The nave is severely plain in
the older style; the chancel shows some untouched and very beautiful
workmanship. The east window is Geometrical, as are several in the
nave, others are Decorated and, in the transept, Perpendicular. Note
the old font which was evidently at one time coloured; also the aumbry,
piscina and sedile. The chalk arches are finely worked. In the village
are several old timber houses, including one said to have been
inhabited by Anne of Cleves.
A walk of about two miles past Wick Farm or by Westmeston, over half a
mile farther, brings the traveller to the summit of this section of the
Downs--Ditchling Beacon (813 feet). Until more accurate surveys were
made this was supposed to be the highest point of the whole range.
"This most commanding down is crowned with the grassy mound and
trenches of an ancient earthwork, from whence there is a noble view of
hill and plain. The inner slope of the green fosse is inclined at an
angle pleasant to recline on, with the head just below the edge, in the
summer sunshine. A faint sound as of a sea heard in a dream--a sibilant
'sish, sish'--passes along outside, dying away and coming again as a
fresh wave of the wind rushes through the bennets and the dry grass.
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