Pett is a village and

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 authority ...

in the

Rother Rother may refer to: General *Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther) *Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England *Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England *Rother Kup ...

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 Su ...

, England. The village is located north-east of

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

on the edge of Pett Level, the one-time marshes stretching along the coast of Rye Bay. The road through the village leads down to the second village in the parish:

Pett Level Pett is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Rother District, Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-east of Hastings on the edge of Pett Level, the one-time marshes stretching along the co ...

, the coastal part of which is known as ''Cliff End''. Here there is a beach and, as the name suggests, the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

cliffs reach their easternmost point. Pett Level marks the end of both the

Royal Military Canal The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh, which was constructed as a defence against the possible invasion of England du ...

and the western end of the 1940s sea defence wall. The

Saxon Shore Way The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the ...

passes through Pett Level. Pett parish church is dedicated to St Mary and St Peter. Pett also has a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel, and a small

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church at Cliff End.

History

The manor of Pett belonged to a succession of families, including the Halle family, the

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...

family, the Fletchers and the Medleys, before eventually passing to the

Earls of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool, Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King ...

Landmarks

There is 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 of ...

partly within the parish.

Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach Hastings Country Park was formed in 1974 and covers east of Hastings in England. Sandstone cliffs, glens covered with gorse and trees, footpaths, nature trails, picnic areas and ample car parking are some of the features at the country park. Set ...

runs along the coast and is of both biological and geological interest. The cliffs hold many fossils and have many habitats, including ancient woodland and shingle beaches. These include a sunken forest, a warship which is thought to have sank in 1690, a lost series of

Martello tower Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up ...

s and at Cliff End the beach has some fossils and some dinosaur footprints from the

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

Sunken forest

A sunken forest that can be seen in the sand at low tide in the shore opposite the levels. It is a relic of a past 8000 years ago when sea levels were about 100 ft (30m) lower than today. The melting of glaciers has since raised the sea level worldwide. The forest can be seen as spongy wooden roots , fallen trunks and tree stumps across large areas in the sand. Sea conditions may bury the remains in sand from time to time until uncovered again by storms. The trees have been identified as oak, birch and hazel.

Wreck of HMS Anne

HMS ''Anne'' was a 70-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, launched in 1678. She was badly damaged at the Battle of Beachy Head on 30 June 1690. Her captain beached her here and she was set on fire to prevent capture by the French. Her remains were discovered when the vessel was partly dug up by a mechanical excavator in 1974. The wreck is usually exposed by low tides which are below 0.6m above the

chart datum A chart datum is the water level surface serving as origin of depths displayed on a nautical chart. A chart datum is generally derived from some tidal phase, in which case it is also known as a tidal datum. Common chart datums are ''lowest astr ...

(Dover). She lies in sand on a firm clay substrate on top of the prehistoric submerged forest. An explanatory panel is placed opposite her location on the sea wall.

In popular culture

Pett Level beach was the filming location for parts of the video of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's 1980 number one hit single " Ashes to Ashes."

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

filmed the beach scenes for his 1966 TV film of ''Alice in Wonderland'' at Pett Level. Sir

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

played the Mock Turtle and

Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romfo ...

was the Gryphon.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in East Sussex Civil parishes in East Sussex Rother District