Seaward Sussex Part 5

"This most commanding down is crowned with the gra.s.sy mound and trenches of an ancient earthwork, from whence there is a n.o.ble view of hill and plain. The inner slope of the green fosse is inclined at an angle pleasant to recline on, with the head just below the edge, in the summer suns.h.i.+ne. A faint sound as of a sea heard in a dream--a sibilant 'sish, sish'--pa.s.ses along outside, dying away and coming again as a fresh wave of the wind rushes through the bennets and the dry gra.s.s."

(Richard Jefferies.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: WOLs...o...b..RY.]

The views from Ditchling, though fine, are not nearly the best, for there is a tameness in the immediate country to the north. A glorious walk, however, can be taken by keeping along the edge past "Black Cap,"

the clump of trees about two miles east, and then either over or round Mount Harry to Lewes. Those who must see all the settlements of men should proceed downwards to Westmeston, a beautiful little place embowered in trees, some of which are magnificent in shape and size, particularly the great ash at the east of the church which is literally overshadowed by the Beacon. The building is uninteresting and the mural paintings dating from the twelfth century, which were discovered about fifty years ago, have not been preserved. It was near here that Baring Gould speaks of seeing the carca.s.ses of two horses and three calves hanging in a elm; on inquiry he was informed that this was considered "lucky for cattle."

About a mile and a half north and two miles east of Ditchling village is the lonely hamlet of Street. The "Place" is a grand old house dating from the reign of the first James; behind the chimney of the hall was once a s.p.a.cious hiding place and a story is told of a Royalist fugitive who _rode into it on his horse_ and was never again seen. The restored church has a number of iron grave slabs and a monument to Martha Cogger, who was a "Pattern of Piety and Politeness."

Nearly two miles on the Lewes road is Plumpton, chiefly famed for its steeplechases which are held two miles away in the Weald and close to Plumpton station. The church is uninteresting. The "Place" is an old moated house, the property of Lord Chichester. The Leonard Mascall who lived here in the sixteenth century is said to have introduced the first carp from the Danube, the moat being used as their nursery.

Notice the great V in firs on the face of the Downs; this is a memorial of the Victorian Jubliee; not particularly beautiful and leading one to speculate upon its permanence. A cutting in the chalk would probably recommend itself to the pious care of coming ages when the personage commemorated had either been entirely forgotten or had developed into a legendary heroine of fict.i.tious character. That even cuttings are not always permanent is proved close by, for only occasionally can the cross cut to commemorate the great battle of Lewes be seen; the turf shows but a different shade of green at certain times and under certain atmospheric conditions.

The road to Lewes continues under the shadow of Mount Harry and eventually drops to the Lewes-London highway near Offham, remarkable as being the first place in the south where a line of rails was used for the pa.s.sage of goods. A turn to the right and we soon reach Lewes near St. Anne's Church.

CHAPTER V

Sh.o.r.eHAM AND WORTHING

Public conveyances run from Brighton to Sh.o.r.eham several times each day by Portslade and Southwick; the railway to Worthing also follows the road and little will be lost if the traveller goes direct to New Sh.o.r.eham. Portslade and Southwick churches have some points of interest, the latter a one time church of the Knights Templar, but they are not sufficient compensation for the melancholy and depressing route. After pa.s.sing Hove the road is cut off from the sea by the eastern arm of Sh.o.r.eham Harbour, and there follows a line of gas works, coal sidings and similar eyesores, almost all the way to Sh.o.r.eham town.

However, the explorer will be amply recompensed when he arrives at the old port at the mouth of the Adur.

The original Saxon town had its beginnings at Old Sh.o.r.eham, but, as the harbour silted up, the importance of the new settlement under Norman rule, exceeded all other havens between Portsmouth and Rye. The overlords were the powerful De Braose family, who have left their name and fame over a great extent of the Suss.e.x seaboard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PORTSLADE HARBOUR.]

