136-521: East Chiltington is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex , England. It is centred four miles (5.9 km) south-east of Burgess Hill and five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes . It is a strip parish of 3.76 square miles (9.7 km), stretching northward (south of Plumpton) from the crest of the South Downs . The village church is 13th century in origin;
272-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
408-417: A civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in
544-401: A 13th-century church dedicated to St. Peter at Chailey Green ( TQ 392 193 ). The large graveyard has two fine old Yews that are over three span girth. The little archaic grassland is unimproved and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SCNI) , but the parts nearest the church are mown too often and the southern extension are in poor condition. It is worth recording that at least one part of
680-635: A Downland peak which like Ashcombe Bottom has been under the National Trust’s ownership since 1993. It forms part of the National Trust Blackcap nature reserve. There is a ridgeway that connects Blackcap and Mount Harry. These two peaks are unfenced and open, as the old Downs were, and the Down pasture is recovering from past damage. Cattle and sheep wander freely. The scarp top retains some rich ancient grassland fragments, especially where
816-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
952-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
1088-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
1224-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
1360-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
1496-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
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#17327825057711632-434: A coup of pine at the south end. The ground cover is part anemone and bluebell and part bare. Deer have been grazing old coppice stools into dead mossy stumps, so that the wood is becoming open. Wapsbourne Wood ( TQ 395 238 ) has hornbeam and sweet chestnut coppice with little Bracken glades, banks and dells, and flushes of Bluebells. The River Ouse runs down its north side. Ramsons and scarlet elf cup can be found along
1768-539: A deep pit dug for the Chailey Brickworks, now the Ibstock brickworks. The wood has shares its name as the wood by Hamsey brickworks. It has sessile oak poles, old hornbeam coppice, and wild cherry ( gean ). It has a small council estate within its embrace, and an old work yard with a rusty collection of vehicles. Starvecrow Wood ( TQ 398 176 ), on the pit's eastern side and south of Markstakes Common ,
1904-690: A derelict unimproved pasture along its north side, which a footpath crosses. Both Great Home and Middle Home woods have suffered losses to make a D Day Landing Ground in the 2nd World War and modern farming has done its bit too. Another fragment of the ancient Home Wood, Wet Home Wood, was cleared in recent years too and only tiny bits along its boundaries survive. Long Wood ( TQ 367 142 ) has oak, hazel with bluebells in spring and much birch. It has laurel thickets and 12 ancient woodland indicator species. Silver-washed fritillary butterflies and harlequin longhorn beetles can be seen here. There are drained ponds between it and Cottage Wood , which have become
2040-440: A field) often indicates land around a Roman settlement and Wickham (as in vicus) indicates a small Roman settlement. Comps Wood ( TQ 393 158 ) is primarily a bluebell wood of hazel coppice, under ash and oak. Wickham Wood ( TQ 390 156 ) is carpeted with wild garlic throughout. There are beautiful lime longhorn beetle that come from the line of Limes at Hurst Barns, just across the fields. house martin and skylark play in
2176-517: A hornbeam wood, fuelling the brickwork's kilns, but between 1980 and 1981, it was destroyed by the farmer-landowner. He was persuaded to leave the woodland gill and boundaries intact, for cosmetic reasons and for game. At least 16 ancient woodland species are still evident from it rich past with remaining midland hawthorn , wild service trees , aspen and crab apple and, where fragments of the wood survive, old hornbeam stools survive. Wilding Wood ( TQ 400 187 ) north of Markstakes Lane, suffered
2312-556: A marshy area ( TQ 381 192 ) with frogs, dragonflies and damselflies flying above scarce wetland plants, such as cyperus sedge , wood club rush and lesser marshwort. Warningore wood ( TQ 382 140 ) spans the East Chiltington and St John Without parish and is a solid hornbeam coppice par excellence . It lies in the Gault Clay vale below Blackcap and the ground is sticky and difficult for farming. Consequently it
2448-580: A mill on the South Common in South Chailey, opposite where Chailey School is situated, but it has worn away over time. Chailey Brickworks , now the Ibstock brickworks, ( TQ 390 176 ), is one of the oldest factories in Europe, and has been in continuous production for over 300 years. There is deep pit ( grid reference TQ 394 176 ) that is now a blue lake with gorse around its rim. The pit
