The road to Henley is one of the loneliest as it is one of the loveliest in south-west Sussex. The writer has tramped the long miles to Henley (uphill all the way) without meeting a single pedestrian. Even the advent of the great Sanatorium on the southern slopes of Bexley Hill does not seem to have made any difference. Possibly visitors use the public motor which runs between Midhurst and Haslemere. By so doing they miss one of the finest woodland walks in the south, indescribably beautiful in the scarlet and gold of late autumn.

The traveller in Downland is advised for once to turn his back on the hills and walk as far as the summit of the Haslemere road where the new route turns sharp round to the left and hugs the escarpment of Bexley Hill. In front will be seen an overgrown track, the old highway, plunging down the face of the hill. A few feet down this causeway, paved with large slabs of stone, brings us to a surprising hamlet clinging to the hillside and, with its "Duke of Cumberland" Inn, looking across the wide Fernhurst vale to where Blackdown lords it on the other side.



At Easebourne, about a mile north-east of Midhurst, is a Benedictine Priory used, until quite lately, as a farmhouse. It is close to the church, which, with the buildings of the nunnery, form three sides of a hollow square. The restoration has been carried out with taste and care and the whole is worth seeing. The nuns of Easebourne would seem to have been "difficult females," for a Bishop of Chichester in 1441 was obliged to call the Prioress to order for wearing sumptuous clothes with fur trimmings and for using too many horses when travelling, the penance being a restriction to four. The nuns were spoken of by a contemporary writer as "wild females of high family put at Easebourne to keep them quiet."

The church, besides the tomb of the first Viscount Montague, removed from Midhurst, contains a figure of Sir David Owen (1540); also a Transitional font.



CHAPTER VIII

GOODWOOD AND BOGNOR

We now leave the Rother, turn south by the Chichester road and passing over Cocking causeway reach, in three miles, that little village at the foot of the pass through the Downs to Singleton, or better still, by taking a rather longer route through West Lavington we may see the church in which Manning preached his last sermon as a member of the Anglican communion. The church and accompanying buildings date from 1850 and were designed by Butterfield; they are a good example of nineteenth-century Gothic and are placed in a fine situation. In the churchyard, which is particularly well arranged, lies Richard Cobden not far from the farmhouse in which he was born. Dunford House is not far away; this was presented to Cobden by the Anti-Corn-Law League, and here the last years of his life were spent.

Cocking once had a cell belonging to the Abbey of Seez in Normandy but of this nothing remains. This beautifully situated little place has a primitive Norman church with a fine canopied tomb and an old painting of Angel and shepherds. We are now at the foot of Charlton Forest covering the slopes of the Downs which stretch eastwards to Duncton Beacon; and along the edge of this escarpment it is proposed to travel. This is one of the loneliest and most beautiful sections of the range.

"A curious phenomenon is observable in this neighbourhood. From the leafy recesses of the layers of beech on the escarpment of the Downs, there rises in unsettled weather a mist which rolls among the trees like the smoke out of a chimney. This exhalation is called 'Foxes-brewings' whatever that may mean, and if it tends westwards towards Cocking, rain follows speedily." (Lower.)

The hamlet of Heyshott need not tempt us from the hill, though Graffham, one of the loveliest villages in Downland, might well be visited. Where at last it is necessary to drop toward the Petworth Chichester road a divergence may be made to East Lavington with its associations and memories of Samuel Wilberforce, who is buried here and in whose memory a memorial brass may be seen in the church; note also the Bishop's pastoral staff fixed to the wall near the altar. There are still "oldest inhabitants" of this peaceful place who remember the celebrated Victorian, whose rather unkind sobriquet was really but a tribute to his genial kindliness of disposition. Here he married in 1828 the local heiress, Miss Emily Sergent, and here Mrs. Wilberforce was buried in 1841. It is said that at Oxford, or wherever the Bishop was resident, there hung in his bedroom a picture of Lavington churchyard "that I may ever see my own resting place."

Directly south of Lavington rises the summit of the Downs—Duncton Beacon (837 feet), like many other "highest tops" a great disappointment after visiting some of the lesser heights, for the Beacon, which is named "Littleton Down" on the Ordnance map, is not on the edge of the range but stands back among encircling lesser heights and is itself partly covered with trees which to a great extent cut off the view. Barlavington Down, about half the height of Duncton, and Farm Hill face east and both command fine views in this direction. The latter is above Bignor, to which village we now descend. This is a place beloved of archaeologists, for here is the site of the famous Roman villa. Bignor church is remarkable for the chancel arch which most authorities admit to be a genuine Roman work. Note also the long lancet windows in the chancel and the magnificent yews in the churchyard. Enquiry must be made in the village for the farm at which the keys of the villa enclosure are kept. (Notice the beautiful old house, timbered and with a projecting upper story, near the lane leading to the villa.) Authorities are at variance as to the actual history of the remains which were discovered in 1811. The conjecture that this was the fortified station on Stane street (which may be seen descending the hills south-west), at the tenth milestone, "Ad Decimum," seems lately to be discredited, and the supposition gains ground that the villa was simply the country palace of a great Roman, or possibly a civilized British prince. However that may be, the discoveries revealed one of the most important and interesting remains of the Roman occupation in Britain, and cover an area of no less than 600 feet in length by 350 feet in breadth. The principal pavement may be that of the Banqueting hall, in the centre of which is a stone cistern, probably a fountain. The hypercaust below has caused the floor to give way in several places. The pavement of a smaller room is perfect and shows a finely executed design; another is decorated with cupids fighting. The details of the building, too numerous to be mentioned here, deserve careful attention even by the uninitiated and prove more forcibly than history-books the magnificence of the civilization which once was, before Sussex became an entity, and which the first Sussex men so wofully destroyed.

The old Roman way could be followed directly across the hills for four miles until the high road is joined near Halnaker Hill, where we shall presently arrive from Goodwood, but a longer route must be taken to explore the lovely and retired part of the Downs which lies between Bignor and Singleton. A path between Farm Hill and Barton Down leads to Up Waltham where is a little Early English church with the rare feature of a circular apse. Just south of the village an exquisite combe opens out to the south-west and is traversed by a rough and stony hill road leading to East Dean; this claims to be the real East Dean where Alfred met Asser, but its beautiful situation will be its chief recommendation to the traveller. Another mile brings us to the hamlet of Charlton from which the extensive forest to the north takes its name. A short distance further and the Midhurst-Chichester road is joined at Singleton, which village, very pleasantly situated, has a Perpendicular church with a Norman tower, so ancient that some authorities name it Saxon; it is at the latest very primitive Norman. Notice the quaint wooden gallery and the stairs to the rood loft, and also a stoup in good preservation. The village is in a most beautiful situation, surrounded by groups of low wooded hills. There is a station here on the Midhurst railway.

The high road now winds through West Dean to Mid-Lavant and Chichester. Both villages have "restored" churches. The first named contains a notable monument—the Lewknor. Near by is the beautiful West Dean Park. Mid-Lavant church is Early English but boasts a Norman window. The name of this village perpetuates a phenomenon which is becoming more rare each year. At one time erratic streams would make their appearance in the chalk combes in the head of the valley and combining, cause serious floods or "lavants." For some unknown reason the flow of water is gradually becoming smaller and of late years it has been quite insignificant.



To resume the route a return must be made to Singleton and the path taken which leads over the Goodwood hills past the Race Course to Halnaker. The whole of this beautiful stretch of Downland is open to the stranger; the best views are undoubtedly from the Race Course, which dates from 1802. This is the most fashionable of all race-meetings and the course is in the most beautiful situation. To the west of the course, on an isolated eminence, sometimes called "Roche's Hill" and sometimes "The Beacon" is an ancient camp with double vallum and fosse enclosing over five acres. On the slope due south of Roche's Hill are some caves supposed to have been prehistoric dwelling-places. A mile to the south is Goodwood House (Duke of Richmond), on certain days and during certain seasons open to the public. The house, so far as its exterior is concerned, is exceedingly ugly, but contains a magnificent collection of paintings, chiefly portraits, the most famous of which are by Lawrence, Gainsborough, Romney and Vandyke, the last named being represented, among other works, by the well-known painting of Charles I with his queen and children.

The most striking view in the neighbourhood of the house is from "Carney's Seat" above the pheasantry, a magnificent prospect of the coast extending for many miles in each direction. There are grand groups of cedars here and throughout the park; these add materially to the foreground of the prospect. The timber generally is very fine, as is almost always the case in the enclosed parklands of West Sussex. In High Wood is a temple which contained until recently an inscribed slab discovered in Chichester when the foundations of the Council chamber, erected in 1731, were being excavated. This stone, of the greatest interest to antiquaries, has been returned to the town and will be noticed when we arrive there.