King John is known to have landed here after the death of Richard, and Charles II sailed from Sh.o.r.eham after the Battle of Worcester. The fugitive came across country accompanied by Lord Wilmot, and at Brighton fell in with the Captain Tattersell, whose grave we have seen there. An arrangement was made by which he was to leave Sh.o.r.eham in the captain's vessel; this was done the next morning and the King in due time reached Fecamp safely. At the restoration the gallant captain received an annual pension of one hundred pounds.

Sh.o.r.eham is decidedly not the town to visit for an hour or two or for half a day. No one can possibly gain a correct impression of these smaller English towns by a casual call, as it were, between trains. A short stay, or two or three day visits (_not_ on "early closing" day) is the least one can do before claiming to know the place.

New Sh.o.r.eham is almost certain to disappoint on first acquaintance. In fact it may be described as mean and shabby! Other and competent judges have felt the charm of this old Seagate and one--Algernon Charles Swinburne--has immortalized it in his glowing lines "On the South Coast":--

"Sh.o.r.eham, clad with the sunset glad and grave with glory that death reveres."

Sh.o.r.eham church is second only to the Cathedral at Chichester and Boxgrove Priory in interest. As will be seen by the fragments in the churchyard a nave once made the building cruciform, and its proportions then would not have disgraced a small cathedral. A movement has been on foot for some time to rebuild the nave on the old site and an offertory box for this purpose will be seen within the church.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sh.o.r.eHAM AND THE ADUR.]

The prevailing effect of both exterior and interior is of solemn and stately age. The upper part of the tower is Transitional with certain later additions. The base of the tower, the choir transepts, and the fragment still remaining of the nave are Norman and Transitional of very n.o.ble and dignified proportions.

The vaulting will be noticed. This is Early English, also the beautiful ornament on the capitals and the interesting mason's marks on the pillars. The marble font is a very good specimen of the square type common in this locality. A bra.s.s in the nave of a merchant and his lady should be noticed, also a piscina with trefoil ornament and a modern window in the north transept to the infants who died between 1850 and 1875. There are a number of memorials to the Hooper family hereabouts.

In this portion of the building the election of parliamentary candidates once took place.

The church owes nothing of its stateliness to a past connected with priory or monastery, it has always been a parish church and is of additional interest thereby. That it always will hold this rank is another matter; in these days of new sees one cannot tell that the parish church of to-day will not be the cathedral of to-morrow.

Certainly Sh.o.r.eham would wear the t.i.tle with dignity.

There are many quaint corners left in the town (which since 1910 has been officially styled "Sh.o.r.eham by Sea "), but the individuality of the place is best seen on the quay where a little s.h.i.+pbuilding is still carried on; in the reign of Edward III it supplied the Crown with a fleet of twenty-six sail. The figure-head sign of the "Royal George"

Inn may be noticed; this was salvaged from the ill-fated s.h.i.+p of that name which sunk in Portsmouth Harbour.

The Norfolk Suspension Bridge, still retaining its old-fas.h.i.+oned toll, carries the Worthing road across the river, at high tide a fine estuary, but at low a feeble trickle lost in a waste of mud. The view of the town from the bridge is very charming, especially in the evening light.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SKETCH PLAN OF OLD & NEW Sh.o.r.eHAM.]

At Old Sh.o.r.eham, a mile up stream, is another bridge which, with the church, is the most painted, sketched and photographed of all Suss.e.x scenes; few years pa.s.s without it being represented on the walls of the Academy. This bridge is a very ancient wooden structure which has been patched and mended from time to time into a condition of extreme picturesqueness. The bridge leads to the "Suss.e.x Pad," a noted smuggling hostelry in a situation ideal for the purpose, and then on to Lancing and Sompting.

