102-675: The Steyning Line was a railway branch line that connected the West Sussex market town of Horsham with the port of Shoreham-by-Sea , with connections to Brighton . It was built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway , and opened in 1861. It was 20 miles (32 km) in length. It followed the course of the River Adur for much of its extent and was alternatively known as the Adur Valley Line. The line never developed as
204-426: A beautiful mosaic of species-rich scrub, short and long grass and bare ground (at the quarry). The ‘hills and holes’ of the grassed over quarry spoil tips are rich in flowers and insects. The slopes have abundant yellow cowslips in spring and in autumn you may be lucky to find the yellow blobs of persistent waxcap . There are many butterflies, moths, mosses and lichen and the tony moss snail and scree snail. Between
306-560: A big modern house. For decades the Society of Sussex Downsmen fought to prevent new radio masts being erected here. It was a dogged and ultimately successful battle. The views across the Downs to the west and south are spectacular. A deep narrow bostal track down the Hill to Truleigh Manor Farm. Small Dole is a small new village to the north of the parish. It is surrounded by woods. To the north
408-543: A branch from Shoreham to Steyning, but they were not exercised and the powers lapsed. In 1857 Joseph Locke and Thomas Brassey promoted a railway from Shoreham Harbour to Horsham and Dorking . Dorking was on the route of a proposed new line from Leatherhead and other railways, actual or proposed, would connect to Wimbledon . Locke was associated with the LSWR, successor to the London and Southampton Railway, and this proposal
510-545: A location adjacent to the railway station, and cattle, sheep, poultry and other produce were transported to and from it for more than a century. Some excursions began operating soon after the line to Partridge Green had been opened. One of the first was in July 1861 to Portsmouth ; the fare was two shillings and there were 185 passengers on the service. Another excursion followed in August, to Crystal Palace via Hove . From 1923
612-733: A number of different soil types from Chalk downland , rich Lower Greensand to sticky Gault Clay . The parish covers areas with hills/downs, valleys/bottoms, brooks and woods. Upper Beeding is a village on the eastern bank of the River Adur, opposite Bramber . It is just within the South Downs National Park boundary. There are two pubs in the village, the King's Head and the Rising Sun. The King's Head goes back to at least 1788 when Burbeach Hundred Court met there. There
714-575: A number of proposals for railway connections between London and Brighton were put forward. Robert Stephenson was associated with the London and Southampton Railway , later to be renamed the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). He advanced a project to build from Wimbledon on the Southampton line to Brighton, making use of the Mole Gap, where the River Mole has made a passage through
816-559: A population of 104,600. The seaside resort of Bognor Regis and the market town of Horsham are both large towns. Chichester, the county town, has a cathedral and city status , and is situated not far from the border with Hampshire . Other conurbations of a similar size are Burgess Hill , East Grinstead and Haywards Heath in the Mid Sussex district, Littlehampton in the Arun district , and Lancing , Southwick and Shoreham in
918-526: A remaining spur of the railway to Shoreham until 1981." It had been hoped that the Adur Valley Line and the Guildford Direct Line might together enable through traffic between the LBSCR at Shoreham and Brighton, and locations further north and west. However the LSWR controlled the railway network around Guildford, and frustrated the development of this traffic. The spur remained little used, and
1020-497: A separate county council from 1888, the county of Sussex being divided into the administrative counties of East and West Sussex. In 1974, West Sussex was made a single ceremonial county with the coming into force of the Local Government Act 1972 . At the same time a large part of the eastern rape of Lewes (the Mid Sussex district which includes the towns of Haywards Heath , Burgess Hill and East Grinstead )
1122-456: A through route, and it remained dependent on agriculture and local industry. At one time it had been hoped that through traffic via Guildford might develop, but apart from occasional passenger excursion journeys, this business did not materialise. The rural traffic based on agriculture declined and proved unsustainable, and the line closed under the Beeching axe on 7 March 1966. In the 1830s
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#17327872817901224-443: A total population of 474,485. The interior of the county is generally rural; the largest towns are Crawley (118,493) and Horsham (50,934), both located in the north-east; Chichester is in the south-west and has a population of 26,795. West Sussex contains seven local government districts , which are part of a two-tier non-metropolitan county administered by West Sussex County Council . West Sussex and East Sussex were historically
1326-498: A very old rookery . Some years there are fly orchids with the nettle-leaved bellflower , primrose and bluebell which grow underneath the large old beeches and wych elm. Room Bottom runs west of Tottering Mount towards Golding Barn. Apparently, Room Bottom ( TQ 213 107 ) used to be Broom Bottom, but some map-maker in Victorian times left out the ‘B’ by mistake. It is a tranquil and remote valley, except when being used by
