Berwick (pronounced or, more recently, ) 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Wealden district of

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

in England. The village lies immediately to the south of the

A27 road The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 road, A36 at Whiteparish (near Salisbury, England, Salisbury) in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevense ...

between

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

and Polegate, about three miles (4.8 km) west of the latter. The parish is located in the River Cuckmere

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

, north of the ''

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England 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 ...

.'' The place-name 'Berwick' is here 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Berewice''. The name means 'corn farm'. There are two public houses in the parish: the ''Berwick Inn'' near the railway station, and ''The Cricketers'', in the village itself. The village also has an example of a "K6" red telephone box.

Berwick Church

Part of the United

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Arlington, Berwick, Selmeston-with- Alciston and Wilmington, the church dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, is a Grade 1

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Built on what may be a pre-Christian sacred site, the church dates back at least to the 12th century, although the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

frontage appears to be earlier. Additions were made in the 14th century, and a tower built in 1603, originally with a spire. The building suffered in the 18th century, losing its spire to lightning on 8 August 1773. Several Victorian leaded windows were damaged by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

bombs on 17 October 1944. They were replaced by clear glass, unusual in churches, for fear of further damage. However, some of the church's stained-glass windows survived. The clear-glass windows help to illuminate the church's unique murals. Partly inspired by the pre-

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

practice of decorating churches with murals, these were painted in 1941 by Duncan Grant,

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

, and Quentin Bell, of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

. The murals depict local people, sometimes in period clothes, but set in biblical scenes.

Berwick Station

Berwick Station is a small settlement that has grown up around Berwick railway station. Located about two miles (3.2 km) north of the main village of Berwick, Berwick Station includes a garage and a pub called the Berwick Inn (previously The Fullers' Arms). The Vanguard Way, which links

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

and Newhaven, runs through the village. Berwick railway station lies on the East Coastway Line between Glynde and Polegate railway stations.

Berwick industry

The Ludlay Brick and Tile Company comprised a clay pit and a brick-works. The works were established by 1880 and were close to Berwick Church. The two were linked by a 2' gauge tramway. Until about 1950 bricks were only made during the summer because it was not possible to dry them in winter. Some work was done during winter, digging clay and piling it up to 'weather'. The works closed in 1965, remaining derelict for 54 years and a dense forest grew around it, until Firle Estate blocked off the path through the derelict building and cut down all the trees.

Long-distance walks and countryside

The Vanguard Way, a long-distance walk, goes through the village, and the South Downs Way passes along the Downs just above it. Walkers often stop and travel down into the village. A common walk in this area is to start at the village car park, walk down the road known as The Village, past Church Farm and the tyre heap, and on to the dilapidated New Barn, just a few years ago an important store for hay from the surrounding fields, but now falling apart. This building is made of attractive red-rusting iron and next to it is an old stone farmhouse - currently unused and overgrown with plants, but in good condition, it is home to wood warblers in the summer and grey wagtails often feed by it. The hedgerows in this area are excellent for bird life and a lot of

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s can be seen hopping around. Walks can continue from the New Barn up along a shaded avenue to a large hedgerow full of

blackberries BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

in autumn. From here there is a winding path up onto the Downs and this is where the walker meets the South Downs Way. One can then continue into Alfriston. The area at the end of this walk is home to

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

es.

References

External links

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