Pevensey ( ) 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 authorit ...
in the
Wealden district of
East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of
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 la ...
, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part of the parish. It was here that
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
made the landing in his
invasion of England in 1066 after crossing 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 Kana ...
from
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
.
Geography
Pevensey is situated on a spur of sand and clay, about above sea level. In Roman times this spur was a peninsula that projected into a tidal lagoon and marshes. A small river, Pevensey Haven, runs along the north side of the peninsula and would originally have discharged into the lagoon, but is now largely silted up.
The lagoon extended inland as far north as
Hailsham
Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of 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 Da ...
and eastwards to
Hooe. With the effect of
longshore drift this large bay was gradually cut off from the sea by shingle, so that today's marshes are all that remain behind the shingle beach.
The marshes, known as the
Pevensey Levels
Pevensey Levels is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Bexhill-on-Sea and Hailsham in East Sussex. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a Ramsar site and a Special Area of Conservation. An area of is a nati ...
, cover an area of around . The marshes are a
Site of Special Scientific Interest and a large nature reserve, jointly owned by
Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...
and the
Sussex Wildlife Trust
The Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a conservation charity which aims to protect natural life in Sussex. It was founded in 1961 and is one of 46 wildlife trusts across the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. , it has 33,000 members and manages ...
. There are many nationally rare plants and invertebrates, including the
fen raft spider
The great raft spider or fen raft spider (''Dolomedes plantarius'') is a European species of spider in the family Pisauridae. Like other ''Dolomedes'' spiders, it is semiaquatic, hunting its prey on the surface of water. It occurs mainly in neutr ...
. The site is very fragile and general access is not permitted.
Pevensey is also the start point of the
1066 Country Walk which is a
long-distance footpath
A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-cou ...
covering many historical sites in the area.
Pevensey Bay
The settlement of Pevensey Bay lies behind and on the shingle beach. Although small, it is nevertheless a seaside resort in miniature and has many of the facilities of its larger counterparts elsewhere. It is a clay bay, making it susceptible to erosion over time. The shingle beach at Pevensey Bay provides an important defence against flooding and storm damage from the sea for a large area of low-lying land beyond. There are two Martello towers, constructed in 1806 as Napoleonic coastal defences. Before development commenced it was known as Wallsend; the 16th century Castle Hotel standing alone on the beach.
Name
The earliest evidence for the name ''Pevensey'' is in later copies of charters dated to 788 and 790, and the name occurs in a variety of forms, including ''Pefensea'', ''Pæfensea'' and ''Pævenisel''.
The name means "River of
man namedPefen" and derives from the Anglo-Saxon personal name ''Pefen'' plus ''eã'', "river", presumably a reference to the now largely silted-up Pevensey Haven. The spellings ''Pemse'' and ''Pemsey'' indicate the local pronunciation , .
History
Roman fort
By the 4th century AD the south and east of the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
was under frequent attack from marauding
barbarian tribes: including the
Jutes
The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nation ...
and
Saxons
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 ...
. To counter these attacks the Romans built a total of eleven
forts between
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
and the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
, now known as the ''
Saxon Shore Forts
The Saxon Shore ( la, litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Sho ...
''. The fort at Pevensey, built between AD 300 and 340, was named Anderitum. The earliest stone remains on the site date from the Roman period, including the outer
bailey wall. The sea washed over what is now Pevensey Marshes, surrounding the fort on three sides.
When the Roman army left Britain, the province was more vulnerable to attack, first by the
Jutes
The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nation ...
in east
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and the Romanised native Britons attempted to defend their island from attack. Following the Jutish example the Saxons began invading Britain in earnest. Around 491, Saxons, possibly led by
Ælle of Sussex
Ælle (also Aelle or Ella) is recorded in early sources as the first king of the South Saxons, reigning in what is now called Sussex, England, from 477 to perhaps as late as 514.
