Field Paths and Green Lanes: being country walks, chiefly in Surrey and Sussex. ... Illustrated with sketches by J. W. Whymper

Front matter

Fl ELD PATHS AND GREEN LANES By the same Author. Third Edition. RAMBLES AMONG THE HILLS IN THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE AND IN THE SOUTH DOWNS Including visits to Qhatsworth, Bolsover, Hardwicke, Ashopton, the Woodlands, Castleton, the Kinderscourt, and Sherwood Forest. Also Walks in the South Downs, from Petersfield to Beachy Head, Ashburnham, Wiston, &c. ; and Sketches of Old Houses, Churches, and People by the Way. With 23 Illustrations. THE OLD PORTSMOUTH ROAD. [Fronti&ec, HINDHEAD, BORDERS OF HANTS AND SURREY. FIELD PATHS AND GREEN LANES IN SURREY AND SUSSEX By LOUIS J. JENNINGS FOURTH EDITION WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.

Preface

TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION. I AM not without hope that this little book will prove interesting, and in some degree useful, to those who find an unfailing source of pleasure in wandering over England, deeming nothing un worthy of notice, whether it be an ancient church or homestead, a grand old tree, a wild flower under a hedge, or a stray rustic by the roadside. To any one who has eyes there is much to see in this small but infinitely varied England, so much that, as Emerson says, to see it well " needs a hundred years." If a man cannot walk, it is perhaps better to ride or drive through the country than not to see it at all ; but walking is the best of all known means of getting from one place to another; and take care to go with no other companions than the Handbook and a pocket -compass, for then you can cry halt wherever you please, and have no one's whims or oddities to perplex and harass you.

It is not possible to feel solitary Preface. VI amid Nature's works, any more than to be lonely with all your books about you. Moreover, if you are trudging along unfettered by a companion, you may, by proper management, get the country folks whom you meet to talk to you, and from them pick up many a quaint saying or odd scrap of information ; but they are as shy of the tourists who hunt in couples as they are of the wild man who flies past them on a bicycle. In these little expeditions of mine, I seldom lost an opportunity of having a few minutes' chat with the wayfarers on the road, and what they said to me, or I to them, I have faithfully set down. No attempt has been made to exhaust the attrac tions of any particular district, unless it be the tract of country for a dozen miles or so round Dorking, to which a tolerably thorough guide will be found in some of the Surrey chapters.

All the walks described have been taken during the past year, during every month of which, in spite of all that is said, adverse to the English climate, I found it not only possible, but extremely pleasant, to go forth upon my rambles whenever an opportunity offered itself. I have invariably followed a green lane or a field path, wherever one could be found, and have endeavoured to give directions which will enable others to follow it also, for very seldom is it Preface. VII marked upon the maps. All that can be done is to ascertain the general direction, and jog along without further thought of the matter. Most of my walks were through secluded districts, abounding often with the wildest scenery ; yet it would be possible, by an early start and the skilful use of the railroad, for a Londoner to take the best of them, and return to his home to sleep.

I trust that the hints to this effect which I have thrown out in the course of these pages, will induce many a jaded townsman to betake himself to the fields and hills, and be of some help, too, to my American friends, who are willing to see far more of this country than they generally do, if they only knew how to set about it. There are few things in life better worth living for than the pleasure of starting out on foot in fair health, and with no particular anxiety pressing upon the mind, for a long day amid all the beauties which Nature spreads before her true lovers by every hedgerow and brook and hillside in England.

PREFACE.

TO THE FOURTH EDITION. This little work has been for some time out of print, although three Editions were published in four years. It is now reproduced in a form which may render it more accessible to tourists and other persons in search of pleasant holiday scenes. I have added a few notes here and there, and made two or three corrections ; but as the book was a genuine account of personal experiences, recorded, as a rule, on the very day they occurred, it is not possible for me now to make many changes in it — even if I were inclined to be so rash as to tamper with sketches on which the public and the critics alike have set the stamp of their approval. 1884. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Winchelsea And Rye