1428-762: Is a ria . The county has a long history of human settlement dating back to the Lower Paleolithic era. During the Roman conquest of Britain , Romans conquered the Atrebates , West Sussex's indigenous Britons, and incorporated the area as a Roman province . During the Early Middle Ages , the Saxons settled the area, establishing the Kingdom of Sussex in 477, which lasted until c. 827 when
1530-400: Is a scheduled monument where you can see remains of salt-making industry begun in the 13th century. Beeding brooks ( TQ 191 112 ) and Horton brooks ( TQ 200 116 ) are ancient waterside landscapes in the northwest of the parish. They surround the River Adur and have preserved the ancient indentations of the salting channels. In winter, the fossil salt marsh channels are flooded and this
1632-566: Is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex , England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs , four miles (6.4 km) north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area of 1,877 hectares (4,640 acres). The site is a bridging point over the river: on the opposite bank are Bramber and Steyning , making the whole area somewhat built-up. The civil parish also includes
1734-645: Is a group of local representatives and four UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) representatives, who are elected by young people in West Sussex. The Youth Cabinet represents the views of the young people West Sussex at county level. Elections for the Youth Cabinet and UKYP in West Sussex run every year in March. The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral , is the seat of
1836-636: Is a modern nunnery that it is not open to visitors. The southeast of the village is known as Castle Town. The village has a rich history. In AD 858 it is thought that Aethelwulf, father of Alfred the Great, died here and was buried across the River Adur in Steyning . There was a priory in Upper Beeding during the 11th century, but no trace of it now remains. After the Norman Conquest, the manor
1938-476: Is an ancient bluebell wood to the north of the parish and north of Small Dole. You may see barn owls , Long-tailed tit , kestrel and bullfinch here. In spring and summer, you may see whitethroat and reed warblers , increasingly rare though is the cuckoo , nightingales and turtle dove that were common here most summers until recently. About 40% of Hoe Wood was bulldozed for the Small Dole housing and
2040-532: Is bordered by Hampshire to the west, Surrey to the north and East Sussex to the east. The English Channel lies to the south. The area has been formed from Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous rock strata, part of the Weald–Artois Anticline . The eastern part of this ridge, the Weald of Kent, Sussex and Surrey has been greatly eroded, with the chalk surface removed to expose older Lower Cretaceous rocks of
2142-453: Is buried or scheduled to be buried now, heaped way above the old land height with municipal waste. Tottington and Longlands Wood ( TQ217 122 ) sit next door to each other, separated from Hoe Wood by the Small Dole housing. They are sticky Gault clay woods with young hazel coppice under a uniform canopy of Oak maidens. They are rich in wildlife with as many as twenty three ancient woodland plants being counted here, including that classic of
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#17327872817902244-487: Is here, emergences of adonis blue are common on the steepest, shortest turf near the valley bottom and in autumn the autumn ladies tresses can be found here in numbers. Situated within the Beeding Chalk Pit, production at Shoreham Cement Works began more than 135 years ago in 1883. It was a major employer for the local area, providing hundreds of jobs to the residents of Shoreham and Upper Beeding until in 1991
2346-487: Is home to Fontwell Park Racecourse . The county has one Football League club located in Crawley , that is Crawley Town F.C. BBC South television covers the county excluding Haywards Heath , Burgess Hill , East Grinstead and Shoreham-by-Sea which are covered by BBC South East . ITV Meridian also covers the county. Crawley is covered by both regions and by BBC London and ITV London . BBC Radio Sussex
2448-714: Is located within the borders of Crawley , and is the second largest airport in the United Kingdom. There is also a considerably smaller local airport at Shoreham Airport and a grass airfield handling light aircraft and helicopters at Chichester/Goodwood Airport . There are three main railway routes: the Brighton Main Line , the Arun Valley Line and the West Coastway Line . The Portsmouth Direct Line serves and occasionally enters
2550-556: Is much more sky-blue than common milkwort , and almost unknown to the west of Brighton. There was a scatter of Bronze Age round barrows along this scarp top, but only one is now in good condition — on the South Downs Way just east of the cross roads in the dip between Truleigh and Edburton Hills. In spring the slopes are whitey-green with the new leaves of whitebeam , and there are many cowslips . Some years there are green hairsteak and brimstone butterflies. The east of