According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Ælle and three of hi ...
began to colonise the south coast and besieged Anderitum over a number of years. After a long struggle the British defences were overrun. Some remaining Britons on the south coast fled north, others emigrated by boat to what is now called
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
and the area became the Kingdom of the South Saxons, later called
Sussex. The old Roman fort of Anderida was burned and left derelict. For a while the ruined castle was known by the Saxons as Andredceaster and 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 ...
of southern England – which stretches 120 miles (200 km) from Anderida to
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
– was named Andredsweald, the Forest of Anderida.
The fort probably remained derelict until, in 1042,
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the ...
, later
Harold II of England
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the C ...
, established a stronghold here, improving fortifications by digging ditches within the walls of the fort. The English army remained at the fort during the summer of 1066 before abandoning it to meet the invading Norwegians further north.
When
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
invaded Sussex in September 1066 there were no defenders at Pevensey and the bay provided a safe haven for the invading fleet.
Castle
![Pevensey Sussex](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Pevensey_Sussex.jpg)
In late 1066 the Roman fort at Pevensey was occupied by the Normans; much of the Roman stonework still existing today is due largely to the work of
Robert, Count of Mortain (half brother to William), who was granted Pevensey Castle shortly after the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...
. Robert de Mortain used the remains as the base for building his castle, carrying out only minor repairs to the walls forming the outer bailey, and building a new inner bailey at the eastern end.
The castle was besieged several times during the 11th–13th centuries. An order by
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
that it be demolished and an attempt at demolition during the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
times were both unsuccessful: the order was ignored and only a few stones were removed on the two occasions. As late as 1942 small additions were made to the castle for the defence of Britain, when it was used to spot German aircraft during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Today the castle is in the upkeep of
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
Liberty of Pevensey
The
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
(or Lowey) of Pevensey was an ancient now obsolete
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...
, containing the parishes of
Westham and Pevensey. They were entirely within the Levels and together regarded as constituting part of the port 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 ...
, and consequently would be entitled to all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the
Cinque Ports and not part of the county of Sussex jurisdiction. This would have been the case until the system of hundreds as administration divisions was abandoned in the 19th century.
[
]
Other historic events
In the 16th century Pevensey became what was known as a "non-corporate limb" of the Hastings, as part of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports. Along with most of the other Ports, its importance dwindled as the ports themselves became disconnected from the sea: Pevensey was two miles (3.2 km) distant.
During the 18th and 19th centuries Pevensey Bay became involved in the south coast
smuggling trade, since it was one of the easier places to land the
contraband. In 1833 a violent clash occurred between the smugglers and customs men at Pevensey Bay.
Some of the more than 100
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 u ...
s were erected along the beaches of Pevensey Bay at the beginning of the 19th century against Napoleonic attack.
Governance
In 1207 the town was granted a royal charter by King John and was governed by Pevensey Corporation. With the decline in the town's importance by the 19th century, the Corporation was eventually dissolved in 1886 and the town lost its borough status. The records of the Corporation are held in the East Sussex Record Office at
Brighton, and a voluntary body, the Pevensey Town Trust, was formed to manage the property which had formerly belonged to the Corporation, most notably the Old Court House.
Pevensey is now a village, with a parish council consisting of twelve elected councillors. Three councillors are elected to the Wealden District Council to represent Pevensey; the Member of Parliament is
Huw Merriman
Huw William Merriman (born 13 July 1973) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexhill and Battle in East Sussex since the 2015 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Minister o ...
, who represents the
Bexhill and Battle Constituency, of which Pevensey is part. Pevensey is also part of the
electoral ward called Pevensey and Westham. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 9,467.
Religious buildings
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/St._Nicolas_Church%2C_Pevensey_%28restored%29.jpg)
Within the parish are
the Anglican parish church dedicated to
St Nicolas; St Wilfrid's church, Pevensey Bay; the Wesleyan
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 ...
church, the Pevensey Bay Free Church, and Holy Rood Catholic church, Pevensey Bay.
Historic buildings
Pevensey has 23 buildings of historic significance listed by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
including the Grade I listed St Nicolas church and the Grade II* listed Old Mint House. In 2022 the Old Mint House was added to English Heritage's list of buildings at risk of disrepair.
