Hamsey

Hamsey is a village and

Notable areas around Hamsey

Hamsey village itself is located three miles (5 km) north of

Pronounced "Oaf-um", this village is on the A275 just north of

To the west Offham has two chalk pits with a new scrub woodland surrounding them. Historically the artisanal chalk pits would have been grazed and past owners have made an effort to manage the area. The managed chalk pits were a place of rich biodiversity with many rare species and were used by local people for recreation and wild camping. More recently the chalk pits appear to have been left unmanaged and much of the grasslands have turned to scrub. Now the scrub is heavily encroaching on the Offham double-bostal on the north west side of the spur, which is extremely biodiverse. The northern chalk pit has signs threatening £20,000 fines to be issued by Natural England for wild camping on the site. They have become a running sore with local people and conservationists, although they are still very beautiful and spotted orchids and glowworms can still be found there.

Cooksbridge

Cooksbridge is centred on its railway station and has a primary school and a pub, the Rainbow. The name Cooksbridge is first recorded in 1590 and is likely to have come from a family of that name who were recorded in Hamsey in 1543.^[3] However, in folklore the village got its name from the cooks who fed the soldiers of Simon de Montfort from the bridge on their way to the Battle of Lewes in 1264. The troops came from nearby Fletching where they spent the night in prayer on their way to the defeat of Henry III.

In the 18th and 19th century, the road was under the control of the Offham to Wych Cross Turnpike Trust. With the coming of the railway to Cooksbridge in 1847 the trustees, no doubt concerned by the increase in traffic that the station might generate, agreed to establish a turnpike (toll road) at Cooksbridge at its meeting in Lewes on the 12 Oct 1847. It was erected adjacent to Friendly Hall.^[4]

Conyboro Park, Cooksbridge, is actually in the parish of Barcombe.

Notable areas

The parish of Hamsey is large. To its north are the Chailey and Barcombe parishes, to its east is Ringmer, to its south it borders Lewes and St Ann Without and to its west is the St John Without parish.

The farmland is largely owned by the Conyboro Estate. The soil is very rich. Fine crops grow on its superficial deposits of

The Wealden Line railway from Lewes to Uckfield via Hamsey along the west bank of the River Ouse intended to use the Hamsey Loop but work was abandoned and the loop never opened. A proposal to reinstate services between the two stations intends to use the Hamsey Loop, but much of the natural beauty of the water land corridor created by the Ouse would be under threat from such a development. A main line railway from Lewes to Uckfield is also obstructed by the Phoenix Causeway road and development.^[7][8]

Woodland

The extent of the modern Hamsey meadows is similar to that of the manor's 200 acre meadow recorded in the Domesday book but much of its wildness has been lost. In the south of the parish is very little woodland left, although the parish had a relic common at Hamsey until modern times.^[5] Despite hedge clearances, some of which are now being put back, there are a number of notable Oaks to the east of Tulleys Wells farm.

The area north of Cooksbridge, although nearer South

Running along the eastern boundary of the county is the River Ouse. The river was used extensively in the 19th century to import chalk from the Offham Chalk pits. The Upper Ouse Navigation was opened in 1812 and the Chalkpit Cut took barges from Offham chalk pit to the River Ouse, and two railway lines were built across the brooks. Up until that point wild Salmon and Sea Trout were plentiful in the river but the canalisation seems to have impacted the young Salmons' ability to use the river. After the collapse of the navigation in 1870 Salmon recolonised the Ouse until the hot summer of 1976 and the new weir at Buxted eliminated the last breeding group.^[9]

The Northend Stream is on the north-south border of the Hamsey and Barcombe parishes and the Bevern Stream is on the north-south border of the Hamsey and Chailey parishes.

Offham Marshes

Between the Ouse and Offham Hill is the Offham Marsh (TQ 403 118), also known as the Pells. It is a 39.1-hectare (97-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest to the west of the Ouse. It includes the Pellbrook Cut, an area to the north of it called The Pells and the marshland to the south of the Cut and east of the railway track.^[10][11] It was designated SSSI status in 1989 because of its huge Common Toad population. The toads migrated in huge numbers every spring from the overhanging woods.

