Willingdon and Jevington is one of the

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 ...

es in 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 Date:2009. The two villages lie one mile (1.6 km) south of

Polegate Polegate is a town and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It ...

. The two parishes, two decades ago, were separate; the merger of the two has produced a parish of over 7,000 people. Willingdon is part of the built-up area which is

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 ...

, and lies on the main

A22 road A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

, whilst

Jevington Willingdon and Jevington is one of the civil parishes in 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 Date:2009. The t ...

is on a minor road leading to Friston. In addition under the name of Willingdon it is also an electoral ward.

The villages

Willingdon

Willingdon ancient

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

stretched across the entire north of the town of Eastbourne, reaching 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 ...

at Langney Point. It included Hampden Park, now also part of the Eastbourne area. See map here: Willingdon was the base for the local village of the same name in George Orwell's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

''. The Red Lion Inn is also a real place in the village. Willingdon is in fact two villages, (Upper Willingdon and Lower Willingdon). The Red Lion pub, Willingdon Village - geograph

The Red Lion pub, Willingdon Village - geograph

Jevington

Jevington lies on a minor road between

and Friston. The Jevington

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

is dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

, and contains Saxon elements (including a tower) as well as many other

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

architectural features, including a 14th-century font. A rare elm cultivar 'Serpentina' grows in the grounds.Johnson, O. (1998). ''The Sussex Tree Book''. Pomegranate Press, The parish takes in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Filching and also

Wannock Willingdon and Jevington is one of the civil parishes in 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 Date:2009. The ...

The village

pub 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 was ...

is called The Eight Bells. The Hungry Monk restaurant claimed fame as the birthplace of

banoffee pie Banoffee pie is a British dessert pie made from bananas, whipped cream and a thick caramel sauce (made from boiled condensed milk, or dulce de leche), combined either on a buttery biscuit base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter. Some ...

, though it is now closed and has been turned into cottages. Tapsell gate in the churchyard of St

Wannock

Wannock below 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 ...

between the villages of

and Jevington. It has a village hall, but no church, pub or shops. It has 300 suburban homes, mainly bungalows housing elderly residents. There were once two tea gardens in Wannock which were popular with coach parties visiting from nearby

. A dance hall stood on stilts over the local beauty spot of Wannock Glen. Wannock may be a Saxon place name; according to one source, Wannock supposedly contains the element "Wan" from "Woden" Wannock is mentioned 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 ...

(1086) and in an Napoleonic assessment/inventory of the British south coast defences. There is a manor Wannock Place, two medieval cottages and a cottage which was a watermill. One medieval cottage is called "Stream Cottage", the other medieval cottage is owned by Nigel Waterson, former local MP. The area was once known for its walnut groves and some house gardens still contain walnut trees.

Filching

Filching lies at the other end of the Wannock Glen from Wannock along the Polegate to Friston road. It consists of a few houses, Gibby's Tea Gardens, a chalk quarry and a medieval manor house. Filching Manor was built around 1450. Filching Manor Motor Museum is the home of

Blue Bird K3 ''Blue Bird K3'' is a hydroplane powerboat commissioned in 1937 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, to rival the Americans' efforts in the fight for the world water speed record. She set three world water speed records, first on Lake Maggiore in Septem ...

, the last remaining intact

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

boat – a Rolls-Royce engined speedboat driven by

Sir Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a ...

to take the World Water Speed Record in 1937. This is the only world record boat surviving intact. A long term restoration project is ongoing. The museum also has Bluebird Electric 2 vehicle on display. Filching Manor is also the site of the annual Jevington Fête, and it houses a public karting track (the Campbell Circuit) in the grounds for arrive-and-drive sessions, and other race events.

Landmarks

The parish contains Folkington Reservoir, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), although the village of Folkington lies in the neighbouring Long Man parish. Folkington Reservoir is a covered reservoir built within the chalk of the South Downs. Its surrounding area contains a diverse chalk flora including the protected hairy mallow '' Althaea hirsuta''.

Other notes

The Polegate

Airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

Station was in the parish between July 1915 and April 1919.Polegate Airship Station
/ref> The Labour cabinet minister George Brown lived in the area and when elevated to the peerage became Lord George-Brown of Jevington. Willingdon and Jevington is said to be the real-life setting of George Orwell's novel ''

''.

References

{{Wealden Civil parishes in East Sussex Wealden District