Transport
The
A259 road
The A259 is a road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and is the longest Zone 2 A road in Great Britain. The main part of the road connects Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Rye and Folke ...
passes through Pevensey. Two railway stations serve the area:
Pevensey and Westham and
Pevensey Bay
Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part of ...
.
Culture
Pevensey in the arts
*
J. M. W. Turner painted Pevensey Castle.
*Pevensey features several times in Rudyard Kipling's ''
Puck of Pook's Hill
''Puck of Pook's Hill'' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of ...
'' (1907). Kipling's characters describe it as "England's Gate", the reason for this being the above history. Kipling lived near to Pevensey at
Burwash
Burwash, archaically known as Burghersh, is a rural village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Situated in the High Weald of Sussex some 15 miles (24 km) inland from the port of Hastings, it is located five ...
, and the area is described in his autobiography.
*The fall of Anderitum, now Pevensey, in the final years of Roman occupation features in the 1875 novel ''Anderida: or the Briton and the Saxon, A. D. CCCCXLI'' by Thomas Burnside Crowther. He drew on the account in
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...
's ''
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. It traces Western civilization (as well as the Islamic and Mongolian conquests) from the height of the Roman Empire to th ...
''.
*Pevensey features in ''The Saxon Shore'' (1983), a book of photographs by photographer
Fay Godwin
Fay Godwin (17 February 1931 – 27 May 2005) was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast.
Career
Godwin was introduced to the London literary scene.[George Gissing
George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include '' The Nether World'' (1889), '' New Gr ...]
's 1887 novel ''Thyrza'', with an especially fine description in Chapter XLI, "The Living".
*Robert Sheldon composed ''Pevensey Castle'', published by
C.L. Barnhouse in 1993.
*Pevensey, and in particular Pevensey Bay, feature in the 1946 crime novel ''
Uneasy Terms'' by best selling author
Peter Cheyney
Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse-Cheyney (22 February 1896 – 26 June 1951) was a British crime fiction writer who flourished between 1936 and 1951. Cheyney is perhaps best known for his short stories and novels about agent/detective Lemmy C ...
. In Chapter 7 the hero, a private detective called
Slim Callaghan
Slim Callaghan is a fictional London-based private detective created by the writer Peter Cheyney. Like another of Cheyney's characters, the FBI agent Lemmy Caution, he was constructed as a British response to the more hardboiled detectives of Amer ...
, goes for a ride out on Pevensey Bay with the alluring murder suspect, Corinne Alardyse.
*The
Pevensies in the ''
Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...
'' stories were named after the town.
*Pevensey Bay was the landing place of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha in
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
's ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
''.
*Pevensey was the location of where comedian
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...
and other trainee soldiers we stationed during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and featured in Milligan's book ''
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall''.
Sport
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club
/ref> offers a variety of classes of boats: the club played a leading role in the development of the National 12 The National 12 is a two-person, two-sail, twelve-foot (3.6 metre) long sailing dinghy. They are sailed extensively in the UK. The class was started in 1936 by the Royal Yachting Association as an alternative to the more expensive International 14s ...
and Merlin Rocket
The Merlin Rocket is a dinghy sailed in the United Kingdom. It is an active class, now with over 3700 boats built.
The boat designed around a box rule, meaning that all class boats need to be within a certain length and width, but can be any sh ...
Development Class racing dinghies in the 1970s when it was the home club of Phil Morrison Phil Morrison may refer to:
* Phil Morrison (yacht designer) (born 1946), British yacht designer
* Phil Morrison (director), American film and television director
* Phil Morrison (driver) (born 1977), British race driver
* Phil Morrison (baseball ...
, the British yacht designer and father of Stevie Morrison
Stephen James "Stevie" Morrison (born 25 November 1978, in Eastbourne) is a successful British yachtsman who has enjoyed success in a classes from the International Cadet to the 49er. He is the son of Phil Morrison, the British yacht desi ...
, a British Olympic 49er sailor in the 2008 games. The village also has a village cricket team.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Villages in East Sussex
Beaches of East Sussex
Cinque ports
Civil parishes in East Sussex
Populated coastal places in East Sussex
Populated places established in the 4th century
Seaside resorts in England
Wealden District