2584-418: A mixture of ash and birch poles. There is pine at the south end. The recent re-coppicing has failed because deer have eaten out the inadequately protected regrowth and killed the old coppice stools. Consequently, nightingales or warblers are unlikely to breed here. Middle Home Wood ( TQ 378 174 ) has hornbeam , hazel and oak and in spring many bluebells. There is a gentle valley stream at its centre and
2720-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
2856-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
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#17327825057712992-551: A number of bat colonies on the Common including the very rare 'old forest' Bechstein's bat colony recently discovered. Other species seem to have gone like the rare heath dog violet , lousewort , heath cudweed , sheep's fescue and sheep's sorrel . Most of the Common's trees are young, and its woodland ground flora meagre, but there is a scatter of good veteran trees of several species, including old open-grown beech , mixed with hornbeam , holly , hazel , yew and oak . There
3128-675: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Chailey Chailey
3264-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
3400-431: A population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of
3536-487: A population of 5,068 at the 2011 Census. Chailey lies within the Chailey ward for the next tier of government, East Sussex County Council. The ward also includes Ditchling , East Chiltington , Newick , Plumpton , St John Without , Streat , Westmeston and Wivelsfield . The County Council provides services such as roads and transport, social services, libraries and trading standards. The June 2009 election resulted in
3672-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
3808-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
3944-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
4080-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
4216-410: A similar fate. It was also an ancient woodland, but it was coniferised wall-to-wall and only a thin strip of old woodland survives along some edges. It is dark and dead underneath, although a big herd of fallow deer take shelter there. To the east of South Chailey, the woods bear the imprint of centuries of quarrying and brick and pottery production. Kiln Wood ( TQ 394 173 ) is on the southern edge
East Chiltington - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
4488-557: A southern meadow has swarms of meadow/marsh plume thistle with soft shaving brush carmine flowers on white-woolly stems, and there's ladys smock , spotted orchids , creeping willow and rare spring sedge . The higher and drier meadow in July, is yellow with bird's-foot trefoil . There are bush crickets , cone-headed heads , large marsh and meadow grasshoppers and 'bloodsucker' soldier beetles . The rushy meadows have water horsetail , sneezewort and clumps of narrow buckler fern in
4624-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
4760-724: A win for the Conservative Meg Stroude, in 2013 and 2017 the Conservative Jim Sheppard and in 2021 the Conservative Matthew Milligan. The UK Parliament constituency for Chailey is Lewes . The Liberal Democrat Norman Baker served as the constituency MP from 1997 to 2015 when it was won by Maria Caulfield . Prior to Brexit in 2020, the village was part of the South East England constituency in
4896-493: Is St John (without) , to its south Falmer and to its west the Plumpton parish. The area is remarkable for its long stretches of intact flowery lane sides. There are at least five spots along Novington Lane with the rare meadow cranesbill where it flowers in July. There are also spotted orchid . oxeye daisy , bird's foot trefoil , hoary ragwort and meadowsweet . The area also has many small archaic meadows, one of which
5032-417: Is a Site of Special Scientific Interest that is located within the parish. Due to local pressure groups the area has been preserved as common land, is maintained for wildlife and been split into five areas and enclosed: Romany Ridge Common, Red House Common, Pound Common, Memorial Common and Land End Common. You may see white park cattle , ponies, or heath sheep out on the common for conservation, maintaining
5168-491: Is a good three-span-girth beech by the footpath that tracks south of Furzeley Farm ( TQ 396 182 ). There is open bracken down the slope to the north, while the southern high ground of the Common is pitted and rumpled and borders Starvecrow wood. This area has more Ling heath, grass heath, and even a few patches of lichen heath amongst the Bracken and used to be wood pasture with an even more open mixture of trees and heath. There
5304-524: Is a large and varied wood. The southern half is coppice, carpeted with bluebells. An ancient, now gnarled and twisted, laid hornbeam hedge boundary bank goes all around the wood. The blackthorn hedges can provide such a large harvest of sloes in Autumn they emit a purple haze and the branches bend low under the weight of the berries. Popjoy Wood ( TQ375 188 ) is a Bluebell wood that wet in winter, with fine oaks, primroses , and lots of wild garlic at