2652-525: Is small and has five orchid species, lots of colourful wild flowers and butterflies, interesting fungi and bushy bits for the birds. This site lies just north of the spot where Summersdeane farmstead stood until the Canadian artillery flattened it during the Second World War. It was an old farmstead, going right back to the 13th century or before. In 1840 it was a daughter farm of Horton Farm to
2754-549: Is the BBC local radio station for the county, broadcast from studios in Brighton . The commercial local radio station is Heart South , and community radio stations in the county are More Radio Worthing (serving Worthing , Shoreham , and Littlehampton ), More Radio Mid-Sussex (serving Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath ), 107 Meridian FM (for East Grinstead ) and V2 Radio (for Chichester ). Beeding Upper Beeding
2856-460: Is the Henfield parish and Hoe Wood. To the east is Flacketts Wood ( TQ 223 125 ) and to the southeast is Tottering Woods. Further east again of those are North and South Furze Fields ( TQ 229 123 ) which have both have gathered many old woodland species in the two centuries since they were left to grow into woodland, including early purple orchid and then Edburton Sands. To Small Dole's south
2958-526: Is the Hillside Scout Campsite ( TQ212 121 ). The south side of scout field still holds archaic meadow herbage, and in May there are still orchids, quaking grass , bugle, adders tongue fern , glaucous sedge , agrimony and knapweed with burnet companion moth, small heath and small copper butterflies flitting around them. To the southwest of Small Dole is Horton Clay Pit . Hoe Wood
3060-448: Is when nature is at its best here. Many birds from Siberia pass the colder months here (which are less cold than Siberia!). The area can support owls, snipe , winter thrushes and winter ducks. The best brook channels still host some important marsh species including ivy-leaved duckweed , water horsetai , water crowfoot and brooklime . There are also many species of water snail including moss bladder snail and great ramshorn snail . To
3162-642: The Adur district. Much of the coastal town population is part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation . Rustington and Southwater are the next largest settlements in the county. There are several more towns in West Sussex, including Arundel , Midhurst , Petworth , Selsey , Steyning , Henfield , Pulborough and Storrington . Other notable villages include Billingshurst , Copthorne , Crawley Down , Cuckfield , Hassocks , Hurstpierpoint and Lindfield . West Sussex
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3264-716: The Anglican Bishop of Chichester . It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the bishop was moved from Selsey Abbey . The cathedral has architecture in both the Norman and the Gothic styles, and has been called by the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner "the most typical English Cathedral". The Cathedral Church of Our Lady and St Philip Howard in Arundel is the Roman Catholic cathedral of
3366-459: The Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest. The community was originally (and for the majority of its history) called Beeding, with the civil parish changing to Upper Beeding in modern times (date unknown). As is common in such cases, the ecclesiastical parish retains the original name (hence it is the parish of Beeding, and the parish church is Beeding Church). In
3468-717: The Devil's Jumps , a group of Bronze Age burial mounds, and the Iron Age Cissbury Ring and Chanctonbury Ring hill forts on the South Downs. The Roman period saw the building of Fishbourne Roman Palace and rural villas such as Bignor Roman Villa together with a network of roads including Stane Street , the Chichester to Silchester Way and the Sussex Greensand Way . The Romans used
3570-662: The Diocese of Arundel and Brighton . Built in French Gothic style and dedicated in 1873 as the Catholic parish church of Arundel, it was not designated a cathedral until the foundation of the diocese in 1965. Bosham Church is partly of Saxon construction and is shown on the Bayeux Tapestry as the local church of late Saxon and Danish kings of England. Many other Saxon and early Norman churches have survived in
3672-614: The Kent Coalfield ; there was a weekly block train to the British Portland Cement depot at Southampton via Shoreham and the Portsmouth main line. In 1960, for example, the cement works received 7,000 coal wagons, 2,300 gypsum wagons and 100 wagons of general stores; it sent out 7,670 cement wagons and 240 flint wagons. Traffic continued beyond the through line's closure until 1981; a single line from Shoreham
3774-476: The National Trust for token ownership. It was a mixture of generosity and foolishness. Over the next few years these farmers bulldozed and ploughed all of these ancient pastures and their archaeology and wildlife were lost. After decades of intensive farming the land was returned to permanent pasture in the 1990s but no freedom to roam was given on these wide acres. Tiny fragments of Down pasture exist on
3876-584: The North Downs near Dorking, and the Shoreham Gap near Shoreham, cutting through the South Downs . The route is very nearly a direct southward line, leading to Shoreham, six miles west of Brighton. At the time Shoreham was an important seaport. This was a viable proposal, in opposition to the London and Brighton Railway's plans for a line from the London and Croydon Railway at Norwood, running through Redhill , Three Bridges and Haywards Heath . At
