East Dean, West Sussex
Encyclopedia
East Dean is a village
and civil parish
in the District of Chichester
in West Sussex
, England
located nine kilometres (6 miles) north east of Chichester
on a narrow road between Singleton
on the A286 and Upwaltham
on the A285 road.
The village set in a valley in the South Downs
has an Anglican parish church
dedicated to All Saints, and a Nonconformist
chapel. The village hall
was formerly the school and bears the date 1782. There is one pub, The Star and Garter.
The church, the pub and most of the houses are built of flint
, usually with brick quoins
and window dressings. A fire in 1852 destroyed eight houses and several barns, leaving others damaged. Slate
roofs replaced the thatch on some of these.
The pond is considered to be the source of the River Lavant
. The Monarch's Way
long-distance footpath crosses the parish on the downs to the south of the village.
The parish has a land area of 1663.5 hectares (4109 acres). In the 2001 census
217 people lived in 102 households, of whom 107 were economically active.
The playwright Christopher Fry
lived in the village in later life and died in Chichester
on 30 June 2005 from natural causes.
can often be found on the downs
and there are a number of British Bronze Age round barrow
s in the parish. The outline of celtic field system
s can still be seen on Court Hill north of the village. Roman
pottery and coins have been found near the village.
.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the District of Chichester
Chichester (district)
Chichester is a largely rural local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in the city of Chichester.-History:The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Chichester and the Rural Districts of...
in West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
located nine kilometres (6 miles) north east of Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
on a narrow road between Singleton
Singleton, West Sussex
Singleton is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies in the Lavant valley, north of Chichester on the A286 road to Midhurst.The village name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'sengel', which means "burnt clearing"....
on the A286 and Upwaltham
Upwaltham
Upwaltham is a hamlet and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located twelve kilometres north east of Chichester on the A285 road. This small parish on the South Downs consists of a small early Norman church and adjoining farmstead in an east-west aligned dry valley...
on the A285 road.
The village set in a valley in the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
has an Anglican parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
dedicated to All Saints, and a Nonconformist
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
chapel. The village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
was formerly the school and bears the date 1782. There is one pub, The Star and Garter.
The church, the pub and most of the houses are built of flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
, usually with brick quoins
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
and window dressings. A fire in 1852 destroyed eight houses and several barns, leaving others damaged. Slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roofs replaced the thatch on some of these.
The pond is considered to be the source of the River Lavant
River Lavant, West Sussex
The River Lavant is a winterbourne that rises at East Dean and flows west to Singleton, then south past West Dean and Lavant to Chichester. From east of Chichester its natural course was south to the sea at Pagham, but the Romans diverted it to flow around the southern walls of Chichester and then...
. The Monarch's Way
Monarch's Way
The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester.Most of the footpath is waymarked...
long-distance footpath crosses the parish on the downs to the south of the village.
The parish has a land area of 1663.5 hectares (4109 acres). In the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
217 people lived in 102 households, of whom 107 were economically active.
Notable residents
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
lived in the village in later life and died in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
on 30 June 2005 from natural causes.
History
Flint tools from the stone ageStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
can often be found on the downs
Downland
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....
and there are a number of British Bronze Age round barrow
Round barrow
Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....
s in the parish. The outline of celtic field system
Field system
The study of field systems in landscape history is concerned with the size, shape and orientation of a number of fields. These are often adjacent, but may be separated by a later feature.-Types of field system:...
s can still be seen on Court Hill north of the village. Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
pottery and coins have been found near the village.
Sports
East Dean have a football team, founded in 1880, that plays in the West Sussex premier leagueWest Sussex Football League
The West Sussex Football League is a football competition in England. It was formed in 1896.The League has a total of 11 divisions of which the highest, the Premier Division, sits at level 12 of the English football league system. It is a feeder to the Sussex County League Division Three...
.