Sussex Books
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A BOOK OF SUSSEX WITCH LEGENDS Some villages have witch legends – but most do not. In East Sussex, there are at least 13 places which have them, and in West Sussex nearly 50. Some of these are fairly typical of the kinds of witch legends found all over Britain, such as that of Old Mother Venus of Laughton, who was said to become a hare, or Jenny Saker of Goring who changed into a big black dog, and Dame Prettylegs of Albourne who was reputed to immobilize wagons and teams, or Witch Killick of Crowborough who ill-wished a neighbour to fall sick; and then there are some which are not so common, such as one about Mrs. Kitchener of Loxwood who sat on a hurdle and rode it like a horse; and of the landlord of The Fox Inn, at Fox Hill, who was shot in the legs when he was a hare, and Nanny Smart of Hurstpierpoint who, old though she was, could not die until she had passed her witchcraft secrets to someone else; or Butter Ede of Petworth who always had a big black cat with her, and Old Martha of Plumpton who ran backwards brandishing long knives; or Dame Garson of Duddleswell, who was chased by hounds when she was a hare, and leapt in through the window of her cottage, calling: “Ah, my boys, you ain’t got me yet!”
Paperback 210 X 148mm 276 pages
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A DICTIONARY OF THE SUSSEX DIALECT The dictionary was first published in 1875 by the vicar of Selmeston, the Rev WD Parish. He also recorded provincialisms in use in the county at that time. This new edition is augmented by further pieces on the Sussex dialect, traditional recipes, and a mumming play from West Wittering from the writings of EV Lucas, who died in 1938. Illustrated throughout with line drawings of Sussex views made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Frederick L Griggs, ARA.
Paperback 220 x 150mm 192 pages
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A HISTORY OF HURSTPIERPOINT 1837 Sadly, the first edition I have of this book was so badly printed it proved impossible to produce a good facsimile. I have therefore completely reset the original text – retaining the author’s spelling and errors in spite of the urge to correct such examples as Doomsday (sic). I have added some contemporary engravings to the book from my collections.
Paperback 210 x 148mm 96 pages
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A QUESTION OF IDENTITY “Who do you think you are? Well, it has taken me some sixty odd years to find out. ‘A Question of Identity’ is the story of what I discovered.” Tim Parker, June 2018.
Paperback 234 x 156mm 94 pages
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A SOUTHDOWN FARM IN THE 1860's Maude Robinson was born in May 1859 at Saddlescombe where her father, Martin Robinson, had a 900-acre farm. Her childhood was idyllic and she wrote an account of it that appeared in the Sussex County Magazine in 1935. A South Down Farm in the Sixties was issued by J.M. Dent in 1938. The book provides many interesting insights into agricultural practices she also explains what home life was like on a farm in such a secluded situation. In 1872 Maude Robinson went to a private boarding school at Lewes. The school regime was Spartan but the mistresses were kindly and a good education was provided. One by one the older Robinson children moved away from Saddlescombe until, after the death of her parents, only Ernest, who ran the farm, and Maude remained. Both of them loved the downland and took an interest in its wildlife.
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 82 pages
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AMY SAWYER OF DITCHLING Amy Sawyer was a prolific and unusual Victorian artist, with an interest in folk tales, witches and faeries. She exhibited at the Royal Academy many times and at many other galleries. Today, she is an almost forgotten artist, but her Sussex Village Plays, written while living in the small village of Ditchling, are still remembered by the older residents. She is also recorded in the histories of her friends; Eric Gill, Edward Johnston, the Sinden family and Joanna and Hillary Bourne, who founded Ditchling Museum. In her last ten years, in the letters to her sister in Australia, she describes with wit and asperity life in the village.
Paperback 245 x 170mm 186 pages
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ANGELS ON CALL We all need guardian angels at some times in our lives. Children need them, too. Take Josh, for instance. He’s terrified of singing solo in his school’s carol service, or Harry who gets lost in a wood as darkness falls, and Stevie comes to their rescue. Stevie is a very modern angel who, with his friend Angelina, can shape shift into all sorts of helpful friends. Even a dolphin!
Paperback 210 x 148mm 108 pages
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BLACK'S 1861 GUIDE TO SUSSEX Facsimile of the South-Eastern Counties of England series and comprises 184 pages. There is a folding map of the county and steel engravings of the chain pier at Brighton, Hastings and Chichester Cathedral. Major towns are covered as well as the smaller villages.
