Friars Oak Fields

Last updated

Friars Oak Fields are now being built over, but they were a much loved local landmark on the north-western edge of the village of Hassocks, in the county of West Sussex, England. They were a group of three small wealden meadows in their natural state, divided by ancient hedgerows. The railway and the Herring Stream served to isolate the eastern and western boundaries of Friars Oak Fields, which created a largely undisturbed environment favourable for wildlife. The Friars Oak Inn, an old coaching stop where horses were changed, was immediately adjacent to the Fields, on the western side. The western boundary of the fields was demarcated by the "Herring Stream" and the fields served as a flood plain for the stream. The eastern boundary of the fields was demarcated by a high raised embankment carrying the Brighton Main Line railway. The northern boundary of Friars Oak Fields met agricultural countryside. Access points to Friars Oak Fields were all located at the southern boundary.

Contents

in 2019, Developer Rydon Homes has since been granted planning permission for 130 plus residential homes for the land at north of Shepherds Walk, Hassocks with access from London Road and a pedestrian tunnel under the railway line. A previous application for the same site, with a footbridge instead of a tunnel, was rejected by Mid Sussex District Council in 2018 as it conflicted with a number of policies in the district plan. The developer had appealed against this decision and inquiry was due to be held in September 2018. However, the council’s development control committee decided to grant outline permission by seven votes to four on Thursday, July 25, 2019. The decision brought an end to a long-running campaign by local residents to save the much loved green space from development.

South Downs National Park

The village of Hassocks straddles the border of the South Downs National Park and Friars Oak Fields are located just outside that border, [1] but have views of the National Park landmarks of Wolstonbury Hill and Clayton Windmills.

History

Excavations at Friars Oak at the end of the 20th Century revealed remains dating from the Mesolithic through to the Middle Saxon periods, including features from an early Roman settlement. [2] A footpath running north/south across the centre of the western fields follows the line of a Roman road which led ultimately to London. [3] A small triangular area adjacent to the southernmost field is named "Bullpit Field" reflecting its use for bull-baiting in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Literature

The Friars Oak Inn and Friars Oak Fields are used as a setting by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his novel "Rodney Stone". [4]

Related Research Articles

East Sussex County of England

East Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by the counties of Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey for a short distance to the north-west.

Epsom and Ewell Place in England

Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937. The district was considered for inclusion in Greater London in 1965 but was left unaltered by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974. However, despite being outside modern Greater London the borough was in the Metropolitan Police District until it was transferred to Surrey Police in 2000. In the May 2019 elections, the borough was held by the Epsom and Ewell Residents Association with 32 seats, Labour with 3 seats, Liberal Democrats with 2 seats, and Conservatives with 1 seat.

Chichester District Non-metropolitan district in England

Chichester is a local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in the city of Chichester and the district also covers a large rural area to the north.

Hailsham Human settlement in England

Hailsham is a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, where it is called Hamelesham. The town of Hailsham has a history of industry and agriculture.

Ditchling Human settlement in England

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 Human settlement in England

Hassocks is a large 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.

Preston Park railway station

Preston Park railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving Preston Village and the northern suburban areas of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is 49 miles 21 chains (79.3 km) down the line from London Bridge via Redhill and is situated between Hassocks and Brighton.

Hassocks railway station

Hassocks railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving the village of Hassocks, West Sussex. It is 43 miles 42 chains (70.0 km) down the line from London Bridge via Redhill and is situated between Burgess Hill and Preston Park. It is managed by Southern.

Barcombe Human settlement in England

Barcombe is an East Sussex village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex. The parish has four settlements: old Barcombe, the oldest settlement in the parish with the parish church; Barcombe Cross, the more populous settlement and main hub with the amenities and services; the hamlet of Spithurst in the north east and Town Littleworth in the north west.

Arlington, East Sussex Human settlement in England

Arlington is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The parish is on the River Cuckmere, and is the location for a medieval priory, a reservoir and car racetrack.

