Earnley to Ewhurst

Earnley, Chichester (263). SZ8197. 6m SW of Chichester

On the Selsey peninsula, with a C13/14 church. Earnley Butterflies and Gardens (Almodington La). Smock-mill at Somerley (1m N).

Eartham, Chichester (85). SU9409. 6m NE of Chichester

Flint village on the South Downs. The church has a good early Norman chancel-arch, a Flaxman monument to the son of poet William Hayley (see Bognor Regis), and an inscription to William Huskisson MP recording his death at the opening of the Liverpool-Manchester railway (1830). Eartham House, by Lutyens (1905), is on the site of Hayley’s (and later Huskisson’s) home, regularly visited by George Romney and others. Stane Street crosses the Downs to the N.

Easebourne, Chichester (2073). SU8922. 1m NE of Midhurst

Attractive Cowdray estate village on the l. bank of the western Rother opposite Midhurst. The church is partly Norman (restored); monuments (from Midhurst) inc. Sir David Owen (d. 1535), and Sir Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague (d. 1592, re-erected wrongly), both builders at Cowdray. Of the Priory of Benedictine nuns founded before 1248 and using the choir of the parish church, remains of the Chapter House, refectory, etc. are inc. in a building on the S side of the church.

Cowdray (S). The magnificent ruins of a great Tudor mansion by the river. Begun by Sir David Owen (1492), inc. the E range (across the courtyard) with hall, chapel, and kitchen tower; continued by Sir William Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton (1535-42), viz. the W range with the three-storey gatehouse, and the hall porch; and by his half-brother Sir Anthony Browne, later Lord Montague (cf. Battle), e.g. the fine hall bay-window; Browne entertained Elizabeth I here in 1591. House completely gutted by fire in 1793, a week before the last Montague drowned, which incidents fulfilled a curse by a Battle monk at the Dissolution. Museum. Group of outbuildings to S inc. the picturesque Granary on staddlestones. Park by Capability Brown. The present Cowdray House (to the E) is Victorian neo-Gothic.

Henley Down, to the N, is part of the Greensand ridge, with Bexley Hill (2m NE, 625’, mast), and the village of Henley (2m N) on the far side. King Edward VII Sanatorium (2m NNW) is by Charles Holden (1903).

EASTBOURNE, Eastbourne (*77963 CB). TV6199. 19m E of Brighton

Large town and S coast resort at the foot of the E end of the South Downs, with the cliffs of Beachy Head to the SW. The old village is a mile inland; otherwise a collection of hamlets existed on the shore when the first hotel was built in 1785. Development of the modern town began only in 1851 by the 7th Duke of Devonshire of Compton Place (see memorial of 1901 in Devonshire Place). Noted for its long seafront, wide tree-lined streets, and its parks and gardens, and particularly for its hours of sunshine. T H Huxley, biologist (d. 1895), and Edna Lyall, novelist (d. 1903), died here. TIC (Cornfield Terrace).

Victorian development along the seafront, inc Grand Parade (1851-5). Pier of 1872. The Wish Tower (a Martello Tower, now museum of coastal defence) and the Redoubt (to NE, now Sussex Combined Services Museum) are defences of the Napoleonic period (c.1805-10), the latter standing in the Music Gardens in Royal Parade. In Devonshire Park in September is held the South of England tennis tournament, the second most important in England; Winter Gardens and Theatre (Victorian), and modern Congress Theatre. Eastbourne College is C19/20. At the SW end of the front near Beachy Head are the Holywell gardens. Town Hall (1886). Other museums: Eastbourne Heritage Centre (Carlisle Rd), and Lifeboat Museum (Grand Parade).

Old Town. St Mary’s Church, Trans and Dec, has a rare E sacristy behind the chancel, an Easter Sepulchre, two C14 screens, a good monument of 1763, and an ancient Cornish churchyard cross. Nearby are the C16 Old Parsonage (N), the timber-framed Lamb Inn, and the Manor House (1734), now the Towner Art Gallery and Local History Museum.

Compton Place, seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, largely of c.1800, preserves earlier interiors by Colen Campbell (1726-31), e.g. State Bedroom.

Main suburb Hampden Park (2m N), with park of same name. At Langney (2½m NE) is the medieval chapel of a monastic grange (Priory Rd). The Crumbles, a shingle bank behind Langney Point extending NE to Pevensey Bay, has a further series of Martello Towers (cf. above).

Beachy Head (2m SW, 534’), the seaward termination of the South Downs and a prominent chalk headland, is reached from the town by the zigzag Duke’s Drive. Lighthouse (1902). The former Belle Tout Lighthouse (1½m further W) was built 1831. Beyond are the Seven Sisters (see East Dean).

East Chiltington, Lewes (508). TQ3715. 4m NW of Lewes

N of the Downs (Blackcap 677’), with a small C12-14 church.

East Dean, Chichester (241). SU9013. 6m NNE of Chichester

In the downland valley of the R Lavant. C12-14 church.

East Dean, Wealden (1007). TV5597. 3m W of Eastbourne

In the Downs. Trans-E.E. church, approached through a tapsell gate, with Norman tower and font (restored), and Jacobean pulpit. Pleasant village green. New growth across main road to N. Birling Gap (NT), on the coast 1m S, is situated between the fine chalk cliffs of Beachy Head (E, see Eastbourne) and the Seven Sisters (NT) (W), the latter formed by a series of downland valleys truncated in profile by the cutting back of the sea.