PAGE Old "Spithead and Portsmouth" — A Wondrous "Sea Change" — St. Thomas's Church — Old and New — The Friars — Histoiy of Winchelsea by a Native — The Road to Camber Castle and Rye — Sheep Farming — A City of the Past — Rye Church — The Reflections of a Sexton — The Butcher and the Lamb — The "Mermaid" — Peacock's — The Plague — Where is the "Mermaid"?— The Dutch Tiles and Lone Widow— A Field Walk to Hastings — The Hermit of the Beach . . . . i

Chapter II. Round About Hastings

Sunshine and Storms — A Dark New Year's Day — The Fishermen of Hastings — Getting under Weigh — To Fairlight by the Beach — The Churchyard — The Sexton's Story — Bexhill — Modern Protestantism — The Two Bricklayers — Hove and Catsfield ......

Chapter III. Two Old Churches

Crowhurst and Etchingham — The Road to Crowhurst — The Wild Flowers of Winter — Modern Houses and Old Ruins — The famous Yew Tree — Californian Trees — Contents. X PAGE Yews in Churchyards — Etchingham and its Church — ■ The Village Graves — Spring Time in Sussex — A Speci men of "Old Sussex " — "Americanisms " — Burwash, or " Burghersh " — The Parish Clerk and his Ancestors — The Iron Slab — A Request for Information — The Use of a Wife — A Walk to Robertsbridge .... 30

Chapter IV. Three Castles

— PEVENSEY, HURSTMONCEUX, AND BODIAM. "Anderida" — Old Churches made New — The Road across the Marsh — " Naun about Flowers" — The Castle and Church at Hurstmonceux — Extinct Yeomanry Families — Two Barns, one Old and one New — Gardner Street — Tipsy England — Hailsham — A Relic of the Van-Cortlandts — The Road to Bodiam — Salehurst and its Church — A Morning Bouquet — The Fair Warden of Bodiam . 42

Chapter V. Mayfield

Ancient Sussex — The Home of Legend and Fable — St. Dunstan's Fight with the Evil One — The Sacred Tongs — A Field Path to Mayfield — The Blacksmith's Forge — An Old - Fashioned Inn — Mayfield Church — Iron Slabs of Sussex Work — The Restorer again — The Protestant Martyrs — The Roman Catholic " Revival " — Mayfield Palace — The Chapel and Relics — The Old Houses of Mayfield — Rotherfield and the Way Back . . -53

Chapter VI. Alfriston And Wilmington

Echoes of War — The Nightingale — " Happy England " — The South Downs — Alfriston and the "Star" Inn — Another "Restoration" — AnAncient Vicarage — Content in a Cottage — Wanted, a Minister — The Lone Man of Wilmington — The Priory and Church — An Old Grave and a New Tenant — A line from the " Short and Simple Contents. XI PAGE 72 Annals of the Poor" — The South Downs beyond Wil mington — Where to find Cowslips . . . . ,6i

Chapter VII. In The South Downs

From Pulborough to Storrington — The Mysterious Stranger — Parham Park — A Country Inn — The " Workus " — From Storrington to the Devil's Dyke — The Phantoms of the Downs — Washington — Chanctonbury Ring — Wiston House — Steyning and Bramber — The Bird-Stuffer — Sickle versus Steam — South Down Sheep and Grass

Chapter VIII. Hayward's Heath To East Grinstead

Another "Country Inn " — An Uncomfortable Night — The Rich Man from London — Cuckfield — A Vision at the King's Head — The Haunted House — Lindfieldand its Church — Pax Hill — Horsted Keynes — Arcadian Shepherds Carousing — Broadhurst — East Grinstead — The " Players " — The "Last Performance" ..... 84

Chapter IX. From Petworth To Midhurst

The House at Petworth — Some Faces to be remembered — The Park of the Percies — Cottages in the " Weald " — Lodsworth Church, Past and Present — An Important Citizen of Lodsworth — An Old Farm — The Chestnut Gatherers — Cowdray Park and Ruins — A Page of Family Romance — Midhurst ...... 94

Chapter X. From Midhurst To Haslemere And Godalming

The Road to Haslemere— A Town half-spoiled — "Mine Ease in Mine Inn" — Blackdown — A Poet's Home — The Contents. XII PAGE 114 " Old Gentleman " — Over Hindhead — Gibbet Hill and the Murdered Sailor — The Devil's Punch Bowl — Only a " Turnpike Road " — The " Green Lanes " of England — Thursley Church and Common — Last Stage to Godalming . . . . . . . . .105