The ruins of Halnaker are on the south-east of the park. The house was built in the reign of Henry VIII by Sir Thomas West, Lord De la Warr. Before being allowed to fall into ruin the best of the fittings were removed to the "Chantry" in Chichester.

At the distance of a mile south of Halnaker, Stane Street is reached at a point about four miles from Chichester. There are, however, still some interesting places to be seen before, for almost the last time, we turn west. These include Boxgrove, which must on no account be missed.

Eartham is a beautifully situated village about two miles directly east of Halnaker. It is chiefly of interest for its associations with the poet Hayley, who lived at Eartham House, now the residence of Sir P. Milbanke. The house became for a time the rendezvous of many celebrities, including Cowper, Flaxman, Blake and Romney. A very fine Flaxman monument in memory of Hayley's son may be seen in the church; notice also the memorial of William Huskisson the statesman, who lived near here and who was afterwards killed at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The church has a Norman arch in the chancel, much admired for its graceful proportions and details.

Even more beautiful a village is Slindon, about two miles farther east and about three miles from Arundel. Its perfect situation is enhanced by the picturesque clumps of beech trees on the sides of the hills that encircle it. In the restored church, which was built at various periods, is the effigy of a knight in wood. Note the curious shorn pillars in the nave. Here is an old Elizabethan hall, and the park, with its magnificent beech woods, is very fine. Slindon is becoming a favourite resort for those who desire a quiet holiday in delightful rural surroundings.

Two miles south of Slindon lies Walberton. The church walls have Roman bricks worked into Saxon masonry. The upper part of the nave is of the usual heavy Norman type. Eastergate, the next village on the main road to Bognor, has an untouched Saxon chancel, with a good deal of Roman masonry mixed with later material built into the walls. These interesting little villages may be easily reached from Bognor.

The last years of the eighteenth century were prolific in the birth of south-coast watering places or in the transformation of decayed ports or remote seaside hamlets into fashionable bathing places. Bognor is a case in point and comes within the latter category. A successful hatter of Southwark named Hotham, having "made his pile" built himself a house near the little manor hamlet of Bognor, which boasted a single inn but no church. The example of Brighton and the nearer neighbour Worthing being constantly before the then member of Parliament and one-time business man, the possibilities of the land he had acquired, with its fine fringe of firm sand, soon made themselves apparent, and the Crescent, Hothampton Place and several other terraces in what is now the centre of modern Bognor quickly appeared. A determined attempt to change the name to Hothampton failed, and as soon as the speculator died, his gamble a personal failure, the town reverted to the original Saxon Bognor (Bucganora).

The young town had the usual royal send-off; the Princess Charlotte stayed here for a short time and was followed in due course by the little princess who was one day to become so famous a Sovereign.

It will be seen that Bognor has nothing to interest the visitor who requires something besides a rather homely home from home with good air, bright sunshine and almost the nearest stretch of good sand to London, which delights the shoals of juveniles who give to the front its air of busy animation. The famous Bognor rocks provide an additional attraction; the sea at low tide retires for a considerable distance and exposes a line of rocks which indicate the general trend of the ancient coast. Here treasures of the sea may be found in profusion and variety. During spring and leap tides the waves, backed by a strong wind, may cause great excitement by dashing across the front and invading the back streets; until the present wall was built this was of frequent occurrence. Bognor has a very mild winter temperature and runs Worthing very close for sunshine.

The old parish church is at South Bersted. It is of Norman origin with some remains of this period and possibly of Saxon times; the main portion is, however, Early English. Note the stone slabs outside the porch; these were brought from Bosham by a former incumbent. There is a sixteenth-century fresco on one of the nave pillars depicting St. Thomas Aquidas disputing with the doctors. In the churchyard are several interesting graves and a very ancient yew reputed to be over 800 years old.

Felpham is now the eastern suburb of Bognor, and is linked to the town by a small bungalow colony. Here Hayley came after selling Eartham, but the place is now more famous for its associations with the poet's friend Blake, who lived for three years in the small thatched cottage which still stands at the seaward end of the village. Hayley was buried in the churchyard, which also contains the tomb of Dean Jackson, once tutor to George IV. The church is a mixture of styles, one row of pillars being Early English the other Transitional. The much quoted epitaph on a blacksmith written by Hayley runs as follows:—

"My sledge and hammer lie reclin'd; My bellows, too, have lost their wind; My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, And in the dust my vice is laid; My coal is spent, my iron gone, The nails are driven, my work is done."

Blake's associations with the village came to a sudden end in consequence of a stupid and unwarranted prosecution for treason, the outcome of a struggle with a drunken soldier. The mystic poet-artist gained some of his most characteristic inspirations while staying here, and it was in the garden of his cottage that he saw a "fairy's funeral," the description of which has been often quoted; it is difficult to judge how much of his visions were, to himself, poetic fancy or actual fact.



We now resume our journey towards Chichester at Walberton, north of which the high road runs west, with little of interest until a turning on the right brings us to the finest ecclesiastical building in the county excepting the Cathedral.

The Priory Church of St. Mary and St. Blaise Bosgrave was founded in the reign of Henry I by Robert de Haia of Halnaker. Being a Benedictine church, the nave, now in ruins, formed the parochial section. The choir, transepts and tower, which remain, belonged to the monks, and this portion, with the exception of the Norman tower, forms one of the most beautiful examples of Early English in the kingdom and dates from about 1200. The fine Purbeck marble columns are much admired, as are also the graceful clerestory and vaulting. The galleries of the transepts have ornamented oak fronts, and were used by the lay portion of the ancient congregation. There is a frescoed ceiling belonging to the sixteenth century. Notice the Renaissance tomb of Lord De la Warr (1532) on the south side of the chancel with its curious carvings and in the south transept those of Countess Phillippa of Arundel (1428) and her second husband, Adam de Poynings; also several others, some of which are without inscriptions, but possibly including those of the daughters of that Countess of Arundel who was once the first Henry's queen. The ruins of the priory may be traced and several of the beautiful Norman arches belonging to the cloisters still remain.



Tangmere has a Norman and Early English church with a wooden tower. The village is on the south side of the main road but need not detain us. West Hampnett, nearer Chichester, is of more interest; here Saxon work in Roman materials may be seen; notice the fine tomb of Richard Sackville and the representation of the Trinity between the kneeling figures of Richard and his wife. On the left of the road will be seen an old Tudor house which has been converted into a workhouse. The road now enters the suburbs of Chichester.



CHAPTER IX

CHICHESTER

The Brito-Roman city of Regnum has left its mark on modern Chichester in the regularity of the streets, which follow the lines of the ancient thoroughfares. The actual beginnings of the town may antedate the Romans, but of this we know nothing. It was to the British chief Cogi, whose name was Romanized into Cogidubnus, that the foundation of Chichester was probably due; this Briton was a chief of the native tribe of the Regni who inhabited the Down country and the adjacent seaboard. Instead of opposing the conquerors this astute statesman welcomed and allied himself to them and in return received the unique honour, for a native, of the title "Legate of the Emperor."

It is probable that the city was built on the fork of two important existing roads, Stane Street—the new stone causeway from London to the harbours on the coast between modern Bosham and Portsmouth—and the adapted and straightened ancient trackway running parallel to the sea and serving the settlements and ports east and west of the junction. At that time small ships were able to approach within a short distance of the meeting place and here the new town would naturally arise.

Many remains of the Roman period have from time to time been excavated; a pavement was found in 1866 below the retro-choir of the cathedral and some ancient graves in St. Andrew's churchyard were found to have the coffins resting on a tessellated pavement. Old buildings in various parts of the town, notably St. Olave's church, have much Roman brickwork, and the usual treasure of denarii and broken pottery is found whenever an exceptional turning over of the foundations of the town takes place.

But the most remarkable of all these earlier relics is the so called "Pudens Stone" to which reference has been made in speaking of Goodwood Park. This slab was discovered while digging the foundations of the Council Chamber and after being kept at Goodwood for many years has been returned to the Council House in North Street, where it may now be seen. The stone is Purbeck marble and bears the following inscription:—

(N)eptuni et Minervae templum (pr)o salute d(omus) divinae (Ex) auctoritat(e Tib) Claud. (Co)gidubni r. leg. aug. in Brit. (Colle)gium fabror. et qui in eo (A sacris) sunt d.s.d. donati aream (Pud)enti Pudentini fil.

(The conjectural restorations are given in parentheses.)

(Translation.) "The temple of Neptune and Minerva, erected for the health and preservation of the Imperial family by the authority of the Emperor Tiberias Claudius and of Cogidubnus, the great king of the Britons. The company of Artificers, with others, who were ambitious of supplying materials, defrayed the expense. Pudens, son of Pudentinus, gave the ground." (Hare.)

