Chiddingly

Chiddingly
Chiddingly
Chiddingly shown within East Sussex
Area 17.6 km2 (6.8 sq mi) [1]
Population 1,247 (Parish-2011) [2]
• Density 148/sq mi (57/km2)
OS grid reference TQ543142
• London 43 miles (69 km) NNW
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LEWES
Postcode district BN8
Dialling code 01825
Police Sussex
Fire East Sussex
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
Website http://www.chiddingly.gov.uk/

Chiddingly (/ˈtʃɪdɪŋlaɪ/ CHID-ing-lye) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of the administrative county of East Sussex, within historic Sussex, some five miles (8 km) northwest 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, Golden Cross, Broomham and Upper Dicker.[3] It covers 7 square miles (18 km2) of countryside. 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. Like Rome, it is founded upon seven hills: Thunders Hill; Gun Hill; Pick Hill; Stone Hill; Scrapers Hill; Burgh Hill and Holmes Hill,[4] the latter being on the A22 road in the south of the parish. Tributaries of the River Cuckmere flow both north and south of the village.

The Granary, the Farm and Chapel-Barn of Chiddingly Place

Governance

Chiddingly is part of the electoral ward called Chiddingly and East Hoathly. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 3,220.[5]

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[6] There is a large number of manorial buildings in the parish, including Chiddingly Place, rebuilt c 1574[7] Sir John Jefferay, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1577; scattered remnants of its E-shaped wings remain, as the east wing, later called "The Chapel/Chapel Barn" now known as 'Jefferay House', and sections of the main range west of the demolished Great Hall.[8]

Points of interest

Burgh Hill Farm Meadow is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the parish.[9] This is a hedgerow-surrounded meadow of an uncommon grassland type.

The Church of England parish church at Chiddingly is of unknown date and dedication, but references to it occur from the 13th century.[10] 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.

Chiddingly has a primary school.[11]

The annual Chiddingly Festival includes various entertainments around the village.[12] 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.

Chiddingly also has a museum and archive.[13] 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.

In 1971 the film director Philip Trevelyan made the documentary film The Moon and the Sledgehammer[14] about the Page family who lived in a wood outside the village and operated two traction engines: an Allchin[15] and a Fowler.

References

  1. ↑ "East Sussex in Figures". East Sussex County Council. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  2. ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Map showing location of Chiddingly
  4. ↑ Parochial history of Chiddingly
  5. ↑ "Chiddingly and East Hoathly ward population 2011". Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  6. ↑ British Museum: The Chiddingly Boar".
  7. ↑ A date formerly in stained glass of the Great Hall, noted by Mark Antony Lower, Parochial history of Chiddingly :22.
  8. ↑ Mark Antony Lower, Parochial history of Chiddingly 1862:21ff; a A watercolor view of the north front in 1783 is in the British Library..
  9. ↑ "Natural England - SSSI". English Nature. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  10. ↑ Chiddingly parish church
  11. ↑ Chiddingly Primary School Archived January 22, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ Chiddingly Festival
  13. ↑ Farley Farm House official site
  14. ↑ The Moon and the Sledgehammer official website
  15. ↑ Allchin Files about Wm. Allchin traction engines Archived March 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
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