Off the beaten track in Sussex 1923

Front matter

SAA RAH

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Preface

F this volume tends to make our varied and beautiful county better known, “it shall do well’’—especially if it gives pleasure to those unable to take such walks. If it has, here and there, a thought or an idea not generally obvious, it

may perhaps be forgiven the repetitions which are inevitable in describing similar details—forgiven the recital of familiar facts, whether historical, archeological or natural—forgiven, where, by the light of later or expert knowledge, errors are apparent.

Some of these blemishes are consequent on the passage of time necessary to cover so large an area by frequent personal visitation. Some thirty-seven rambles are described, about equally divided between the east and west divisions of the county. Although indications of route are given, chiefly for the benefit of strangers, it does not claim to be a guide-book. Its size would preclude such a use. Neither does it pretend to be exhaustive. Much more remains to be dealt with.

Sincere acknowledgments are due to the various sources from which information has been gathered, the Sussex Archeological Collections, as usual, having been largely drawn upon.

Much of the interest of the book will be due to the number and variety of its illustrations, by twenty-five different pens. They are all reproduced from original black-and-white drawings. My thanks are specially given to the members of the Brighton Arts Club, present and past, no less than twenty of whom have contributed sketches. One of the past members, Mr. Arthur B. Packham, has been most generous with his work.

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The sheets of the one-inch Ordnance Map of Sussex are fourteen in number, running thus (parts, of course, dealing with Kent, Surrey and Hampshire) :—

300 301 302 Tenterden

320 Hastings.

316 317 318 319 Fareham. Chichester. | Brighton. Lewes.

331 332 Doo 334 Portsmouth. Bognor. Worthing. Eastbourne.

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COTTAGE AT ALBOURNE (By the late Joseph Diplock.’

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-TROTTON BRIDGE (page 160). (By Arthur B. Packham.)

CONTENTS WEST SUSSEX.

From BRAMBER THROUGH St. BoToLpu’s AND COOMBES TO OLD SHOREHAM > : a :

FROM STEYNING TO BUNCTON CHAPEL, AND BACK OVER CHANCTONBURY . 4 : : i q

FROM SHIPLEY THROUGH THAKEHAM AND WEST CHILTING- TON TO PULBOROUGH . : 3 ;

FROM HANGLETON TO POYNINGS AND EDBURTON .

FROM THE DYKE TO SOUTHWICK AND KINGSTON . : SHOREHAM AND ITS HARBOUR . F é ; ; LANCING OVER STEEPDOWN TO BRAMBER 5 5 ; SOMPTING TO CISSBURY AND WORTHING . : . : FINDON TO BURPHAM AND ARUNDEL

FROM GORING TO FERRING, EAST PRESTON AND Ruws- TINGTON TO LITTLEHAMPTON a A ; : \

FrRoM FORD TO TORTINGTON, AND YAPTON, AND CLYMPING To LITTLEHAMPTON

To AMBERLEY . ‘ ; 5 p . ‘ 4

To PULBOROUGH 2 é . C ; 2 (

PAGE

CHAP.

XIV

XXII xT

XXIX XXX

XXXI XXXII

AXXIII

Contents

WEST SUSSEX—continued.

THREE Days IN WEST SUSSEX (From Arundel to Burpham, South a NorH! Stoke,

Houghton, Bury, Bignor, Sutton, Barlavington, Duncton, Burton, Woolavington, Graffham, Heyshott, Cocking, Bepton, Didling, Treyford, Elsted and South Harting.)

CHAPTER I BRAMBER TO SHOREHAM (5 mitts) BY RAIL TO BRAMBER

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED DAvEy, Brook Harrison, ARTHUR B. PACKHAM, H. S. PERCIVAL AND A. S. C.

T was in the early spring that the Artist and the Man with the Camera—hereinafter called ‘‘ T’other’’—climbed the castle-hill at Bramber. The castle (what remains of it) is probably well known. The church is not—at least, inside.

The door is invariably locked, and although the key has been traced on one or two occasions by specially gifted and tireless en- _thusiasts, the effort has robbed them of all courage to remount the hill, so that the interior has not often echoed the sound of week-day footsteps.

