Everything about Pevensey totally explained
Pevensey is a
village and
civil parish in the
Wealden district of
East Sussex,
England. The main village is located 5 miles (8 km) north-east of
Eastbourne, one mile inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlements of ‘’’Pevensey Bay’’’ forms part of the parish.
Geography
The village of Pevensey is located on a ridge of land, which juts out onto marshland. Until the 13th century the marshes were an inlet of the sea, extending inland as far north as
Hailsham and eastwards to
Hooe; it was studded with small areas of high land which became islands at high tide: and having the place-names — in addition to Peven’s sey — of Rickney, Horse Eye, and North Eye. All are derived from the Old English word 'eye' meaning island.
With the effect of
longshore drift this large bay was gradually cut off from the sea by shingle, so that todays marshes are all that remain behind the shingle beach.
The marshes,known as the Pevensey Levels, cover an area of around 47 miles² (3500 ha). They are now a large nature reserve jointly owned by
Natural England and the
Sussex Wildlife Trust. There are many nationally rare plants and invertebrates, including the
fen raft spider. The site is very fragile and general access isn't permitted
Pevensey Bay
The settlement of Pevensey Bay lies behind and on the shingle beach. Although small, it's nevertheless a seaside resort in miniature, and has many of the facilities of its larger counterparts elsewhere.
History
Until the
Romans arrived, the area where now Pevensey now stands was simply an uninhabited peninsula of land rising above the then existing bay and coastal marshes. By the 4th century the south and east of the
province of
Britannia was under constant attack from marauding
barbarian tribes: the
Jutes and
Saxons. To counter these attacks the Romans built a total of eleven
forts between
Essex and the
Isle of Wight, giving them the title of the
‘’
Saxon Shore Forts’’
The Roman fort
The fort at Pevensey, built between 300–340BCE was named
Anderitum. The sea washed over what is now Pevensey Marshes surrounding the fort’s position on three sides, so giving a safe and sheltered landing point in the bay.
When the Romans left Britain, it left the island open to attack, first by the
Jutes in east
Kent, and the Romanised native Britons attempted to defend their island from attack. Following the Jutish example the Saxons began invading Britain in earnest. In 491, a Saxon army led by
Aelle of Sussex landed on the south coast and besieged Anderitum. After an heroic battle the British defences were overrun and the entire garrison as well as scores of British refugees seeking shelter were massacred. The remaining Britons on the south coast either fled north into the forests or by boat over the channel to what is now called
Brittany. Aelle then declared that land to be the Kingdom of the South Saxons - later called
Sussex - and the old Roman fort of Anderida was burned and left derelict . For a while the ruined castle was known by the Saxons as Andredceaster and the
Weald of southern England which stretched 120–miles from Anderida to Dorset was named Andredsweald or the Forest of Andred.
The dereliction and abandonment of the fort continued. Then, in 1042,
Harold Godwinson, later
Harold II of England, established a stronghold here, improving fortifications by digging ditches within the walls of the fort. The English army remained at the fort during the summer of 1066 before abandoning it to meet the invading Norwegians further north.
The earliest stone remains on the site date form the Roman period, including the outer bailey wall.
When
William the Conqueror invaded Sussex in September 1066 there were no defenders at Pevensey, and the still existing bay provided a safe haven for the invading fleet.
The castle
In late 1066 the Roman fort at Pevensey was occupied by the Normans; and much of the Roman stonework still existing today is due largely to the work of
Robert, Count of Mortain (half brother to William), who was granted Pevensey Castle shortly after the
Norman Conquest. Robert De Mortain used the remains as the base for building his castle, carrying out only minor repairs to the walls forming the outer bailey, and building a new inner bailey at the eastern end.
The castle was besieged several times during the 11th-13th centuries. An order that it be demolished by
Queen Elizabeth I; and an attempt at demolition during the
Puritan times were both unsuccessful: the order was ignored and only a few stones were removed on the two occasions. As late as 1942 small additions were made to the castle for the defence of Britain, when it became a look-out over the channel for German aircraft during
World War II.
Today the castle is in the upkeep of
English Heritage .
Other historic events
In the 16th century Pevensey became what was known as a “non-corporate limb“ of the Hastings, as part of the Confederation of the
Cinque Ports. Along with most of the other Ports, its importance dwindled as the ports themselves became disconnected from the sea: Pevensey was two miles (3.2km) distant.
During the 18th and 19th centuries Pevensey Bay became involved the south coast
smuggling trade, since it was one the easier places to land the contreband. In 1833 a violent clash occurred between the smugglers and customs men at Pevesey Bay.
Some of the more than 100
Martello towers were erected along the beaches of Pevensey Bay at the beginning of the 19th century against Napoleonic attack.
Governance
There are twelve councillors elected to the parish council.. Three councillors are elected to the Wealden District Council to represent Pevensey; the Member of Parliament is
Gregory Barker, who represents the
Bexhill and Battle Constituency, of which Pevensey is part.
Demography
Religious buildings
The churches and chapels in the parish are: the parish church dedicated to
St. Nicolas; St Wilfred’s church, Pevensey Bay; the Wesleyan Methodist church; and the Pevensey Bay Free Church.
Transport
The
A259 road passes through Pevensey. Two railway stations serve the area:
Pevensey and Westham and
Pevensey Bay.
Culture
Pevensey in the arts
- J.M.W. Turner painted Pevensey Castle
- Pevensey features several times in Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1907). Kipling's characters describe it as 'England's Gate', the reason for this being the above history. Kipling lived near to Pevensey at Burwash, and the area is described in his autobiography.
- Pevensey features in the book of photographs by famous photographer Fay Godwin, The Saxon Shore (1983).
- Pevensey is the setting for parts of George Gissing's 1887 novel Thyrza, with an especially fine description in Chapter XLI, 'The Living'.
- Robert Sheldon composed Pevensey Castle, published by CL Barnhouse in 1993.
Sport
Pevensey Bay Sailing Club offers a variety of classes of boats: the Club played a leading role in the development of the
National 12 and
Merlin Rocket Development Class racing dinghies in the 1970s when it was the home club of
Phil Morrison the British Yacht Designer.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pevensey'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://pevensey.totallyexplained.com">Pevensey Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
