__NOTOC__ Long Man 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, which includes the villages of Wilmington, Milton Street and Folkington. The parish is named after the Long Man of Wilmington, 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 ...

in the parish. The parish extends far from the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

of the modest

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 ...

where it starts to cut through 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 ...

; the Cuckmere Valley lies immediately south. The A27 trunk road crosses the parish from west to east. The

Wealdway The Wealdway, Kent and East Sussex, is a public footpath that runs for 83 miles / 134 km from Gravesend, Kent on the Thames estuary, to the A259 at Eastbourne, 3 km north of Beachy Head.The Wealdway 80 miles long distance footpath, 1981, pu ...

long distance footpath also passes through the parish.

Settlements

Wilmington

Wilmington is about 6 miles north-west 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 ...

in East Sussex. In the village there is the 12th-century Parish Church of St Mary and St Peter; adjoining it are the ruins of the 12th-century

Wilmington Priory Wilmington Priory was a Benedictine priory in the civil parish of Long Man, East Sussex, England. The surviving building is now owned by the Landmark Trust and let as holiday accommodation. It is both a Grade I listed building and a scheduled mon ...

. The local

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 ...

is ''The Giant's Rest''. The Wishing Well Tea Gardens are some of the oldest in Sussex, established 1900. The hotel ''Crossways'' is an archetypal Georgian brick and stone house, once home to the parents of international culinary guru,

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

. The place-name 'Wilmington' is first attested 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 manus ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Wineltone'' and ''Wilminte''. It appears as ''Wilmetun'' in 1212 in the '' Book of Fees''. The name means 'the town or settlement of Wighelm's or Wilhelm's people'.

Folkington

Folkington village lies beyond a green buffer, east of Wilmington. The church is dedicated to St Peter ad Vincula. Current and former residents include broadcaster

David Dimbleby David Dimbleby (born 28 October 1938) is an English journalist and former presenter of current affairs and political programmes, best known for having presented the BBC topical debate programme ''Question Time''. He is the son of broadcaster ...

and Bridget Monckton, 11th Lady Ruthven of Freeland.

Milton Street

This hamlet is home to the Sussex Ox pub. Milton Street was the setting of an episode of ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' in which determined efforts are made to extinguish the sun.

Landmarks

Milton Gate Marsh, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies within the parish. It is a wetland area of biological importance for invertebrates and breeding birds. Amongst the fauna found here is the nationally rare hoverfly ''Cheilosia chrysocoma''. Another SSSI is Wilmington Downs, which is of biological interest as an area of rare chalk grassland. The area is also of archaeological interest as it contains the Long Man chalk figure.

Governance

The lowest level of government is the Long Man parish council which meets once a month; is responsible for local amenities such as the provision of litter bins, bus shelters and allotments. They also provide a voice into the district council meetings. For elections, the parish is divided into three wards, Wilmington (four seats), Milton Street (two seats) and Folkington (one seat). Wealden District Council is the second tier of local government with services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. Long Man is in the East Dean ward, along with the Friston and Cuckmere Valley parishes. The single seat was won in the May 2007 election by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate. East Sussex County Council is the top tier of local government, providing education, libraries, social services and highways. Long Man falls within the Polegate, Willingdon and East Dean division which elects two councillors. At Westminster (General Elections) the relevant seat is Lewes.

References

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