Pyecombe
| Pyecombe | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ292126 |
| Location: | 50°53’56"N, 0°9’50"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 237 (2011) |
| Post town: | Brighton |
| Postcode: | BN45 |
| Dialling code: | 01273 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mid Sussex |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Arundel and South Downs |
| Website: | Pycombe |
Pyecombe is a village in Sussex.
The name 'Pyecombe' may derive from the Old Englsih "pic" meaning point or pike, in which case it may mean "valley marked by a projecting hill".[1]
The village pub is 'The Plough'.[2]
The village is seven miles north of Brighton. The civil parish had a recorded population of 237 at the 2011 Census.
History
The parish of Pyecombe comprises two settlements, one called 'Pyecombe' and the other 'Pyecombe Street'. These are about a quarter of a mile apart. The reason for the gap between the two parts of the village is unclear but it is generally thought to be a consequence of plague in the 17th century which necessitated the temporary abandonment of the main settlement and its church.
Pyecombe village is on the London to Brighton Way Roman road, as well as on 18th and 19th century turnpike roads over Clayton Hill.[3]
The Crown Estate owned the c. 4000 acre Poynings Estate between the Norman Conquest and 1980s. The estate covered many farms in the Weald and on the Downs at Fulking, Poynings and Pyecombe. In 1984 it went up for sale. Some have noted that if the estate had entered public ownership it would have been at the heart of the South Downs National Park and could have been driving forward sustainable farming and landscape restoration. Instead tenant farmers bought it and one of the purchasers now farms 1,500 acres.[4]
Parts of the Estate, including Wolstonbury Hill, were common land, Pycombe Common, right up until 1872 when the area was subject to one of the very last usages of the Enclosure Act in Sussex.[5]
The Church of the Transfiguration
The Parish Church is the Church of the Transfiguration. The chancel and nave are 12th century; the tower was built in the 13th century. The church is a Grade I listed building, described as an 'Attractive small mediæval building'.[6]
A small kitchen / toilet extension was built on the south side of the church in 2014, finished in flint to match the rest of the church. The extension won the Sussex Heritage Trust ecclesiastical award in 2015.[7]
Wolstonbury Hill and Bottom
- Main article: Wolstonbury Hill
Wolstonbury Hill is a chalk prominence located within the parish, owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is the location of four scheduled monuments and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[8]
This is perhaps one of the most spectacular looking Downs in the area. To the south is Pycombe and Pycombe Street, to the east is Crabtree Shaw and a big chalk pit, to the north is the Ashen Plantation and to the east is Wellcombe Bottom. There are a number of tracks up to the summit including paths from Crabtree Bottom, Danny House, Clayton and Pycombe. At least twelve native orchid species have been found in the area.
Wellcombe Bottom (TQ292136) like the rest of Wolstonbury Hill is owned by the National Trust. At the Trust's request, Friends of Wolstonbury, between 2007 and 2010, cleared scrub in the valley. The area is now rich in meadow flowers and the insects and butterflies that thrive on them. Seven native orchids can be found at Wellcombe Bottom in an area locally known as the "Orchid Bank".[9]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Pyecombe) |
- The Downland Benefice: Pyecombe Church
- Roughwood web site: Church of the Transfiguration, Pyecombe, West Sussex - Photographs of the church, taken on 18 January 2004
References
- ↑ Mawer, A.; Stenton, F.M.; with Gover, J. E. B.: 'Place-Names of Sussex , Part' (English Place-Names Society, 1929/30)
- ↑ The Plough at Pyecombe
- ↑ National Heritage List 1005821@: Roman road and 18th century coaching road N of Pyecombe church (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ Bangs, Dave (2008). A freedom to roam Guide to the Brighton Downs : from Shoreham to Newhaven and Beeding to Lewes. Brighton: David Bangs. ISBN 978-0-9548638-1-4. OCLC 701098669. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/701098669.
- ↑ Kain, R., Kain, R.J., Chapman, J. and Oliver, R.R., 2004. The Enclosure Maps of England and Wales 1595-1918: A Cartographic Analysis and Electronic Catalogue. Cambridge University Press.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1025593: Church of the Transfiguration (Grade I listing)
- ↑ "Pyecombe Church - a partnership funded community project". South Downs National Park Authority. November 2016. https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Pyecombe-Church-Nov.-2016.pdf. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Wolstonbury Hill
- ↑ Pearce, David; Stott, Katherine (2017). "Ten Years of Monitoring Butterfly Orchids on Wolstonbury Hill". Journal of the Hardy Orchid Society 14 (83).