3978-526: The Wealden Group . In West Sussex the exposed rock becomes older towards the north of the county with Lower Greensand ridges along the border with Surrey including the highest point of the county at Blackdown . Erosion of softer sand and clay strata has hollowed out the basin of the Weald leaving a north facing scarp slope of the chalk which runs east and west across the whole county, broken only by
4080-479: The 19th century. Now this slope is winter grazed, so the grass is tall in summer. It can look unkempt around the entrance by Beeding Hill car park, but do not be deceived, it is a rich area and is part of the Beeding Hill SSSI. There is lots of yellow rattle and three orchid species, common heath and latticed heath moths and grizzled skipper butterfly as well as glowworms . The area downslope and to
4182-562: The Adur. Botolphs and Beeding marked Saxon fords or early bridges. Bramber marked the Norman baronial causeway and bridge, and Steyning marked the busy Saxon Portus Cuthmanni. Below the Mount you can also see Golding Barn Raceway. Neither the Mount nor Room Bottom form part of the Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hiil SSSI and most of Tottington Mount lost its ancient pastures, but the steep slope above
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4284-615: The Conquest, probably on the site of much older earthworks. The castle cannot have been occupied for long and was of timber construction only. It's scarcely bigger than a farmyard. Later, in 1260, the Lord of Perching got a licence to build a fortified manor house down under the Hill, and you can still see crop marks where it used to stand. The banks of the Motte and Bailey have field fleawort , and one may find some patches of chalk milkwort which
4386-470: The Gault: thin spiked wood sedge . In spring they are full of warblers and bats including Noctule , Serotine , Brown Long Eared and Pipistrelle species and in the past cuckoo and nightingale were a common sound. There are silver-washed fritillary , cardinal beetles and longhorn moths and beetles . Local people have created a managed fragment of coppice wood, next to the industrial estate, which
4488-566: The Hill is Fulking Hill in Fulking parish. To west of Edburton Hill is Truleigh Hill ( TQ 224 110 ), which is perhaps best known for the four masts on the Hill and their red lights, that can be seen across this downscape for many miles. Around the Hill is Freshcombe Lodge, the Truleigh Hill Youth Hostel and a few bungalows, derelict sheds, scruffy tree plantings (which struggle to survive in thin, chalky soils) and barns,
4590-528: The LBSCR decided to close it from 1 August 1867; the Brighton company was concerned that the LSWR might take advantage of it to seek greater access to the south coast. The course of the spur may be seen in satellite imagery. Traffic consisted mainly of agricultural produce, with goods being sent to the Brighton and Steyning markets and for auction. Steyning's weekly market relocated from the High Street to
4692-612: The Second World War. There was a cricket ground in the Prince Regent's time on the southern side of the Monarch's Way ( TQ 210 095 ) as it tracks east from the Beeding Hill car park. All along the crest of Beeding Hill, just south of the road up to the Truleigh Hill Youth Hostel, was an important cluster of Bronze Age burial mounds. After the war the Hill was both leased out to tenant farmers on 999 year leases and given to
4794-529: The Upper and the Lower. The Upper is just south of Truleigh Hill farm. Like Bushy Bottom its west slope ( TQ 231 105 ) is still a site of recovery too being surrounded for decades by arable cultivation. It has a slightly less chalky soil chemistry, and has lesser stitchwort , sorrel , and gorse as well as more chalk-loving restharrow , quaking grass , bladder campion and thyme . The east slope ( TQ 233 101 )
4896-457: The Weald for iron production on an industrial scale. The foundation of the Kingdom of Sussex is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year AD 477; it says that Ælle arrived at a place called Cymenshore in three ships with his three sons and killed or put to flight the local inhabitants. The foundation story is regarded as somewhat of a myth by most historians, although the archaeology suggests that Saxons did start to settle in
4998-412: The area in the late 5th century. The Kingdom of Sussex was absorbed into Wessex as an earldom and became the county of Sussex. With its origins in the kingdom of Sussex , the later county of Sussex was traditionally divided into six units known as rapes . By the 16th century, the three western rapes were grouped together informally, having their own separate Quarter Sessions . These were governed by
5100-502: The best sites on the whole of the Brighton Downs. It is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is well maintained by Old Erringham Farm. The soft valley sides are contoured with the terracettes made by the regular meanderings of the resident herd of cattle. In summer the slopes are colourful with scabious , knapweed , red clover , betony , Sussex rampion , Restharrow , pyramidal orchid , eggs and bacon , viper's bugloss and ox-eye daisy . The stripe-winged grasshopper