5440-476: Is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex , England. It is located 7 miles north of Lewes , on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury . The Prime Meridian passes just to the east of Chailey. The parish consists of the settlements: South Chailey (which also incorporates South Common), South Street , Chailey (also known as Chailey Green) and North Chailey (which incorporates
5576-477: Is also a seam of red marker clay outcrops, which are likely to have been mined. The Friends of Markstakes Common has an active website which provides an annual report including species list. Wooded Balneath Lane ( TQ 405 178 ) tracks a ridge eastwards from South Chailey to the Town Littleworth Road, with grand views north and south. At its western end, where it passes between the buildings of
East Chiltington - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-467: Is an open woodland with humps and hollows everywhere, with some old knotty hornbeam . Rabbit Wood ( TQ 389 186 ), is a classic Chailey woodland with tall straight oak , birch , hornbeam and Bluebell floor, with lovely glades. Long Wood ( TQ385 189 ) to the northwest is an oak and hazel wood with a bluebell floor and some birch trees . The Lambourn Gill (Longford Stream) divides it from Eels Ash Wood ( TQ385 193 ) which suffered badly from
5848-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
5984-590: Is between South Chailey and Chailey Common and they include a cluster of working farms in this landscape. There are many fine old oak , beech and hornbeam veterans in the area and there are a few significant clusters of farm fields that have been preserved from the effects of traditional farming by their difficult terrain, or by sympathetic land managers, and which are very different to the 'improved' green dairy pastures we are used to seeing. At Sedgebrook Farm , south west of Chailey Common, seven fields remain unimproved and are managed for nature. The farm's fields are
6120-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
6256-454: Is heavily invaded with Australian swamp stonecrop and they are in need of urgent management to prevent the spread of invasive species through the local watercourses. The pits are in need of proper closure and management for wildlife and public recreation. Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a Site of Special Scientific Interest , which stretches from Hassocks in the west and passes through many parishes including East Chiltington, to Lewes in
6392-404: Is made from bluish grey Upper Wealden Clay mudstones, with a bold pink stratum. Fossils have been found there, including the early flowering plant, Bevhalstia. There are also trace fossils which are likely to have been made by crustaceans, bands of fossil wood, insect and fish fossils. In Spring nightingales can be heard singing here. Second World War D Day airfield was on the west side of
6528-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
6664-477: Is of superb quality, and lovingly cared for, with a big display of southern marsh orchid , marsh marigold , ragged robin , heath spotted orchid , and both black and carnation sedges . At Brookhouse, East Chiltington, ( TQ375 155 ) there used to be a 2.25 m girth pollarded native Black Poplar by the former barns, on a site that has been separated for 165 years from the banks of the Bevern Stream by
6800-550: Is so special because it is one of the remaining areas of the Sussex Weald with heathland Commons. Chailey Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest that is located within the parish. It also has many areas with ancient woodland. To the north are the parishes of Haywards Heath and Fletching , to its east are Newick and Barcombe . To its south it borders the parishes of Hamsey , St John Without and East Chiltington and to its west, Wivelsfield . The parish has
6936-454: Is still a big wood with ancient trees. Amongst the hornbeam is wych elm , wild service , crab apple , spindle , guelder rose and aspen . As many as 25 ancient woodland indicator species can be found there, including early purple and butterfly orchids . It suffered from the two world wars when wood was needed when many of the standards were clear felled and not regrown. The wood was a candidate SSSI. If that designation had been completed
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#17327825057717072-563: Is still a small woodland called Home Wood which has old holly, coppiced beech and old wood pasture feel. Next to it was Novingdean Common , which was a common of 40 acres lost to the people after 1600. Great and Middle Home Wood are the last remaining large fragments of the wood. Great Home Wood ( TQ 372 182 ) spans the East Chiltington and the Chailey parishes. The northern end had drifts of wild daffodils . The wood has large amount of coppiced oak. They stand with old hornbeam coppice and