The Artist told T’other that he once caught the sexton at the church by mistake, and had a glimpse of the four Norman arches supporting the low, massive tower, those to the west having curiously carved capitals. These arches and the whole of the tower-chancel were decorated in a somewhat trivial style about thirty years ago, with stencilled bands and ornament. But Norman architecture does not lend itself to the pretty in Art. Nothing but its, own rugged, deeply-cut zigzag, tooth or billet mouldings and the like have any part in its sombre magnificence. Surface patterns, or smooth finish, rob it of halfits charm. This is probably why so much imitative modern work in the Norman style so utterly fails to convince. Nearly all old work shows the chisel marks, even on small pilasters.

This tower and a short nave are all that remain of a once larger church. Cromwell’s Ironsides are credited with its curtailment, as well as with the destruction of the castle; but it is doubtful if Time, or the needs of the neighbouring community in the matter of ready-made, well-squared masonry, had not more to do with the latter. The collapse of the roof of a little-used transept or aisle probably accounts for the shrinkage in size of the church, following on a decrease in the population of the village, when the castle was destroyed.

! i Wak {BE WA t

MAY yee

BEEDING BRIDGE. (By H. S. Percival, A.R.E.)

The village has much to commend it, and had more before motor-cars arrived. Sussex villages, with their almost universal characteristic of one long street, are singularly ill-adapted for this modern application of the whirlwind to daily life. Dustless roads may result from the scourge, but villages are almost unbearable now.

Of old houses, Bramber has its fair share, one being particularly beautiful, both in build and position. It is greatly favoured by a

BRAMBER TO SHOREHAM ade)

artists. One and all they seize upon the view on entering the village from Beeding, looking up the street to the background of the wooded castle-hill. The Artist ventured to think that the view given here with Beeding Mill and the distant downs was the finer subject, if less popular. The mill, alas, has since been blown down, and the elm trees shading the beautiful old timbered house, which were superb in stature and shape, have also been “ topped,”’ destroying much of its charm.

This old house (St. Mary’s), together with Amberley Castle, has its tradition of a night spent by Charles in his flight from Worcester, and a frescoed, or painted room is shown as his; but the only thing that is certain, is that the fugitive King passed by on his way through Beedirg.

Beeding is scarcely a stone’s-throw from Bramber, but when the floods are out, is very efiectually cut off, except for vehicular traffic, or by boat. It is of high antiquity. lBeida, Gne eo tlie Saxon invaders, eaves it his name, and it is expressly mentioned in King Alfred's Will, OLD BARN AT BEEDING. bequeathing it (By Fred Davey.) to his nephew A‘thelm.

The bridge, with its long causeway approach, probably occupies the site of the Roman ford across the estuary. Both bridge and village are favourites with painter-folk, and the churchyard, with its melancholy cypress avenue, has an inexpressibly solemn air, heightened by seclusion. It is a long step by the river-bank to the church, which stands on a promontory looking out over the level. In early days this was an estuary of the sea as far as Steyning, by whose quays ocean-going vessels used to discharge their cargoes.

Inside the church, ‘‘ restoration’’ has made “all things new,” and the most interesting fragment is a Transition double window in the south wall of the chancel, with angle shafts, and a door of similar style. Adjoining, stood in former days, the Priory of Sele, of which no vestige remains. Braose of Bramber gave to the

Abbey of St. Florence of Salmur, his own church of St. Nicholas, that of New-Shoreham, and St. Peter de Veteriponte. Some Benedictine monks came over to found the Priory. Its endowment was small, only sufficient for the Prior and four or five brothers. It was also kept poor, being taken, in common with the possession of all the alien priories, into the King’s hands during the wars with France, or made to support French prisoners. It was thus taxed by Edward III {10 yearly, for the maintenance of Robert d’Artoys.

At the base of the hillock on which the church stands, a stream runs, and from this there are several charming views of Bramber hill and castle. To-day, however, the objective was Coombes, so recrossing the bridge and following this west bank of the river, they came to Botolphs, which some learned men vow is identical with the Roman Veteriponte, and others €quvijadukcy “larned,’’declare is nonsense !

St, as0- tolph’s is a half-way ‘house of es ie aL God,’ within

BEEDING—THE RIVER BANK. whose walls

(By Fred Davey.) one is well

. JCONTERL = £ Oo

rest awhile.’ This was the Artist’s sentiment, but it was spoiled

by the sequel—a locked door and a lost key! Lost, at least, to

them. “The key be over at Coombes,” was the answer a passing

native gave to anxious inquiries. ‘‘ No one looked after the church

now,” he thought. ‘‘ Well, it’s old enough to look after itself,”

grumbled T’other, as he flattened his nose against the low-side

chancel window, and peered in ; and was again obliged to be content with description.