The great interest of the inscription is in that part which refers to Pudens; a controversy raged for a long time during the middle of the last century around the question of the identity of this individual, the results of which seem to favour the connexion between Chichester and the Pudens of St. Paul's second Epistle to Timothy.

The town seems to have been of little importance in South Saxon times, although the modern name dates from that period—"Cissa's Ceaster." Cissa was one of the sons of Ella who landed on the Selsey peninsula. During the Conqueror's reign Chichester regained some of its former dignity when the seat of the Sussex see was removed hither from Selsey. At the same time the town was presented to Roger Montgomery, Earl of Alencon, together with most of South-west Sussex. The Earl built a castle, but nothing of this remains, though the mound in the Priory Park is said to be the site.

The troops of the Parliament—led by Sir William Waller, besieged Chichester in 1642; after ten days the city fell and much ill work, especially in the cathedral, followed. Since then its history has been uneventful.

Some days may be spent in this pleasant town without exhausting its interest and charm and the cathedral cannot be seen in one visit without fatigue. As a centre for the exploration of West Sussex Chichester is much better than one of the smaller towns. (I am not now advising that adventurous traveller who, fearing nothing, will trust himself to a remote village hostelry among the Downs.) The South Coast Railway runs in three directions and all high roads converge on the city.



Chichester Cathedral is the second on the site, and much of this building has been added to and altered at various dates. The original cathedral is supposed to have been for a time the adapted church of St. Peter's monastery which stood on or near the south-west corner of the city cross-roads. Bishop Ralph's building, erected in 1107, was destroyed by fire in 1114. The same bishop started to build the older portions of the church which we now see.

The most striking object in the exterior view is the modern spire, built by Scott to replace the tower which fell in 1861 while repairs to the piers were in progress. The summit is exactly equidistant from the west porch and the end of the Lady Chapel. The most effective, if not the most picturesque view, is from the north, where the sturdy campanile makes a good foil to the graceful spire. Until the enormous bulk of the new Liverpool Cathedral rose above the great city in the north, Chichester was the only English cathedral visible from the sea.



The nave should be entered from the west porch, a much admired specimen of Early English. We are at once aware of the fine effects of light and shade produced by the four aisles. The Cathedral is one of the widest in England (though those usually quoted as excelling it—York Minster and St. Paul's, are actually excelled themselves by Manchester, which also has four aisles). The nave and the inner aisles are Norman, the outer being Geometrical; these were added to make room for the various chapels and shrines which were found necessary as the development of the church progressed. The base of the south-west tower is possibly of an earlier date than the remainder of the nave and the suggestion has been put forward that it forms part of the original monastery church of St. Peter; the style of it is very rude and archaic.

Proceeding by the left-hand or north aisle we see first, close to the north door, the chapel of the Baptist, which contains an unknown tomb and an ancient chest reputed to be over a thousand years old and to have been brought from Selsey. Following come the Collins tomb and the Arundel chantry containing the altar-tomb of Richard Fitz-Alan and his countess. At the end of this aisle is an unknown female effigy conjectured to be Maud of Arundel (1270). Some good modern stained glass will have been noticed in the nave. The pulpit, a memorial to Dean Hook, was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott. The south aisle of the nave has the tomb of Bishop Arundel (1478), Bishop Durnford, and Agnes Cromwell and a brass to William Bradbridge three times mayor of Chichester (1592).

In a spirit of ruthless improvement the beautiful old stone screen between nave and choir was removed in 1859, and replaced by the present rood-screen in memory of Archdeacon Walker. The finely carved throne and stalls in the choir are also modern but are in excellent taste and keeping with the solemn Norman stone which surrounds them. The east window was placed in 1844, and it is no worse than other examples of this period.

The north transept was for many years used as the parish church of St. Peter. Note the pictures by Bernhardi of the English Bishops; those after Elizabeth were destroyed when the tower fell. On the west are the tombs of three bishops, Grove (1695), King (1669) and Carleton (1705). King was the defender of Chichester during Waller's attack and the latter described him as a "pragmatical malignant." The cathedral library is in this transept, entered from the north choir aisle. It contains several treasures, notably the service book of Hermann, Archbishop of Cologne, once the property of Cranmer and bearing his autograph. From this book the Reformer adapted many phrases for the Book of Common Prayer. There are several interesting relics from the stone coffins discovered under the choir in 1829, including a papal absolution cross, an abraxas ring and a twelfth-century silver chalice and paten. These are displayed in a case by the wall. In the north choir aisle is a beautiful altar cloth in a glass case. We now pass the fine canopied tomb of Bishop Moleynes (1449). In the Early English chapel at the end, dedicated to St. Panthelon, is the modern tomb of Bishop Otter (1840). Before entering this chapel note the stone built into the wall and known as "Maudes Heart." The screens separating the aisles from the presbytery are made of native Sussex iron.

We now return and cross to the south transept, on the north side of which is the tomb once supposed to be the shrine of St. Richard de la Wych, Bishop (1253) but now definitely accepted as that of Bishop Stratford (1362). This tomb, with several others, was barbarously "restored" in the last century; near it may be seen the modern brass in memory of Dean Burgon (1888). The pictures on the west wall are by Bernhardi and represent Ceadwalla giving Selsey to St. Wilfrid and the confirmation made by Henry VIII to Bishop Sherborne. Part of the transept is used as a consistory court. The sacristy is on the west side and on the east is St. Catherine's Chapel. In the wall of the aisle, proceeding east, note two slabs which are said to have been brought from Selsey Cathedral. The subjects are the Raising of Lazarus and the Saviour meeting Martha and Mary. Note between them the tomb of Bishop Sherborne (1536); near by is a memorial of Dean Hook (1875) also the coffin slabs of Bishop Neville (1224) and Bersted (1262).



We now enter the Transitional Retro-choir; here is the altar tomb of Bishop Story (1503) who built Chichester Market Cross, and of Bishop Day (1556). The columns of Purbeck marble which grace this part of the cathedral are of great beauty. The screens of native iron have already been noticed, they are of simple but effective design.

We pass the terminal chapel of the south aisle, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and restored in memory of Dean Cross, and enter the Chapel of Our Lady, noting (left) the tombs of Bishops Hilary and Ralph, and (right) Bishop Seffrid II, the builder of the Early English portions of the Cathedial. This beautiful chapel was finished in the early fourteenth century and in the eighteenth was considered unworthy of repair and handed over to the Duke of Richmond, whose private property it for a long time became. The floor was raised to allow of a burial vault being constructed below, and the upper portion became the library.

The restoration was resolved upon in 1870 as a memorial to Bishop Gilbert, and the then Duke being in sympathy with the revived canons of good taste no opposition was encountered. It may be of interest to quote an anonymous correspondent in the Gentleman's Magazine (1829, part II) which shows how the leaven was at work even then.

"Some ten years since a Goth, by some untoward chain of circumstances, possessed sufficient influence with his brethren in the Chapter to induce that body to whitewash the church, and by way of ornament, and with a view to compensate for the loss of the original paintings on the groining of the choir destroyed by the whitewash, the said gentleman had the archivolt mouldings and all the lines of the building which were in relief, tastefully coloured in yellow ochre. The name of the perpetrator of this outrage on good taste and good feeling it is unnecessary to add, as he will never plan or design any further embellishment to the cathedral, but if any of his coadjutors in the daubing and smearing line have survived him, and still possess influence, I tremble for the effects of the present repair.

"The curious chantry of St. Richard, an object of veneration among Catholics even to our own days, and the elegant stone screen of the roodloft, have been literally plastered with whitewash, the rich sculptured bosses being converted into apparently unshapely lumps of chalk, and the flat spaces within the heads of the Norman arches of the nave, which are sculptured with scales and flowers, are almost reduced to a plane surface.... The removal of this rubbish would be a work of time; it should be gradually and effectually performed arch by arch, or its removal may carry away with it many of the sculptures it may conceal. This will certainly be the case if any London architect, with a contractor at his heels, sets about a thorough repair to be completed in a given time....

"The more ancient injuries which the appearance of the cathedral had sustained were, in the first instance, occasioned by the erection of a breastwork in front of the triforium, which concealed the bases and half the shafts of the columns; this might now be easily removed as the object of its erection, to protect from accident the spectators of the ancient processions, has ceased to exist. Since the Reformation a great portion of the nave has been fitted up with pews, the congregation adjourning from the choir to the nave to hear the sermon. I need not point out the injury the nave sustains in appearance from this cause and many points of perspective, highly picturesque, which would arise from the singular duplication of the aisles of this church are entirely lost through the existence of the sermon place."

On the south side of the nave is the entrance to the irregularly built cloisters; here are several monuments and a good view of the interesting details of the exterior of the cathedral. The Bishop's Palace is at the west end; it has an Early English chapel in which is an interesting fresco of the Virgin and Child. At the south-east angle of the cloister is the Chantry of St. Faith dating from the early fourteenth century.



