Plumpton, East Sussex
Encyclopedia
Plumpton is a village and civil parish
in the Lewes District
of East Sussex
, England
. The village is located five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes
. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based. Plumpton is probably best known for its race course.
The place-name 'Plumpton' is first attested in the Domesday Book
of 1086, where it appears as 'Pluntune', meaning 'town or settlement where plum-trees grew'.
with a few select amenities. The main thoroughfare, Station Road, runs the length of the village, with several cul-de-sacs branching off from it. Station Road is home to the village shop, a church and three pubs. The majority of the road is paved on only one side.
Chapel Road is a small road with 24 houses. These are mostly semi-detached
homes, although there is a very small terrace of cottages dating from about 1900. Woodgate Meadow and Westgate are fairly recent developments with new, large houses.
Plumpton railway station
is on the East Coastway Line
and the railway crossing has the last manually-operated gates in Sussex. Rail service: as of December 2010 it has an hourly service. Plumpton Racecourse
is located between the two villages, near the railway. Meetings draw large crowds; on race days the population of Plumpton doubles in size. The sporadic rail service is also supplemented by extra services on race days. Races are sometimes televised, bringing Plumpton Green to a much wider audience than it could ever hope to otherwise reach.
In the early 1970s Led Zeppelin
guitarist Jimmy Page
purchased Plumpton Place
, an Elizabethan manor, with 20th-century alterations by Sir Edwin Lutyens, surrounded by a moat and extensive gardens. Because of its proximity to the Plumpton Racecourse the grounds also include stables for horses. Page outfitted the manor with a recording studio. The credits for the Led Zeppelin album In Through the Out Door
indicates that album mixing
was done there. The manor can be seen briefly near the beginning of the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains the Same
where the camera walks up to Page, playing a hurdy gurdy
, to inform him of the North American tour dates. Page no longer owns the property.
, with Chailey
being nearby Chigley
and Wivelsfield
Green being Camberwick Green
.
There are also sporting groups, which attract visitors from across Sussex, including cricket, tennis, rugby and football clubs. The rugby club plays in Sussex Division 1. The cricket club is one of the most successful village teams in the area consistently winning both the Mid Sussex League and the Wisdom Cup. The club was the first in the area to wear "Coloured Clothing" in their cup matches. The kit consisted of maroon and yellow trousers with matching shirts. In 2008 the team moved to the East Sussex League winning the league by nearly 100 points. The season was a double success as the 2nd eleven also won their division by nearly 80 points. In 2009, the first eleven completed their second successive league win and promotion by winning division 3 by over 80 points, recording 14 wins and being the only team in all 12 divisions to stay unbeaten throughout the season.
, Hamsey
, and Chailey
. Included in the school grounds are an assembly hall, a student library, a playing field and a (now defunct) swimming pool.
The first schooling in the village began in 1837, where two teachers taught in a 22 feet (6.7 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) school at the very end of Plumpton village (where Plumpton College
is based today). In the 1870s the centre of the village was moving a couple of miles north to where the village shop and church where situated, and, as education was becoming compulsory, a new school building was built. This school lasted for almost one hundred years until the present-day school was built during 1974. It was placed at the end of Southdowns Road and to this day provides the educational facilities for 150 pupils, ranging from the ages of 4 to 11 in seven educational years. The older school was later turned into six cottages.
is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
, which stretches from Hassocks in the west and passes through many parishes including Plumpton, to Lewes in the east. The site is of biological importance due to its rare chalk grassland habitat along with its woodland and scrub.
In the south of the parish, on the hills of the downs, there is evidence of ancient settlements, with enclosures and tumulus
. Ditchling Cross is a 100 feet (30.5 m) cross carved into the hillside, now overgrown. It is of unknown origin although some believe it commemorates the Battle of Lewes
of 1264.
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 Lewes District
Lewes (district)
Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, and Seaford. Plumpton racecourse is within the district...
of East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, 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...
. The village is located five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based. Plumpton is probably best known for its race course.
The place-name 'Plumpton' is first attested 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...
of 1086, where it appears as 'Pluntune', meaning 'town or settlement where plum-trees grew'.
Village layout
Plumpton Green is essentially a ribbon developmentRibbon development
Ribbon development means building houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. Such development generated great concern in the United Kingdom during the 1920s and the 1930s, as well as in numerous other countries....
with a few select amenities. The main thoroughfare, Station Road, runs the length of the village, with several cul-de-sacs branching off from it. Station Road is home to the village shop, a church and three pubs. The majority of the road is paved on only one side.
Chapel Road is a small road with 24 houses. These are mostly semi-detached
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...
homes, although there is a very small terrace of cottages dating from about 1900. Woodgate Meadow and Westgate are fairly recent developments with new, large houses.
Plumpton railway station
Plumpton railway station
Plumpton railway station serves Plumpton Green in East Sussex. England. Train services are provided by Southern.A public telephone is available at the station. On Platform 2 a metal seat is on the platform and one further seat under the platform roof. Platform 1 has a roof and shelter with 2 metal...
is on the East Coastway Line
East Coastway Line
East Coastway is the name used by the train operating company, Southern , for the routes it operates along the south coast of Sussex and Kent to the east of Brighton, England. Those to the West of Brighton are named the West Coastway Line...
and the railway crossing has the last manually-operated gates in Sussex. Rail service: as of December 2010 it has an hourly service. Plumpton Racecourse
Plumpton Racecourse
Plumpton Racecourse is a National Hunt horse-racing course at the village of Plumpton, East Sussex near Lewes and Brighton.One of the smaller National Hunt race courses in Britain, it is rather hilly, a tightish left-handed circuit of just over a mile...
is located between the two villages, near the railway. Meetings draw large crowds; on race days the population of Plumpton doubles in size. The sporadic rail service is also supplemented by extra services on race days. Races are sometimes televised, bringing Plumpton Green to a much wider audience than it could ever hope to otherwise reach.