“ If we had been able to get in,” said the Artist, ‘it would have been interesting to hear your opinion of it. We are so apt to be influenced by the first general appearance of a place, that I should not be surprised if more than this impressed itself on your mind: viz., that it has a neglected, Sunday to Sunday kind of look, with the dust of several days on everything, and perhaps a want of repair about the floor and seats; with nothing remarkable in the architecture ; a very low chancel arch; evidence of a north aisle

BRAMBER TO SHOREHAM 25 now in ruins and the arches blocked up ; dust, as before mentioned ; damp, of course, and therefore rather ‘smelly’; and you are outside again, the door locked and the poor old place, with its dead within and around it, soon left far behind.

“One cannot complain at this. It is the natural result of impressions received from without rather than from within. It was the fashion of fifty years ago to call all architecture ‘ mean,’ which did not evince the matured styles. (Dallaway and Horsfield dub St. Botolph’s and Coombes, ‘small and uninteresting’: ‘ of mean architecture.’) ‘Is anything “mean” that pious hearts and earnest hands have raised to the glory of God ?’ was the Artist’s question. ‘Primitive, heavy, rude—ugly, may be; but wholly beautiful in His eyes Who sees not as man sees, and beautiful even in man’s eyes, if sentiment and reverence for age have any place in his heart. a Bookweyous'|

now! Ifthose | ¢ ’ pe ee

who so lightly | “=: 88 appraise and dismiss the recollection of 7 ite Chea Mat, 7 “he : the place from ne eae nee ai sited it ‘Bt Botolphs their minds, 2 gnats * er had been born in the parish, and spent | boyhood’s days about it, some affection would exist for its ancient walls and modest air. But even such wculd have to hark far back into the past to realise what it meant—the raising of these flint walls, tiny tower, nave, chancel and aisle in the time, maybe, of Rufus, or an earlier king.’

“Tf any score of families living now within an average mile of any given spot, were without a church, I wonder if one half so worthy as St. Botolph’s would be the result—without aid from other parishes, or kindly well-wishers—or would there be a church at all ?

“T never yet found a village church in Sussex that had not the keenest interest for me, even if it were plain almost to dullness. Such an one, perhaps, is St. Botolph’s. And yet, if instead of large, sweeping glances which take in everything and retain nothing we bring our eyes to look for the detail which may repay study,

ST. BoTOLPH’s (By Arthur B. Packham.)

we shall see that the chancel arch is rude enough to have been the work of an ancient Briton. A rough rib runs up under the plain soffit of the arch, starting from corbel-capitals of the simplest form, indented with one of the earliest known embellishments, an uneven tooth ornament.

“All honour to the man who turned its somewhat doubtful semi-circle; who had none but the most elementary ideas of ornament, yet gave of his best. He had seen that the point of a trowel impressed into mortar or clay took away the reproach of its being an unmeaning mass of matter; and that a second and third gave it (save the mark) distinction! A poor, pitiful discovery, the very glimmerings of enrichment and ornament—but he meant well. So he carved the capitals of his arch of this rude pattern, and He, Whose House it is, accepted, and has preserved it, while many a noble pile, such as Battle Abbey, raised in aspirit of vaunting pride, has crumbled into dust and desolation.

“ How can anyone stand in these holy places, simple and rude though they be, unmoved? Consider the large piety which built these small churches! The population of Coombes is given in Domesday at 47. Its church will hold a hundred now, and was larger! What self-denial is here! What an example for us !”’ |

Thus the Artist ; while T’other set up his camera and took a view similar to the one given here.