7208-594: Is the Conservative Jim Sheppard. The next level of government is Lewes District Council . The District council supplies services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. East Chiltington is covered by the Plumpton, Streat, East Chiltington and St John (Without) ward which returns a single seat. In the May 2015 election, Sarah Osbourne, a councillor from
7344-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
7480-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
7616-488: The South Downs National Park . The lakes are currently frequented by tufted duck , little grebe , Canada geese , coot and mallard . In February coltsfoot spangles the fawn-and-pink sands, and fat mating toads are there in numbers. The pools have nice vegetation and pond snails , and the air is buzzing with mayflies , dragonflies and damselflies in summer. However, at least the western pool
7752-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
7888-595: The lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
8024-446: The marsh gentian and they can still be seen there today with their trumpets full of tiny stars. Meadow thistle , sundew and round-leaved sundew are still just present also, thanks to careful nursing. It is one of the few sites left in the Sussex Weald with bog asphodel too. Woodcock , nightjar , bloody-nosed beetles , minotaur beetles , purse web spiders and black headed velvet ants frequent Chailey Common. Chailey Common
8160-403: The monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of a civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if
8296-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
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#17327825057718432-431: The 1960s before stopping and briefly resuming in the 1990s before the lakes became lower than the water table. A further pit lying to the east was worked between 2003 and circa 2013. The lakes are now stunning and could support much wildlife and be rich in biodiversity. Unfortunately, they are currently licensed to a private owner who has left them unmanaged and abandoned with threatening keep out notices, despite sitting in
8568-558: The 1998 storm and has since needed a lot of coppicing and clearance work. Just to the east of Eels Ash, down stream, and west of Chailey Green and church, is Chailey Moat ( TQ388 194 ), once the Rectory, part Tudor, part Georgian, probably medieval in origin, with a new lake dwarfing the moat. Just upstream, to the west, is Cottage Wood ( TQ 380 194 ). It very damp and marshy on the southern streamside with alder , marigolds and plenty of wild garlic ( ramsons ) in plenty. In spring
8704-403: The 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with
8840-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
8976-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
9112-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
9248-613: The Barcombe parish. On the north of the parish is the Pellbrook Cut. The Bevern Stream passes south of the parish and to the north side of Comp and Wickham woods. Mayflies , giant lacewing , beautiful demoiselles , and large red damselflies play in every sunny spot along the stream. There are Welshman's button caddis flies , and lots of scarce copse/orchard snails . In late 2016 the Plumpton Mill Stream and
9384-584: The Brickworks, it is called Caveridge Lane. All the land north of the ridge was part of Markstakes Common until 400 years ago, and Dodson's Rough and Grantham's Rough ( TQ 403 159 ) retain many of the common's archaic wood and rough ground flowers. The varied ground of the Chailey parish results in different woodlands. The vale of the Bevern Stream is at the bottom of Chailey parish and has a number of pleasing little woods. Many of them are Bluebell woods under over-stood hornbeam coppice, with young oaks. While
9520-570: The English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007 the right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by
9656-608: The North Common). The parish church is dedicated to St. Peter and is recorded as having been built in 1256. Recently a special service was held to commemorate its 750 years. At one time Chailey had more churches than pubs . The churches being St Peter's , St Martin's (within Chailey Heritage ), Chailey Free Church , St John's (now housing in South Common), and St Mary's (now housing in North Common), and
9792-524: The SNCI ( TQ380 189 ), a relict wet meadow , just north west of The Hooke has been destroyed only recently (2017). The Heritage Mill is situated on the Red House Common. It is also known as Beard's Mill. It stands beside a yew tree said to mark the centre of Sussex. Records show that mills have stood here since at least 1590. The mill museum is open to visitors regularly. There used to be
9928-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