5202-426: The bikes on Golding Barn Raceway. The south side of the valley has a tussocky sward, with scattered scrub. The steep east end of the valley is derelict chalk grassland invaded by tor grass but does retain lots of rockrose and an associated webcap fungus, and the little black earth tongue . There are brown argus , adonis and chalkhill butterflies, Sussex rampion and ploughman's spikenard . The north side of
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#17327872817905304-399: The coast and lower inland. July tends to be the warmest month when mean daily maxima tend to be around 20 °C. A maximum temperature of 35.4 °C occurred at North Heath, Pulborough on 26 June 1976. Coastal high temperatures are often moderated by cooler sea breezes. Monthly rainfall tends to be highest in autumn and early winter and lowest in the summer months, with July often being
5406-496: The country . West Sussex is the sunniest county in the United Kingdom, according to Met Office records. Over the 29 years to 2011 it averaged 1902 hours of sunshine per year. Sunshine totals are highest near the coast with Bognor Regis often having the highest in mainland England, including a total of 2237 hours in 1990. Mean annual temperature for southern coastal counties is around 11 °C. The coldest month, January, has mean daily minimum temperatures of around 3 °C near
5508-423: The county include Christ's Hospital near Horsham , whose students wear Tudor style uniform, Seaford College , Lancing College and Hurstpierpoint College . Tertiary education is provided by the University of Chichester and Chichester College . At least 40 sports are active in West Sussex. Sussex CCC was the first first-class county cricket club, formed in 1839, and was a cradle for club cricket. Sussex
5610-404: The county include Rolls-Royce Motor Cars , a substantial employer near Chichester. Gatwick Airport , with associated airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic , is a major source of direct and indirect employment. Thales Group also has a presence in the county. Nestlé has their UK headquarters in Crawley. West Sussex developed distinctive land uses along with its neighbours in
5712-492: The county makes up 1.53% of England's population. West Sussex has a comprehensive education system, with a mix of county-maintained secondary schools and academies and over twenty independent senior schools. In addition primary education is provided through a mix of around 240 infant , junior , primary , first and middle schools. Colleges include The College of Richard Collyer , Central Sussex College , Northbrook College and The Weald School . Independent schools in
5814-483: The county with little alteration including the Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting , an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon church with a Rhenish helm unique in England and St. Nicholas Church, Worth , a 10th-century church in Worth , Crawley . Some Anglican churches and many of the numerous nonconformist chapels in the county have been converted to residential use. Cittaviveka is a Buddhist monastery in Chithurst . Pallant House Gallery in Chichester houses one of
5916-412: The driest month. There is less rainfall from summer convective showers and thunderstorms than in inland areas. The county can suffer both from localised flooding caused by heavy rainfall and from water shortages caused by prolonged periods of below average rainfall. Winter rainfall is needed to recharge the chalk aquifers from which much of the water supply is drawn. The M23 motorway runs from London to
6018-405: The early 13th Century the monks of Sele Priory (St Peter's Church, Beeding) began a mission to the area of St Leonard's Forest near Horsham , and established a small mission base, naming it Lower Beeding . Despite being some 10 miles (16 km) away, Lower Beeding remained a part of (Upper) Beeding parish until Victorian times. The existence of Lower Beeding led to differentiation in the name of
6120-554: The east and west slopes of Bushy Bottom retained threadbare relics of their old heathy pastures. Now it's been back down as permanent pasture for nearly twenty years and gets better every year. All the landscape is silence and rustling breeze and the soft horizontals of the hilltops. There are small heath and common blue butterflies and the big herds of cattle attract the rare hornet robberfly , our largest and handsomest fly. The summer flowers here include harebell , dropwort and field woodrush . There are two parts to Summers Deane,
6222-399: The east of Horton is Horton Clay Pit , an important archeological site with many fossils in the Gault Clay . The brooks are beautiful but many areas are in need of management. Horse paddocks and sprawling buildings encroach the area. Some of the ditches are choked with rotting reeds and algae and many are shallowing and even disappearing. More heavy grazing of the whole area is needed. By
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#17327872817906324-404: The eastern slope of Beeding Hill and there are still harebells , common blue butterflies and some bits of gorse and this area now forms part of the Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill SSSI. There are a number of ways up Beeding Hill. There is a carpark at its top, but this is only accessible from Shoreham . There is a track from Castle Town, Upper Beeding called The Bostal which now forms part of