Then our care for sacred places,” continued the Artist, “has been apt to err too much on the side of neglect. The ruined aisle of St. Botolph’s proves this. When it was better cared for, its worshippers took pride in enriching it, and although their ways were not at all admirable, the balance was in their favour. Thus we read that John Slutter, in 1520, bequeathed his body to be buried ‘in the Church of Botollys,’ and ‘ to St. Peter’s lyght ; item, to the lyght of Our Ladye and the lyght of St. Botollys in the same Church, to either of them, a yewe sheep.’ Richard Ockenden, 1535, wished his body to be buried ‘ between ye door and ye sant.’ To this day, stone brackets on the north and south walls show where these ‘lyghts’ were kept burning. |

‘ Nor is this all. There is more to be seen, but only the antiquarian—who recks not whether the dust of ages adorns his clothes, or the beams they sweep so unwontedly clean—has courage enough to scale the tower and make an examination of the three old bells, which for the last three hundred and seventy years have called the living to church and tolled the dead to rest. On the waist of each bell is a large floriated cross in relief, and under it in Old English lettering, but in Latin, ‘ John Tonne made me.’ One has: ‘Sancte pe tre ora pro nobis’; the second: ‘of your charity

(‘dawq pasy 4g) ‘HOUNHD $,HdTOLOG °LS

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= prai for the soulles of John Slutter, John hunt, willem slutter’ ; and the third: ‘ Jesu thes belles were made in the yer of God, mdxxxvi.’ Each has also in relief a coin, a Tudor rose, and a small medal of Henry VIII, as well as an initial cross before each inscription.

“It is interesting to see that the good man who endowed the “lyghts,’ is partly responsible for the gift of these bells also, which are among the oldest dated bells in the county, and yet are youthful compared with that at Duncton, which bears date 1369, and came from abroad. This is probably the earliest dated bell in the whole of England. Hawies says there are very few bells extant earlier than 1400.

‘““The house near by is the Priest’s house, as modest and unassuming as the church.”

On their way to Coombes, the Artist again took up his parable and said : |

“Five houses and the little church comprise the village of Coombes. It is the place for a pastoral poet to dwell, if peace and unbroken solitude are what his soul delights in. The very road towards it gets grass grown and uncertain where to trend, and finally decides to leave it lying undisturbed in its hollow. If seclusion means peace, surely this is the home of peace. But Coombes has not always been so productive of quietude as it would seem. Strife and envy have wrestled over the possession of this tranquil, almost unknown spot. Its name is derived from the Saxon for a deep valley, ‘ an expression perfectly suited to its situation.’ Domesday records, ‘ William Fitz-Norman holds Cumbe of William (of Bramber).’ Absorbed by the vigorous Saxon, the name of Fitz-Norman was soon lost in that of de Combe. ‘Hugh Norman de Combe’ appears in a charter of Stephen’s reign.

‘‘ Few spots in Sussex have been more fruitful of ‘law’ and license than this. John de Combe had to defend his right to give his daughter Agnes to whomsoever he or she would; Robert le Salvage, of Broadwater, claiming the disposal of the lady. Mazeline de Cumba and her sons were fined one mark ‘ to have an inquest to find whether they were accused for the death of a man, who was found dead upon Mazeline’s lands, justly, or out of hate or envy.’

“ Early in the reign of Henry III, Sybill, wife of Richard de Cumbe, was accused of attempting to divert the succession of certain lands. In 1279 Robert de Combe tried to establish his. claim to Coombes against the holders, William de Braose and John de Combe; but the jury, ‘upon their oaths’ say that Robert was not ‘ disseised’ and Bob was accordingly ‘ amerced ’ (i.e. left at the mercy of the Court) for making a false claim.

‘But the most interesting event in the annals of Coombe

(Co °*s ‘Vv 44) ‘SHAWOOD ‘ASNOFT ADUATID AIO

EGET ae ODI eal me ts eee aia ene tN

A Nata there; ¥

26 OFF THE BEATEN TRACK IN SUSSsEx occurred in 1259. Sir John de Gaddesdon, of Broadwater, was sheriff for three years in Henry III’s reign. His exalted office, however, did not deter him from an outrage peculiarly ‘ characteristic of that barbarous age.’ He invited Michael de Combe to his house at Broadwater, ‘made him very drunk, conveyed him home to Coombes, where he was shut up, drunk, half dead, and not knowing good from evil.’

“Sir John then took Michael’s seal, affixed it to a ‘deed of feofiment,’ by which he obtained possession of Michael’s manors and lands by fraud, appropriated the corn and hay, removed goods from the manor, and even robbed the little church of its chalice, ornaments and vestments. He defended himself at the trial in 1261, but a verdict of the jury compelled him to disgorge his illgotten gain—an eloquent proof that even at this early date the judgment of ‘ twelve good men and true’ was given without fear or favour. Truly—however the Law may have failed—even-handed justice was generally meted out when a jury had a voice in it.