East Chiltington Human settlement in England

East Chiltington is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is centred four miles (5.9 km) south-east of Burgess Hill and five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes. It is a strip parish of 3.76 square miles (9.7 km2), stretching northward from the crest of the South Downs. The village church is 13th century in origin; the vicar also has charge of two churches in Plumpton. Near the church there is a pub called The Jolly Sportsman. The Sussex Greensand Way, a Roman road, runs from east to west through the centre of the parish.

Plumpton, East Sussex Human settlement in England

Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes. The parish measures 6.5 miles in length on its north–south axis and 1 mile at its widest on the B2116 Underhill Road. The southern half of the parish lies within the South Downs National Park and at the highest point, 214m (702 feet), the South Downs Way traverses the crest of Plumpton Plain. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton adjacent to the Downs and to the north the larger village of Plumpton Green where most of the community and services are based. Plumpton is probably best known for its race course, and also Plumpton College, which farms over 2500 acres of land and has become one of the leading centres for land-based education in the UK.

Westmeston Human settlement in England

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.

Streat Human settlement in England

Streat is a village and parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Burgess Hill and 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Lewes, within the South Downs National Park.

Mile Oak Human settlement in England

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.

Sussex Border Path Long-distance footpath following borders of Sussex, England

The Sussex Border Path is a long-distance footpath around the borders of Sussex, a historic county and former medieval kingdom in southern England. The main path is 150 miles (240 km) long and stays close to Sussex's borders with Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, connecting Thorney Island to Rye. There is also an additional 33-mile (53 km) spur known as the Mid Sussex Path which links East Grinstead with Fishersgate and Mile Oak on the western boundary of the city of Brighton and Hove.

Sussex Greensand Way Roman road in England

The Sussex Greensand Way is a Roman road that runs east-west linking the London to Lewes Way at Barcombe Mills to Stane Street at Hardham. The road, which has almost entirely fallen out of use, follows the free draining ridge of greensand which lies north of the South Downs. It is a planned route rather than a Romanised Iron Age track, following a few straight alignments without any steep gradients, which linked various north-south roads and tracks. A number of important Roman villas and their farming estates were linked by the road. It is not known at what time during the Roman period the road was built.

London to Brighton Way Roman road in southern England

The London to Brighton Way, also called the London to Portslade Way, is a Roman road between Stane Street at Kennington Park and Brighton in Sussex. The road passes through Streatham and Croydon, then through the Caterham Valley gap in the North Downs. It passes through Godstone and Felbridge, then follows an almost straight line through Ardingly, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Hassocks to the South Downs at Clayton. At Hassocks it crosses the Sussex Greensand Way at a large Roman cemetery. It climbs the South Downs escarpment, crossing the ridgeway and connecting with other local tracks. South of Pyecombe the route is uncertain, and may have continued to Brighton or to Portslade.

History of Worthing

Worthing is a large seaside town in Sussex, England in the United Kingdom. The history of the area begins in Prehistoric times and the present importance of the town dates from the 19th century.

Pixham Human settlement in England

Pixham is a chapelry within the parish of Dorking, Surrey on the near side of the confluence of the River Mole and the Pipp Brook to its town, Dorking, which is centred 1 km (0.6 mi) southwest. The town as a whole, uniquely in Surrey, has three railway stations; Pixham adjoins or is the location of two of the three; and is near the junction of the A24 and A25 main roads.

References

  1. ↑ "South Downs National Park Authority, neighbourhood area designations" (PDF).[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ Saxon Settlement and Earlier Remains at Friars Oak, Hassocks, West Sussex. British Archaeological Reports (BAR) British. 4 Apr 2000. ISBN   978-1841710525.
  3. ↑ Margary, Ivan D (1948). Roman Ways in the Weald. Littlehampton Book Services Ltd. p. 296. ISBN   978-0460077422.
  4. ↑ "Rodney Stone at Project Gutenberg".

Coordinates: 50°55′59″N0°08′41″W / 50.933169°N 0.144654°W / 50.933169; -0.144654

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.