BSumC21: Land and Sea, Hill and Plain, Ancient and Modern(e)

This event is intended for attendees at BIG Summer Camp 2021.

We'll reach the beach two thirds of the way round and have time to relax, go to the cafe and perhaps swim. The first part of the walk will go into the Downs to enjoy the cottagey cosiness of the village of Patching, the shady woodland nearby and the extensive view from Highdown Hill. (Incidentally, this hill is more prominent topographically than its height of 81m would suggest: both the Seven Sisters to the east and the Isle of Wight to the west may be seen.) The second part crosses the plain to the flint farms, vast villas and quiet beach of the exclusive Kingston Gorse and East Preston estates. The residents may live in huge neo-vernacular thatched cottages, but they once had their cars serviced at a 1930s moderne-style garage.

The sights:

Angmering: Built inland on two hillocks with a green in between. Not yet swamped with houses like its seaside suburb of Angmering-on-Sea at East Preston. St Margaret's Church is mostly by noted architect SS Teulon, as is the school and vestry hall opposite. All display his characteristic complex planning and polychrome brick, except for the C12 chancel arch and tower. A very pretty village centre with flint cottages, manicured lawns and lush planting.

Patching: Just into the Downs north of Worthing, a 'pleasant, scrappy village street with a few old flint and thatch cottages' (a guidebook says). St John's Church, C13, is plain and solid.

Highdown Hill: A small and isolated promontory off the main South Downs belt, just 81m high but giving great views. In the property of the National Trust and the traditional burial-place of the Saxon kings of Sussex. Late Bronze Age (around 1000 BC) enclosure and early Iron Age (around 600 BC) hill fort. An Anglo-Saxon cemetery with around 90 graves excavated. In the C18, local miller John Olliver had his tomb built on the hill 27 years before his death in 1793. It is said that he was the leader of local smugglers and used the tomb to store contraband. He would set the sails of his windmill at different angles to indicate the absence of customs men to his followers out at sea. A runaway millstone from Ecclesden Mill is said to have given its name to a local farm and now garden centre. 

Highdown Gardens: Highdown House (now a hotel, 'Highdown Towers') dates from 1820 and from 1909 the grounds were developed by Sir Frederick Stern into a garden showing plants from all over the world that could grow on chalk. Lady Stern gave it to Worthing Town Council in 1969 and it remains free to enter. In the 1990s the house became a nightclub called Sterns and was one of the best-known rave/hardcore clubs in Europe hosting fledgling bands such as The Prodigy. On busy nights the sweat of clubbers in the 'Underground' room condensed on the ceiling and dripped down as 'Sterns Rain'.

Kingston Gorse: In Angmering parish, a private estate of 'individually designed houses built after 1930 but mostly 1960s or later larger replacements offering a good chance to see many cliches of domestic design' (The Buildings of England: Sussex: West). Of the three best houses of the Modern Movement, only one is visible: Sea Lane House, 1936-7 by Marcel Breuer with FRS Yorke. Marcel Breuer worked at the Bauhaus where he was mentored by Walter Gropius before working in Britain between 1933 and 1938. His most famous work is the Wassily Chair. 

East Preston: A few old cottages near the church among the well-to-do suburbia. Private estates were built between the old centre and the sea as part of Angmering-on-Sea Garden Village. Mostly big thatched cottages built at the end of the Arts and Crafts style, some mock-Tudor houses and a remarkable survival, a garage of 1929 given an up-to the-minute frontage in 1934 in a cool moderne/art deco style. The Shell petrol pumps from the late 1930s/early 1940s remain. Now converted into flats.

The route (please click the link in red to see it):

We start outside the rugby club and head north then west through modern housing estates, then north again up Station Road to Angmering village centre. Heading east along the High Street, then north along Dapper's Lane will take us under the A27 to footpaths and bridleways which head north then east though woods called 'Fields' to Patching. We'll then head south down Church Lane and pass Patching Pond. We'll then pass again under the A27 and head south to ascend Highdown Hill which we'll descend after seeing the fort ramparts, having lunch and going to the gardens. After crossing the A259 and railway line we'll head southwest through the suburbs of Ferring and cross Ferring Rife to go to Kingston Gorse and the beach. We'll then head west along the beach and turn inland at Sea Road. After detouring to see the garage we'll head north through East Preston's suburbs to go back to the rugby club.

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COVID-19: IMPORTANT: Please read the following before you sign up to this event:

• Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, even if they are extremely mild, or who lives or is in a support bubble with someone showing symptoms, is asked not to attend. This is in line with the government’s coronavirus advice.
• You must also immediately self-isolate and not attend the event if you or someone in your household or support bubble shows coronavirus symptoms or tests positive. You can find the NHS self-isolation guidance here.
• OutdoorLads’ Covid-19 Policy for hostel and BIG events applies to this event. On arrival, we will need to see evidence that you are fully vaccinated, or have registered a negative lateral flow test in the last 48 hours, or have Covid-19 antibodies. Evidence of this can be obtained via the NHS App in England, with equivalent schemes available in Wales and Scotland. Our full policy and more details can be found here.

(Picture credits: All pictures were taken by the leader (or a friend of his) in April and August 2021. OutdoorLads is welcome to reuse them.)