“Perhaps it is not surprising that the daughter and heiress of this “unjust judge’ leaves an equally shameful record behind her.

“In 1400 the family name of Combe changed (by marriage), and the Manor was conveyed to Sir John Halsham ; but the validity was doubtful, until upheld at two inquisitions held at West Grinstead and at Shipley in 1405 and 1410.

“ Our chief seat of learning had an interest in little Coombes, for in 1288 the Prior of Merton recovered the demand he made of Thomas de Marve for the rent of ‘one messuage and six virgates of land.’ Thomas had to ‘ pay up and look pleasant,’ and to find securities for future probity.

“ The little church could hardly be older, being Saxon or -very early Norman. The chancel arch and the blocked up window are like those at Ovingdean, except that the latter has a triple arcade to its sanctuary. The south and priest’s doors, and the font, are all Norman. Perpendicular windows have been inserted, and there is a circular low-side or ‘leper window,’ splayed internally eastward, so that the altar.could be seen. On the priest’s door are circular marks which may be sundials, and there is some old stained glass. The chalice is dated 1588, and the register goes back to 1538, a very early date.

“ Bishop Bower at his visitation (MSS.) says :

‘In a window over the communion table lye two brass figures taken off some tomb, or gravestone. The one a man in armour (with a two-hilted sword) in a praying attitude, the other is a woman in a close dress and praying posture.’

“ Needless tosay, this brass, like those it recorded, is ‘departed’ too.”

* oi oi bo oe

BRAMBER TO SHOREHAM 27

As of old, Coombes caused or saw strife, so did it now. The manner of it was as follows. The old clergy house was the subject the Artist sat down to sketch, and T’other prepared to photograph. The light, and the patience of both, were getting exhausted. He of the pencil groaned at the detail in those trees, and T’other sighed for a gleam of sunshine, for the sky was “ black with clouds.” At the latter’s earnest desire—and to escape the trees—the Artist went up the hill, and in answer to the anxious call said that “ the heavens were as lead above him—and were hkely to continue sol” But ‘all things come to him who waits,’ and when hope was well-nigh gone, a patch of sunlight, not twenty yards in breadth, came rapidly down the long coombe, across the churchyard, passed over the old house, and over that alone, for it did not extend five yards to right or left. A greater change than it caused would be difficult to conceive... In a twinkling, Tother had removed the cap, and captured the view and the visitor in his “ trap to catch a sunbeam.”

A merry

Tgnctn de ei eA ET ce laugh was erg at SRS the reward of that sun-ray COTTAGES BY THE ‘“‘ SUSSEX Pap.” 3 and as it had (By Arthur B. Packham.)

happiness in its ring, the ray was probably as well pleased with the part it had played as was any ray that day. (This was how the Artist put it, and was wroth when his companion robbed the thought of its poetry by declaring that the clouds had more to do with it than the ray. T’other offered to make amends by writing some verses embodying both ideas, and was wroth in turn when the Artist declined the honour of the dedication, on the ground that the only part worth reading would be the title—“ The Ray and the Rift ! ’’—The quarrel is not yet “ composed.’’) * * * * *

Crossing a pleasant open space which might be a village green, were the village existent, and where a caravan takes up its position every summer, “to fleet the time carelessly,” the road is gained once more, and it winds along with a runnel by it, in a delightfully ook =) OFF THE BEATEN TRACK IN SUSSEX casual way to Applesham Farm, standing on a gentle rise. As with many of these byways, the road has wide grassy margins on either side, and little, inconsequent pathways trodden by footsteps straying off the track to feel the grass under foot, or gain the shade of the trees. »

Beyond Applesham Farm there is a beautiful valley with a plentiful spring. This is called by the pretty name of “ Ladywell,”’ and there is a track from here across Steepdown, and up to Cissbury Camp, which tradition says was regularly used by the Roman soldiery to fetch water. The remains of a Roman villa were found on the hill above Lancing by the side of this track; but of this “more anon.”

On the opposite side of the valley rises the great Chapel of Lancing College. It is built on a scale which dwarfs the rest of its own.

colle geapile: ae Unless Time

alters the im- _ pression given now, it seems - outof harmony

with its im-

mediate neigh-

bourhood.