Eastergate, Arun (2916). SU9405. 5m E of Chichester

On the coastal plain. The church is partly early Norman (restored). Manor Farm, Elizabethan timber-framed, has a granary on staddlestones. Modern frescoes of Sussex history (by Byam Shaw) in the village hall. Racecourse at Fontwell, W of which is Denmans, with a C20 walled garden.

EAST GRINSTEAD, Mid Sussex (22394 UD). TQ3938. 12m W of Tunbridge Wells

Old market town in the Forest Ridges, on the A22 Eastbourne road. An ironworking centre from medieval times until the C18. St Swithun’s Church was built by James Wyatt (1789); brasses and cast-iron slabs; burial place of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester, Speaker of House of Commons (d. 1829), and John Mason Neale, hymn-writer (d. 1866).

Has a fine wide High St with central island and raised pavements, many timber-framed houses, the Georgian ‘Dorset Arms’, etc. At the E end is Sackville College, a fine group of Jacobean almshouses founded by the 2nd Earl of Dorset (see Withyham) in 1609, with a long gabled façade and an attractive quadrangle with hall and chapel (original furniture); J M Neale was warden. Town Museum (East Court, College La). St Margaret’s Convent (Moat Rd) was founded by Neale (1855) and built by Street. ‘Bow Bells’ milestone in London Rd, one of a series along the A22. Queen Victoria Hospital known for work in plastic surgery following the 2nd World War.

Standen (1½m SSW) is a fine house by Philip Webb (1891-4) with Morris interior decoration etc.; garden. Weir Wood Reservoir is 2m S, and Ashurstwood 2m SE.

East Guldeford, Rother (75). TQ9321. 1m NE of Rye

Hamlet on Walland Marsh (the S part of Romney Marsh) with an unusual brick church of c.1500 (altered).

East Hoathly, Wealden (832). TQ5216. 4m SE of Uckfield

On N edge of Vale of Sussex. The church (rebuilt) has a Perp tower with Pelham Buckles on the doorway, and a Norman pillar piscina.

Halland is at a crossroads on the A22 1m W. On Halland Park Farm (SE) are the brick walls of a Pelham mansion of 1595 (cf. Laughton) inc. fragments of a terracotta frieze and the Pelham Buckle; late C17 barn. Bentley Ho (1m WSW) in 23-acre park, with Wildfowl Collection and Motor Museum.

East Lavington, Chichester (199). SU9416. 4m SW of Petworth

Or Woolavington. Under the wooded Downs; Duncton or Littleton Down (1m S, 836’) is the highest point of the South Downs in Sussex. E.E. church (restored); Cardinal Manning rector here before conversion to Roman Catholicism (1833-51), and Samuel Wilberforce, bishop of Winchester (d.1873) buried in chyd with his and Manning’s wives, who were sisters. Wilberforce lived at Lavington Park (Seaford College), 1790-4 (James Lewis) with entrance, lodges, etc. of 1903. Lavington Common (1½m N) is owned by NT.

East Marden, Chichester (Marden 64). SU8014. 7m NNW of Chichester

Charming village in the South Downs, with flint cottages round a thatched pump-house, and a small C13 church. See also North Marden.

East Preston, Arun (4761). TQ0602. 2m E of Littlehampton

A coastal village. The church has a Norman doorway, a good E.E. chancel, and a Perp tower which lost its stone spire (rare for Sussex) in 1951. Incs resort of Angmering-on-Sea (½m SE, cf. Angmering).

East Wittering, Chichester (2606). SZ8097. 6m SW of Chichester

Village and modern resort on Bracklesham Bay, Selsey peninsula. Windmill. The C12/13 church (1m inland) incs a Norman doorway.

Edburton, Horsham (Upper Beeding). TQ2311. 3m SSE of Henfield

Under the South Downs escarpment, here at its steepest and most dramatic. Small E.E. church with C13 lead font. On Edburton Hill is Castle Rings, a small motte & bailey. See also Fulking.

Egdean, Chichester (Petworth). SU9920. 2m SE of Petworth

Has a church of 1622 (restored).

Elsted, Chichester (184). SU8119. 4m W of Midhurst

Below the Downs (Beacon Hill, 793’). The church, restored and re-opened after the demolition of the Victorian church at Treyford (q.v.), has a nave with much Norman herringbone masonry and an E.E. chancel.

Etchingham, Rother (688). TQ7126. 7m NNW of Battle

At the confluence of the rivers Rother and Dudwell. Fine Dec church built by Sir William de Echyngham (1363), with flowing window-tracery and central tower with original heraldic weathervane; he intended the church to be collegiate, see stalls with misericords; heraldic glass, and good brasses, inc. that of the founder (d. 1388, headless). Haremere Hall (ENE) is Jacobean, with terraced gardens and shire horses.

Ewhurst, Rother (893). TQ7924. 6m NNE of Battle

On a ridge S of the Rother valley overlooking Bodiam Castle, also called Ewhurst Green. The church has a Norman tower with an apparently crooked shingled spire and an arboretum in the churchyard. Incs Staple Cross (1½m SW).