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 276 pages
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CORNISH & SUSSEX RECOLLECTIONS IN TEXTILE ART Having studied physiotherapy and beauty therapy, the author worked as a beautician at Harvey Nichols and Yardley of Old Bond Street in London.
Hardback 245 x 170mm 126 pages
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DIADEM An ordinary day at Halsteads Valuers in London is turned upside down for Des Mason, Head of Ancient Artifacts, when Russian beauty, Gloria Lorskaya, arrives with a diadem, she claims dates from Ancient Troy, for his valuation.
Paperback 198 x 129mm 272 pages
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EASTBOURNE Legend tells that Eastbourne can never be destroyed because the 7th Duke of
Paperback 230 X 155mm 200 pages
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EASTBOURNE HB Legend tells that Eastbourne can never be destroyed because the 7th Duke of
Hardback 246 X 189mm 194 pages
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Fifty Years of The Seaford Head Local Nature Reserve 1969-2019 1969 was a momentous year. Man walked on the Moon for the first time, the iconic Woodstock pop festival was held, the Beatles released their equally iconic Abbey Road album and, not to be outdone, Seaford Head became a Local Nature Reserve.
Paperback 246 X 189mm 124 pages
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GREAT WAR BARCOMBE By the end of the War, Barcombe, an agricultural parish of 1,277 people, had supplied 176 men to the Armed Forces, 36 of whom did not return. What was daily life like for those who were left behind?
Paperback 245 x 190mm 248 pages
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HANGED FOR A SHEEP: This book surveys crime and the treatment of criminals in bygone Sussex, illustrated with extracts from late 18th century copies of the Sussex Weekly Advertiser, the county's first weekly news-paper. “You may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.”The saying dates back to the days when sheep-stealing was punishable by death. For stealing a lamb you would be “hanged by the neck until you were dead.” The same punishment was meted out for stealing a sheep, so you ran no greater risk for stealing the more valuable article. (This law was repealed in 1828.)
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 80 pages
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HISTORIC HOUSES OF EAST SUSSEX From a series of articles in the Sussex County Magazine 1926-1935. Index of family names.
Paperback 246 x 189 mm 352 pages
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HISTORIC HOUSES OF WEST SUSSEX Frances Garnet Wolseley was born in London in 1872. She was very much a countrywoman who loved both hunting and taking long solitary walks with her dogs. Early in 1898 the Wolseleys rented Glynde Place and she had by then trained as a gardener. In 1903 her mother saw an advertisement placed by a lady gardener who was in ‘distressed circumstances' and engaged her. Her employment then sparked the idea of founding a school for lady gardeners. Arthur Beckett founded the Sussex County Magazine in December 1926 and asked her to contribute a series entitled Historic Houses of Sussex. Over the years that followed she described 115 houses, the last four articles appearing posthumously. In Myth and Memory she declared that she would always be glad that she had been chosen to write the series for it enabled her to spend her summers exploring the county she loved looking at fascinating houses. In winter she did her research.
Paperback 246 x 189 mm 464 pages
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HOOPS AND SIGNALS Thomas Ireland, an ancestor of the author, spent his whole life in the mid-Sussex village of Balcombe. From the early days of the London to Brighton railway line Thomas was a signalman at Balcombe tunnel, but long before that he had followed his father and other relatives into the woodland craft of the barrel hoop maker. Alongside his duties with the railway company he continued to be very active in this trade for the rest of his life. In joining the railway he made a quantum leap from the life of the rural workman into the industrial world. But what marks out this member of the nineteenth century rural working class is that he was highly literate. People from the village frequently came to him to have their letters read or written. Probably to a large extent self-taught, he read voraciously and – most significantly – wrote down what he learned in a series of thirty or so pocket note books. In most of these he kept a journal. John Ireland, who has known Balcombe all his life, inherited these diaries, and his book uses them to provide a prism through which the varied aspects of Thomas’s life and character are revealed.
