nearly fifty years (1780-1829.)

A short way farther, on the main road, is a turning to West Firle, on the east of which is the fine Firle Park belonging to the Gage's, a very ancient local family whose tombs and bra.s.ses may be seen in the church. The pedestrian is advised to press on to Firle Beacon from which a descent may be made to Alciston (p.r.o.nounced "Aston") on the high road. The heap of flints on the summit of the Beacon is 718 feet above the sea, and therefore the hill is not so high as it looks, nor is it, as was formerly supposed to be the case, the second highest summit of the Downs. The view is superb both northwards to the Weald and southwards over the Channel. Alciston calls for little comment, the charm of the place consists in its air of remoteness and peace. The small church is partly Norman, and in the walls of Court House Farm are the remains of a religious house. Note the ancient barn and dovecote. A mile to the north is another little hamlet called "Simson," and spelt Selmeston. The curious wooden pillars in the church were fortunately untouched when the building was restored. The old altar slab has five crosses, and there are one or two interesting bra.s.ses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALFRISTON CHURCH.]

Berwick is a scattered village on the western slopes of the Cuckmere valley; the Early English church is embowered in trees on a spur of the Downs; there is a fine canopied tomb in the chancel, an old screen and an uncommon type of font built in the wall. Note the eloquent epitaph to a former rector.

Half a mile farther is a turning on the right that pa.s.ses Winton Street, where, a few years ago, there was a rich find of Anglo-Saxon antiquities. In two miles this byway reaches Alfriston.

("_All_-friston.") The church has a very common legend a.s.sociated with it; the foundations are said to have been again and again removed by supernatural agency from another site to the spot where the solemn and stately old building now stands. It is a Perpendicular cruciform church and has an Easter sepulchre and three sedilia. The register is said to be the oldest in England, its first entry bearing the date of 1512. "A few years since as many as seventy 'virgins' garlands' hung in Alfriston Church at once" (Hare). Close by is a delightful pre-Reformation clergy house. Antiquaries are perhaps as concerned with the "Star" Inn, one of the most interesting in the south of England and dating from about 1490. The front of the house is covered with quaint carvings including St. George and the Dragon, a bear and ragged staff and what appears to be a lion. On each side of the doorway arc mitred saints conjectured to represent St. Julian and St. Giles. The inn is reputed to have been a place of sanctuary under Battle Abbey; it stands within the abbot's manor of Alciston and was undoubtedly the recognized hostel for pilgrims and mendicant friars. Another old inn, once a noted house of call for smugglers, is Market Cross House, opposite all that remains of the Cross, a mutilated and battered stump, and the only example, except that at Chichester, in the county.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALFRISTON.]

Alfriston once had a race week, the course being on the side of Firle Beacon; in those days the resident population was probably greater than it is now. Not only were more souls crowded into the old houses still standing in the village street but tradition tells that the place was larger and more suited to its s.p.a.cious old church which is now barely half filled on an ordinary Sunday.

A footpath may be taken over the Cuckmere and up the hill beyond to the little dependency of Lullington. The church calls itself the smallest in Suss.e.x but this depends upon what const.i.tutes a church. The existing building is actually the chancel of a former church, perhaps another proof of a dwindling population.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LULLINGTON CHURCH.]

The winding lane on the eastern bank of the Cuckmere is thick with a glaring white dust on the dry days of summer, but there is no other practicable route to Litlington; where is a quaint and interesting old church with arches formed of the native chalk. This village is growing rather than decaying, and appears to be, in a small way, an asylum for those who have grown weary of the broader highways. It is in a most delightful situation and is even within reach of a morning dip in the sea for those vigorous enough to undertake a three mile walk each way.

"Tea" placards nestling among the roses and ivy on the cottage walls also testify its attractions to holiday wayfarers, though the way to Litlington, even for the motor-cyclist, is too strenuous for the village to become overcrowded or vulgar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LITLINGTON.]

The Cuckmere now begins to widen its banks and the theory that the waters once extended from side to side of the valley seems tenable as we view the wide expanse of sedgy swamp through which the present channel has been artificially cut. Cuckmere Haven is the name given to the bay between the last of the "Seven Sisters" and the eastern slopes of Seaford Head which should be ascended for the sake of the lovely view up the valley, seen at its best from this end.

"The only light that suits the tranquillity and tender pathos of the region is that which fills the dimples of the Downs with inexpressibly soft and dreamy expressions, and quickens the plain by revealing the individuality of every blade of gra.s.s and plough-turned clod by its own shadow."

