Pyecombe

Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Pyecombe is located 7 miles (11 km) to the north of Brighton. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 200 in the 2001 census, increasing at the 2011 Census to a population of 237. The parish lies wholly with the South Downs National Park. The planning authority for Pyecombe is the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA), the statutory planning authority for the National Park area.

Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Pyecombe is located 7 miles (11 km) to the north of Brighton. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 200 in the 2001 census, increasing at the 2011 Census to a population of 237. The parish lies wholly with the South Downs National Park. The planning authority for Pyecombe is the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA), the statutory planning authority for the National Park area.

History

The name Pyecombe may derive from the Old English pīc, meaning "point" or "pike", and cumb, meaning "coomb" or "valley", in which case it may mean "valley marked by a projecting hill"; alternatively, it may mean "insect valley", from the Old English pēo, "insect, parasite". 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 lies on the London to Brighton Way Roman road, as well as on 18th and 19th century turnpike roads over Clayton Hill. 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. Parts of the estate, including Wolstonbury Hill, were common land, Pycombe Common, right up until 1872 when the area was victim to one of the very last usages of the inclosure act in Sussex.

The Church of the Transfiguration

The Church of the Transfiguration is the Church of England parish church of Pyecombe. The chancel and nave are 12th century; the tower was built in the 13th century. 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. The church is a Grade I listed building, described in the National Heritage List for England as an ‘Attractive small medieval building’.

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. It 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

Wellcombe Bottom ( ) 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".

Listed buildings and scheduled monuments

Pyecombe civil parish contains seven listed buildings. Of these, one is Grade I and the remaining six are Grade II. The parish contains five scheduled monuments.

Listed buildings

Grade I listed buildings: The Parish Church (Church of the Transfiguration) (List Entry Number 1025593). Chancel and nave 12th century, tower 13 century; 'an attractive small medieval building'.

Scheduled monuments

Roman road and 18th century coaching road north of Pyecombe church (List Entry Number 1005821). The monument includes a Roman road and a late 18th century coaching road, the Brighton to Lovell Heath Turnpike, with 19th century realignments. Cross dyke and bowl barrow 310m south east of Wolstonbury Camp (List Entry Number 1015226), a univallate cross dyke and a bowl barrow situated on a chalk spur which projects to the south east from Wolstonbury Hill. Platform barrow 300m south of Wolstonbury Camp (List Entry Number 1015227), a roughly circular, flat-topped mound situated on a chalk spur which projects to the south east from Wolstonbury Hill. Romano-British farmstead, field system and trackway on Wolstonbury Hill (List Entry Number 1015228), a farmstead dating to the late Romano-British period and its associated field system and trackway, on the north eastern slope of Wolstonbury Hill. Wolstonbury Camp: a Ram's Hill type enclosure on Wolstonbury Hill and associated later remains (List Entry Number 1016153), a Late Bronze Age Ram's Hill type enclosure situated on Wolstonbury Hill, a clay-with-flints capped chalk hill.

References

External links

The Downland Benefice: Pyecombe Church Roughwood web site: Church of the Transfiguration, Pyecombe, West Sussex - Photographs of the church, taken on 18 January 2004

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1376037394 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.