6426-518: The hall, which was completed in 1930. The hall contains meeting rooms where various organizations hold meetings and a number of different kinds of events. The Upper Beeding Parish Council meets monthly in the hall). In 2001 census the parish of Upper Beeding had a population of 3,798 living in 1545 households, of whom 2001 were economically active. The population at the 2011 Census was 3,763. The parish of Upper Beeding includes three villages: Upper Beeding itself, Edburton and Small Dole . It includes
6528-402: The head of Room Bottom still is pretty with a carpet of flowers. West and north west slopes of Tottington Mount ( TQ 210 110 ) are lightly grazed by Sussex cattle and the Down pasture wildlife is returning. There are lots of six-spot burnet moth and marbled white on the harebell and Sussex rampion . At the bottom of the north slope, opposite Tottington Manor Farm, is an old rew woodland with
6630-517: The kingdom was annexed by Wessex . It has a number of stately homes including Goodwood , Petworth House and Uppark , and castles such as Arundel Castle and Bramber Castle . The name Sussex, derived from the Old English 'Sūþseaxe' (' South Saxons '), dates from the Saxon period between AD 477 to 1066, and the history of human habitation in Sussex goes back to the Old Stone Age . The oldest hominin remains known in Britain were found at Eartham Pit, Boxgrove . Prehistoric monuments include
6732-446: The line became part of the Southern Railway following the grouping of the railways under the Railways Act 1921 . The unification of the former LBSCR and the LSWR eliminated any difficulty about through traffic via Guildford, and inward excursions to Brighton and Hove from places as far afield as Wolverhampton and Banbury , via Guildford and Horsham. The line was heavily used during the two world wars, carrying troops and munitions to
6834-418: The long distance Monarchs Way . There is another track that comes from Golding Barn which leaves Room Bottom to the right. This sunken trackway has overhanging wayfaring tree and old man's beard (wild clematis). The bostal sides retain a good chalk grassland flora, with horseshoe vetch , orchids and harebell . The track passes the Beeding Hill Combe disused quarry/chalkpit ( TQ 212 100 ) which has created
6936-590: The majority of them being Conservative. There are 46 Conservative councillors, 11 Liberal Democrats , 9 Labour Party councillors and 4 Green and Independent Alliance councillors. The Chief Executive and their team of executive directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the council. West Sussex County Council is based at County Hall, Chichester and provides a large range of services including education, social services, fire and rescue, libraries, trading standards, town and country planning, refuse disposal and consumer services. The West Sussex Youth Cabinet
7038-430: The most significant collections of 20th-century British art outside London. It includes a substantial body of early and mid-20th-century work bequeathed by Walter Hussey and many later works donated by Colin St. John Wilson . Worthing Museum and Art Gallery houses a large collection of Georgian and Victorian costume. The Cass Sculpture Foundation has an outdoor sculpture park at Goodwood . Significant companies in
7140-423: The north west, over the far side of Tottington Mount. The farmstead's grove of beech trees survives. That same fence line is an old manorial boundary, and further southwards, just over the hill crest, it crosses over two prehistoric round barrows . Boundaries were often marked by barrows on the Downs, and the same boundary is marked by a further (largely ploughed out) barrow ( TQ 239 090 ) when it swings across to
7242-511: The opening of the second phase of the line on 16 September 1861, the daily passenger service between Brighton and Horsham consisted of four stopping trains and one express. The line between Itchingfield Junction and Shoreham was doubled during 1878–1879. According to Course, in its latter years the line was served exclusively by local trains between Horsham and Brighton but it was laid out as a double-track main line, to form part of an alternative route between London and Brighton. Intermediate traffic
7344-418: The original Beeding in some medieval sources, but always as River Beeding. For this reason the prefix Upper is still ignored by many local people today, who refer to their community by the original (and current ecclesiastical) title of Beeding. In Saxon times Beeding had a near neighbour, the hamlet of Sele. Today's village of Upper Beeding incorporates both communities, with the village centre located between
7446-698: The port of Newhaven . During the Second World War the line provided access to Martin Lodge at Henfield, which was used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ; the 1st Canadian Infantry Division had a large encampment close to the airfield at Shoreham and on the playing fields of Lancing College. The line served two important industrial enterprises - the cement factory at Beeding and the brickworks at Southwater . The cement works received gypsum from Robertsbridge and coal from
7548-437: The previous census. It also shows the proportion of residents in each district reliant upon lowest income and/or joblessness benefits, the national average proportion of which was 4.5% as at August 2012, the year for which latest datasets have been published. It can be seen that the most populous district of West Sussex is Arun containing the towns of Arundel , Bognor Regis and Littlehampton : The current total population of
