| Plumpton | |
Church of St Michael, Plumpton |
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Plumpton
Plumpton shown within East Sussex |
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| Area | 9.7 km2 (3.7 sq mi) [1] |
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| Population | 1,676 (Parish-2007)[1] |
| - Density | 450 /sq mi (170 /km2) |
| OS grid reference | TQ359132 |
| - London | 41 miles (66 km) N |
| District | Lewes |
| Shire county | East Sussex |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEWES |
| Postcode district | BN7 |
| Dialling code | 01273 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | East Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Lewes |
| Website | http://www.plumptonpc.co.uk/ |
| List of places: UK • England • East Sussex | |
Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based. Plumpton is probably best known for its race course.
The place-name 'Plumpton' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Pluntune', meaning 'town or settlement where plum-trees grew'.[2]
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Plumpton Green is essentially a ribbon development with a few select amenities. The main thoroughfare, Station Road, runs the length of the village, with several cul-de-sacs branching off from it. Station Road is home to the village shop, a church and three pubs. The majority of the road is paved on only one side.
Chapel Road is a small road with 24 houses. These are mostly semi-detached homes, although there is a very small terrace of cottages dating from about 1900. Woodgate Meadow and Westgate are fairly recent developments with new, large houses.
Plumpton railway station is on the East Coastway Line and the railway crossing has the last manually-operated gates in Sussex. Rail service: as of December 2010 it has an hourly service. Plumpton Racecourse is located between the two villages, near the railway. Meetings draw large crowds; on race days the population of Plumpton doubles in size. The sporadic rail service is also supplemented by extra services on race days. Races are sometimes televised, bringing Plumpton Green to a much wider audience than it could ever hope to otherwise reach.
In the early 1970s Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page purchased Plumpton Place, an Elizabethan manor, with 20th-century alterations by Sir Edwin Lutyens, surrounded by a moat and extensive gardens. Because of its proximity to the Plumpton Racecourse the grounds also include stables for horses. Page outfitted the manor with a recording studio. The credits for the Led Zeppelin album In Through the Out Door indicates that album mixing was done there. The manor can be seen briefly near the beginning of the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains the Same where the camera walks up to Page, playing a hurdy gurdy, to inform him of the North American tour dates. Page no longer owns the property.
Plumpton Green is rumoured to have been the inspiration for the popular British children's television series Trumpton, with Chailey being nearby Chigley and Wivelsfield Green being Camberwick Green.[3]
There are many groups and societies in comparison to the size of the village; one of the most notable being Plumpton Players, a drama group. The society performs up to two plays a year. In 2007, the society was chosen to perform the worldwide premiere of A Wet and Windy Night by Declan Cleary. In May 2008, the Players performed Dave Freeman's classic comedy/farce A Bedful of Foreigners. In May 2009, the players performed another first. Don't Look Now by Daphne Du Maurier, adapted for the stage by Nell Leyshon, was a real departure for the group and proved that they were as good at disturbing serious productions as well as comedies and farces. The Players will be performing another "first" in May 2010 when they become the first amateur group to tackle Richard Bean's Political Sex Farce, In the Club. The village also has a Pantomime Society; every year they put on a different show.
There are also sporting groups, which attract visitors from across Sussex, including cricket, tennis, rugby and football clubs. The rugby club plays in Sussex Division 1. The cricket club is one of the most successful village teams in the area consistently winning both the Mid Sussex League and the Wisdom Cup. The club was the first in the area to wear "Coloured Clothing" in their cup matches. The kit consisted of maroon and yellow trousers with matching shirts. In 2008 the team moved to the East Sussex League winning the league by nearly 100 points. The season was a double success as the 2nd eleven also won their division by nearly 80 points. In 2009, the first eleven completed their second successive league win and promotion by winning division 3 by over 80 points, recording 14 wins and being the only team in all 12 divisions to stay unbeaten throughout the season.
Located in Plumpton Green is Plumpton Primary School.[4] The school site was built in 1974 to accommodate children living in Plumpton and surrounding villages, especially Wivelsfield, Hamsey, and Chailey. Included in the school grounds are an assembly hall, a student library, a playing field and a (now defunct) swimming pool.
The first schooling in the village began in 1837,[5] where two teachers taught in a 22 feet (6.7 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) school at the very end of Plumpton village (where Plumpton College is based today). In the 1870s the centre of the village was moving a couple of miles north to where the village shop and church where situated, and, as education was becoming compulsory, a new school building was built. This school lasted for almost one hundred years until the present-day school was built during 1974. It was placed at the end of Southdowns Road and to this day provides the educational facilities for 150 pupils, ranging from the ages of 4 to 11 in seven educational years. The older school was later turned into six cottages.
Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which stretches from Hassocks in the west and passes through many parishes including Plumpton, to Lewes in the east. The site is of biological importance due to its rare chalk grassland habitat along with its woodland and scrub.[6]
In the south of the parish, on the hills of the downs, there is evidence of ancient settlements, with enclosures and tumulus. Ditchling Cross is a 100 feet (30 m) cross carved into the hillside, now overgrown. It is of unknown origin although some believe it commemorates the Battle of Lewes of 1264.[7]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Plumpton,_East_Sussex Plumpton, East Sussex] at Wikimedia Commons
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