Chapter XI. Dorking And Its Neighbourhood

A Good Old Surrey Town — The " Marquis of Granby" and Old Weller — The Dorking of To-day and a Hundred Years Ago — Dorking Fowls — The Scenery in the Vicinity — " Mag's Well "—A Quiet Road up Box Hill— Brockham and Betehworth — The Holmwood — Walton Heath — The Mickleham Downs — Pixholm and Milton Lanes — Ranmore Common and Church — Over the Common by Moonlight — Pickett's Hole — Wotton Church — " Land Hunger " — Bury Hill and the " Nower "

Chapter XII. To Leith Hill By Wotton

Two Hundred Miles of Old England — The Road to take — A Colony of Sand Martins — The " Rookery " — Wotton and John Evelyn — The Healing Virtues of Trees — How to " Corroborate " the Stomach and make " Hair spring on Bald Heads " — A Carefully Guarded House — Friday Street — The Old Sawyer — " Age is Unnecessary " — Through the Pines to Leith Hill — An Excursion for a Londoner — Abinger Hatch — The "British Grumbler" — Farming in Colorado . . . . . .131

Chapter XIII. From Dorking To Leatherhead

A Roundabout Journey — Over the Hills to Ranmore — The Twin Trees — Lost in the Woods — Polesden — Box Hill Contents. XIII PAGE 143 154 164 in a New Aspect — High Barn — Sentenced to Death — The "Grand Emporium" of Effingham — A Much Restored Church — Little Bookham — The Church and the old Yew — Across the Fields to Great Bookham — The Crown Inn — Great Bookham Church and its Monu ments — On the Old Portsmouth Road — Leatherhead .

Chapter XIV. To Guildford Over The Hills

The Merits and Defects of this Walk — A Long Green Lane — The Beech Wood — A Hard Road to find — Misleading Finger-posts — A Lonely Path — Due West through a Wood — Newland's Corner — St. Martha's Chapel — The Last Difficulty — Guildford — Queer Guests at the "Angel"

Chapter XV. From Caterham To Godstone

A Country of Hill and Vale — More " Land-Grabbers " — A Cluster of Villages — Warlingham and Tatsfield — Cross Country to Titsey — The Poor Church and its Rich Brother — The "Bull" at Limpsfield — A Native Critic of Manners and Customs — Emigration — "Everybody well off Abroad " — A Little Adventure in a Church — Tandridge Church — The Old Yew — A Station Two Miles from Anywhere — A Dull End to a Day's Journey

Chapter XVI. Norbury Park, Albury, And The Deepdene

Three Ancient Estates — The Park at Norbury — A Bargain in 1 7 19 — The Druids' Grove, and how to find it — A Plague of Rabbits — The Yew Grove — A Giant Beech — Butterflies at Midnight — A Desolate Region — Albury Park — The "Catholic Apostolic Church" — Mr. Drum- Contents. XIV PAGE 207 mond's "Cathedral" — Apostolic "Precepts" — The Gardens at Albury — The Finest Yew Hedge in England — Through Shere to Gomshall — The Deepdene and its Glories — The House and its Art Treasures — A Retreat for a Scholar — The Dene and the Beech Avenue — Chart Park and its Trees . . . . . . 175

Chapter XVII. Reigate, Gatton Park, And The Pilgrim's Way

Some Points of Difference between Reigate and Dorking — Drainage and Comfort — Reigate Park — Gatton and the "Marble Hall" — The Two Members of Parliament — Merstham — On the Track of the Canterbury Pilgrims — A Scramble among the Yew Trees — Walton Heath — The Yews near Box Hill 1 88

Chapter XVIII. Redhill To Crowhurst

A Tangle of Railroads — Nutfield and its old Posting Inn — An Awful Warning to Bachelors — Bletchingley — A Queer Story of a Brass — The "Vile Rotten Borough" — Godstone and its Green — Deep in the Clay — The Yew Tree of Surrey — The ' ' Moated Grange " — The Road to Godstone Station ........ 197

