A castellated tunnel and a rare gate!
The West Sussex Parish of Pyecombe in 20 pictures & 600 words
By Ian Mulcahy
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6 miles north of Brighton Pier is Pyecombe, a small Parish of 237 people (at the 2011 census) in West Sussex that is located in the ‘Clayton Gap’, a natural valley in the South Downs through which the A23, the main London to Brighton road, passes. The name Pyecombe is derived from peac umb, the Anglo Saxon words for ‘peak valley’ which is a very apt topographical description, with the peaks of Devils Dyke two miles to the south west and Wolstonbury less than a mile to the north. In common with many Downland parishes, the area is rich in ancient history, with Wolstonbury hill hosting the remains of a hill town from the late Bronze Age, where worked flints from the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age have also been discovered. The site was in continuous use into the Roman period and nearby are the hidden remains of a Romano British farm, containing at least 8 structures, and a Roman Road. The Parish is split into two settlements; Pyecombe, in the area of the church to the east of the parish and Pyecombe Street, half a mile to the west. The split is thought to have come about as a consequence of people abandoning the original settlement in the early 17th century as a result of an outbreak of the plague. Barely any buildings exist from this period, but there are seven listed buildings in the parish and this piece will look at four of them. The first, and a little out of the village, will be familiar to anybody who rides the train on the London to Brighton line; Clayton Tunnel or, more specifically, the northern portal to the tunnel and the cottage above it. The tunnel entrance was built in 1841 at the request of the owner of the land who refused access over his land for those working on the tunnel unless an attractive edifice was built across the entrance. What we have ended up with is something akin to a small medieval castle, complete with two octagonal turrets, designed by David Mocatta and John Urpeth Rastrick who were employees of the railway company. In between the turrets is a cottage which was built in 1849 as a home for the lamp lighter, a railway employee who entered the tunnel and relit the lamps whose flames had been extinguished by the draft of passing trains.
In the old medieval village centre is The Old School House, built in the early 19th century as the village school, but now a private residence.
A short distance away is the Parish Church of the Transfiguration, a dedication that was made only in 1972. Imagine not being given a name until you were 800 years old! Built in 1170 by Adam de Poynings, the church was in the possession of the Priory of Lewes until the reformation saw The Priory largely destroyed in 1538 and the church, in common with most at the time, passing into the possession of the Crown. The nave and chancel both date from the original construction, as does the central arch between the two. The tower was added in the 13th century and buttressed in the 14th, with the porch being added after the reformation.
Access to the churchyard is gained through a Tapsel Gate. Invented by the Tapsel family in the 18th century the gate, which has a design unique to Sussex, swivels on a central pivot rather than having side hinges and stops when it is positioned at 90 degrees to its starting point, leaving two segregated access points. Only six true Tapsel Gates survive and all are within a 10 mile radius of nearby Lewes in East Sussex.
Half a mile away in Pyecombe Street is Pyecombe Manor, the timber framed remains of a far larger mid-16th century manor house.
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Text & photographs © Ian Mulcahy. Photographs taken on 11 August 2018. Contact photos@iansapps.co.uk or visit my 'Use of my photographs' page for licensing queries. |
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