The st.u.r.dy and grey old church which has seen so many centuries of change and decay in the life around it, which has even seen the very face of nature alter in the haven beneath, has not changed in any essential since the great De Braose of the eleventh century built it on the foundations of its Saxon predecessor, whose ma.s.sive walls still support a goodly part of the Norman building. Almost the whole of the upper part of the church is Norman, though the chancel appears to have been restored at a later date. Note the fine pointed screen and the rich moulding of the arches and door, also the carved tye-beam above the great arch which leads to the crossing. The nave is curiously dark, through the absence of windows; here may be seen the remains of the Saxon wall projecting beyond the line of the newer work. A low side window near the southwest corner has been variously described as a confessional, a hagioscope, and a leper window.

The few small houses to the south of the church are all that now remain to show where the one time port stood; though none of the existing buildings are contemporary with that period.

[Ill.u.s.traton: NEW Sh.o.r.eHAM.]

There is now a choice of ways. The direct route to Worthing goes across the Norfolk Bridge and then by South Lancing ("Bungalow Town ") and calls for no comment other than its fine marine views. The valley road to Bramber and Steyning we propose to travel presently, and we will now cross the old bridge by the "Suss.e.x Pad," lately rebuilt. Half a mile from the inn the Down road to the right leads direct to the prominent group of buildings on a spur of the Downs which have been constantly in view during the walk from Sh.o.r.eham. St. Nicholas', or Lancing, College was founded in 1849 by Nicholas Woodard, an Anglican priest. It is part of a larger scheme, other colleges in connexion being at Hurstpierpoint and Ardingly. The original school, established in 1848 at Sh.o.r.eham, may still be seen at the corner of Church Street; it is now a laundry. The buildings are dominated most effectively by the great pile of the college chapel 97 feet from roof to floor. The general effect is most un-English and gives the west side of the Adur an air reminiscent of Normandy or Picardy.

Lancing is supposed to be derived from Wlencing, one of the sons of Ella. The church, originally Norman, has been much altered at various times and is mainly Early English. The remains of an Easter Sepulchre may be seen in the north wall of the chancel and at the door the mutilated fragment of a stoup.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD Sh.o.r.eHAM.]

At the third mile from Sh.o.r.eham is Sompting, famous for its church and well known to Worthing visitors, who have a pleasant walk of about two and a half miles by shady road and field path through Broadwater. The church stands in a group of elms on the slope to the north of the village. The tower and part of the chancel are undoubtedly Saxon, the remainder of the church having been rebuilt in Norman and Early English times. Notice the characteristic bands of stonework which run round the tower and the long capitals of the central ribs. The gabled spire is almost unique in this country and will awaken memories of Alsace for those who know that land. A similar spire may be seen in another Down country, at Sarratt in Hertfords.h.i.+re, and a modern example at Southampton. Between the north side of the tower and the nave are the remains of a chapel erected by the Peverells. The interior of the church is equally uncommon and interesting, and the distressing newness which follows most restorations is not seen here, the work of the restorer, Mr. Carpenter, having been most careful and sympathetic. The outline of the original windows may be traced in the chancel which is now lit by Perpendicular openings. Over the altar is a tabernacle, not very well seen. Notice the piscina with triangular arch, and a tomb, it is supposed, of Richard Bury, dating from the time of Henry VII; also the curious corbel face in the east aisle of the vaulted north transept. The south transept is below the level of the nave; here are two mutilated pieces of sculpture, representing Our Lord with a book and a seated bishop with his crozier. The font is placed in a recess which formerly held an altar. The church became the property of the Knights Templar and a portion of the manor was held by the Abbey of Fecamp; the adjoining manor-house being still known as Sompting Abbotts; this house was for a short period the home of Queen Caroline.

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

Enjoyable rambles may be taken by any of the numerous by-roads which lead northwards into the heart of the Downs by Roman Ditch, Beggar's Bush and Cissbury. It is proposed, however, to leave a more particular description of this country to that portion of our longer route to Worthing via Was.h.i.+ngton, for which we must return to Sh.o.r.eham, and now to take the road which runs by the Adur to Upper Beeding. On the way will be noticed the little church at Coombe backed by the Downs; this has an unmistakable Saxon window in the nave, and a medieval crucifix discovered in 1877. Higher up the river is the little old church of Botolph's, which may be Saxon so far as the chancel arch is concerned, Both these churches are very old and quite untouched by the restorer.