7650-567: The public can freely walk and enjoy. It was designated Local nature reserve status in 1993. The rest of the woods, however, have been sold off in plots and lost their regime of regular coppice management. Tottington Mount ( TQ 218 110 ) rises up from Tottington Manor Farm to the north and Room Bottom to the west. From the top one can see the three medieval churches of Botolphs, Bramber and Steyning, and if it were not for its surrounding trees, you would be able to see Beeding church, too. All four of these churches marked early river landing points from
7752-552: The rest is private. The Sussex Wildlife Trust have their headquarters, Woods Mill ( TQ 218 136 ), there and own slightly less than half of it. They have done much restoration work in the area and have an old water mill, mill pond, leat and flood meadows. The Horton Clay Pit ( TQ 208 123 ) is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and it was once known to generations of young fossil hunters from Brighton, Worthing and beyond, with its fabled luminous phosphatic nodules, its ammonites and other special things so keenly collected. All
7854-603: The route was converted into a footpath/cycle route named " Downs Link " The Downs Link is a footpath and bridleway connecting the North Downs Way and South Downs Way National Trails. West Sussex West Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England . It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to
7956-442: The single county Sussex . The South Downs are a defining feature of the county, crossing it from east to west and dividing the north and south. The downs are a chalk escarpment which falls away sharply into the Weald to the north and more gently toward the south, where there is a narrow strip of flat land between the hills and the coast. The coastal strip widens to the west, where it is punctuated by Chichester Harbour which
8058-405: The site shut its doors for the last time. The site has now been acquired by Dudman, an aggregates company and there is now regular activity onsite, but the building itself has been left unused ever since. The abandoned buildings remain there because the original owners had no obligation to demolish the buildings or return the landscape to its initial state. Edburton is a small historical village to
8160-465: The sites of the two original Saxon settlements. Saxon Beeding was closer to the Dacre Gardens area of modern Beeding, whilst Saxon Sele was nearer to the parish church (Sele Priory Church of St Peter) in modern Beeding. In 1927 and 1929, land along the High Street was acquired for the building of a village hall to serve the community. Subsequently, funds were donated or raised for the building of
8262-403: The smaller village of Small Dole to the north (nearer to Henfield), and the village of Edburton to the northeast. Upper Beeding is on the northern edge of the South Downs National Park which was created in 2010. The South Downs Way and Monarch's Way long-distance footpaths run through the parish; the area is popular with walkers, cyclists and equestrians. It is also at the western end of
8364-766: The south of Crawley . The A23 and A24 roads run from London to Brighton and Worthing respectively with the A29 a little further west ending in Bognor Regis . Other major roads are the A272 which runs east to west through the middle of the county and the A27 which does the same but closer to the coast. The A259 is a local alternate route to the A27 in the eastern coastal strip. Gatwick Airport , which handled over 33 million passengers and had over 250,000 aircraft movements in 2011,
8466-488: The south of Beeding Hill carpark to the Dacre Gardens and River Adur . The valley was an early desmesne pasture of the lord of Beeding manor (based at Beeding Court Farm, which was called ‘Court’ Farm because the manorial court, or assembly, met there). For centuries it lay next to the Beeding Tenantry Down, from which it had been cut out. David Bangs , a local field naturalist, describe this valley as one of
8568-520: The strength of several bridges across the River Adur. In order to test the bridge at Beeding near the cement works (at the time described as lime kilns) four tender engines were positioned on it. The inspection was successful, and authorisation for the line to open to passenger operation was granted. The Petworth line opened on 15 October 1859 The Steyning line itself opened from Partridge Green to Shoreham Junction on 1 July 1861, and from Itchingfield Junction to Partridge Green on 16 September 1861. After
8670-513: The time Parliament was unwilling to authorise more than one main line in any particular part of the country, and in fact it was the London and Brighton Railway that was authorised to build its line. A branch from Brighton to Shoreham was included in the authorisation, and it was opened on 12 May 1840, in advance of the Brighton main line which followed on 21 September 1841. The Shoreham branch was progressively extended westwards, reaching Portsmouth in 1847. Parliamentary powers were obtained in 1846 for
8772-412: The top of Tenant Hill on the other side of Summers Deane. Upper Summersdeane's east slope ( TQ 234 101 ) has the rare bastard toadflax , carline thistle and horseshoe vetch . Lurid Bolete is present, attracted by the rockrose which it mutually depends upon, and there is mosaic puffball , persistent waxcap and little bluey-black pinkgills . The Lower Summers Deane's west slope ( TQ 233 090 ).