10064-460: The banks of the stream. Chailey is governed at the local level by Chailey Parish Council which consists of eleven councillors meeting twice monthly. The parish council is responsible for local amenities such as the provision of litter bins, bus shelters and allotments. They also provide a voice into the district council meetings. The May 2007 election was uncontested due to only eight candidates standing. Three more councillors were later co-opted to
10200-581: The banks. Unfortunately there are no freshwater mussels and few emergent plants, which is likely to be the influence of the sewage works upstream. There are three streams in the Chailey parish, all of which flow into the Ouse. The Bevern stream runs along the parishes southern border. Through the centre of the parish runs the Lambourn Gill, which turns into the Longford Stream when runs through
10336-539: The best spawning ground in the area for sea trout. It also supports mayflies , caddis flies and great crested newts , and many birds drink from the waters, including summer visitors like nightingale . However, like many of the Sussex streams and rivers, the Bevern stream has not been left unpolluted. In late 2016 the whole of the Bevern Stream was polluted by a huge volume of slurry from Plumpton College Dairy Unit. All
10472-492: The bole next to two hearts pierced with an arrow. There are a number of notable working farms in the area but there are also a number of wealthy owners who have gained or inherited wealth from non-farming means who utilise the farms. Many of them have bought a farm as a private nature reserve, as at the lovely archaic meadows of Vixengrove Farm, Chailey. These landowners display varying degrees of empathy to public usage, from hostility to open-hearted delight. This seems to be so at
10608-430: The centre of a series of wet woods, damp meadows and carr that extend east to Godleys Green ( TQ 371 198 ). In late spring the cotton grass and marsh cinquefoil covers many square metres of quaking bog amongst the carr. In Spring the perfume of water mint is widespread and you can find angelica , marsh pennywort , purple moor grass tussocks, sharp-flowered rush , black sedge and bog stitchwort . In late May,
10744-641: The centre of the parish. The drained ponds between Long Wood and Cottage Wood, have become a wonderful marshy area, ( TQ 381 192 ), with scarce wetland plants such as cyperus sedge , wood club rush and lesser marshwort. The Pellingford Brook runs in the River Ouse at the Sheffield Park Bridge by the Bluebell railway station. It runs on the most northern part of the Chailey parish, but south of Waspbourne Wood. There are no public paths along
10880-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
11016-540: The church is currently closed (2021). The largest estate in the area is Hurst Barns ( TQ 383 160 ) at around 500 acres. It has a handsome 18th century farmhouse, cottages, an old threshing barn and wooden (converted) granary. It has a line of lime trees . It has been bought by the Earl of Albemarle. East Chiltington is governed at the local level by East Chiltington Parish Council which consists of seven councillors meeting every two months. The parish council represents
11152-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
11288-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
11424-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
11560-426: The council. The next level of government is Lewes District Council . The District council supplies services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. Chailey is covered by the Chailey and Wivelsfield ward which returns two seats. In the May 2007 election, two councillors from the local Conservative party were elected. This ward is called Chailey and Wivelsfield and had
11696-525: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
11832-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
11968-481: The east. The site is of biological importance due to its rare chalk grassland habitat along with its woodland and scrub. At the top of the scarp are two National Trust reserves, Blackcap and Ashcombe Bottom. Ashcombe Bottom is a woodland valley that runs south from Blackcap . One corner is in the East Chiltington parish while the majority is in St John Without . In 1993 Ashcombe Bottom ( TQ 373 118 )
12104-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
12240-534: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
12376-561: The fertile greensand areas are open and unwooded, on the Wealden Clay . Between Chailey Common and South Chailey there are the many medium-sized woods of the Hooke Estate and its neighbours. Going north towards the Lambourn Gill (Longford Stream), the acidic Hastings Beds , with their sands, hard sandrocks and clays, begin. As the ground rises towards Chailey North Common, the Wealden Clay gives way to Tunbridge Wells Sand and