Chapter XIX. Ewhurst, Albury, And Chilworth

The Wild Commons and Heaths of Surrey — A Word of Warning — Sutton, Felday, Joldwyns — The " Lucky " Leveson-Gowers — Holmbury Hill — The Water Carrier — A Stonebreaker's Recollections — How Mr. Hull was Buried — Old Roads and New — Ewhurst Church and its Critic — An English Sleepy-Hollow — Moorland and Solitary Roads — Albury and Chilworth — Cobbett's Curse Contents. XV PAGE 218

Chapter XX. From Edenbridge To Penshurst

A Preliminary Caution — Edenbridge and Hever — The Castle and Church — Chiddingstone and its Timber Cottages — The Road to Penshurst — A Bid for Cottage Furniture — Penshurst Church — The Harvest Thanksgiving — Parson Darkenoll — Penshurst Place — Lord de LTsle's Work of Restoration — The Baron's Hall — Family Portraits — The Broken Mandolin — The Library — A Stroll in the Great Park — Sidney's Oak — The Old Beeches and Yew LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FROM SKETCHES BY J. W. WHYMPER, AND PHOTOGRAPHS. The Old Portsmouth Road — Hindhead, Borders of Hants and Surrey . . (see page 109) Frontispiece. PAGE An Old English Feudal Castle — Hurstmonceux . 45 A Tudor English Mansion — Ruins of Cowdray — Midhurst 101 An English Country Inn — "The White Horse," Dorking . . . . . . . . 117 English Park Scene — Betchworth, Surrey . .120 An English Country Church— Wotton, Surrey . 128 Among the Chalk Downs — St. Martha's Chapel, from Newland's Corner . . . . .160 FIELD PATHS & GREEN LANES.

Chapter I. Winchelsea And Rye

Old "Spithead and Portsmouth" — A Wondrous "Sea Change" — St. Thomas's Church — Old and New — The Friars — History of Winchelsea, by a Native — The Road to Camber Castle and Rye — Sheep Farming — A City of the Past — Rye Church — The Reflections of a Sexton — The Butcher and the Lamb — The "Mermaid" — Peacock's — The Plague — Where is the " Mermaid?" — The Dutch Tiles and Lone Widow — A Field . Walk to Hastings — The Hermit of the Beach. There are two hills facing each other in the south eastern corner of Sussex, with three miles of marsh land between them. On the one stands Winchelsea, on the other, Rye. Both have been maritime towns of great importance, the " Spithead and Portsmouth of their day," as some one has said ; but when the sea deserts a mari time town, and sulkily withdraws to a distance of two or three miles, what is to become of it ?

Six hundred years ago Winchelsea could boast of a very large commerce, but at that time it stood three miles away from the present town, which is comparatively modern, although it was founded in the time of Edward the First. Doubly fatal has old ocean been to Winchelsea, completely destroying the first town by its untimely encroachments, P T5 E CH. I. and then ruining the new one by its equally untimely retreat. But besides the raging of the sea, the inhabit ants of these parts were constantly harried by the French, who came upon them at all sorts of unexpected times, slaughtering their men, plundering them of their provi sions, and, what was much worse than all, carrying off their "beautiful women." So quiet and deserted is the place now that it is difficult to imagine it the scene of wild excitement and daring deeds.

The old church and the court-hall, the gates, the ruins of the Lady Chapel in the "Friars," a few old houses here and there, are all that remain to remind the visitor of the glories of Winchelsea. The great John Wesley well called it a " poor skeleton." One feels, indeed, on entering it almost as if one were wandering about in another age amid the ruins of another world. All that is now to be seen of the old church of St. Thomas is the chancel, but that is spacious and beautiful, far finer even as a fragment than many a complete church which is run up at contract price in the present days. Some of the monuments are magnificent, and contrast strangely with the modern slabs, mere daubs of marble, which have been stuck upon the walls. The old Alards under the exquisitely carved canopies must wonder what race of men have now got hold of England, and why they commemorate each other with flat pieces of stone carved into uncouth shapes.