8874-408: The two tracks, north of the Beeding Hill car park, is Reservoir Corner, or Lynchet Triangle ( TQ 207 098 ), which marks the ‘cultivation terraces’ attempts by medieval peasants to win further arable strips from increasingly unsuited ground, The whole of the valley floor between here and Castle Town, as well as Windmill Hill, was organised in the medieval strip cultivated open fields until the middle of
8976-457: The valley has a very dry, almost continental feel. It's also very steep, though the terracettes allow one to walk it. The southeast end of the Upper Beeding parish is deep in the downs towards Southwick . Bushy Bottom ( TQ 226 093 ) slopes down from Truleigh Hill to its north and the Warren to its west. It is a landscape in recovery. It was intensively farmed and cultivated for decades, though
9078-529: The valleys of the River Arun and River Adur . In addition to these two rivers which drain most of the county a winterbourne , the River Lavant , flows intermittently from springs on the dip slope of the chalk downs north of Chichester. Some intermittent streams are known in the local dialect as "rifes". The county makes up 1.52% of the total land of England , making it the 30th largest county in
9180-528: The weald. The Landrace cattle transformed into Sussex cattle and Sussex chickens emerged about the time of the Roman conquest. Some of the earliest evidence of horses in Britain has been found at Boxgrove , dated to 500,000 BC. Viticulture is a part of the economy, with wineries producing mainly sparkling wine of varied quality. The table below shows the population change up to the 2011 census, contrasting
9282-510: The west end of the site is poorer. The Warren to the east of the Hill ( TQ 218 094 ) was given its name in the early 1900s when the squire of Buckingham Place, Shoreham, attempted to turn the old Beeding Tenantry Down sheep common into a commercial rabbit warren. The attempt failed, but the place grew even more bramble, thorn and gorse thickets than it had before. It must have been a wonderfully remote place and nightingales were known to sing there. Anchor Bottom ( TQ 205 092 ) runs down from
9384-405: The west of the parish between Upper Beeding and Fulking . Its medieval church ( TQ 232 114 ) is dedicated to St Andrew. To its south is a downland scarp that runs up to Edburton Hill. To its north is Edburton Sands. Part of the Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill SSSI , Edburton Hill ( TQ 237 110 ) still has evidence of the banks of a Motte and Bailey castle, built by the Norman overlord soon after
9486-466: The west. The largest settlement is Crawley , and the county town is the city of Chichester . The county has a land area of 1,991 square kilometres (769 sq mi) and a population of 892,336. Along the south coast is a near-continuous urban area which includes the towns of Bognor Regis (63,855), Littlehampton (55,706), and Worthing (111,338); the latter two are part of the Brighton and Hove built-up area , which extends into East Sussex and has
9588-601: The westernmost part of West Sussex, although it has no railway stations in the county. Since the 2024 general election , West Sussex has been represented by two Conservative , Three Labour and three Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament (MPs). West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county contains 7 district and borough councils ( Adur , Arun , Chichester , Crawley , Horsham , Mid Sussex and Worthing ), and 159 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. West Sussex County Council has 70 councillors ;
9690-425: The wet pastures, hidden behind Horton Clay Pit , about 40% of Horton Wood ( TQ 207 125 ) still survives. It is a maple , oak and hazel woodland with crab apple , midland thorn and much hawthorn . There are bluebells , goldilocks buttercup , anemones and early purple orchids and the woodland canopy hosts a noisy rookery . The Hill used to be called Beeding Tenantry Down and was common land until after
9792-469: Was an affiliate of the LBSCR. The two schemes came before Parliament and it was the LBSCR which won out, gaining its authorising Act on 12 July 1858. Its estimated cost was £155,00. A deviation of the route was applied for in the following year, to make the junction with the Petworth line at Itchingfield , some distance nearer Horsham; this was authorised by Act of 1 August 1859. Buckman suggests that this
9894-546: Was clearly a re-run of Stephenson's earlier plan, following much of the original course at the southern end. The LBS&CR was alarmed at this fresh incursion into territory it considered its own, and it quickly prepared a scheme to connect Shoreham to a junction at Barns Green, some distance south of Horsham. The junction was to be with the Mid-Sussex Railway line , authorised in 1857 but not yet built, from Horsham to Pulborough and Petworth . The Mid-Sussex Railway
9996-476: Was decidedly modest; Horsham to Brighton traffic was insufficient to support a railway... In May 1962, all the goods depots were closed and in March 1966 passenger trains ceased to run. Double track survived to the end but by 1964 all the signal boxes had been closed except Steyning. However, one important source of goods traffic was the Beeding Cement Works, now closed, which sent cement by train on
10098-537: Was granted by William the Conqueror to William de Braose . De Braose rebuilt the Saxon church in 1073, giving us the present St Peter's church. During the medieval period, a busy toll road ran through Upper Beeding, and the toll house was one of the last such houses to be in service in the country. It was later dismantled and re-erected as part of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum . At nearby Saltings Field
10200-520: Was retained for the purpose. The line's carryings declined as road transport became more effective and after 1945 losses mounted. The 1963 Beeching Report “The Reshaping of British Railways" listed the Steyning Line for closure. After 18 months of diesel working, passenger services were withdrawn from Monday 7 March 1966. The section from Shoreham-by-sea to Beeding Cement Works Sidings remained open for goods traffic until 1981. After closure most of
10302-510: Was to more nearly reach the Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway , which had been authorised on 6 August 1860, but of course promoted earlier. The Guildford line was to provide a southward spur, enabling direct through running between Shoreham and Guildford. When the line was nearing completion in 1861, the Board of Trade inspecting officer, Colonel Tyler, examined the line, testing in particular
10404-600: Was transferred into West Sussex. Until 1834, provision for the poor and destitute in West Sussex was made at parish level. From 1835 until 1948 eleven Poor Law Unions , each catering for several parishes, took on the job. Most settlements in West Sussex are either along the south coast or in Mid Sussex, near the M23 / A23 corridor. The town of Crawley is the largest in the county with an estimated population of 106,600. The coastal settlement of Worthing closely follows with
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