12512-506: The fish in it were killed. In recent years, however, sea trout have been seen in the Bevern stream at East Chiltington, and the stream is healthy again. There is impressive woodland in East Chiltington. Beneath the Downs the large woods sit on Gault Clay. Further north, the land is fertile lower greensand so there is more arable land and less woodland. The remains of Home Wood has now largely been destroyed for farm land. Before 1650, Home Wood
12648-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
12784-427: The harmless owl midges swarm. Silver-washed fritillary butterflies and longhorn beetles enjoy the sunny side of the woods. Towning's Wood ( TQ 377 196 ) is just north of Cottage Wood , but the Wealden Clay gives way to Tunbridge Wells Sand giving it a different character. There is ling heather , gorse and heath bedstraw in the open areas with downy and silver birch . Bineham Wood ( TQ 384 202 )
12920-494: The last redoubt for these old grassland species, but straw laid for the Pheasants in several of these woods can only harm that relict vegetation. Bower Farm too ( TQ 373 190 ), to the south, has a dairy herd and some old buildings, like Towning's Farm, including an outhouse with herringbone ironstone walls. Southam Farmhouse is a Tudor, timber framed, but modernised is to the west of the relatively new Southam Wood. The area
13056-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
13192-510: The local Liberal Democrat party was elected. The UK Parliament constituency for East Chiltington is Lewes . The Conservative Maria Caulfield , a local nurse, has been serving as the constituency MP since 2015 when she defeated the incumbent Liberal Democrat Norman Baker . Prior to Brexit in 2020, the village was part of the South East England constituency in the European Parliament . Civil parish In England,
13328-432: The lovely archaic meadows of Vixengrove Farm , Chailey. Described in its listed building citation as "probably the most interesting house in Chailey parish" the 400 year old Wapsbourne Farmhouse ( TQ 399 233 ) is a traditional L-shaped, timber framed, three storey building, with diamond shaped leaded panes in its casement windows, and big brick chimney stacks. The name means 'bourne path' (werpel) and perhaps referred to
13464-460: The medieval Homewood Woodland including: Middle , Wet (bulldozed several decades ago) and Great Homewood Farm . There is still evidence of the archaic vegetation of those lost wild lands, but not so much to make it hospitable to nightingales or warblers . There were drifts of wild daffodils at its northern end, but they seem very scarce now. The large amount of coppiced oak present is unusual, and there are ash, birch and old hornbeam coppice and
13600-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
13736-447: The natural equilibrium of species through grazing. The site, which is part of a nature reserve, is of biological interest due to its heath habitat, defined by its cover of ericaceous species (ling, cross-leaved heath and bell heather ). Ericaceous vegetation occurs over about a mile, from south to north. The area has glorious displays of purple heathers in high summer, and it hosts many rarities. Fifty years ago Garth Christian saved
13872-405: The nearby fields. Swan Wood ( TQ 393 168 ) is behind the old Swan inn (now a private residence). It has many oak trees , hazel , bluebells and brambles. It is twinned with Oldbarns Wood , which is an ash wood, to its south west. Just north, alongside the playing fields of Chailey Secondary School, is Draper's Wood , a classic old hornbeam coppice wood over bluebells, ( TQ 388 171 ). To
14008-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
14144-469: The north of the parish, Chailey Common is one of the remaining and best areas of heathland Commons in the Sussex Weald . Further south, Markstakes Common is also a well-maintained and regularly surveyed common. However, Chailey South Common is an example of one of the many lost commons to the county and is now only commemorated in name. It lay between South Chailey and South Street. Southam Wood
14280-572: The old Wotton Manor drove runs northwards and has a line of old oaks growing on its banks, three of which are over three spans girth and some more approaching it. On the south west parish border is Great Home Wood ( TQ 372 182 ), a big abundant hornbeam coppice. It was part of an important desmesne 300-acre wood of the Priory of St Pancras at Lewes , but it was lost to the church, its commoners dispossessed and its woodland part-cleared and converted to farmland before 1650. A cluster of names attest to
14416-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
14552-665: The parish by Townings farm. The RAF cleared the ground in 1942 for the Chailey Advanced Landing Ground. It was largely manned by Polish exile Spitfire squadrons, which supported the Normandy D Day landings in June 1944. The two largest estates in Chailey are the Hooke Estate which covers around a 1000 acres and the Hurst Barns Estate, South Chailey, which covers around 500 acres. The Hooke Estate
14688-448: The parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under a common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in
