Cuckmere Valley is a

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. As its name suggests, the parish consists of a number of small settlements in the lower reaches of the

River Cuckmere The River Cuckmere rises near Heathfield in East Sussex, England on the southern slopes of the Weald. The name of the river probably comes from an Old English word meaning "fast-flowing", since it descends over 100 m (328 ft) in its ...

The settlements

There are three villages in the Cuckmere Valley: Litlington, Lullington and Westdean. Archaeological remains nearer the coast at Exceat suggest a further settlement there in former times. The civil parish of Cuckmere Valley was created in 1990 when Litlington, Lullington and Westdean parishes were abolished, with small areas transferred between Litlington and Alfriston, which remained a separate civil parish.

Litlington

Littlington Horse, East Sussex, England - May 2009

The name is Saxon, and probably indicates Litl's homestead. The twelfth- century church is dedicated to

St Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

the Archangel. Maria Fitzherbert (1756–1837), mistress of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, lived at Clapham House in the village. In 1924 a

chalk figure A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and r ...

of a horse was cut into the downs to the west of the village, replacing one cut in the 19th century. The village inn is the Plough and Harrow.

Lullington

Lullington is the most northerly of the three, about southeast of Lewes. It lies on a shoulder of 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 ...

at the point where the

cuts through the downs, on the opposite bank of the river to

Alfriston Alfriston is a village and civil parish in the East Sussex district of Wealden, England. The village lies in the valley of the River Cuckmere, about four miles (6 km) north-east of Seaford and south of the main A27 trunk road and part ...

. A medieval village, Lullington Court, was abandoned after the Black Death in the 14th century; its site was to the east of the present Lullington. The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, dedicated to the Good Shepherd, is believed to be the smallest in England, having been rebuilt using only the original chancel after a fire had destroyed the remainder of the building. Services are held only in the summer months, as the building has no electricity.

Exceat

Exceat (pronounced ex-seat) was an ancient village. The

A259 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 F ...

goes by it just east of the River Cuckmere. The name may have come from ''æc-sceat'', an oak grove, or from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for "the place of the Aese", early kings of

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 ...

whilst another etymology is possible from Brittonic ''wysg'' meaning water or river (or possibly "''esgair'' meaning ridge) and ''ceat'' meaning woods, hence "Wooded River" or "Wooded Ridge". 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 ...

, the village was given to Robert, Count of Mortain, half brother of

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 ...

. Both Exceat and the land were given later to ''Grestein Priory'' in Wilmington. Until the 14th century, Exceat was an important village with its own church. The village suffered French raids; it suffered many fatalities during the Black Death, as was effectively abandoned by the 15th century. The main features are the Visitors Centre for the nearby Seven Sisters and the Cuckmere Inn

Public House A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

across Exceat Bridge over the Cuckmere.

West Dean

West Dean (or Westdean) is located on the edge of Friston Forest. Its church is dedicated to All Saints.

Landmarks

The

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

owns land on the western side of the river south of the

. In addition, there are three

Sites 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 ...

within the parish; Seaford to Beachy Head, Wilmington Downs and Lullington Heath. Seaford to Beachy Head is a large site of biological and geological importance. The area contains a wide variety of habitats based on the chalk bedrock, which hosts a wide range of flora and fauna, including some nationally rare species. Wilmington Downs is another area of biological interest; its chalk grassland is habitat for several rare species. Lullington Heath is also of biological interest due to its

chalk heath Chalk heath is a rare habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, formed of a paradoxical mixture of shallow-rooted calcifuge ("calcium-hating") and deeper-rooted calcicole ("calcium-loving") plants, growing on a thin lay ...

and grassland habitats.

References

{{Wealden Civil parishes in East Sussex Deserted medieval villages in East Sussex Wealden District Archaeological sites in East Sussex