At Upper Beeding the Priory of Sele once stood where is now the vicarage; the Early English church is of small interest and need not detain us.

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

Bramber (Brymburgh) Castle holds the same position for the valley of the Adur that Lewes does for the Ouse and Arundel for the Arun. The stronghold antedates by many centuries the great Norman with whose name it is always coupled. Some authorities claim Bramber to have been the Portus Adurni that we have already connected with Aldrington; however that may be, Roman remains have been discovered here in the form of bridge foundations and it is more than possible that a British fort stood either on or near the hillock where William de Braose improved and rebuilt the then existing castle; this, with the barony, was granted to him by the Conqueror, and the family continued for many years to be the most powerful in Mid-Suss.e.x. After the line failed, the property went to the Mowbrays and afterwards to the Howards, in whose hands it still remains. It was through this connexion that the t.i.tle of Duke of Norfolk came to the holders of Arundel. Thomas Mowbray was made first Duke in 1388, and when the line ceased and the property changed hands the t.i.tle went with it. It is possible that the army of the Parliament destroyed the castle in the Civil War, though no actual records prove this. A skirmish took place here between the Royalists and their opponents and is described in a letter addressed to a certain Samuel Jeake of Rye by one of the latter:--

"The enemy attempted Bramber Bridge, but our brave Carleton and Evernden with his Dragoons and our horse welcomed them with drakes and muskets, sending some eight or nine men to h.e.l.l, I feare, and one trooper to Arundell prisoner, and one of Captain Evernden's Dragoons to heaven." It was the scene of a narrow escape for Charles II in his flight to Brighton. The poor remnants of the Castle are now an excuse for picnickers who are not always reverent, in point of tidiness, towards what was once a palace of the Saxon Kings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UPPER BEEDING.]

Bramber village is most picturesque and attractive; its size renders it difficult to believe that within living memory it returned two members to Parliament. Some amusing stories are told of the exciting elections in olden days, when as much as 1,000 were offered and refused for a single vote. This "borough" once returned Wilberforce the Abolitionist, of whom it is told that on pa.s.sing through and being acquainted with the name of the village exclaimed "Bramber? why that's the place I'm member for."

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

The church lies close under the south wall of the castle; only the nave and tower remain of the original cruciform building. Although the arches are Norman and show the original frescoes, a claim was made by Dr. Green, Rector in 1805, that "in rebuilding the church at his own expense about twenty years before, he had no a.s.sistance except that the Duke of Rutland and Lord Calthorpe, joint proprietors of the borough, each gave 25, Magdalen College 50 and Mr. Lidbetter, an opulent local farmer, 20; but the Duke of Norfolk, Lord of the Manor, nothing!" This "rebuilding" refers to the re-erection of the tower arches, the s.p.a.ce between being converted into a chancel. New windows in Norman style were inserted in 1871 to bring the east end into harmony with the nave.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. MARY'S, BRAMBER.]

St. Mary's is the first house to be seen on approaching the village from the east. It is a beautiful specimen of a timber-built Suss.e.x house; notice the open iron-work door with its queer old bell-pull.

Every visitor should inspect the quaint museum of taxidermy in the village street; here guinea-pigs may be seen playing cricket, rats playing dominoes and rabbits at school; the lifelike and humorous att.i.tudes of the little animals reflect much credit on the artist.

Steyning is a short mile farther on our way (both Bramber and Steyning are stations on the Brighton Railway). This was another borough until 1832 but, unlike its neighbour, it was of considerable importance in the early middle ages and at the Domesday survey there were two churches here. The one remaining is of great interest; built by the Abbey of Fecamp to whom Edward the Confessor gave Steyning, it was evidently never completed; preparations were made for a central tower and the nave appears to be unfinished. The styles range from Early Norman to that of the sixteenth century when the western tower was built. Particular notice should be taken of the pier-arches which are very beautifully decorated; also the south door.