This post features: the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Lewes, Chichester, Hastings, Bognor Regis, Horsham, Brighton, Battle, Rye and Winchelsea
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton -near Chichester…Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton -near Chichester…Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton -near Chichester…Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton -near Chichester…Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton -near Chichester…
Lewes
St Michael’s Church:
St Michael’s Church, LewesSt Michael’s has a round tower dating from the 12th centurySt Michael
The Castle:
Lewes Castle
Medieval Lewes:
St Pancras PrioryEntrance to the Garden of Eden: the only surviving part of the Greyfriars Franciscan Friary, built in 1224 and demolished in 1538 during the dissolutionLovely old buildings abound in LewesAnne of Cleves house and museumInside Anne of Cleve’s houseAdjacent Tudor houses
Town Centre:
Lewes railway stationLooking down Keere Street, LewesLooking up Keere Street, LewesThomas Paine lived in this house from 1768-1774Thomas Paine was born in Lewes in 1737 – architect of the American Revolution and writer of: Common Sense; Rights of Man and Age of ReasonLewes War MemorialFitzroy Memorial LibraryThe Waterstone’s bookshop is in a fine buildingFountain of YouthOpened in the 1850’s, this pub was owned by the Rock Brewery of Brighton. In 1927, Rock was bought by Portsmouth & United Breweries and the brewery closed. P&UB were bought by Brickwood in 1953 and their brewery closed in 1962. The Red, White and Blue closed in 1956…Back at Lewes station
Harvey’s Brewery:
The River Ouse and Harvey’s Bridge Wharf BreweryJohn Harvey started brewing as a seasonal activity in Bear Yard, opposite the current brewery, by about 1820.There were five other breweries operating in Lewes at the time. John Harvey acquired the current Bridge Wharf Site in 1838. The brewery tap
Chichester
The Cathedral:
Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Chichester – the free standing medieval bell tower is still in useThe Marc Chagall window unveiled on October 6th, 1978…Tomb of John Cawley, who died in 1621Tomb of Richard Durnford – Bishop from 1870-1896Tomb of Robert Sherburne – Bishop from 1507-1536Tomb of Joan de Vere, who died in 1205
City Centre:
The cross in the city centreThe Guildhall – all that remains of the 13th century Franciscan FriaryStatue of John Keats – who wrote “The Eve of St Agnes” while staying here
Hastings
The Sea Front:
Hastings sea frontAn extravagant claim…Must have been a quiet year for piers…Hastings from the end of the pierHastings from the end of the pier
The Old Town:
Hastings old town is delightfulThe oldest surviving building in Hastings – dating from around 1450Hastings old townHastings old townHastings funicular
The Castle:
A fine view from Hastings castleA blurry view from Hastings castle – panoramic photos don’t come out well on WordPress…Sergiusz Piasecki, the Belarus born author, is buried in Hastings Cemetery – he became friends with Ian Fleming after settling in the UK after WW2 and is sited as an inspiration for the character James Bond. Sergiusz is best known for “Lover of the Great Bear” and the satire “Memoirs of a Red Army Officer” – though these don’t appear to be available in English at the moment. Thank you to Yuliya Volosatova for the photo and the biography…
Street Art:
Arundel
Arundel Castle as seen from a train…One day I’ll actually visit the castle…
Bognor Regis
I’d not been to Bognor Regis before and, it turns out, with good reason. It’s an uninspiring place – though it has a lovely beach and walking along the promenade is nice, especially if you’re looking out to sea. Bognor was just a small fishing village until Sir Richard Hotham came in 1784 to convalesce. In 1786, and fully recovered, he bought a summer house here and set about creating a resort…
The Royal Norfolk Hotel dates from 1836 having been built on the site of a hotel that had burned down in 1826…The Steyne and Steyne Gardens – the nicest part of the town that I came across…This building, opposite the station, lulls you into thinking you’ll come across some fine buildings in the town but, despite the “Regis”, this is a dispiriting place…
Horsham
The Causeway:
St Mary’s Church dates from 1247…Looking down the Causeway towards St Mary’sLooking up the Causeway to the townThe museum and art gallery has been closed since the start of lockdown (March 2020) – refurbishment is underway and it is hoped that it will reopen later this summer (2021)The Causeway has many lovely period housesThis yellow house in the Causeway dates from 1651…
Town Centre:
Carfax – either means “scarce of folk” or “four ways” (as in a crossroads) – like many things the origins are lost in the mists of time – by 1233 there was a thriving market granted a royal charter by Henry IIIThe date on this building is 1401…This is the best example I saw of shops with intriguing plaster work – this dates from 1893, so not very old…The Kings Arms dates from 1667 – it is on a street called Bishopric – and is adjacent to what was the King & Barnes brewery, which closed in 2000 and knocked down to build houses & shopsSweet that The Old Stout House retains the King & Barnes name – Hall & Woodhouse bought K&B, closed the brewery and all the pubs now sell Hall & Woodhouse beers…This intriguing little pub closed in March 2020 and is planning to re-open on September 2nd, 2021…
Brighton
The Pavilion:
Street Colour:
Churches:
The City:
Lime Garden
Chloe Howard on guitar and vocals; Leila Deeley on lead guitar; Tippi Morgan on bass and Annabel Whittle on drums
Eastbourne
The Lamb Inn is a Harvey’s of Lewes pub and claims to be one of the oldest pubs in England. The sign outside and the Harvey’s website bot show it as dating from 1180 but Historic England shows it as dating from 1165. Either way, it is old. Curiously only Grade II listed and not Grade I…
St Mary’s Church was founded in 1115 and is known for its medieval wall paintings and stained glass windows – but there was a carol service full of schoolchildren underway when I went in – so I beat a hasty retreat…
The Town:
The narrow A2100 runs through Battle and the town is plagued with heavy traffic…The museum was closed: of course it was…The final ignominy of this ill-fated visit to Battle was the arrival of bus 1066 back to Hastings, delayed by 30 minutes as a result of the chaotic traffic in Battle. Needless to say the 1066 dot-matrix sign hasn’t come out in the photo…
Rye
In the 11th century five ports on the Kent and Sussex coast banded together in a confederation designed for mutual protection, coastal defence, and the furtherance of trade. They were Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich. The duties and the privileges of the five ports grew and their heyday came in the 13th century, by which time the ‘Ancient Towns’ of Winchelsea and Rye had been added to their number. The title ‘Cinque Ports’ remained even though there were now seven of them…
The Castle:
St Mary’s Church:
Around The Church:
The Mermaid Inn:
The Town:
Cobbled Streets:
Winchelsea
Where Winchelsea is today is not where it was. What was Winchelsea suffered severe storms in 1250 and 1287 and was virtually destroyed by the end of the 13th century. By 1292 a new Winchelsea had been created on what was Iham Hill. It is a strange place, feeling curiously isolated. Referred to as a town (claimed to be the smallest town in England) but more like a village and with a railway station a mile away in one direction and the beach 1.5 miles away in the opposite direction…
The original church of St Thomas in old Winchelsea was destroyed by a combination of storms and reosion and so construction of a new church began in 1288, with stone coming from Caen, in Normandy…During the Dissolution the Dominican and Franciscan establishments were closed and destroyed and the church went into decline…
The Town:
The Court Hall and Museum is one of the oldest buildings in Winchelsea. It was restored in the 19th century.The well was sunk and the building housing it erected in 1851 at the expense of Thomas Dawes who presented it to the town.