The Bell Tower, which is an unique feature of the Cathedral, dates from the late fifteenth century; it was built to relieve the central tower of the main building from the weight of the eight bells, most of them ancient, with quaintly worded and spelt inscriptions. The Arundel screen has been placed within the tower, but special permission must be obtained to see this.

The old documents in the Cathedral muniment room are quaint reading, especially in these post-war days; here are a few items taken at random from an old book of accounts:—

Payd Thomas the broderer for his labors in amendyng of dyverse cooppes vestments and other ornaments of the church workynge thereabouts by the space of IIII wyks after Chrystmas VI s

For hys comones so longe IIII s

Payd unto Wolsey the masson for amendynge of the tumbe in our Lady Chapell that was broken uppe when the Commissionars were here from the Councell to serch the same XV d

(This was possibly the shrine of St. Richard.)

Payd to Mother Lee for apparellinge of XV mens albes XIIII d

unto hyr for a dosen of childrens albes IIII d

unto hyr for the makinge of a towell I d

Payd unto Thomas Nowye for pollynge and shavinge of the chorusters crounes for VI quarters ending at our Ladye in Lente VIII s

In 1553 Lambart Barnard the painter received an annual payment of L3 6s. 8d. for his works in the church "in arte suae facultate sua pictoria" (sic).

This Barnard was probably a relative of Bernhardi.

The surroundings of the Cathedral on the south side are very pleasant and the second visit should be made by way of the Canon Lane Gate in South Street. On the right is the Vicar's Close and, farther on, the Deanery (1725). The passage called St. Richard's Walk gives a particularly beautiful view of the Cathedral.



Chichester Cross is the next object of general interest. It was built by Bishop Story in 1500 and received rough treatment from Waller's men. On the east side is a bronze bust of Charles I. The clock was presented by Dame Elizabeth Farringdon in 1724 as "an hourly memento of her goodwill to the city"; it has not, however, added to the beauty of the cross. The central column is surrounded by a stone seat which bears witness to the generations who have used it as a resting place. The stone lantern which crowns the whole dates from the eighteenth century.

We may now proceed up North Street, passing on the right St. Olave's Church. A quantity of Roman materials have been found in the walls, and some authorities declare the south door to be actual Roman work; it is undoubtedly the oldest building in the town. The Council House is at the corner of Lion Street; here may be seen the Pudens Stone already described.

At the end of Lion Street stands St. Mary's Hospital. This was originally a convent founded in 1158; for some unknown reason the nuns were evicted in the following century, since then it has been an almshouse, probably the oldest foundation of its kind in the county. It supports eight poor persons who live in tiny two-roomed dwellings round the sides of the great hall. At the end of this is the Decorated chapel separated from the remainder of the building by an open screen. The main portion of the building is Early English and a great deal of timber has been used in the construction. Visitors should enter without waiting for permission, and one of the courteous ladies will, if required, show the chapel. The whole makes a quaint and pleasing picture, quite unique in its way.



We may continue along St. Martin's Lane northwards to the Guildhall, no longer used as such. This was originally the chapel of the Grey Friars. It has a very fine Early English window; the sedilia should also be seen. The building was for many years used as a court of justice; its future is still uncertain.

The city walls are not far distant; though not continuous, considerable portions have been laid out as public promenades. They are for the most part constructed of flints and undoubtedly have a Roman base. Some lines of fortifications about a mile north of the walls, locally called the "Broyles," are supposed to be Roman works, possibly in connexion with the military station or garrison.

Returning to the city's centre at the Cross, St. Andrew's Church in East Street may be visited; this has a Roman pavement at a depth of about five feet. The poet Collins is buried within the church. Note the slab on the outside wall which up to the present has kept its secret from archaeologists.

A very interesting museum in South Street contains a quantity of local finds. Particular note should be made of the pottery removed from a British tomb at Walberton; also of the curious old lantern called the "moon," formerly carried in municipal processions after dark.

The "Pallant," a corruption of Palatinate, was once an ecclesiastical peculiar; it consists of four streets between South and East Streets. In West Street is the Prebendal school at which Selden commenced his education. This street has a very fine specimen of seventeenth-century architecture, built by Wren and dated 1696. There are several good old residences of about this date in South Street.



CHAPTER X

SELSEY AND BOSHAM

Chichester Harbour ends just west of the town and close to the Portsmouth high road at New Fishbourne, a pleasant little place with a restored Early English church. This may be said to be the north-western limit of the Selsey Peninsula, one of the most primitive corners of southern England. The few visitors who make use of the light railway to Selsey have little or no knowledge of the lonely hamlets scattered over the wind-swept flats, in which many old customs linger and where the Saxon dialect may be heard in all its purity.



Selsey—"Seals' Island"[2]—was the scene of the first conversions to Christianity in Sussex and, for this reason, a semi-sacred land to the early mediaeval church in the south.

[2] Two seals were seen on the west of the Selsea Peninsula in December, 1919, and one of them was shot for preservation in a local museum.

St. Wilfrid's first visit was unpremeditated; he was shipwrecked while returning from a visit to France, where his consecration had taken place in A.D. 665. His reception was so hostile that after getting safely away he decided to return at some future date and convert the Barbarians to more gentle ways. Not for fifteen years did his opportunity come. Then, despoiled of his northern bishopric, for Wilfrid was a turbulent Churchman, he came prepared, we must suppose, for the reception usually meted out to the saints in those days. The heathen Saxons, however, were now in a different mood, for "no rain had fallen in that province for three years before his arrival, wherefore a dreadful famine ensued which cruelly destroyed the people.... It is reported that very often, forty or fifty men, being spent with want, would go together to some precipice, or to the sea-shore, and there hand in hand perish by the fall, or be swallowed-up by the waves." (Ven. Bede.)

The efforts of the missionary saint met with success. The unprecedented sufferings of the people had been ignored by their tribal deities and the offer of a new faith was eagerly accepted. The King had been converted, possibly in secret, before this. The baptism of the leading chieftain was followed by the breaking of the terrible drought. The fruits of the woods came to feed the bodies of those who had accepted the food of the spirit, and "the King being made pious and gentle by God, granted him (Wilfrid) his own town in which he lived, for a bishop's see, with lands of 87 houses in Selesie afterwards added thereto, to the holy new evangelist and baptist who opened to him and all his people the way of everlasting life, and there he founded a monastery for a resting-place for his assembled brothers, which even to this day belongs to his servants." (Eddi's Life of Bishop Wilfrid.)

The monastery site was probably the same as that of the cathedral, now beneath the waves, about a mile east of the present Selsey church.



To explore the peninsula a start should be made at Appledram, a small village close to Chichester Channel and about two miles south-east of the city; here is a fine Early English church, on the south of which is an ancient farm-house, originally a tower built by one Renan in the reign of Edward II. The King would not grant permission for its crenellation, Renan thereupon disposed of most of the materials and they were used to build the campanile at Chichester. Footpaths lead across the meadows to Donnington where is another Early English church of but little interest. A mile away on the banks of the disused Chichester and Arundel canal is the strangely named "Manhood End." This is a corruption of Mainwood, and refers to the great forest which once stretched from the Downs to the sea. A rather dull walk westwards past Birdham to West Itchenor, a remote little place on the shores of the creek, is amply repaid by the fine views northwards up the Bosham channel, with the far-flung line of the Downs beyond. (A ferry can be taken from here which would make a short cut to Bosham or Fishbourne practicable.) Returning past the church with its interesting font, a footpath is taken to West Wittering and its very fine Transitional church, the most interesting ecclesiastical building in the Selsey Peninsula; note the two rude sculptures of the Annunciation and Resurrection at the ends of a canopied altar tomb; and a coffin lid with pastoral staff possibly of a "boy-bishop." We are now on that portion of the coast which approximates most nearly to the original spot, now beneath the waves, where the first colonists of Sussex landed.



At East Wittering a short distance away is an Early English church with a Norman door. This is not far from Bracklesham Bay, an adventurous excursion for Selsey Beach visitors who come here treasure hunting for fossils, of which large numbers repay careful search. To reach Selsey "town" devious ways must be taken past Earnley, which is surely the quietest and most remote hamlet in the kingdom, on the road from nowhere to nowhere; or we may, if impervious to fatigue, follow the beach all the way to Selsey Bill. The settlement is easily approached from Chichester and the South Coast line by the Selsey Tramway (8 miles). The charm of the place, which consists in a great measure in its air of remoteness, is likely to be soon destroyed. Pleasant bungalows, of a more solid type than usual, are springing up everywhere between the railway and the Bill, though here we may still stand on the blunt-nosed end of Sussex and watch the sun rise or set in the sea.