Paperback 210 X 148mm 70 pages
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LEGENDS OF LAMPLIT LEWES Lewes has its fair share of stories about strange things, history and legends. Legends of Lampit Lewes brings together a collection of these tales in which ghosts, murderers, saints and hangings abound. The book’s inspiration began in the 1990s when two friends, Jane Hasler and Nick Cole, discovered a shared interest in such things and a deep love of the town. Originally conceived and performed as a guided walk, including once at the Lewes Festival, the reader can now take this tour for themselves and learn of mysteries, miracles, murder, magic and quite a few phantoms too....if they dare! The book includes a route map of Lewes, with numbered stops for each story. Jane and Nick enjoyed creating this work and guiding the walk together though they only got to perform it a handful of times. Sadly, Nick died in 2011. Jane has now published it for posterity and for those interested in such things in the unique and historic town of Lewes. Illustrated by Kevin Stewart Cantwell BA (Hons.)
Paperback 210 X 148mm 70 pages
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MIXED FRUIT FROM A SUSSEX TREE magine if you will a long train journey, during which you start chatting with the stranger opposite and realise later that a couple of hours have passed easily by, full of fascinating anecdote, light and shade, wit and wisdom; an all too rare treat in our hectic but increasingly isolated modern life.You part as new friends, vowing to stay in touch. That is how I felt on reading this little gem of a book for the first time. Storytelling in an easy conversational style.
Hardback 210 x 148mm 272 pages
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NOOKS AND CORNERS OF OLD SUSSEX A facsimile of this scarce book published in 1875 of choice examples of Sussex archaeology. Over 300 early-mid 19th century engravings. Churches ‘restored' by the Victorians; the Star Inn at Alfriston before the timber frame was exposed; the shrine of St Lawrence at Ottenham Abbey, Henfield; old manor houses, etc. An invaluable source for those researching local or family history.
295 x 205 mm 160 pages
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RECOLLECTIONS OF A SUSSEX PARSON First published 1912. Edward Boys Ellman was born in 1815 and was rector of Berwick, East Sussex, for sixty years. A keen observer of life and people, this is a fascinating portrait of life in a small village in the 19th century. Among other humourous incidents is the installation of the barrel organ in the church - that insisted on playing secular tunes, and the lady in Lewes, who asked the shopkeeper to trim a yard off the bottom of a dress while she saved up for it! He died on 22nd February 1906. Index of surnames and place-names
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 269 pages
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RUSTIC RECIPES More than just a recipe book, but a lifestyle change, encouraging time out from busy schedules to learn from a simpler time. This book not only contains 50 recipes, ranging from hearty soups, to rustic French, Italian and Dutch dishes, to a section on foraging; but also gives snippets of
Paperback 235 x 156mm 70 pages
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SUSSEX FOLK AND SUSSEX WAYS Taken from the 1923 edition with a foreword by Seila Kaye-Smith. First published 1884, the author was rector of Burwash in the 19th century. 8 photos. He was rector of Burwash & opens the book with this prophetic statement: ‘In a few years' time the manners & customs of Sussex men, women & children will have passed away as utterly as pack-horses & stage wagons. Round frocks (smocks) will be extinct, & with them the characteristics of mind, thought, and speech which round frocks betokened. I well know the change must come, but I own that I look forward with but little satisfaction to the time when our boys & girls will all speak a uniform language prescribed by the Committee of Council on Education, & when our men & women will think only just as other people think.' He was a keen observer of the Sussex ‘peasant' - “I knew she was old, Vicar, because her flannel petticoats were made of silk!” Extracts from the parish registers.
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 160 pages
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SUSSEX FOLK: THE FOLK SONG REVIVAL IN SUSSEX Introduction by Shirley Collins. This book outlines the development of the folk song movement across Sussex from Chichester to Hastings with a detailed survey of theclubs in the densely populated central coastal area around Brighton. This ranges from the first Brighton skiffle club through the variousother sessions in Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne and Lewes up until the start of the new millennium. Within these pages are over 200 illustrations together with details of virtually all the clubs, venues, organisers and resident singers featured in the area for the past forty years.