(Coventry Patmore.)

Nearly all the villages of the Cuckmere are in sight and make together perhaps the most likely to be remembered of Suss.e.x pictures. It is surprising how little this tranquil vale is known except to the chance visitor from Seaford. When one remembers the much exploited and spoilt beauty spots of Dorset and Devon one feels nervous for the future of these lesser known but equally charming sea-combes of Suss.e.x.

A short distance from the haven a steep gulley leads to the beach with a convenient chain and rope to prevent too sudden a descent. It has been suggested that through this gap the Romans pa.s.sed from their moored fleets to the fortified settlements above. It was at one time possible to descend by another opening higher up the cliff to a ledge called "Puck Church Parlour." This is now inaccessible except to seabirds. The well-known view of the "Seven Sisters" is taken hereabouts and the disused "Belle Tout" lighthouse stands up well on the western slopes of Beachy Head, looking no distance across the Cuckmere bay.

On the way from Litlington a slight divergence of half a mile or so might have been made to West Dean; this is a most sequestered little hamlet, famous only as the meeting place between the great Alfred and a.s.ser, though some authorities claim the West Dean between Midhurst and Chichester as the authentic spot. There is a Norman arch in the tower of the church and also several canopied tombs and some good stained gla.s.s. Here is another priest's house even older than the one we have seen at Alfriston. George Gissing well describes the village and the surrounding country in his novel _Thyrza_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WEST DEAN.]

A Downland road can be taken from here to Friston, Eastdean and Eastbourne, saving some miles of up and down walking, but the most enjoyable though more strenuous route is by the cliff path from Cuckmere Haven over the "Seven Sisters" cliffs to Beachy Head; a glorious six miles with the sea on one side and the Downs on the other, culminating in the finest headland on the south coast, 575 feet high, the magnificent end of the Downs in the sea. All these cliffs provide nesting-places for wild birds.

"I was much struck by the watchful jealousy with which the peregrines seemed to guard the particular cliff--more than 500 feet from the sea--on a lofty ledge of which their nest was situated, and which, indeed, they evidently considered their especial property; with the exception of a few jackdaws who bustled out of the crevices below, all the other birds which had now a.s.sembled on this part of the coast for the breeding season--it being about the middle of May--seemed to respect the territory of their warlike neighbours. The adjoining precipice, farther westward, was occupied by guillemots and razorbills, who had deposited their eggs, the former on the naked ledge, the latter in the crevices in the face of the cliff Here the jackdaws appeared quite at their ease, their loud, merry note being heard above every other sound, as they flew in and out of the fissures in the white rock or sate perched on a pinnacle near the summit, and leisurely surveyed the busy crowd below."

(A.E. Knox.)

At Birling Gap, just short of the Head, is a coast-guard station and the point of departure for the cable to France where we may descend to the coast by an opening which was once fortified. In history Beachy Head (possibly "Beau Chef") is chiefly remembered for the battle between the combined English and Dutch fleets and the French, in which the English admiral did not show to the best advantage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EAST DEAN.]

Before the erection of the Belle Tout Light wrecks off the Head were of frequent occurrence and many are the tales of gallant fight and hopeless loss told by the coast dwellers here. "Parson Darby's Hole"

under the Belle Tout is said to have been made by the vicar of East Dean (1680) as a refuge for castaways. We can but hope that his paris.h.i.+oners were as humane, but the probability is that the parson's efforts were looked on askance by his flock, who gained a prosperous livelihood by the spoils of the sh.o.r.e; and perhaps this feeling gave rise to the unkind fable that the cave was made as a refuge from Mrs.

Darby's tongue.

"Suss.e.x men that dwell upon the sh.o.r.e Look out when storms arise and billows roar; Devoutly praying with uplifted hands That some well-laden s.h.i.+p may strike the sands.

To whose rich cargo they may make pretence."

(Congreve.)

The fine carriage-road which leaves Beachy Head leads directly into Eastbourne and is called the Duke's Drive. It was owing to the initiative of the grandfather of the present Duke of Devons.h.i.+re, whose local seat is at Compton Place on the west of the town that the little hamlet of Sea Houses became the present beautiful and fas.h.i.+onable resort, with a sea-front of nearly three miles of gardens backed by hotels, boarding-houses and schools. As at Folkestone, education is here a strong feature, and a few years ago demure files of young ladies with attendant dragon taking the air between breakfast and study might have been seen. The epoch-ending events of the last few years, however, appear to have killed the "caterpillar."