It would be interesting to know if the quality of the buildings erected will enable them to last until the sea eventually disposes of Selsey. The encroachment of the waves, especially on the eastern side of the Bill, has been more rapid than on any other part of the coast, except perhaps certain parts of Norfolk. The sea immediately east of Selsey is called the "Park"; this was actually a deer-park no longer ago than Tudor times and in Camden's day the foundations of Selsey Cathedral could be seen at low water.

The Transitional church was rebuilt in 1867 from the materials of the older church, two miles away at Church Norton, where the chancel still remains among its old mossy tombs. Each stone and beam was placed in the same position on the new site. The old chancel at Church Norton contains a battered tomb to John Lewes and his wife (1537). Near-by is a mediaeval rectory, once a priory, dating from the fourteenth century, very quaint and picturesque.

We now follow the line of the light railway. At Sidlesham, the first halt, is a restored Early English church containing a fine old chest. Note the curious epitaphs within and also on the gravestones in the churchyard, and, not least, the queer names that accompany them:—"Glue," "Gravy," "Earwicker" etc.

From the station a footpath may be taken to Pagham and what is left of the harbour of that name. Here there was until late years a curious phenomenon known as the "Hushing Well." A rush of air would burst through the water in the harbour at the time of the incoming tide. The "well" was destroyed by draining operations which also caused the disappearance of large numbers of rare water fowl and aquatic insects, though the naturalist will still be repaid by a visit to this lonely coast and its immediate surroundings. A short time ago the sea made an entrance, but without reconstructing the old conditions. It is no longer practicable to walk along the coast to Bognor.

Pagham Church is an interesting Early English building dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury and erected by a successor to St. Augustine's Chair. Note a slab in the chancel with Lombardic lettering and the old glass in the east window. The scanty remains of the episcopal palace may be seen southeast of the church.

From Hunston Halt a walk of about a mile westwards leads to another remote and straggling village, North Mundham. In the restored church is a Saxon font and certain curious sculptures may be seen outside the door. From here it is only two miles to Chichester, passing Rumboldswyke church, which has interesting features, including Roman brickwork in the chancel arch.

The Portsmouth road, in three miles from Chichester, reaches Walton, where a turning to the left leads in another mile to Bosham, certainly the most interesting relic of the past in West Sussex. Bosham (pron. Bozam) to-day seems existent solely in the interest of artists; it is certainly the most besketched place on the South Coast and is rarely, in fine weather, without one or more easels on its quiet quay. The best loved hours of the day for the painting or sketching fraternity—those of low tide, when every boat lies at a different angle—will be the most unpopular for the ordinary visitor, who will be eager for the friendly smoke-scented parlour of the inn as a refuge from the flavour of the malodorous flats; at low tide Bosham is certainly picturesque, at the full she is comely and clean.



The harbour, from British, through Roman, Saxon and Norman times to the later middle ages, was one of the principal entrances to and exits from this county. It was on several occasions harried by the Danes and, as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, Harold left here on that visit which was to have such dire consequences for himself and his line, and such untold results on the history of the nation-to-be. The great Emperor of the North—Knut—was a frequent visitor to the creek in his dragon-prowed barque. His palace, also the home of Earl Godwin and Harold, is supposed to have been on the northeast of the church, where a moat is still in existence. It is here that the incident recorded in every school reader, the historic rebuke to sycophantic courtiers, is said to have taken place.

The church is of venerable antiquity. The tower has certain indications which point to its being Saxon work. The chancel arch may be still older in its base, and some authorities suggest that the lower portions are actually the remains of the basilica erected in the time of Constantine, on the site of which the church now stands. The east portions of the chancel are Early English and once formed the chapel of a college founded by William Warlewaste, Bishop of Exeter (1120). Note the figure in the north wall, said to be that of the daughter of Knut who died here while on a visit to Earl Godwin. The effigy is, however, of much later date. The fine arcaded font is placed upon high steps against a column. At the east end of the south aisle the floor is raised over an Early English crypt or charnel-house, the entrance to which is close to a canopied tomb. This tomb is that of Herbert of Bosham, secretary to Becket, who wrote the Book of Becket's Martyrdom.



The church was restored in 1865 and during this work the most interesting discovery was made of the traditional burial place of Knut's daughter. How often has a local tradition, accepted as fact by the peasant, but looked upon as an idle tale by his educated superior, proved to have more than a grain of truth in it and sometimes to be a very circumstantial record of actualities, and fully supported by antiquarian research. The exact position of the grave is shown by the figure of a Danish raven painted upon a tile, and a stone slab with an inscription upon it placed by the children of Bosham in 1906.

One of the ancient bells was stolen by Danish pirates; the story goes that when half way to the open sea a storm arose which swamped the boat in consequence of the great weight of the metal on board. On high festivals of the Church, a Bosham man will tell you, its sound can be heard from the waves mingling with the chimes of the modern bells of the tower. As a matter of fact the echo of the peal, thrown back by the woods of West Itchenor, is, in certain favourable conditions of the atmosphere, distinctly like a second chime, and might deceive a stranger into thinking that another church lay across the water.



A most interesting fact recorded by the Venerable Bede is that when Wilfrid of York came here in 681 he found a religious house ruled by a monk named Dicul. It was this monk who had converted King Ethelwalch before Wilfrid arrived. The existence of this tiny community in the midst of hostile tribes, over two hundred years after the extinction of Christianity in the south, is a matter of high romance in the history of the faith in Britain.

There are two other isolated bits of Sussex on the south of the high road to Emsworth, the first containing the small hamlet of Chidham with a beautiful little Early English church; the next is occupied by West Thorney. Here is another church of the same period with a Transitional tower and a Norman font. This peninsula was until quite recently an island and the home of innumerable sea fowl.

Emsworth is almost entirely in Hampshire and therefore outside our limits, but we can well make it the starting place for the last corner of seaward Sussex unexplored.

Westbourne, one mile north of Emsworth, has a fine Transitional church with a large number of monuments and an imposing avenue of yews. At Racton to the north-east is the well-known seamark tower used by mariners in the navigation of the channels of Chichester Harbour. The church has a monument to an ancestor of that Colonel Gunter who took part in the escape of Charles II. Near by is Lordington House, erected by the father of Cardinal Pole and said to be haunted by the ghost of that Countess of Salisbury who, when an old woman upwards of seventy, was beheaded by the order of Henry VIII, and caused the headman much trouble by refusing to place her head upon the block; an illustration by Cruickshank depicts the executioner chasing the Countess round the platform.



Several roads lead north through beautiful country, covered by lonely and unfrequented woodlands, to the Mardens. West Marden is about five miles from Emsworth and close to the Hampshire border; all the four villages which bear this name are among the most primitive in southern England. At North Marden is a plain unrestored Norman church, the only one in the immediate vicinity which is worth a visit for its own sake. Compton, a mile beyond West Marden, has a Transitional Norman church partly rebuilt; this is close to Lady Holt Park, a favourite retreat of Pope; and Up Park, a fine expanse of woodland, where the Carylls once lived; their estates were forfeited for their championship of the Stuarts. The northern end of the park rises to the edge of the Downs close to Torberry Hill, the last summit in Sussex, though the traveller who is so inclined may, with much advantage to himself, penetrate into the lonely recesses of the Hampshire hills, sacred to the shade of Gilbert White, and, still within the probable limits of the ancient kingdom of Sussex, finish his travels at Butser Hill and Petersfield.

Butser Hill is 889 feet above the sea, and therefore higher than any point of the range within Sussex. This well-known summit is familiar to all travellers on the Portsmouth road, from which it rises with imposing effect on the west of the pass beyond Petersfield. Here the South Downs, so called, may be said to end. The chalk hills are continued right across Hampshire, slowly diminishing in height until they are lost in the great plateau of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.



Between a fold of the hills lies picturesque Harting in a most delightful situation; an ideal spot for a restful time away from twentieth-century conditions. The tourist, if amenable to the simple life, might well make a stay of a few days to explore the lovely country of which this village forms the centre. The finely placed Early English cruciform church has several interesting monuments to members of former local families, including sixteenth century memorials of the Cowper-Coles. Here is buried Lord Grey, who was connected with the Rye House Plot. Notice the embroidery in the reredos, an unusual style; also the fine wooden roof and shorn pillars; the latter detract from the general effect of the interior and have been noticed in other Downland churches on our route. Quite close to the church are the old village stocks, undoubtedly placed in this position for the sake of convenience, the "court" in more remote districts having been held, in former times, in the church itself. Harting was for a time the home of Anthony Trollope, and Cardinal Pole was rector here.

There are few districts in England and certainly none south of the Trent where old customs and queer legends persist with so much vitality as in these lonely combes and hollows. The effect of being out of the world is perhaps enhanced in these western Downs by the ring fence of dark woods through which we have to pass to reach the bare, wind-swept solitudes and lonely hamlets within them. The northern escarpment and southern flanks of the hills are clothed in vast forests of beech which add that grandeur to the great ramparts of chalk which the eastern ranges lack. Seen through the ever-shifting sea mists which creep up from the channel these heights take on an appearance of greater altitude and an added glamour of mystery.

