Thanks To Louise from South Downs Yarn for alerting me to this. Page 549 particularly interesting for the description of Nore (North) Wood. Click on a page for a slideshow view:
We saw in part 3 the argument in the 13th century between the Earl of Arundel and two successive Archbishops at Slindon over hunting and trespass. Tens of generations passed and in 1797, an agreement came about which could be seen as another coup for Arundel, now under the Duke of Norfolk.
More in the published book.
Old Sussex Mapped here
With the move to the intersection of Mill Lane and Butt Lane, I parked next to the entrance of Slindon College to seek the new site of the stone, rather excited by the prospect of its first appearance ‘up’, with the prospect of starting to convey more sculptural energy. Continue reading
We saw in Part 2 that the right of free warren was ambiguous. A long feud developed with the Earls of Arundel because of the presumption of the Archbishops. Continue reading
The half-term holiday mid-week event promised a good turnout and the National Trust had huge numbers both walking into Northwood and using the transport especially put on for the carnival-like day. The stone looked down over Continue reading
The Saxons introduced ‘Hundreds’ for military and judicial purposes, geographical divisions of the Sheriff-controlled ‘Shire’. In Sussex, ‘Rapes’ may represent the ancient shires, or the late 9th Century system of fortifications introduced by King Alfred.
In 1086, the ‘honour’ bestowed by William the Conqueror to reward the services of Earl Roger de Montgomery resulted in the Arundel Rape holding most land in West Sussex. His broader English land holdings yielded about 3% of the entire national income; now GDP. One of the most important parts of the ‘Honour’ bestowed by the King was the Forest and Chase of Arundel.
More of the Slindon and Arundel in the published book.
Part 1 here
There are a number of other important writers who lived bordering the Slindon Estate.
Charlotte Turner Smith (1749-1806) was a Sussex writer whose works have been credited with influencing Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. She revived the Sonnet form which was later used by Keats and Wordsworth. Bignor Park was her childhood home and remained a focal point for her poems. Professor Judith Hawley noted that not only did Smith grow up on the South Downs, but that she read up about them and wished to educate her readers about the natural and moral significance of the landscape. Writing in The Guardian (2004) Smith’s The Emigrants (1793) is noted as paralleling the fate of those driven out of France by the revolution with the sufferings of victims of the British state machinery. Book II opens on the Downs, which afforded to the South a view of the Sea; to the North of the Weald of Sussex – a similar location to Belloc’s favourite, perhaps: Continue reading
Our Northwood stone sits close to boundary lands which have subtly shifted over the last 1000 years. Continue reading
The first two days of carving – a celebratory event for the first tree-plantings of the Rise of Northwood. Continue reading
In 1913, George Wyndham MP visited his great friend Hilaire Belloc in Sussex and they travelled on to France. They talked about immortality while walking round woods at Bougival. Wyndham declared that the soul was immortal. Belloc agreed he shared this view, but only through the cold acceptance of authority. After they parted, Wyndham sent a letter:
Now I would not for the world – a phrase, but let it pass – have missed revisiting with you the woods that were part of your boyhood, and therefore – à ma guise – an index to Man’s Immortality.
Several days later, Continue reading
Slindon Sculpture 