East Marden is a village on the spur of 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...

 in the 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...

 district of 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...

. It is within the 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...

 of Marden, West Sussex

Marden, West Sussex

Marden is a civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the South Downs and comprises the villages of North Marden and East Marden....

. It is first mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

as Meredone and was given in 1086 to Roger, Earl of Montgomery. The church, St Peters ( UK Ordance Survey grid reference SU807145), dates from the 12th century and is still used for worship every other Sunday.http://www.octagon-parishes.org.uk. Its oldest house today dates back to 1728 ( Salzman, 1953). The village, some 300 feet above sea level, is in an area of unusually high rainfall. Its most famous landmark is the thatched well on the village green. The population has remained static for over a century.