Wednesday, June 21, 2006
SUSSEX VIEWS PART 2 - BURPHAM
The signpost at the end of the lane we were on last Saturday pointed to Warningcamp and Burpham. We had not been along this lane before and these 2 villages would be completely new to us. I have lived in Sussex for almost all my life and still there are many new places to explore.
We came first to Warningcamp - it is suggested that the name came about because it was a settlement or camp which quite literally would send a warning to the masters at the castle in Arundel of impending danger. Today Warningcamp is a collection of houses and cottages with no obvious centre - no church or pub or shop. Yet a web site tells that there is a community spirit and the people of the village, numbering about 180, produced a history book about their village.
A small number of miles along the lane we came to a much bigger village - the village of Burpham (pronounced Burfum).
We stopped first at The George and Dragon, the local inn. It was built in 1753. We sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed watching the world go by and chatting with other visitors to the village.
When the last drops of my ginger beer and lime had been quaffed, we decided to take a walk round the village.
The Church of St Mary dates from the 12th and 13th centuries - with some sympathetic restoration in the 19th century. It is tucked away, behind the cottages along a narrow lane.
One of the windows in the church is known as The Lepers Window, through which the poor victims of this cruel disease who dwelt in a leper colony could be blessed by the priest inside the church.
The stained glass window below is not the leper window - we just enjoy looking at stained glass.
In fact we enjoy looking at churches. We have no commitment to any religion and yet we feel the peace and spirituality to be found inside a church very soothing.
There is also something good about absorbing the history of the church and knowing that people have been going there for centuries for worship and for the important events in their lives.
I feel the presence of both God and all the people from the history of the church passing on some sort of inner strength
and peace.
Burpham is a village nestling between The South Downs and the meandering River Arun, which flows through Arundel, with its fine castle.
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills with seams of hard flint rocks and stones. The flints have been used for centuries to build and have created a particular style which is very much connected with Sussex downland life.
The church has a lot of flint - and so do cottages throughout the village.
We walked through the grave yard. I love to look at the inscriptions on the graves and imagine details about the lives of those buried there.
We walked through the gate at the far side and out on to another lane surrounded by farmland and looking across the fields, shimmering in the heat haze, to the distant sight of the castle at Arundel.
There were fields of wheat, still green at this stage of the summer - but dotted with red poppies.
Cows grazed lazily in the fields.
And then we spied farm animals not normally a part of Sussex agriculture.
This is a mother bison and her calf.
Unfortunately the mother wouldn't turn to face the camera no matter how much we called out to her.
Farmers throughout the land are being asked to diversify and move away from traditional crops and animals.
So sometimes we see llamas or ostrich in our fields - and last Saturday we became acquainted with bison.
It was from this point, just beyond the village that we could see what we had already learned whilst looking at one of our fellow drinker's map at the pub. Burpham is more or less then end of the road - there was no bridge below us to take us over the River Arun and no road suitable for cars to take us up and over the South Downs to Amberley.
We strolled back into the village to look at some of the pretty cottages.
These cottages, built of both brick and flint are tucked behind The George and Dragon - you can just see the pub sign hanging from the side of the building.
Country cottages look wonderful at this time of year with flowering climbers clinging to the walls - roses, clematis etc.
We enjoyed peering over the walls and gates to enjoy the gardens that had been created in this secluded village.
I would guess that its seclusion has attracted people who were able to pay above average for housing and is very popular with people who enjoy getting away from it all - and at the same time being only 4 or 5 miles from Arundel Station, with its regular trains to London.
There are quite a few newish large houses amongst the older cottage style houses.
We enjoyed a couple of hours getting to know somwhere new to us - and next time we go to the car boot sale at Ford and drive past the end of the lane leading to Warningcamp and Burpham we shall feel so glad that we now know the villages and we have our photographs and our memories.
We came first to Warningcamp - it is suggested that the name came about because it was a settlement or camp which quite literally would send a warning to the masters at the castle in Arundel of impending danger. Today Warningcamp is a collection of houses and cottages with no obvious centre - no church or pub or shop. Yet a web site tells that there is a community spirit and the people of the village, numbering about 180, produced a history book about their village.
A small number of miles along the lane we came to a much bigger village - the village of Burpham (pronounced Burfum).
We stopped first at The George and Dragon, the local inn. It was built in 1753. We sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed watching the world go by and chatting with other visitors to the village.
When the last drops of my ginger beer and lime had been quaffed, we decided to take a walk round the village.
The Church of St Mary dates from the 12th and 13th centuries - with some sympathetic restoration in the 19th century. It is tucked away, behind the cottages along a narrow lane.
One of the windows in the church is known as The Lepers Window, through which the poor victims of this cruel disease who dwelt in a leper colony could be blessed by the priest inside the church.
The stained glass window below is not the leper window - we just enjoy looking at stained glass.
In fact we enjoy looking at churches. We have no commitment to any religion and yet we feel the peace and spirituality to be found inside a church very soothing.
There is also something good about absorbing the history of the church and knowing that people have been going there for centuries for worship and for the important events in their lives.
I feel the presence of both God and all the people from the history of the church passing on some sort of inner strength
and peace.
Burpham is a village nestling between The South Downs and the meandering River Arun, which flows through Arundel, with its fine castle.
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills with seams of hard flint rocks and stones. The flints have been used for centuries to build and have created a particular style which is very much connected with Sussex downland life.
The church has a lot of flint - and so do cottages throughout the village.
We walked through the grave yard. I love to look at the inscriptions on the graves and imagine details about the lives of those buried there.
We walked through the gate at the far side and out on to another lane surrounded by farmland and looking across the fields, shimmering in the heat haze, to the distant sight of the castle at Arundel.
There were fields of wheat, still green at this stage of the summer - but dotted with red poppies.
Cows grazed lazily in the fields.
And then we spied farm animals not normally a part of Sussex agriculture.
This is a mother bison and her calf.
Unfortunately the mother wouldn't turn to face the camera no matter how much we called out to her.
Farmers throughout the land are being asked to diversify and move away from traditional crops and animals.
So sometimes we see llamas or ostrich in our fields - and last Saturday we became acquainted with bison.
It was from this point, just beyond the village that we could see what we had already learned whilst looking at one of our fellow drinker's map at the pub. Burpham is more or less then end of the road - there was no bridge below us to take us over the River Arun and no road suitable for cars to take us up and over the South Downs to Amberley.
We strolled back into the village to look at some of the pretty cottages.
These cottages, built of both brick and flint are tucked behind The George and Dragon - you can just see the pub sign hanging from the side of the building.
Country cottages look wonderful at this time of year with flowering climbers clinging to the walls - roses, clematis etc.
We enjoyed peering over the walls and gates to enjoy the gardens that had been created in this secluded village.
I would guess that its seclusion has attracted people who were able to pay above average for housing and is very popular with people who enjoy getting away from it all - and at the same time being only 4 or 5 miles from Arundel Station, with its regular trains to London.
There are quite a few newish large houses amongst the older cottage style houses.
We enjoyed a couple of hours getting to know somwhere new to us - and next time we go to the car boot sale at Ford and drive past the end of the lane leading to Warningcamp and Burpham we shall feel so glad that we now know the villages and we have our photographs and our memories.
