Telscombe 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 ...

and electoral ward (called East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs) with the status of a town in the

Lewes District Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, Seaford and Tel ...

of East Sussex, England. It consists of three distinct settlements, separated from each other by an open area of downland called Telscombe Tye. Telscombe village is a small village on 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 ...

, six miles (10 km) south of Lewes. It includes the parish church, with origins dating back to the 10th century. The village has a population of fewer than 50 people. The parish retains its ancient boundaries, which reach from the village to the coast, and the major part of the population is in the two coastal settlements. At the eastern end of the parish, about 4500 people live at Telscombe Cliffs, developed in the 20th century effectively as an extension of the town of

Peacehaven Peacehaven is a town and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. It is located above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs approximately six miles () east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road. Its site coincides with th ...

over the town boundary. At the western end, the remaining 2500 population forms part of the community of

Saltdean Saltdean is a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove, with part (known as East Saltdean) outside the city boundary in Lewes district. Saltdean is approximately east of central Brighton, west of Newhaven, and south of Lewes. It is ...

, the remainder of Saltdean being within the city of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

. In 1929, thanks to the growth in population, Telscombe gained a parish council: in 1974 it became a town, with a mayor. The new

civic centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

in Telscombe Cliffs came into use in 2000. The

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great ...

crosses the northeast corner of Telscombe parish. The town has a school, Telscombe Cliffs Primary. The parish includes part of the Brighton to Newhaven Cliffs Site of Special Scientific Interest. The cliffs are mainly of geological interest, containing many

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya (million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 mya. ...

and

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campani ...

fossils. The SSSI listing includes

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

biological interest too.

History

The manor of Telscombe is recorded as early as the 10th century, when it was given by King Edgar to the minster of Hyde, and remained in those hands until the

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

in 1538. The manor and village passed through many hands in the following centuries; in 1900 James Andrew Harman became Lord of the Manor, and in 1924 it was acquired by Charles Willam Neville (born Charles William Neville Ussher in 1881), the developer who had founded

in 1916. The village was part of the Holmstrow hundred until the abolition of hundreds in the 19th century.

Telscombe Village

Although the ancient village of Telscombe is located less than two miles (3 km) from the coast, there is no public road linking the village with the coastal part of the parish. The byway was closed to all traffic in 2015. The village is found at the end of a winding

dead end Dead End or dead end may refer to: * Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''. Film and television * ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...

road leaving the Lewes—Newhaven road at Southease. Telscombe is a small cluster of buildings around a church dedicated to St Laurence. It is a 10th-century foundation with a 13th-century font, largely rebuilt and decorated in the 20th century. The manor house was for many years used as Judge's Lodgings, occupied when High Court judges were sitting at

Lewes Crown Court Lewes Crown Court is a Crown Court venue in Lewes High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England. It forms part of the Lewes Combined Court Centre which it shares with Lewes County Court. The building, which was known as the "County Hall" from an earl ...

. This practice was controversial because of the costs of providing and maintaining this accommodation, including the employment of butlers and other staff, and was phased out by the Labour government from 2001. The cost of the Telscombe lodgings was put at £147,893.

Telscombe Tye

Telscombe Tye is an area of open land with the status of common, extending from Telscombe village to the coast. The Tye forms a natural break between the settlements of Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs/Peacehaven, and marks the eastern end of a continuously built up area (''Greater Brighton'') from Shoreham in West Sussex. The Tye is contained within the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamp ...

, and is one of the few places where the park boundary reaches the seafront. As designated common, the land was unenclosed and on a map dated 1811 is shown as "Sheep Down" on which local stockholders had grazing rights. One such landowner in the early 20th century was Ambrose Gorham. He managed a

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...

and trained racehorses, including the 1902

winner Winner(s) or The Winner(s) may refer to: * Champion, the victor in a game or contest *The successful social class in winner and loser culture Film * ''The Winner'' (1926 film), an American silent film starring Billy Sullivan * ''The Winner'' ...

of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

. On his death in 1933 he bequeathed his property in the village in trust to be administered by the Brighton Corporation, stating in the trust deed: At this time Neville, the developer of Peacehaven owned the Tye itself, while the trustees of Gorham's Gift owned the rights of common: a situation which led to frequent disputes. In January 1979 the land was registered as common under the Commons Registration Act, and in 1989 the Tye was put up for auction by the Neville family (Charles Neville had died in 1960) and purchased by Telscombe Town Council.

Governance

Telscombe Town Council consists of 13 elected councillors, five representing East Saltdean and eight from Telscombe Cliffs. Elections are held every four years and, as in neighbouring Peacehaven town council, are contested by candidates of the main political parties. The town is represented by three councillors on

Lewes District Council Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of the ...

. Telscombe and Peacehaven jointly form the Peacehaven & Telscombe Towns electoral division which elects two councillors to the East Sussex

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

. Telscombe is in the

Brighton Kemptown Brighton Kemptown, often referred to as Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven by local political parties, is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour Co-op MP. The constit ...

constituency for the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

References

External links

Telscombe Town website

Friends of Telscombe Tye
{{authority control Towns in East Sussex Civil parishes in East Sussex Populated coastal places in East Sussex