The TittyWittering Challenge Points of Interest along the route WOOLBEDING COMMON Woolbeding Common is managed by the National Trust. It was made a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1998 for the heathland habitat which supports some rare birds, such as nightjars, woodlark and the Dartford warbler. Dartford Warbler - Sylvia undata Nightjar - Caprimulgus europaeus It is also one of our most threatened habitats with over 80% of the heathland in West Sussex lost in the last 200 years. I read somewhere that 5% of all Northern Europe’s heathland is in this part of South East England. One of the reasons they are spending nearly £400 million building a road tunnel on the A3 at Hindhead. Lowland heathland is an ancient habitat that was created thousands of years ago by the activities of man. The original wild wood was cleared during the Bronze Age for timber and grazing livestock. Nutrients then leached from the exposed sandy soil and created conditions suitable for heather and other heathland plants. Woolbeding is a dangerous place. Look at 2 of its inhabitants !! Evarcha arcuata Eumenes coarctatus Latreille STEDHAM HALL The Hall, north of the church, is a building of stone and timber-framing dating from about the middle of the 16th century but with later alterations, enlargements, and renovations. The original house was of H-shaped plan facing south-east; the north-east wing was lengthened in the 17th century for a kitchen, now the dining-room, and then or subsequently the space between the wings behind the main block was filled in and the stair-hall added against the kitchen. A wing, with the present kitchen and offices, extends north-eastwards from the former kitchen: the lower two stories of stone are said to be ancient (17th-century?). The top story of timber framing is modern. The detached old brewhouse south-east of this range has been remodelled. The south-east front of the main house has wings projecting about 5 ft. The lower story is of ashlar, mostly restored but ancient below the chamfered plinth. The middle doorway has a four-centred head with a square label; the windows are mullioned and have transoms. The upper story is of restored timber framing and has mullioned oak windows with wing lights to the upper halves. The windows to the wings project on shaped brackets, and the gable heads are jettied. The north-east and south-west sides have the old masonry to the lower story and projecting chimney-stacks. The south-west has restored timber-framing to the upper story, but on the other it is replaced by modern brickwork. The upper brickwork of the south-west chimney- stacks is old, but the diagonal shafts have been rebuilt. At the back end is a small modern porch-wing. The north-west end of the south-west wing has a jettied upper story and projecting gable-head, all more or less restored. Several of the fire-places are ancient. That to the middle hall is of brick with moulded jambs and a four-centred arch in a square head. In the back wall of the room is an old stone doorway. The north-east fire-place is of stone, with chamfered jambs and a four-centred arch; the south-western, in the drawing-room, probably the oldest, is also of stone, with moulded jambs having moulded bases and an arched and square head. The dining-room (former kitchen) has a 9 ft.wide fire-place with restored stone jambs and the old stop-chamfered cambered oak bressummer. This room is lined with early- 17th-century panelling. The old ceiling-beams, where exposed, are square. A dressing-room over the drawing-room is lined with a high dado of panelling, said to be dated 1628 at the back and formerly in the drawing-room. The main staircase may incorporate some late-17th-century material. It has 6-in.-square newels with moulded heads, and 3-in. turned balusters. A stone with the date 1519, brought from elsewhere, is reset in the north-eastern extension. MIDHURST A market town in West Sussex with a population of around 5,000. An ancient and picturesque town on the River Rother which Country Life Magazine rated the second best place in England to live. Although steeped in history it is home to a thriving business community with many pubs & restaurants, shopping, services and 2 large hotels, within the town boundary, plus a multitude of services and businesses in the vicinity. Midhurst is a 'crossroads' for the 'east-west' A272 running from East Sussex to Hampshire and the 'north-south' A286 bringing traffic from Guildford and London down to Chichester and the coast. Both these roads merging into one on North Street before splitting into their respective routes. There are over 100 listed buildings in the town with many in the older areas around Red Lion street, West street and Duck Lane, which later expanded towards North street, supported on 15th and 16th century wooden frames. The Angel hotel on North Street was the main posting inn for the mail coaches, here the pilgrim fathers stopped prior to their epic journey. At the far end of North Street is the largest school, up until January 2009 The Midhurst Grammar, founded in 1672. Although referred to as a Grammar School, it had, for many years, been a modern comprehensive. HG Wells attended the school, living and working in the town which is the backdrop to many of his stories. Amid much controversy, the school has now become the Midhurst Rother College and welcomed students on Wednesday 7th January 2009 for the first day of term. The college has united the Grammar, Midhurst Intermediate and Herbert Shiner Schools. Opposite the 'Grammar' along a causeway is the 'Cowdray ruins' built around 1520 and destroyed by fire in 1793. This area recently underwent large scale restoration. The History of Cowdray House Cowdray House was once a magnificent Tudor mansion of great social, political, historical and archaeological significance. It was home to the Viscounts Montague, great men of the Courts of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, both of whom stayed there. The Montague family were prominent Catholics and their connection with Guy Fawkes, who was employed within the household in his youth, resulted in a heavy fine and 40 weeks’ imprisonment in the Tower of London for the 2nd Viscount Montague after the discovery of the Gunpowder plot in 1605. In the late 18th century Cowdray Park was landscaped by Capability Brown. During the civil war, Cowdray House was sequestrated by the Parliamentarians and converted into a barrack for the Roundheads. It remained in the possession of the family, however, until its destruction and the fabled fulfilment of the Cowdray Curse in 1793. The Montagues owed their wealth to the Dissolution of the Monasteries and, according to legend, one of the monks banished from Battle Abbey prophesised that, 'By fire and water thy line shall come to an end, and it shall perish out of the land.' The 8th Viscount Montague drowned in the Rhine in 1793, the same year the house was destroyed by an accidental fire. The last two sons of the Montague dynasty were drowned in a boating accident in 1815 and the house was never rebuilt. THE TRUNDLE - ST. ROCHE'S HILL From Tryndel (Old English circle) Notes: The Trundle is the name of the hillfort crowning the hill, though its name, meaning a circle, is actually a misnomer as the fort is built of several straight sections. Introduction St. Roche's hill in West Sussex is a lone hill that rises to 206 feet and commands an excellent view all round. The hill is famous for the Iron-Age hillfort on its summit, called the Trundle, which has also caused the hill itself to be named 'Trundle Hill'. The history of the hill can be traced back to the Paleolithic, as will be seen from the section on archaeology, but successive generations have built on the hill for one reason or another. Before the hillfort was a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure, whilst following the construction of the Iron-Age hillfort, the hill was occupied, probably into the Romano-British period. More modern buildings include a chapel and a windmill, both now gone, leaving a pair of radio masts to take advantage of the height of the hill. It is not known whether the hillfort was used defensively at the time it was built, but the hill was used by the Clubmen in the 17th century and as a beacon site to warn against attack by the French, which was lit in 1745, causing much alarm in the surrounding countryside. The parish boundary of Lavant and Singleton heads East-West past the camp, heading around the south side of the rampart before heading off on its previous course. There is good evidence that this boundary goes back to at least 725CE, when it is mentioned in a charter where Nunna, King of Sussex grants land to the Bishop of Selsey The Clubmen In 1645, a large number of the political movement known as 'The Clubmen' used the hill as a military base. The clubmen used commoners weapons and fought both the Royalists and the Parlimentarians when they came to plunder the lands of the common people. It is recorded that there was "divers outrageous proceedings of 1000 Clubmen at Rowkeshill", though they dispersed back to their homes after they heard that the Hampshire Clubmen had been defeated near Winchester by the Parlimentarians). The Chapel St. Roche's Hill takes its name from the chapel dedicated to the saint that used to stand on the summit of the hill.