Chiddingly
| Chiddingly | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 Chiddingly Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ543142 |
| Location: | 50°54’36"N, -0°11’24"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,247 (Parish, 2011) |
| Post town: | Lewes / Hailsham |
| Postcode: | BN8 / BN27 |
| Dialling code: | 01825 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wealden |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wealden |
| Website: | http://www.chiddingly.gov.uk/ |
Chiddingly is a village in Sussex, some five miles north-west of Hailsham.
The parish is rural in character: it includes the village of Chiddingly and a collection of hamlets: the largest of these being Muddles Green and Thunder's Hill; others being Gun Hill, Whitesmith, Holmes Hill, Golden Cross, Broomham and Upper Dicker. Of the more than 340 dwellings in the parish, over fifty have the word "Farm" in their postal address.
Geography
The parish is in the Low Weald, founded upon seven hills: Thunders Hill; Gun Hill; Pick Hill; Stone Hill; Scrapers Hill; Burgh Hill, and Holmes Hill, which is on the A22 road in the south of the parish. Tributaries of the River Cuckmere flow both north and south of the village.
The Church of England parish church at Chiddingly is of unknown date and dedication, but references to it occur from the 13th century.[1] Today the parish is part of a united benefice with the neighbouring parish of East Hoathly.
A Congregational chapel was founded in Chiddingly in 1901.
History
The presence of low-grade iron ore in the local sandstone supported Roman mining and smelting in the area.
The Domesday Book of 1086 refers to Cetelingei: the final -ly of the name shows it to have had Saxon origins. The 'Chiddingly Boar', found in 1999, was apparently a silver hat badge of a supporter of Richard III, probably lost or discarded in the 1480s; it is now in the British Museum.[2]
There are a large number of manorial buildings in the parish, including Chiddingly Place, rebuilt c. 1574[3] by Sir John Jefferay, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1577; scattered remnants of its E-shaped wings remain, such as the east wing, later called "The Chapel/Chapel Barn" and now known as 'Jefferay House', and sections of the main range west of the demolished Great Hall.[4]
About the village
Burgh Hill Farm Meadow is a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the parish.[5] This is a hedgerow-surrounded meadow of an uncommon grassland type.
Chiddingly also has a museum and archive.[6] The Farley Farm House gallery features the lives and work of Roland Penrose and Lee Miller and is open for guided tours on pre-determined days.
Stone Hill is a well preserved 600-year-old Tudor-style farmhouse with a large park garden. In the early 20th century, the house was owned by J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, who lived here until 1934.
A maze of willow trees near Whitesmith was planted by a local farmer in the shape of a quotation from the bible, John 14:6: “Jesus said to him: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’.”.[7]
Events
The annual Chiddingly Festival includes various entertainments around the village.[8] Chiddingly had four public houses: The Six Bells Inn in the village, The Gun Inn, The Golden Cross Inn (which closed in 2015 and has now been converted to flats), and The Inn on the Park at Golden Cross. Chiddingly has a village hall.
On film
In 1971 the film director Philip Trevelyan made the documentary film The Moon and the Sledgehammer[9] about the Page family, who lived in a wood outside the village and operated two traction engines: an Allchin and a Fowler.
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Chiddingly Church -
Chiddingly Church -
Dicker Mill House, Golden Cross -
Golden Cross Inn, Golden Cross -
Stone Hill
Outside links
References
- ↑ Chiddingly parish church
- ↑ British Museum: The Chiddingly Boar".
- ↑ A date formerly in stained glass of the Great Hall, noted by Mark Antony Lower, Parochial history of Chiddingly :22.
- ↑ Mark Antony Lower, Parochial history of Chiddingly 1862:21ff; a A watercolour view of the north front in 1783 is in the British Library..
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Burgh Hill Farm Meadow
- ↑ Farley Farm House
- ↑ "A-maze-ing Sussex field with message from above" (in en). The Argus. 7 February 2013. https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10212570.a-maze-ing-sussex-field-with-message-from-above/.
- ↑ Chiddingly Festival
- ↑ 'The Moon and the Sledgehammer'