Notstinast st

dominates the

Downs as a

| range. There OLD SHOREHAM FROM THE MARSH. are many hills

(By Fred Davey.)

from which one may look down on it, but their line and slope in the vicinity are so gradual and suave, that the sudden altitude of this building rather does violence to one’s ideas of proportion. What shocks await the esthetic sense should the tower and lantern ever be erected, will probably—and fortunately—fall on the next generation, or our grandchildren, judging from the rate of progress made since I was a boy.

After all, this leisurely pace is ae following the methods of our forefathers, with this probable advantage: that our want of originality in evolving a new style of architecture, will admit of there being but one style in Lancing College Chapel, which was by no means the case where many of our churches were CON CETN ae little Coombes !

Inside, the Chapel is, or will be when finished, of truly mage cent, cathedral-like proportions and grandeur. It is 86 feet to the groining.

BRAMBER TO SHOREHAM 29 Crossing the Ladywell stream by a little bridge, on which one lingers to look at the valley and river, the road turns east for a while, and where it bends southwards again, a short cut can be made along the river-bank to Old Shoreham Bridge. In olden days there was no bridge, but only a ferry. The ferry dues were part of the endowment of Hardham Priory, and though might was often right in those troublous times, yet we find “ the Earl of Arundel or the ferryman ”’ his tenant, ‘‘ for setting up arival ferry,’’ was made _to pay an annual rent of £10 for his usurpation. Old Shoreham Bridge is one of the few remaining wooden structures which yet defy the ravages of Time. The reason the old ay

S PS og hte ty G7 aes ° ety .

OLD SHOREHAM BRIDGE AND CHURCH. (By Brook Harrison.)

bridge-keeper gives—and he stakes his existence, almost, on the truth of his dictum—is that the piles are of winter-cut oak, that is, ‘trees felled before the sap has risen. However this may be, long “may itstand! It would bea keen, personal loss to many hundreds of artists. With the church and wooded slope of Old Shoreham on the east, Lancing College and Downs to the west, and from the river-banks and levels north and south—in all and every case it seldom fails to compose well. But what is, perhaps, of greater moment, it is in itself a really beautiful structure by reason of its modest simplicity and unassertiveness.

If we say this of the bridge, what shall be said of the old Norman fane which does so much to enhance the prospect—Old Shoreham Church? Description is apt to express too much, or too little, according as it presents itself to men of different tastes. Therefore, to the artist, let the view speak for itself. But let him, if he can, see it from the west of the bridge, when there is one of those yellow sunsets which herald the end of summer, and when the tide is near the full !

It is difficult in our northern clime, to believe such a feast of colour possible, as suffuses the water and landscape from Old to New Shoreham in such a sunset. Swinburne must have seen such an effect when he wrote so lovingly and melodiously :

“Winds are glancing from sunbright Lancing to Shoreham, crowned with the grace of years ;

Shoreham, clad with the sunset, glad and grave with the glory that death reveres.”’

Of this walk (which is said by a Sussex man of my acquaintance, and no mean judge, to be the most beautiful short walk in the county) there is a variant. It is by the lane on the left of Bramber Station westward for a while, then turning south through Annington Farm by St. Botolph’s, and on as given in the preceding pages.

* 6 * * *

There is yet another path, which turns in just below “ St. Mary’s House”’ at the bottom of Bramber Village, and skirting the watermeadows comes out by Annington Farm. This is also charming, but not quite so easily followed.

CHAPTER: II

STEYNING TO BUNCTON AND CHANCTONBURY (7 MILEs)

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR B. PACKHAM, BROOK HARRISON, GORDON C..GALSWORTHY, AND A. S. C.)

HEN one regards the Steyning of to-day—little more than a large village—it seems difficult to believe that it was once a place of much importance, and of considerable size. Even at the Conquest it was larger

than either Southampton, Bath, or Northampton! True, none of them, including Steyning itself, were big places at that date, but one is not quite prepared for the fact that the latter had 123 houses, and the three former, 84, 64 and 60 respectively! Steyning increased rapidly, and during the reign of the first Henry was flourishing and important.

Then, again, it seems difficult to realise Steyning—rural, and nestled far inland under the hills—as a seaport ; yet it is undoubtedly a fact that what are fat pastures and marshlands, were once, and at no very distant date, an estuary of the sea, which flowed sufficiently past Bramber to enable the shipping of medizval days to reach Steyning. In nothing has “the mighty main” shown its power to kill “ or make alive’ more certainly than in its neglect or patronage of harbour towns.