South-east of Harting is the isolated Beacon Hill, once a semaphore station between Portsmouth and London; but instead of taking at once to the heights, the pedestrian should first visit Elsted up on its own little hill, and Treyford a mile farther; both churches are ruined and deserted. A new church with a spire that forms a landmark for many miles, stands midway between the two and serves both. Elsted has an inn from the doorway of which the traveller has a superb view of the Downs. From Treyford a bridle-path leads directly south to the summit of Treyford Hill, where are five barrows called "The Devil's Jumps." From here the track running along the top of the Down will bring us in two miles to the bold spurs of Linch Down (818 feet), the finest view-point on the western Downs, the views over the Weald being magnificent in all directions. A track will have been noticed on the west side of the summit, and a return should be made to this, and then by striking southwards through the Westdean woods we eventually reach Chilgrove. We might then climb the opposite spur and keep southwards until the ridge rises to the escarpment of Bow Hill, but the finest walk of all and the most fitting termination to our tour will be to keep to the rough road which runs down the valley south-east to Welldown Farm. Here a road turns right and in a little over a mile drops to the romantically beautiful Kingley Vale.

This vale is a cup-shaped hollow in the south side of Bow Hill; its steep sides are clothed in a sombre garb of yews and at the farther end of the combe is a solemn grove of these venerable trees amid which broad noon becomes a mystic twilight filled with the spirit of awe; a fitting place for the burial of warrior kings with wild, barbaric rite. Tradition has it that many Danish chieftains were here defeated and slain and that here beneath the yews they rest. But who shall say what other strange scenes these lonely deeps in the bosom of the hills have witnessed before Saxon or Dane replaced the Celt; who in turn, for all his fierce and arrogant ways, went, by night, in fear and trembling of those spiteful little men he himself displaced, and whose vengeance or pitiful gratitude is perpetuated in the first romances of our childhood. Though their living homes were in the primeval forests of the Britain that was, their last long resting places were under the open skies on the summits of the wind-swept Downs. Many of the smooth green barrows that enclosed their remains have been ruthlessly rifled and desecrated by greed or curiosity. It is to be hoped that the votaries of this form of archaeological research have now discovered all that they desired to know, and that our far-off ancestors will be left to the peace we do not grudge our more immediate forefathers.



Appendix

THE SUSSEX DOWNS FROM END TO END

The following summary will suggest to the stranger how his time, if limited, could be so disposed as to take in the whole range with those villages which are essentially Downland settlements and those which lie immediately at the foot of the escarpment. For this purpose the order of the book is reversed and the tourist should start at the western or Hampshire end and finish his walk at Beachy Head. The enjoyment of this tour will of course be greatly enhanced if half the distance is traversed each day, thus doubling the time.



1ST DAY. Midhurst (Angel Inn) or Cocking Station via Lynch Down, Beacon Hill, to Harting, 9 miles (Ship Inn).

2ND DAY. Harting to Bow Hill and Kingley Bottom via North and East Marden, 8 miles; on to West Dean, Singleton and Cocking (Inn), 17 miles; or Midhurst, 20 miles.

3RD DAY. Cocking by Heyshott Down and Duncton Beacon to East Dean, 7 miles (Inn); on by Burton Down and Bignor Hill (Stane Street) to Bignor, 13 miles (Inn); on to Amberley, 19 miles (Inn).

4TH DAY. Amberley to Rackham and Kithurst Hills; down to Storrington (White Horse Inn), 5 miles. By the main road to Washington (Inn) and Wiston. Ascend Chanctonbury Ring, 10 miles; on to Cissbury Ring and over Downs at Steyning, 16 miles (White Horse).

5TH DAY. Steyning via Bramber and Upper Beeding to Trueleigh Hill and Devil's Dyke, 6 miles (Inn); down to Poynings, round Newtimber Hill to Pyecombe and Wolstonbury, thence by hill road to Ditchling Beacon, 12 miles; on by edge of Downs to Mount Harry and down to Lewes, 18 miles (White Hart, Crown, etc.)

6TH DAY. Lewes over Cliffe Hill and Mount Caburn to Glynde and West Firle, 4 miles (Inn); over Firle Beacon and along edge of Downs to Alfriston, 9 miles (Star Inn); by Lullington to Windover Hill ("Long Man of Wilmington") down to Jevington, 12 miles (Inn); up to Willingdon Hill and thence by eastern edge of Downs all the way to Beachy Head, 17 miles. Eastbourne, 20 miles.



Appendix II

LONDON TO THE SOUTH DOWNS—THE WEALD

The writer of the preceding chapters has often been tempted to trespass outside the limits imposed upon him, and penetrate the woody fastnesses of the Weald. In this separate section a short description will be given of some of the most characteristic scenes and interesting towns and villages between London and the coast.

A certain proportion of the pleasure of a holiday is, or should be, obtained on the journey toward the goal. This is, of course, much more the case where road rather than rail is taken, and most of the routes to the south run through a lovely and varied countryside which will repay a leisurely mode of progression. To the writer there is no way of seeing England equal to doing that on foot; however, it would be unreasonable to expect every one to adopt this mode of travelling even if they were able, and these notes can easily be followed by motorist or cyclist without undue loss of time.

LONDON TO LEWES BY WESTERHAM AND MARESFIELD

This road keeps within Kent until the boundary of Sussex is reached, and runs via Catford Bromley and Keston, climbing gradually to Westerham Hill, after which there is a steep and dangerous descent to the small town of Westerham (23 miles) pleasantly situated between the North Downs and the sandy hills of the Surrey Weald. It is famous as the birthplace of Wolfe, whose statue adorns the green, around which is grouped the quietly dignified assemblage of inns, shops and houses that are typical of this part of Kent. The large and finely situated church also has a memorial to the local hero, who was born in the vicarage here and buried at Greenwich.

The road continues through pleasant country over Crockham Hill to Edenbridge (28 m.) on the small river Eden. Although the immediate surroundings are dull and featureless this is a good centre from which to explore the district eastwards to Hever, Penshurst, and Tonbridge. One mile out of the town we bear left and, in another three, cross the Kent Water into Sussex. In 7-1/2 miles the road passes over the Medway to Hartfield (33-1/2 m.) on the edge of Ashdown Forest. The Early English church has a lych-gate dating from 1520. Inside may be seen three piscinas, one in an uncommon position near the south door.

[A long mile east is Withyam, with a Perpendicular church famous for its monuments of the Dorset family. Only a gateway remains of the ancient Buckhurst mansion, the greater part of the materials going to the erection of Sackville college at East Grinstead.]

From Hartfield we climb steadily towards the centre of the Forest with occasional wide views between the close woods which line the northern slopes.

[Before reaching Camp Hill and near the summit, a path leads left to Crowborough, which of late years has become suburban and a second Haslemere. The Beacon commands wide views, but the immediate surroundings have been spoilt.]

We now drop towards Maresfield with grand forward views over the Weald to the South Downs.

Maresfield (41 m.) has a small Decorated church with a Norman window in the nave. Note the ancient woodwork and restored oak porch, also two stoups, one within and the other outside the church. This was once an important "Black Country" centre. Local names, such as "The Forge" perpetuate the memory of this strange period in the history of Sussex, which was at its busiest about 1680, the last furnace being quenched in 1828.

"It is a strange thing to remember, when one is standing on the cold desolate hills about Crowborough Beacon, or in the glens of the Tilgate Forest—now the very picture of quiet, and rest, and loneliness—that this same Sussex was once the iron mart of England. Once, spotted over these hills and through these forests, there were forges that roared from morning till night, chimneys that sent up their smoke and their poisonous vapour from one year's end to another; cannon were cast ... where now there is no harsher voice than the tap of the woodpecker.... One cannot fancy the forests of St. Leonards and Ashdown, the Wolverhampton of their age. But so it was; and not the least remarkable thing ... is the absence of traditions about the life and customs of the manufacturers so employed." (Lower.)

[From Maresfield a round of about thirty miles could be made through the beautiful East Sussex Weald, rejoining the main road at Uckfield. In two miles is Buxted, which has an interesting Early English church standing high amidst woods. In the Decorated chancel is the brass of Britellus Avenel (1408) and J. de Lewes (1330), by whom the church was founded. Note the old muniment chest in the north aisle and the mortuary chapel of the Earls of Liverpool south of the chancel. Not far from the church is "Hog House," note the hog carved over the door and dated 1581. The Hogge family, ironmasters, once lived here. In 1543 was cast the first iron cannon made in this country.

"Master Huggett and his man John, They did cast the first cannon."

