Chailey
| Chailey | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 The Green | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ395194 |
| Location: | 50°57’36"N, 0°-0’36"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 3,088 (2011) |
| Post town: | Lewes |
| Postcode: | BN8 |
| Dialling code: | 01273 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Lewes |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Lewes |
| Website: | http://www.chailey.org/ |
Chailey is a village in the very centre of Sussex, in the county's Street Hundred, seven miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury. The Greenwich Meridian passes just to the east of Chailey.
The parish consists of the settlements: South Chailey (which also incorporates South Common), South Street, Chailey (also known as Chailey Green) and North Chailey (which incorporates the North Common).
The parish church is dedicated to St Peter and is recorded as having been built in 1256. At one time Chailey had more churches than pubs, the churches being St Peter's, St Martin's, Chailey Free Church, St John's (now housing in South Common), and St Mary's (now housing in North Common), and the pubs being the King's Head, Five Bells, Horns Lodge and the Swan House. In addition it is believed another chapel was sited near the Bluebell railway.
Chailey is reputed to be the inspiration for the 1969 children's television series Chigley by Gordon Murray, (along with nearby Plumpton as Trumpton and Wivelsfield Green as Camberwick Green).[1]
The parish of Chailey is large. It is so special because it is one of the remaining areas of the Sussex Weald with heathland commons. Chailey Common is designated a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' within the parish. Chailey also has many areas with ancient woodland. To the north are the parishes of Haywards Heath and Fletching, to its east are Newick and Barcombe. To its south it borders the parishes of Hamsey, St John Without and East Chiltington and to its west, Wivelsfield.
The Church of St Peter
The parish has a 13th-century church dedicated to St Peter at Chailey Green (TQ392193).
The large graveyard has two fine old yews that are over three span girth. The little archaic grassland is unimproved and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, but the parts nearest the church are mown too often and the southern extension are in poor condition. It is worth recording that at least one part of the designated site, a relict wet meadow, just north west of The Hooke was destroyed in 2017.
About the village
The Heritage Mill
- Main article: Heritage Mill, North Chailey
The Heritage Mill, also known as Beard's Mill, stands on the Red House Common beside a yew tree said to mark the centre of Sussex. Records show that mills have stood here since at least 1590. The mill museum is open to visitors regularly.[2]
There used to be a mill on the South Common in South Chailey (opposite where Chailey School stands), but it has worn away over time.
Chailey Brickworks
Chailey Brickworks, now the Ibstock brickworks, (TQ390176), is one of the oldest factories in Britain, and has been in continuous production for over 300 years. There is deep pit (TQ394176) that is now a blue lake with gorse around its rim. The pit is made from bluish grey Upper Wealden Clay mudstones, with a bold pink stratum. Fossils have been found there, including the early flowering plant, Bevhalstia. There are also trace fossils which are likely to have been made by crustaceans, bands of fossil wood, insect and fish fossils. In the spring, nightingales can be heard singing here.
Second World War D Day airfield
RAF Chailey was created on the west side of the parish by Townings Farm during the War. The RAF cleared the ground in 1942 for the Chailey Advanced Landing Ground. It was largely manned by Polish exile Spitfire squadrons, which supported the Normandy D Day landings in June 1944.
Chailey Common
Chailey Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest that is located within the parish. Due to local pressure groups the area has been preserved as common land, is maintained for wildlife and been split into five areas and enclosed: Romany Ridge Common, Red House Common, Pound Common, Memorial Common and Land End Common.[3] You may see white park cattle, ponies, or heath sheep out on the common for conservation, maintaining the natural equilibrium of species through grazing.[4] The site, which is part of a nature reserve, is of biological interest due to its heath habitat, defined by its cover of ericaceous species (ling, cross-leaved heath and bell heather). Ericaceous vegetation occurs over about a mile, from south to north.[5]
The area has glorious displays of purple heathers in high summer, and it hosts many rarities. Fifty years ago Garth Christian saved the marsh gentian and they can still be seen there today with their trumpets full of tiny stars. Meadow thistle, sundew and round-leaved sundew are still just present also, thanks to careful nursing. It is one of the few sites left in the Sussex Weald with bog asphodel too. Woodcock, nightjar, bloody-nosed beetles, minotaur beetles, purse web spiders and black-headed velvet ants frequent Chailey Common.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Chailey) |
References
- ↑ "In Search of the Real Trumptonshire". Trumptonshire Web. http://www.t-web.co.uk/trumpvil.htm. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ↑ "Chailey Windmill & Museum". http://www.chailey.org/amenities/chailey-windmill-museum/.
- ↑ "COUNCIL'S U-TURN ON COMMONS GRANT". Mid Sussex Times. 13 March 2006.
- ↑ "Livestock moved to new surroundings on Chailey Common". East Sussex County Council: Latest news from East Sussex County Council. 3 March 2015. https://news.eastsussex.gov.uk/2015/03/31/livestock-moved-to-new-surroundings-on-chailey-common/.
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Chailey Common