14824-493: The parish on matters governed at District and County level. The May 2015 election was contested by eight candidates. East Chiltington lies within the Chailey ward for the next tier of government, East Sussex County Council. The ward also includes Chailey , Ditchling , St John Without , Newick , Plumpton , Streat , Westmeston and Wivelsfield . The County Council provides services such as roads and transport, social services, libraries and trading standards. The county councilor
14960-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
15096-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
15232-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
15368-677: The partly lost track from Wapsbourne Gate and Farm westwards to the defunct Hunt's Gate crossroads, still marked by a huge veteran oak pollard, ( TQ 391 234 ), hidden in the hedge where the footpath turns off from Butterbox Lane. In the Middle Ages the Sussex Weald was a land of big commons, hunting chases and parks and it was only in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries that the majority were eradicated. A few have lived on though even to this day, and they still play this role as they are still an important part in community life and many hold important species such as aboriginal grasslands. To
15504-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
15640-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
15776-544: The power lines with lousewort , ling heather, purple moor grass and heath grass , tormentil and heath speedwell . Markstakes Common ( TQ 398 178 ) is a wooded common that it has received loving management for the last 50 years. Species like saw-wort and heath milkwort can be found on the heath. In recent surveys, too, special wetland plants have been refound like bog pondweed , marsh pennywort , ragged robin and wild hops, as well as dormice , adder , grass snake , and great crested and palmate newts . There are
15912-515: The pubs being the King's Head , Five Bells , Horns Lodge and the Swan House . In addition it is believed another chapel was sited near the Bluebell railway. Chailey is reputed to be the inspiration for the 1969 children's television series Chigley by Gordon Murray , (along with nearby Plumpton as Trumpton and Wivelsfield Green as Camberwick Green ). The parish of Chailey is large. It
16048-551: The railway line. This is a tree species with only scattered wild survivors in Sussex, though many have lately been planted. The tree occurs on the Woodland Trust's Ancient Tree Inventory. The Bevern stream runs through the middle of the parish, flowing eastwards to the River Ouse . It is fed by the clear chalky waters of Plumpton Mill Stream arising at moated Plumpton Place. It runs over gravelly beds and provides some of
16184-480: The rich herbaceous vegetation of the wide rides which included old Wealden plants like ragged robin may still be present. Unfortunately chalk rubble has been dumped along them. The disused Novington sandpit ( TQ 368 145 ) stands between Long Wood and Stanton's Farm. It was used to extract the sand that lies between the chalk downs and the clays of the Low Weald . The quarry was opened in 1949 and continued into
16320-514: The risk to the biodiversity of the area. There is no public access to the majority of the banks of Bevern Stream through East Chiltington. The parish of East Chiltington comprises the South Downs from the top end of Ashcombe Bottom and the Blackcap nature reserve , down the Clayton to Offham Escarpment to the Sussex Weald stretching north and northeast to the Chailey parish . To its east
16456-608: The same genus, though they live 135 million years later. The church has one of the largest yew trees in Sussex and maintains its wild flower meadows proudly. It declares on entry to look out for its sweet violet , cuckoo flower , bluebell, lords-and-ladies , birdsfoot trefoil , adder's tongue , knapweed , common spotted and green-winged orchid , cat's ear , agrimony , yarrow , lesser stitchwort , vervain and rough hawkbit as well as its perennial grasses which include yorkshire fog , meadow foxtail and cocksfoot . The serving rector, Godfrey Brodster, has recently retired and
16592-455: The shadier places. Towning's Farm ( TQ 377 201 ) has "an old fashioned air" with fine vernacular farm buildings and a good farm shop and some attractive pigs, poultry and sheep. Several of the fields on Towning's Farm have only been lightly 'improved'. As a result, some archaic vegetation still exists. For example, the pasture along the west side of Bineham Wood has tiny patches of Tormentil and other old herbs (2018). The woodland rides are
16728-528: The slope begins to tip northwards and you can find frog and bee orchid and there are tiny fragments of heathy grassland and even ling heather. In autumn the waxcap fungal flora can be spectacularly colourful. 21 old meadow species have been counted there. Next to the top of the Warningore Bostal, are a cluster of 12 smallish round barrows, each one with a ‘pillage dimple’ in the top, but otherwise well-preserved. The parish church ( TQ 369 151 )