Scarp and downland

To the south of the parish, the land rises into the Sussex Downs. It is last parish (or first) of the Clayton to Offham Escarpment which is a ten kilometre stretch of north-facing scarp that has been designed a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Offham Hill

There is a chain of disused chalk pits along the Ouse river cliff and around the spur of Offham Hill (TQ 400 116). The areas is prized by mountain bikers, picnickers, walkers and all those who like flowers, sun and peace.

Most of the chalk pits are pre-industrial in origin and fine

The southern-most of these older quarries (TQ 400 113) south of the Chalk Pit Inn pit, may be one of the oldest, for it has the indicator species

Despite the biodiverse richness of the chalk pits, the lack of grazing means that that richness is year by year disappearing. Seas of cotoneaster, privet, sycamore, ash, and other scrub species are already over the whole of the river cliffs and the brow of Offham Hill, which were open turf before the second world war. When this process finishes this area that is enjoyed by so many for its beautiful views over the Ouse valley and special wildlife will be gone, yet if it were just grazed, it could be saved.

There is half of a Neolithic causewayed camp (TQ 398 117) on the spur of Offham Hill, although there is no sign of it above ground now. The chalk pit dug away the rest. There are also three surviving

Offham Down

Offham Down (TQ 392 117) is a special place known locally as "Happy Valley" at the east side of the

The area has a long history too. There is an evocative group of ten Saxon barrows on the short turfed, flatter ground of the spur, and further barrows up the hill but there are either destroyed or sunk in tangled scrub.[13] There is a peculiar and attractive two-track ancient bostal which rises up the valley side from Offham. It is thought that after marching from Fletching, the London troops under Simon De Montfort walked up this bostal on the dawn of the day of the Battle of Lewes. They will have risen to the spur, which Coombe Plantation now partly covers, and formed the left flank of the rebel army. Poorly armed and trained they were swept away back down the scarp by the royalist cavalry, before the cavalry over-reached themselves and De Montfort's other troops battled down into Lewes and victory.^[14]

Things could be very different on Offham Down if it were not for the action of conservationists at the turn of the twentieth century. Although it is part of an SSSI, in 1997 the farmer wished to plough much of the tractor accessible ground to grow flax, which was then attracting hefty European Union subsidies even on such protected sites. English Nature did not to use their powers and the farmer commenced ploughing.^[15] Nature conservationists attempted to block the plough, but the farmer returned at night. The struggle then escalated and conservationists demonstrated, set up camp on the land and started to organize its ‘unploughing’ by turning over and refitting the sods. Local people also turned out in force. Luckily the battle took place during the general election, so the Conservatives and Labour competed to show their conservation mettle and the special downland scarp was saved.^[12]

Coombe Plantation

The Coombe Plantation (TQ 386 122) is to the west of Offham Down. It is a relatively young wood, planted around 1800 which runs up the scarp slope of the Downs. Above the south west corner of the woodland are the

At the top of the scarp top is Mount Harry. At 194 metres (636 ft), the hill falls within the

Landport Bottom (TQ 397 110), near Lewes but in the Hamsey parish, was a Medieval river crossing according to records in 1296.^[18] Lewes Council bought 110 acres of ex-arable in the Bottom, principally to stop soil erosion from irresponsible winter ploughing. At Landport Fork (TQ 401 110) there are three fine barrows.^[12]

Hamsey brickworks

Often considered to be in South Chailey, Hamsey Brickworks, is in the very north of the parish. It worked the Wealden Clay to make bricks until the late 1980s. After working ceased an almost complete fossil of a bony fish was found there, which 130 million years old.^[19] The landfilled quarry has a large pond which is home to tufted duck and great crested grebe, with many mayflies in summer dancing above it - and feeding the swallows that skim the water to eat them. To the south of the pond, "flaming gorse" separates the brickworks from Kiln Wood. Recently the area has been approved for redevelopment into housing,^[20]

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