Eastbourne seems to have carefully pushed its workers, together with the gasworks, market gardens, and other utilitarian features round the screen of Splash Point. The boulevards going west and north are full of fine houses and brilliant shops and are lined with well grown trees.

The continuation of Terminus Road will take us in a little over a mile to the old town; here is the parish church, mostly Transitional, and with many interesting features which should on no account be missed.

Note the oak screen in the chancel; sedilia and piscina; also an Easter sepulchre. There is some old Flemish gla.s.s in the east window of the nave aisle; that of the chancel is modern but good. Near the church is a farmhouse, once a priory of Black Friars. The ancient "Lamb Inn" has an Early English crypt which may be seen on application.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BEACHY HEAD.]

The most popular excursion from Eastbourne after "The Head" is to Willingdon, near which is Hampden Park and Wannock Glen, and, farther afield, Jevington. Willingdon has an interesting old church and is pleasantly situated, but the village is too obviously the "place to spend a happy day" to call for further comment. On the other hand, Jevington with its ancient but over-restored church, is quite unspoilt and, lying in one of the most beautiful of the Down combes, should certainly be visited.

We are now at the end of the Downs and the scenery eastwards takes on an entirely different character:--

"The great and fertile plain stretching along the Suss.e.x coast from the eastward of Beachy Head in the direction of Hastings, and inland towards Wartling, Hurstmonceux and Hailsham, now studded with fat beeves, was at some remote era, covered by the sea, and what are known as 'eyes,' or elevations above the surrounding level--such as Chilleye, Northeye, Horseye, Richeye, &c.--must have been islands, forming a miniature archipelago. As all these are of Saxon meaning, it may be presumed that, at the time of the Saxon colonization, they were frequently or constantly insulated."

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD PARSONAGE, EASTBOURNE.]

(Lower.)

Five miles from Eastbourne across the dreary flats of Pevensey Level lies all that remains of the city of Anderida, the headquarters of the Roman "Count of the Saxon Sh.o.r.e" and one of the last strongholds of Rome in Britain. The melancholy tale of the overthrow of ancient civilization in this corner of England by the barbarous Saxon invaders is summed up in the terse words of their own chronicle--"They slew all that dwelt therein, nor was there henceforth one Briton left." The name "Andredes Weald" is derived from the British--An tred--"No houses," and it correctly described the surrounding country at the time of the Roman occupation. The great Weald or forest actually extended from the coast to the Thames valley, broken only by the "Old Road" along the side of the North Downs, traversed by far-off ancestors of ours whose feelings as they gazed fearfully down into the depths of the primeval wood must have been on a plane with those of the earliest African explorers in the land of Pygmies. Here were the very real beginnings of those countless tales of Gnome and Fairy--ferocious tribe and gentle tribe--with which our folk-lore abounds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JEVINGTON.]

As to the existence of a British town here before the coming of the Romans nothing is known, but that Pevensey Bay witnessed the landing of Julius Caesar is tolerably certain, and here the custodians of Britain erected a great stronghold of whose walls we shall see the remnants as we first enter the castle. In 490 Ella besieged the city and, as quoted above, put it to fire and sword in effectual fas.h.i.+on; from this period therefore must be dated the foundations of the South Saxon kingdom.

After upwards of five hundred years another conqueror appeared on the old Roman wall. On the twenty-eighth September 1066 William I landed, stumbled and fell, and "clutched England with both hands." Pevensey (Peofn's Island) was given to Robert of Mortain, and he it was who built the ma.s.sive castle of the "Eagle" which we see rising inside the Roman wall. This name arose from the t.i.tle "Honour of the Eagle" which was given to de Aquila, holder of the fortress under Henry I. After many changes of owners who included Edward I, Edward III and John of Gaunt, and after being besieged by Stephen against Matilda, by the Barons against Henry III, and by Richard II against Bolingbroke it fell on evil times and was actually sold for forty pounds by the Parliamentary commissioners as building material. The keep is in ruins and the chapel can only be traced in the gra.s.sy floor; here may still be seen the old font covered by an iron frame, and the opening of the castle well, in which, as related by Hare, skulls of the wolves which once roamed the great forest have been found.

In connexion with the Norman occupation of Suss.e.x the curious and arbitrary system of "Rapes" by which the county is divided should be noticed. These six blocks of land have no apparent relation to the natural features of the country; each contains a powerful castle to overawe the division to which it belongs. The whole plan is eloquent of the method by which the Norman ruled the conquered race and kept them in subjection.