16864-406: The south east of the parish are Hovel ( TQ 389 162 ) and Sawpit Wood ( TQ 383 163 ). Both made up off Hornbeam coppice, with young oaks. Sawpit Wood is on a hill to the north of Hurst Barns and has wild daffodils , scented sweet violets and bluebells. The fate of the once beautiful and ancient woodlands of Balneath and Wilding has been rather sad. Balneath Wood ( TQ 403 174 ) was largely
17000-454: The south eastern end. To its west is Bower Farm and wet moor land. The hedgerows have long been removed as the land was used by the RAF in the second world war. The Chailey Advanced Landing Ground was used heavily by Polish exile Spitfire squadrons in the Normandy D Day landings . Sadly, most of little Toll Wood ( TQ371 188 }) has been destroyed, but on the west side of Mott Wood , part of
17136-428: The vicar also has charge of two churches in Plumpton . Near the church there is a pub called The Jolly Sportsman . The Sussex Greensand Way , a Roman road, runs from east to west through the centre of the parish. Eton College owns a 500 acre plot in the parish and in 2021 applied to build 3,000 homes in the area north of the railway line. The proposal has met with resistance from locals, citing amongst other things
17272-613: The way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe
17408-405: The whole of the Bevern Stream below it were polluted by a huge volume of slurry from Plumpton College Dairy Unit. All the fish in the affected streams were killed. The streams will take many years to recover. The Longford stream turns into the Lambourn Gill in the Chailey parish. There are some nice corners of rough tall herbage survive along the banks of the stream which passes many of the woods in
17544-537: The woods subtly change, becoming drier and more acidic. They give a subtly different character to its woods. Many, such as Frick wood , are quite heathy and abundant with birch, ling heather and gorse. Comps Wood and Wickham Wood (in bordering St John Without parish) have names that were likely to have been given to them by the Romans, as two fields south is the Roman Greensand Way. 'Comp' (as in campus,
17680-487: Was 300 acres and an important demesne wood of the Priory of St Pancras at Lewes. The majority of it was converted to farmland by the church and the commoners dispossessed. The footprint of the lost medieval Home Wood begins at the north end of Novington Lane. Hattons Green was once lawns at the edge of medieval Home Wood, but it is just paddocks and cottages now. The green and Homewoodgate Farm marked its western edge. There
17816-530: Was a part of the Common until it was enclosed in 1841. It was the last commons on clay ground in this part of the Sussex Weald and has the ruins of an old mill. The Warren ( TQ 401 218 ), south of Lane End Common, is a lost piece of common land too. It still has some rides and glades that maintain a heathy character and since new management by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, seventeen of the rare marsh gentian have been seen there. Chailey Common
17952-516: Was bought by the National Trust with Blackcap, Mount Harry, Win Green and most of the scarp . It is rich in scrubland species and has oak , ash , silver birch, hazel , bryony , rosebay willowherb , spindle , honeysuckle and occasional wood sage . The ash which is being managed for ash dieback . It is a biodiverse area with many butterflies and migrant birds in spring. Blackcap is
18088-498: Was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were the gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of
18224-399: Was once part of the heathy South Common until its enclosure in 1841. Although new, just inside the wood, where the footpaths fork east of the farmhouse, is an ancient hornbeam dubbed ' The Octopus' ( TQ 384 181 ), its many tendril-like branches writhing and wrapping around each other. At the north end of the wood, east of the footpath is a veteran beech with '1945 Audrey and Bill' carved on
18360-446: Was once the chapel of a detached part of Westmeston parish hence the name of the lane, Chapel Lane, and farm, Chapel Farm. It was built in the 12th century. Quite fascinatingly, the church which has walls, nave, chancel and tower made of winklestone . It is a church made of fossils. Big winkle shells, Viviparus , stand proud of the stone, reddish or grey, and very similar to the water snail shells you can pick from riversides, which are of
18496-540: Was one of the last sites in the Sussex Weald that you could find Silver Studded Blue butterflies but they may also be gone now. It is a shame that the site has no dedicated ranger to or that the Friends of Chailey Common website does not appear to have an open annual species reports as the Friends of Markstakes Common does. If you walk from Lane End Common through Warr's Wood there a long sliver of heathland underneath
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