Alfriston
Alfriston maps (2 available)
Map of East Sussex
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Alfriston books (27 available)
- 7 photos on Alfriston appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Alfriston
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Alfriston and East Sussex
Alfriston memories
Read and share memories of Alfriston and East Sussex inspired by Frith photos
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East Sussex memories
Life in the village
I was lucky enough to grow up in Litlington and also worked in the village shop/post office for Jack Keeble. I can trace my mothers family(Reed) back to the early 1800's they were from nearby Alfriston, so I have a very strong connection with Cuckmere valley. I had a very happy childhood, firstly in Lullington 1961 to 1966 and then Litlington 1966 to 1980. Village life, it takes some beating.
A memory of Litlington contributed by Colin Parsons
The horse shoe bite
The small sandy beach at Newhaven was known as the horse shoe bite. It was completely covered at high tide, but as the water receded, it exposed fine golden sand, ideal for making castles and getting in your sandwiches. A row of barnacle-peppered rocks along the breakwater wall also got revealed with the falling tide, where a myriad of crabs hid amongst the clinging seaweed and a wonderland of rockpools formed, waiting to be explored.
In the distance on the left of the photo you can just see the beginning of the breakwater, it's on the right of the harbour as you look at the sea. It was a good walk to the end, where generally in good weather there'd ...read more here
A memory of Newhaven contributed by Kathy Farmer
Mackerel Fishing
Many's the time we wandered along the edge of the harbour and up and down the landing stages, studying the leathery faced fishermen's busy hands as they worked on the nets, or repaired lobster pots. We'd peep around, what seemed huge metal doors and gates clad in rusting wire mesh, to get a glimpse of the boat yards beyond, and if we'd enough in our pocket for a cup of tea, we stop at the cafe that looked across the harbour, and out towards the bridge on the left. The owners always had time for us, and if they had any stale bread and cake, they'd let us have it to feed the swans that swam among the boats just a ...read more here
A memory of Newhaven contributed by Kathy Farmer
Bowles caravan site
I believe this is the caravan site that was, and may still be, situated on Mr and Mrs Bowles farm. (Not sure of the spelling of Bowles.) My mum and the five of us children spent many happy holidays here. The van that we stayed in was called 'Hartings' and was on the track that led to the farm. It had no mains connected to it. I don't know how we all squeezed in, but I do remember a double bed that folded out of the wall. The high spot of the day was the visit to the little camp shop, where if we were lucky mum would give us a few pence for an ...read more here
A memory of Newhaven contributed by Kathy Farmer
Extracts From Alfriston & East Sussex books
The tour moves south-west to Alfriston, situated in the River Cuckmere valley where the river cuts through the South
Downs chalk. The village is well-known for the National Trust-owned Clergy House, which was in fact the very first
building the Trust acquired: it bought the house in 1896 for the princely sum of £10. The jettied building on the left
is the Star Inn, whose 15th-century timbers were exposed after this view was taken during a careful restoration of the
building. By Victorian times the village’s smuggling days were over.
An extract from from"Sussex A Century Ago Photographic Memories".
Alfriston’s much loved High Street and two of its famous hostelries are little changed today. The 15th-century George Inn is on the right, and on the left is the stunning timber-framed Star, one of the oldest inns in England. It was originally a hostel attached to Battle Abbey. The alarming lion figurehead still stands outside – it belonged to a Dutch warship wrecked nearby in the 1670s.
An extract from from"English Villages".
Apart from the visitors’ cars, the High Street is
unchanged. The richly timber-framed 15th-cen-
tury George and Dragon on the left is a highlight;
beyond is the Square, with its 15th-century market
cross. Off the street are numerous narrow alleys
between the houses, in Sussex known as Twittens,
and probably useful to smugglers.
An extract from from"Eastbourne Photographic Memories".
The church and Clergy House lie closer to the river, while the village, completely unspoilt, runs north-south along
higher ground. The place was a notorious smuggling centre; the tile-hung house on the left is Ye Olde Smugglers
Inne, in the 18th century the house of Stanton Collins, one of Alfriston’s leading smugglers.
An extract from from"Eastbourne Photographic Memories".
Almost ruinous when acquired by the National Trust as its first building in 1896, the clergy house was carefully
restored. Situated on The Tye, the village green, by the fine parish church, it is an oak framed ‘Wealden house’ of
about 1380, in which the projecting end bays and central open hall are under one continuous roof.
An extract from from"Eastbourne Photographic Memories".