Not far away is the one time cell of a hermit, carved out of the rock, and named "The Vineyard." The road now winds through a remote country, which once resounded with the clangour of the forge, to Hadlow Down and Butcher's Cross and in seven miles reaches Mayfield. The village street is according to Coventry Patmore the "sweetest in Sussex." The half-timbered "Middle House" nearly opposite the church is the best example of this style of architecture in the south, it is dated 1575. Lower House was built about 1625. The fine Perpendicular church is on the site of the traditional building erected by St. Dunstan. This was made of wood, and the Saint, finding that the orientation was not quite true, set his shoulder to the wall and pushed it straight! The visitor will note the fine effect of the raised chancel, the roof of which is composed of a one time gallery. Note, among other objects, the old screen and choir stalls; a squint; font dated 1666; iron slabs in the nave to the Sands (1668 and 1708); monument to T. Aynscombe (1620); chandeliers; and curious east window; and, not least, the glorious view from the churchyard. The Palace of the Archbishops is now a convent: it was restored by Pugin after being in a state of ruin for many years. Certain portions may be seen at uncertain times. In the ancient dining-room are preserved the hammer, tongs and anvil of St. Dunstan. The Saint's well is in the garden. It was hereabouts that St. Dunstan had his great tussle with the Devil, holding the fiend by the nose with his tongs; eventually the Evil One wrenched himself free; making an eight mile leap he cooled his nose in a pool of water, giving it for ever "a flavour of warm flat irons" and making the fortune of the future Tunbridge Wells. Mayfield has another claim to a niche in history, not a quaint old tale like the above but a sombre fact:—

"Next followed four, which suffered at Mayfield, in Sussex, the twenty-fourth of September 1556, of whose names we find two recorded, and the other two we yet know not, and therefore, according to our register, hereunder they be specified, as we find them: John Hart, Thomas Ravendale, a shoemaker and a carrier, which said four being at the place where they should suffer, after they had made their prayers, and were at the stake ready to abide the force of the fire, they constantly and joyfully yielded their lives for the testimony of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ." (Foxe.)

The scenery hereabouts is distinctly of Devonian character. Rich and varied views reward the leisurely traveller who will make a side excursion to Rotherfield, passing, halfway the conical Argos Hill crowned with a windmill. The village, though not so interesting as Mayfield, is well placed and has a fine Perpendicular church, the spire being a landmark for many miles. Here is an east window by Burne Jones and several other good examples of modern stained glass which make fine splashes of colour in the old building. A quaint saying in reference to the handsome presence of the Rotherfield women is that they have an "extra pair of ribs."

The beautiful district between here and Tunbridge Wells deserves a chapter to itself. Frant Wadhurst and Ticehurst belong more naturally to West Kent than East Sussex. These three beautiful villages and the glorious Eridge Park could be combined in this excursion by the traveller who has unlimited time.

We may now follow the valley of the Rother through scenery of much quiet beauty to Burwash, 6-1/2 miles from Mayfield. Here is an old church with a (possibly) Saxon tower and an interesting iron slab inscribed "Orate p Annima Johne Colins," probably the oldest piece of local ironwork in existence. The outline of the village is eminently satisfying to the artist, especially the house called "Rampyndens." Burwash is connected with the Rev. J. Cocker Egerton, to whom reference has already been made. From the natives of this particular district was gleaned that record of rustic humour which makes the Sussex peasant depicted in his writings so real to those who know him. The village has lately become the home of Rudyard Kipling, who lives at "Batemans," a beautiful old house in an adjacent valley surrounded by wooded hills. "Puck of Pooks Hill" is said to have been inspired by the locality. Brightling Beacon, three miles farther, commands the finest prospect of the western Weald, the immediate foreground being of great beauty. Brightling church should also be seen.

A return could now be made by way of Heathfield, from Brightling, passing Cade Street. Here a monument commemorates the death of Jack Cade, who was shot by an arrow discharged by Alexander Iden, Sheriff of Kent, in 1450. Cade had been hiding at Newick Farm; gaining confidence he came out for a game of bowls and met his end while playing. Heathfield old village and church are off the main road to the left; our route passes the railway station and runs westwards to Cross-in-Hand and Blackboys; this road is a succession of lovely views throughout the seven miles to Framfield, where there is a Tudor church. A short two miles more brings us to our main route at Uckfield.]



Uckfield (43-1/2 m.) old church was pulled down in the early nineteenth century, and its successor is of no interest. An old stone house in front of the "King's Head" was once the village lock-up. A picturesque outcrop of the Hastings sandstone around a small lake forms a beauty spot of local fame: it is within the demesne of "The Rocks" on the west of the town.

[An alternative route to Lewes could be taken from Uckfield through the best part of the Ouse valley; nearly half-way and on the right is Isfield ("Eyefield"), the church is interesting.]

The road now bears south-east to High Cross and then by Halland to East Hoathly (48-1/4 m.). The church here has the Pelham buckle as a dripstone. Note the Norman piscina. In five miles the little hamlet of Horsebridge is reached. We are now in the Cuckmere valley.

[One mile short of this a round of four miles could be made via The Dicker to Mickleham Priory and Hailsham. The Priory is now a farmhouse; the position of the chapel is shown by some arches built into the wall. The interior has a fine cowled fireplace and Early English crypt. The gatehouse is the only complete portion of the Priory buildings. Permission must be obtained to view the interior.]

The Eastbourne road crosses the Cuckmere and turns sharp to the right before reaching the railway.

Hailsham (55-1/2 m.). The fine pinnacled tower of the church shows up well above the roofs of the old market town, which, however, has little to show the visitor and is not particularly picturesque. The immediate surroundings of the road are tame until we enter the woodlands, which surround the route almost to Polegate (58-1/2 m.). We now have fine views of the Downs on our right front though Willingdon to Eastbourne (63 m.).

LONDON TO SEAFORD BY EAST GRINSTEAD AND LEWES

This route follows the Brighton road through Croydon to Purley (12-1/2 m.). Here we bear south-east and follow the Eastbourne road through suburban but pleasant Kenley and Whyteleafe to Caterham (17-1/2 m.). The North Downs are crossed between Gravelly hill (Water Tower) and Marden Castle, followed by a long descent to Godstone (20 m.), built around a charming green with a fine old inn ("Clayton Arms") on the left. A lane at the side of the inn leads to the interesting church and almshouses. The direct road onwards, runs over Tilburstow Hill (500 feet), but the better route bears left and passes Godstone station, rejoining the old road at Springfield (23 m.).

[At Blindley Heath a road bears left to Lingfield, a pretty village with an interesting church, once collegiate. Note misererie seats and choir screen (fifteenth century). Tombs of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Lord Cobhams and other interesting tombs and brasses.]



At Fellbridge, just past the Horley road, we enter Sussex and, after a short rise and fall, arrive at East Grinstead (30 m.). This is one of the pleasantest towns of the Weald, with many old houses here and there in the High Street. The church, though of imposing appearance from a distance, is, on closer acquaintance, disappointing; the fabric dating from 1790. Note an iron tomb slab (1570). Not far from the church is the Jacobean Sackville College. Here the celebrated Father Neale was warden for twenty-five years. (In barely two miles from the centre of the town a lane leads over the railway to the right in 1/3 mile to the picturesque ruins of Brambletye.)

Forest Row (33 m.), on the river Medway. The road now climbs steadily between woods to Wych Cross (35 m.). Grand views south and west. This is one of the finest passes over the Forest Ridge and the peculiar characteristics of the Hastings sands are here seen to the best advantage. These high sandy moors, covered with glorious stretches of bracken and heather, here and there clothed in dense growths of oak and beech, with occasional distinctive clumps of Scots fir and beneath all a thick tangle of bramble, a perfect sanctuary of wild life, are more reminiscent of Radnor or Galloway than of the south country.



The right-hand road is taken at the fork and there follows a long coast down to Danehill, where the Lewes road bears left to Sheffield Green (40 m.).

[A road to the left would bring us in 2 miles to Fletching, where the forces of Simon de Montfort started on their march to Mount Harry and subsequent victory of Lewes. The village is the centre of a delightful neighbourhood and is delightful in itself, not only for the charm of its surroundings, but for its quaint and attractive architecture of the humbler sort. The Early English church has been well restored and beautified by the Earl of Sheffield, whose estate lies to the west. Gibbon the historian lies in the Sheffield mausoleum. Note the old glass in the small lancet windows; this was buried in the churchyard during some forgotten trouble and discovered and replaced during the restoration. Several old helmets and gauntlets with the crest of the Nevill's are hung in the north transept. A small brass should be noticed; the inscription refers to a local worthy, P. Devot, who took part in the Cade rebellion.]