In the early 1970s Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
guitarist Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
purchased Plumpton Place
Plumpton Place
Plumpton Place is a Grade 2 listed Elizabethan manor house in Plumpton, East Sussex, England. The house is on the English Heritage register.Plumpton Place sits close to Plumpton to the east of the church and Plumpton Agricultural College...
, an Elizabethan manor, with 20th-century alterations by Sir Edwin Lutyens, surrounded by a moat and extensive gardens. Because of its proximity to the Plumpton Racecourse the grounds also include stables for horses. Page outfitted the manor with a recording studio. The credits for the Led Zeppelin album In Through the Out Door
In Through the Out Door
In Through the Out Door is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded over a three week period in November and December 1978 at ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, and released by Swan Song Records on 15 August 1979...
indicates that album mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
was done there. The manor can be seen briefly near the beginning of the Led Zeppelin concert film, The Song Remains the Same
The Song Remains the Same (film)
The Song Remains the Same is a concert film by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The recording of the film took place during three nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City, during the band's 1973 concert tour of the United States. The film premiered on 20 October 1976, at...
where the camera walks up to Page, playing a hurdy gurdy
Hurdy gurdy
The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin...
, to inform him of the North American tour dates. Page no longer owns the property.
Myths and legends
Plumpton Green is rumoured to have been the inspiration for the popular British children's television series TrumptonTrumpton
Trumpton is a stop-motion children's television show from the producers of Camberwick Green first shown on the BBC in the 1960s. The third and final series in the sequence was Chigley....
, with Chailey
Chailey
Chailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located ten miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury...
being nearby Chigley
Chigley
Chigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
and Wivelsfield
Wivelsfield
Wivelsfield village, and larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green, are part of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are located three miles south east of Haywards Heath...
Green being Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
.
Village groups
There are many groups and societies in comparison to the size of the village; one of the most notable being Plumpton Players, a drama group. The society performs up to two plays a year. In 2007, the society was chosen to perform the worldwide premiere of A Wet and Windy Night by Declan Cleary. In May 2008, the Players performed Dave Freeman's classic comedy/farce A Bedful of Foreigners. In May 2009, the players performed another first. Don't Look Now by Daphne Du Maurier, adapted for the stage by Nell Leyshon, was a real departure for the group and proved that they were as good at disturbing serious productions as well as comedies and farces. The Players will be performing another "first" in May 2010 when they become the first amateur group to tackle Richard Bean's Political Sex Farce, In the Club. The village also has a Pantomime Society; every year they put on a different show.There are also sporting groups, which attract visitors from across Sussex, including cricket, tennis, rugby and football clubs. The rugby club plays in Sussex Division 1. The cricket club is one of the most successful village teams in the area consistently winning both the Mid Sussex League and the Wisdom Cup. The club was the first in the area to wear "Coloured Clothing" in their cup matches. The kit consisted of maroon and yellow trousers with matching shirts. In 2008 the team moved to the East Sussex League winning the league by nearly 100 points. The season was a double success as the 2nd eleven also won their division by nearly 80 points. In 2009, the first eleven completed their second successive league win and promotion by winning division 3 by over 80 points, recording 14 wins and being the only team in all 12 divisions to stay unbeaten throughout the season.
Education
Located in Plumpton Green is Plumpton Primary School. The school site was built in 1974 to accommodate children living in Plumpton and surrounding villages, especially WivelsfieldWivelsfield
Wivelsfield village, and larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green, are part of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are located three miles south east of Haywards Heath...
, Hamsey
Hamsey
Hamsey is a civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles north of Lewes on the Prime Meridian...
, and Chailey
Chailey
Chailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located ten miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury...
. Included in the school grounds are an assembly hall, a student library, a playing field and a (now defunct) swimming pool.
The first schooling in the village began in 1837, where two teachers taught in a 22 feet (6.7 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) school at the very end of Plumpton village (where Plumpton College
Plumpton College
Plumpton College is a college of further education in Plumpton, East Sussex, England, with courses in a variety of land based and related subjects. The college provides a range of full time and part time land-based courses, FE courses to Foundation Degree and BSc courses all in partnership with...
is based today). In the 1870s the centre of the village was moving a couple of miles north to where the village shop and church where situated, and, as education was becoming compulsory, a new school building was built. This school lasted for almost one hundred years until the present-day school was built during 1974. It was placed at the end of Southdowns Road and to this day provides the educational facilities for 150 pupils, ranging from the ages of 4 to 11 in seven educational years. The older school was later turned into six cottages.
Landmarks
Clayton to Offham EscarpmentClayton To Offham Escarpment
The Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex, but extends in to West Sussex and thus can be found on the List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Sussex as well as the List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex...
is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, which stretches from Hassocks in the west and passes through many parishes including Plumpton, to Lewes in the east. The site is of biological importance due to its rare chalk grassland habitat along with its woodland and scrub.
In the south of the parish, on the hills of the downs, there is evidence of ancient settlements, with enclosures and tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
. Ditchling Cross is a 100 feet (30.5 m) cross carved into the hillside, now overgrown. It is of unknown origin although some believe it commemorates the Battle of Lewes
Battle of Lewes
The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264...
of 1264.