The ivy grows through the roof here and there, and time has levelled nave and aisles to the dust. Yet enough still stands to show what a grand old church it must have been when the mothers and daughters of the town went to bed in fear and trem bling lest their enemies, the French, should be at the gates. The " Friars " stands a little way back from the road side, and the ruins (which the stranger may see any Monday) are in the garden — a very pretty garden, with Winchelsea anti Rye. CH. I. 3 fine large ash -trees in it, and good sycamores, and a Portugal laurel which must be thirty feet in height. A monastery once stood here, and the shell of the choir of the chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary still lies embosomed among the trees. On my way from this pleasant spot to the Strand gate, I learned the history of Winchelsea from an old man with whom I had a long talk.

" When this town was in its prosperity," he said, " the sea used to wash right up to this 'ere precipice, and there was once a town over theer (pointing to the eastward), but the sea came and took it away. History do tell as a high tide came up upon the hekinok (equinox), and what could stand against that ? Now, sir, supposin' as another high tide came in upon the hekinok, the sea might take its own land again, and mebbe our harbour could be used. Fairlight cliff acts as a breakwater to us, but the sea is washing it away very fast. It costes a good sight of money to keep the sea off these lands now, and I have heern say that the House of Commons wants to let the sea take back its lands rather that pay so much to keep her out." Doubtless this old man is still stand ing by the roadside, waiting patiently for the sea to come back to Winchelsea.

You pass beneath the Strand gate, near which Edward the First nearly lost his life through his horse shying at a windmill, and pursue the road to the right, from which presently a fine view is to be had of the old town, and of Fairlight Downs and Church far beyond. This road to the right, not crossing the bridge, is the only way to get to Camber Castle — one of the castles which Henry the Eighth built to defend the coast. " There is but little of interest now," says a local historian, " in these crumbling remains," and yet, being here, one is reluctant to pass them by unvisited. It is necessary to keep much to the right, and pass an old farm before striking off towards the gray and frowning old mass of masonry, for the CH. I. "waterings" are wide and numerous, and it is very easy to lose a good deal of time and trouble on these marshes.

The old men in 1624 remembered the time when " 400 tall ships of all nations " had been seen anchored in the Camber, " where now sheep and cattle feed." Countless sheep were grazing when I was there, and it was the lambing season, and some of the new-comers into the world looked miserable enough, shivering under a bleak I east wind. A hundred or more had crept under the lee of the old castle, and a dead sheep lay not far off. Sometimes as many as ten dead a day are found by the "lookers" on these wide marshes. All in ruins as the castle is, I found it far from un interesting ; the massive windows, the strong central tower, a keep inside, the dark passages leading under ground, even the wallflowers growing out of the crevices, all had a certain charm in my eyes. Many of the lower blocks of stone on the sea side are quite fresh and good, and the stones which are partly gone look as if they had been violently wrenched out.

The pickaxe and the crowbar have done more to dismantle the castle than time and weather, although during the winter tremendous gales must sweep from the sea across these marshes, and strike full upon the old walls. From the castle we go towards Rye, with its red-tiled roofs running down the hill, and its noble old church standing guard over them. The marsh is much inter sected with water-courses, so that it is difficult to find one's way across them. Strike off from the castle in a north-easterly direction, and you will see a little fence or gate, by the side of a ditch. Get over that, and keep on the embankment beyond, and this will lead to the swing bridge at the entrance to Rye. The stranger is at first rather surprised to see some signs of activity in this town, a town of weird aspect, like to that of the " bound of Lyonesse : — " Winchelsea and Rye.

CH. I. 5 " A land of old upheaven from the abyss By fire, to sink into the abyss again ; Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt, And the long mountains ended in a coast Of ever shifting sand, and far away The phantom circle of a moaning sea." One walks the streets almost in a dream — mediæval streets, round which Arthurian or other legends might cluster, but with difficulty to be thought of as an abode of the men of 1877. But the ancient harbour is still of use, and boatbuilding goes on, and fishermen ply their calling, and the tempest-tossed mariner is occa sionally driven here for shelter. Plague, fire, famine, foreign foes, all have ravaged this wonderful relic of ancient England, and it is exactly five hundred years ago (in 1377) that the French came upon it, and put many of its inhabitants to the sword.