Sheffield Park on the left is full of fine timber; at the end we cross the Ouse and the railway and keep straight forward to Chailey (43-1/2 m.) with occasional views ahead of the Lewes Downs. Passing Chailey potteries on the left the road calls for no comment until we pass Cooksbridge station and draw near the Downs.

Offham (48 m.). Lewes (50 m.). There is a choice of routes to Seaford; that passing Southease (54 m.) enters Newhaven and crosses the Ouse there. The alternative road crosses the river in Lewes, runs under Mount Caburn and going through Beddingham (51-1/4 m.) bears right.

South Heighton (55-1/2 m.).

Seaford (59 m.).

THE BRIGHTON ROAD

This classic fifty-two miles, the scene of many records in coaching, running, cycling and walking, is the shortest way from London to the sea, but not by any means the most interesting either for the lover of nature or the tourist of an antiquarian turn. Distances are reckoned from Westminster Bridge ("Big Ben"). After Kennington comes a two-mile ascent from Brixton to Streatham and then a fairly level stretch to Croydon (10 m.), Whitgift Hospital (1596), Archbishop's Palace, fine rebuilt church. We now enter the chalk country and pass through suburban Purley to Merstham (18 m.).

[Reigate (2 m. right). Large Perpendicular church. The town is pleasant and picturesque but rapidly becoming suburban.]

The road drops between spurs of the North Downs to Redhill (20 m.); a busy railway junction. Thence over Earlswood Common.

Horley (24-3/4 m.). Interesting church; note yews in churchyard. Lowfield Heath. Three miles from Horley we pass into Sussex and shortly reach Crawley (29-1/4 m.). Decorated church. Note the quaint lines on one of the roof beams. Mark Lemon lived at Vine Cottage in the village.

[The tiny village of Worth, south of the East Grinstead road and nearly 3 miles from Crawley, should be visited for the sake of its unique Saxon church, the only one remaining which is complete in its ground plan. Notice the typical band of stones supported by pillars which runs round the building; also the curious double font; pulpit dated 1577 and ancient lych-gate. On the north side of the church is a "Devil's Door." The exorcized spirit passed out this way at the sacrament of Baptism.]

We now enter the forest zone. Note the fine retrospect when approaching Pease Pottage (31-1/4 m.).

[On the left is Tilgate Forest, which is continued by Worth Forest, whence many lovely and lonely paths lead to Horstead Keynes and West Hoathly, whose church has a land-mark spire visible for many miles. Underneath the tower will be seen two iron grave slabs. Within the church notice the Geometrical windows and the triple sedilia. The village is picturesque and well placed, and the local "lion"—"Great upon little," an effect of denudation, is well known. The village is much nearer the Seaford road at Wych Cross, but from the present route we have the advantage of seven miles of woodland otherwise unexplored.

On the right from Pease Pottage, in the recesses of St. Leonard's Forest, and two miles from the main route, is Holmbush Beacon Tower. This should be visited for the sake of the magnificent woodland views; in the distance are the south Downs visible from Butser Hill behind Portsmouth to the hills surrounding Lewes. Hindhead, Blackdown, Leith Hill, the North Downs and the Hampshire Heights are all visible on a clear day.

We are here in a remote district, the haunt of legend and folk-lore almost unequalled in the south. Here St. Leonard put an end to the career of a fierce and fiery dragon, but not before the saint was grievously wounded, and where his blood fell now grow the lilies of the valley, common here but nowhere else in the neighbourhood. Headless horsemen, who have an unpleasant habit of sharing the benighted traveller's steed; witches and warlocks; white-ladies and were-wolves are in great plenty, and the normal inhabitants of the forest must have a fervent appreciation of the high noon and the hours of daylight.]

The two miles south of Pease Pottage are the highest on the road culminating at Handcross, 504 feet (33-1/2 m.). The road now descends the steep and dangerous Handcross Hill.

[At the foot of the hill, half mile right, is Slaugham ("Slaffam") with a Decorated church, old font and brasses.]

Bolney Common (37-1/2 m.) in lovely surroundings. The church has early Norman, or as some authorities declare, Saxon features. The Norman south door, covered by a wooden porch dating from the eighteenth century, should be noticed.

[Cuckfield ("Cookfield") 3 miles left, amidst beautiful scenery, with a fine Early English church commanding a glorious view. Note monuments and handsome reredos. Cuckfield Place is the original of "Rookwood," but has been "improved" out of its ancient character. The Jacobean gate house still stands unrestored at the end of the avenue. Close by is Leigh Pond, a fine sheet of water.]

Albourne Green (42 m.), for Hurstpierpoint (1 m.), beautiful views of the South Downs which we now ascend to Pyecombe (45-1/2 m.).

Preston (49-1/2 m.).

Brighton (front 51-1/2 m.).

THE HORSHAM ROAD

At Kennington Church we leave the Brighton Way and pass Clapham Common, Tooting and Merton to Cheam (11-1/4 m.) Ewell and Epsom (14-1/2 m.) The Downs and Race-course are up to the left.

Ashtead.

Leatherhead (18-1/2 m.). This little town has some picturesque streets, but is rapidly becoming suburban. The Perpendicular church contains interesting windows. The scenery now greatly improves and becomes beautiful after passing Mickleham, a pretty village with a Transitional church.



Norbury Park, on the right, is one of the most charming places in Surrey. Box Hill (590 feet), which may easily be ascended from the well-placed Burford Bridge Hotel, is on the left. The road, river and rail run through a deep cleft in the North Downs forming the Mole valley and facing the sandstone hills of the Weald. In the shallow depression between the two ranges lies Dorking (23-1/4 m.). The town is pleasant but has nothing of much interest for the visitor. It is for its fine situation from a scenic point of view and as a convenient headquarters from which to explore the best of Surrey that it will be appreciated. The rebuilt parish church is imposing and stands on the site of the ancient Roman Stane Street. We leave the town by South Street and proceed to Holmwood, from which Leith Hill may be visited, though there are more direct and much finer routes from Dorking.

Capel (28-3/4 m.). We are now in quiet wealden scenery and there is nothing of special interest until we cross the Sussex boundary, about half a mile beyond the railway bridge. Kingsfold (31-1/2 m.). We now bear left and again 1-1/2 miles farther by Warnham Pond, with memories of Shelley.

Horsham (36 m.). This prosperous and pleasant county centre makes a good halting place. The Early English and Perpendicular church is worth a visit, although practically rebuilt in the middle of the last century. The fine proportions and spacious and lofty interior will at once strike the visitor. Notice the altar tomb of Thomas de Braose (1396), Lord Hoo (1455), Eliz. Delves (1645), and a brass of Thomas Clerke (1411). Also the ancient font. The old "Causeway," which leads to the church from Carfax, as the centre of the town is called, should be more popular with artists than it is. The wonderful colour of some of the Horsham roofs will be noticed; this is due to the local stone with which the older roofs are covered. It seems a pity from an aesthetic point of view that the quarries are no longer used. The great weight of the covering had another advantage, it made for sturdy building and honest workmanship. Horsham no longer has the artificial importance of returning members to Parliament (at one time, two; and as lately as 1885 one), but is now merged in the western division of Sussex, of which district it shares with Midhurst the position of chief agricultural and commercial centre. The town is also becoming residential as East Grinstead, on the other side of the county, has already done.



THE SHOREHAM ROAD

The high road from Horsham skirts Dene Park, which is quite open and commands fine views of the town and the surrounding Weald. To the right may be discerned the buildings of Christ's Hospital and Southwater Station (38-1/2 m.).

Burrell Arms (41-1/2 m.). A halt must be made to view the scanty remains of Knepp Castle, a one time stronghold of the de Braose family. Close by is a beautiful lake, the largest sheet of water in the south of England. The road now bears south-east. To the right and close to the Adur is West Grinstead. The church, partly Norman, should be seen. Note the two naves. The old oak seats bear the names of the farms to whose occupants they have from time immemorial belonged. Behind the altar of the north nave is an aumbry, and in the roof above is a cover once used for suspending the canopy over the Host. There are several interesting monuments including two altar tombs in the Burrell chantry with fine fifteenth century brasses. Note the font, an old stone coffin, foliated lancets, fragments of old stained glass and some remains of ancient frescoes. The rectory is a good specimen of Elizabethan building. West Grinstead House, once the home of the Carylls, friends of Pope, "This verse to Caryl, Muse, is due," Rape of the Lock. The poem is said to have been written under the shade of "Pope's Oak" in the park.

[Cowfold, 3 miles east, is chiefly remarkable for the Carthusian Monastery dedicated to St. Hugh. Its spire is a landmark for many miles. This has been the home of exiled French monks since 1877. Visitors are very courteously shown over the greater part of the building, which is of much interest and contains several venerated relics brought from the monastery of the Grand Chartreuse. The magnificent brass to Nelond, Prior of Lewes, in the parish church should also be seen.]