Willingdon and Jevington is one of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

es in the Wealden District of

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. The two villages lie one mile (1.6 km) south of

Polegate Polegate is a town and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It ...

. The two parishes, two decades ago, were separate; the merger of the two has produced a parish of over 7,000 people. Willingdon is part of the built-up area which is

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

, and lies on the main

A22 road A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

, whilst

Jevington Willingdon and Jevington is one of the civil parishes in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. The t ...

is on a minor road leading to

Friston Friston is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is southeast of Saxmundham, its post town, and northwest of Aldeburgh. The River Alde bounds the village on the south. The surrounding ...

. In addition under the name of Willingdon it is also an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

The villages

Willingdon

Willingdon ancient

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

stretched across the entire north of the town of Eastbourne, reaching the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

at Langney Point. It included

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

, now also part of the Eastbourne area. See map here: Willingdon was the base for the local village of the same name in

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...

's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

''. The Red Lion Inn is also a real place in the village. Willingdon is in fact two villages, (Upper Willingdon and Lower Willingdon). The Red Lion pub, Willingdon Village - geograph

The Red Lion pub, Willingdon Village - geograph

Jevington

Jevington lies on a minor road between

and

. The Jevington

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

is dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

, and contains

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

elements (including a tower) as well as many other

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

features, including a 14th-century font. A rare elm cultivar 'Serpentina' grows in the grounds.Johnson, O. (1998). ''The Sussex Tree Book''. Pomegranate Press, The parish takes in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Filching and also

Wannock Willingdon and Jevington is one of the civil parishes in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. The ...

The village pub is called The Eight Bells. The Hungry Monk restaurant claimed fame as the birthplace of banoffee pie, though it is now closed and has been turned into cottages. Tapsell gate in the churchyard of St

Wannock

Wannock below the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

between the villages of

and Jevington. It has a village hall, but no church, pub or shops. It has 300 suburban homes, mainly bungalows housing elderly residents. There were once two tea gardens in Wannock which were popular with coach parties visiting from nearby

. A dance hall stood on stilts over the local beauty spot of Wannock Glen. Wannock may be a

place name; according to one source, Wannock supposedly contains the element "Wan" from "Woden" Wannock is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(1086) and in an Napoleonic assessment/inventory of the British south coast defences. There is a manor Wannock Place, two medieval cottages and a cottage which was a watermill. One medieval cottage is called "Stream Cottage", the other medieval cottage is owned by

Nigel Waterson Nigel Christopher Waterson (born 12 October 1950) is a British former politician. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Eastbourne from 1992 until 2010. Waterson was a junior minister in the government of John Major. He has been the c ...

, former local MP. The area was once known for its walnut groves and some house gardens still contain walnut trees.

Filching

Filching lies at the other end of the Wannock Glen from Wannock along the Polegate to Friston road. It consists of a few houses, Gibby's Tea Gardens, a chalk quarry and a medieval manor house. Filching Manor was built around 1450. Filching Manor Motor Museum is the home of

Blue Bird K3 ''Blue Bird K3'' is a hydroplane powerboat commissioned in 1937 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, to rival the Americans' efforts in the fight for the world water speed record. She set three world water speed records, first on Lake Maggiore in Septem ...

, the last remaining intact

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

boat – a Rolls-Royce engined speedboat driven by

Sir Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a ...

to take the World Water Speed Record in 1937. This is the only world record boat surviving intact. A long term restoration project is ongoing. The museum also has Bluebird Electric 2 vehicle on display. Filching Manor is also the site of the annual Jevington Fête, and it houses a public karting track (the Campbell Circuit) in the grounds for arrive-and-drive sessions, and other race events.

Landmarks

The parish contains Folkington Reservoir, a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI), although the village of Folkington lies in the neighbouring

Long Man __NOTOC__ Long Man is a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, which includes the villages of Wilmington, Milton Street and Folkington. The parish is named after the Long Man of Wilmington, a chalk figure in the parish. ...

parish. Folkington Reservoir is a covered reservoir built within the chalk of the South Downs. Its surrounding area contains a diverse chalk flora including the protected hairy mallow ''

Althaea hirsuta ''Althaea hirsuta'', the hairy marshmallow, is a species of annual herb in the family Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic i ...

''.

Other notes

The Polegate

Airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

Station was in the parish between July 1915 and April 1919.Polegate Airship Station
/ref> The Labour cabinet minister George Brown lived in the area and when elevated to the peerage became Lord George-Brown of Jevington. Willingdon and Jevington is said to be the real-life setting of

's novel ''

''.

References

{{Wealden Civil parishes in East Sussex Wealden District