We breathe the very air of the past in these antique streets. They ramble deviously up and down, hither and thither, roughly paved, with many an old gabled house here and there, and strange ruins, and mouldering gates and towers. The people about the streets seem to be an anachronism in their modern dress. Nothing more recent than the cavalier's cloak and hat and ruffles should be seen at Rye. While wandering about the churchyard, I saw an old man digging round a few shrubs and plants. His face was in harmony with the scene, so covered with wrinkles that it was quite a masterpiece of Time's handiwork. I asked him where I should find the keys of the church, and he said in his pocket. There could not be a more convenient place. " That is an old house," said I, pointing to the remains of the Carmelite chapel on the south of the churchyard.

" It was built five hundred years ago," replied the sexton, " and that was before / was built." OH. I. "Yes," I said, "you must not try to persuade me that you are much more than a hundred and fifty or so. I see your graveyard is nearly full — you will not be able to find room for many more." " Oh, they've a-done here sometime ; we ha' a ceme tery up yonder — a tip-top place." " Tip-top " -was decidedly a modern phrase, and I tried to imagine what a tip-top cemetery could be like. " Ay, there be a many changes in Rye," continued the sexton, "since I first knew it. The more I thinks on it, whether I be a-lying in bed or a-walking about, the more I be sure as every thing is going upside down." The last thing that occurred to me on looking round about us was that the town had suffered much from the hand of the innovator.

Scarcely a tile can have been put upon a roof for a hundred years. : "Can you tell me," I asked, "where is the Mermaid Inn ofwhich I read in my book?" "JE never heerd of it," said he, as he opened the door. " But here's a church for you — what do you think of that ?" I thought it was the largest church in a small place I had ever seen — a church, moreover, full of beauties in arches, and mouldings, and windows, though much mutilated by time and rough usage. The woodwork in various places is evidently of great antiquity, and one fine screen particularly may be of almost any age, and seems to be fast mouldering away. " The church is eight hundred years old," quoth the sexton, "and that was before I was built." He chuckled and laughed at his joke till he shook all over. Presently we stood over a slab to the memory of a Mr. Lamb who was slain by a " sanguinary butcher."

" That was a queer thing, sir, — have you catched that in your book yet ? A good many comes here to be a eye-witness to this, because they see it in the book and Winchelsea aud Rye. CH. I. 7 don't believe it. When the butcher was tried, he said he didn't mean to do it — howsomever, they didn't give him a chance to stab any more. They gibbeted him ! When the French reigned here they took up all the brasses out of this church, and in the wall you can see where their cannon shot did hit. The French have reigned here several times, but not since I was built." "It is a pity you were not built before, for then you could have told us all about it ; but now I want you to tell me what are the changes in Rye which make you so sad." "Why, it's all changed — all topsy-turvy. They want to make this church Roman Catholic."

"Who does?" "Them as has got the money," said the old man mysteriously. " I never see the rector to speak to him ; or I would tell him, ' why not make half the church Protestant, and half Roman Catholic for them as likes it?' It's big enough for all." " Well," said I, as he let me out, after I had sufficiently admired the grand old church, and the big pendulum swinging inside, and the heavy weights of the clock, " it is a wonderful church, and I hope you will be showing it for fifty years to come." A woman who was passing by laughed ; at this levity the worthy sexton's youthful vanity was fired. "You may laugh," he cried to her, "but I shall be worth as much as you are then at any rate." " How old are you," I asked. " Nigh upon eighty." "A mere boy," said I ; "you will see many more wonderful changes in Rye yet."

" My Master takes care of me," said the old man, touching his hat. The George Hotel stands opposite Peacock's school, which was founded in 1636, and to which Mr. Thackeray ch. I. sent his Denis Duva I. At the "George" I slept that night, and dreamt that the plague had again broken out, and that the mark of a cross had been chalked upon the door, and that men were going with a dead cart about the streets, crying "Bring out your dead." I had been reading in the evening how that in 1563 no fewer than 562 men and women were smitten down with this dire disease in the then ancient town. But the next morning all was bright and fresh, and a commercial traveller's big parcels in the passage reminded me that I was living in an improved and enlightened age. Little boys soon made their appearance at the door of " Peacock's," and the enterprising tradesmen of Rye began to take down their shutters.