Jacob's Post | |
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Jacob's Post | |
Location within East Sussex | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Police | Sussex |
Fire | East Sussex |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
Jacob's Post is a post outside the old Royal Oak pub just inside the north of Ditchling Common to the east of Burgess Hill, in Lewes district, East Sussex, England. The pub abutted the turnpike Toll Gate which was still shown on OS maps up to 1897.
It is named after a traveling peddler named Jacob Harris (also known by his Jewish name of Yacob Hirsch) who in 1734, according to local lore, killed the landlord of the Royal Oak pub's wife and a serving maid. He also slashed the landlord in the throat but he survived. After stealing a coat worth ten shillings, Jacob Harris ran north to Turners Hill and stayed at the Cat Inn. The landlord managed to round a party of searchers for Jacob that included soldiers and discovered him at Selsfield House hiding in the chimney by inadvertently flushing him out when they lit the fire. Harris was prosecuted and executed for his crime at Horsham gaol and his body was returned to hang in a gibbet at the northern end of Ditchling Common next to the highway and near the scene of his crime. [1]
The post where he hung took on a life of its own as people believed infertility and other ailments could be cured by touching the post. If you got a splinter from the post it was said you would never get toothache. [2] Consequently people tool small pieces of the post when visiting. [3] This continued well into the 19th century despite the original post being replaced by another.
A number of ballads have been written about the event. The next recorded Jew in the Brighton area was in 1766. [2]
The post used to be visible from the road but the Common here has returned to scrub and has to be accessed via a track that starts from the farm drive or nearby Bankside Farm. The post itself has a metal bird nailed to the top. The Royal Oak pub was demolished for housing in 2017. [4]
Brighton and Hove is a unitary authority with city status in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Council, which is currently under Labour majority control.
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, 39 mi (63 km) south of London, 10 mi (16 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 29 mi (47 km) northeast of the county town, Chichester. It had an area of 3.7 sq mi (9.6 km2) and a population of 30,635 at the 2011 Census, making it the fourth most populous parish in the county and the most populous in the Mid Sussex District. Other nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the northeast and Lewes, the county town of East Sussex, to the southeast.
Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, 36 miles (58 km) south of London, 14 miles (23 km) north of Brighton, 13 miles (21 km) south of Gatwick Airport and 31 miles (50 km) northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawley northwest and East Grinstead northeast. With only a relatively small number of jobs available in the immediate vicinity, mostly in the agricultural or service sector, many residents work "remotely" or commute daily via road or rail to London, Brighton, Crawley or Gatwick Airport for work.
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling.
Hassocks is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields.
Wivelsfield village and the larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green are the core of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are 9.3 miles (15.0 km) north of the city of Brighton and Hove.
Westmeston is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England heavily dependent in amenities on larger Ditchling to the near-immediate northwest. It is four miles (6 km) south-southeast of Burgess Hill and (10 km) west of Lewes, on the northern slopes of the South Downs.
Coldean is a suburb of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Located in the northeast corner of the urban area, it was developed by Brighton Corporation in the 1950s as one of several postwar council estates necessitated by the acute housing shortage in the area after World War II.
Mile Oak is a locality forming the northern part of the former parish of Portslade in the northwest corner of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Now mostly residential, but originally an area of good-quality agricultural land, it covers the area north of Portslade village as far as the urban boundary.
The Burgess Hill Academy is a co-educational secondary school located in central Burgess Hill, West Sussex, England.
Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex, England, with an elevation of 248 m (814 ft). It is south of Ditchling and to the north-east of Brighton. It is a large chalk hill with a particularly steep northern face, covered with open grassland and sheep-grazing areas. It is the third-highest point on the South Downs, behind Butser Hill and Crown Tegleaze.
Ditchling Common is a 66.5-hectare (164-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Wivelsfield in East Sussex. It is a country park. which is owned and managed by East Sussex County Council. In many respects, it is a biologically important site of the Low Weald supporting a rich array of biodiversity not found anywhere else in the area.
Goddards Green is a hamlet in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common, and lies just off the A2300 road 1.7 miles (2.8 km) west of Burgess Hill.
Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a 422.5-hectare (1,044-acre) linear biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which runs from Clayton in West Sussex to Lewes in East Sussex. Its ownership and management is divided between over fifteen landowners and farmers. Parts of Ditchling's Downs, e.g. TQ 323 133, and the scarp between Blackcap and Mount Harry, e.g. TQ 378 124, are owned by the National Trust. What remains of Ditchling Tenantry Down common at Ditchling Beacon is leased to the Sussex Wildlife Trust.
David Alfred Mocatta (1806–1882) was a British architect and a member of the Anglo-Jewish Mocatta family.
Round Hill is an inner suburban area of Brighton, part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove in England. The area contains a mix of privately owned and privately rented terraced housing, much of which has been converted for multiple occupancies, and small-scale commercial development. It was developed mostly in the late 19th century on an area of high land overlooking central Brighton and with good views in all directions, the area became a desirable middle-class suburb—particularly the large terraced houses of Roundhill Crescent and Richmond Road, and the exclusive Park Crescent—and within a few decades the whole of the hill had been built up with smaller terraces and some large villas.
Bethel Baptist Chapel is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the village of Wivelsfield in East Sussex, England. The cause was founded in 1763 by members of a chapel at nearby Ditchling; Henry Booker and other worshippers seceded and began to meet at Wivelsfield after hearing a sermon by George Whitefield. Although some members of the new church soon returned to the Ditchling congregation, the cause thrived under Booker's leadership, and the present chapel—a building of "quiet and unassuming elegance" set in its own graveyard—was erected in 1780. It has served the Strict Baptist community continuously since then, and members founded other chapels elsewhere in Sussex during the 18th and 19th centuries. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.
John Leopold DenmanFRIBA was an architect from the English seaside resort of Brighton, now part of the city of Brighton and Hove. He had a prolific career in the area during the 20th century, both on his own and as part of the Denman & Son firm in partnership with his son John Bluet Denman. Described as "the master of ... mid-century Neo-Georgian", Denman was responsible for a range of commercial, civic and religious buildings in Brighton, and pubs and hotels there and elsewhere on the south coast of England on behalf of Brighton's Kemp Town Brewery. He used other architectural styles as well, and was responsible for at least one mansion, several smaller houses, various buildings in cemeteries and crematoria, and alterations to many churches. His work on church restorations has been praised, and he has been called "the leading church architect of his time in Sussex"; he also wrote a book on the ecclesiastical architecture of the county.
The Marlborough Pub and Theatre is a historic venue, situated at 4 Princes Street, Brighton. It has been associated, since the 1970s, with the LGBT community. The Marlborough's small theatre presents drama, cabaret and music throughout the year, including during the Brighton Fringe Festival, LGBT History Month and Brighton Pride Arts Festival. The pub reopened in 2021 as 'The Actors'.
Harry Lewis was an English saxophonist and clarinettist, who was best known as the husband of singer Vera Lynn.
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