Paperback 220 x 150mm 200 pages
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SUSSEX IN BYGONE DAYS First published 1906. Nathaniel Paine Blaker was born at Mays, in Selmeston in 1835, a farm was owned by his maternal grandfather, Joseph Fuller. His father was a farmer, a member of a family who, for 300 years, had been owners of land and agriculturists at Portslade, Kingston and Shoreham. During Nathaniel's first year, the family moved to Perching in Edburton. He was sent to a school run by Miss Lee in Lewes when he was eight, and a year later he went to Steyning Grammar School where he developed a love of shooting. Leaving school at 16, he began learning farming, but after a year he asked his father to place him as a pupil at the Sussex County Hospital. He was apprenticed for five years to the house surgeon, the last two to be spent at Guy's Hospital, London. In 1859, he was appointed assistant surgeon to the Convict Hospital in Lewes. In 1860, he became house surgeon at Brighton and Hove Dispensary, becoming house surgeon to the Sussex County Hospital in1864. In this collection of essays he writes of the last half of the 19th century. There are extensive pieces on Steyning, Lewes and farming. His thoughts on bringing up children would not be considered ‘PC‘ in today's terms - he remarks that the traditional Christening gift was a cane! Spare the rod…
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 156 pages
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SUSSEX SAINTS & MARTYRS In contrast to the pre-Reformation saints, whose acts furthered civilisation and humanity as well as the Christian faith, the heroism of these sixteenth century lives has been tempered by the barbarity inflicted and endured – between people who were all Christians. How could our ancestors be so incredibly cruel; would the martyrs on each side, heroic though they were, have approved of the same treatment given to their counterparts?
Paperback 234 x 156mm 66 pages
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THE CHURCH GALLERY MINSTRELS This book was first privately published by the Rev. K. H. MacDermott in 1922 as SUSSEX CHURCH MUSIC IN THE PAST and printed by Moore & Wingham of Chichester. He was rector of the parish of Selsey in West Sussex, and as a young man, he had met and corresponded with gallery musicians born in the 18th century. Here is an account of the old Singers and Minstrels, the Bands, Psalmodies and Hymn-books of Sussex Churches from the end of the 17th Century to the latter half of the 19th Century. There is an appendix on the author's collection at the Sussex Archaeological Society in Lewes and a FREE CD of thirteen traditional Sussex carols performed by ‘Hope in the Valley' recorded in 1983. CD Contents: These carols were collected and collated by Dr Vic Gammon. This performance by ‘Hope in the Valley' - a group of singers and musicians from all over Sussex, and directed by Mary Motley. It was recorded in the Spring of 1983 by Mike Howell. The recording is dedicated to the memory of John Ticehurst, a founder member of the group who died in January 1983.
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 128 pages
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THE GODDESS: A DEMON A Victorian gothic horror novel first published in 1900.
Paperback 198 x 129mm 256 pages
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THE HISTORY OF DITCHLING Facsimile of the first edition of 1901. An invaluable document for those searching their family tree. Alfred the Great and Catherine of Aragon both owned manors in the village. On the basis of this, the author believed that the king spent much time here and that “Wings Place” or the “Old House” is a fragment of a palace built by Queen Catherine! Ignoring these flights of fancy, the book is otherwise thoroughly researched. Contents include: Ancient Ditchling and the manors, Ditchling Park, old inhabitants, miscellaneous notes, St Margaret's Church, rectors and vicars, monumental inscriptions and memorials, the Meeting House, the ‘Jernal' of a Ditchling man, and the neighbourhood. Subsidy rolls 1378-9 for Ditchling, Strete Hundred 1549, Ditchling 1562, 1600, 1623, Ditchling wills at Lewes 1541-1640, Ditchling administrators. 1578-1640, Ditchling Churchwardens 1638-1750. The appendices include: family trees of the Chatfield family, the Attrees of Wivelsfield and the Pooles.
Paperback 183 x 125 mm 184 pages
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THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF The view of Seaford Head from the promenade is the defining image of this seaside town. In photographs of this view taken in the first half of the twentieth century, a distinctive house can be seen, standing in isolation on the cliff. The history of this building reflects the history of Seaford and the country as a whole during this turbulent period, which witnessed two world wars; the emancipation of women; and the arrival of the car, cinema, and low cost ‘package’ holidays.
Paperback 245 x 170mm 120 pages
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THE LIFE OF A MAN: RON SPICER 1929-1996 A short biography of Ron Spicer, Sussex herdsman & folksinger. Ron worked on a farm near West Hoathly all his life with a herd of Guerneys, and achieved his life's ambition - to win best of breed at the South of England Show - just before he died.
Paperback 200 x 210 mm 64 pages
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THE MAGIC SEWING MACHINE The midnight hour had come and gone and upstairs in Eastbourne’s favourite sewing shop came the sound of gentle snoring from the shop’s owner, Albert Cade. Albert blissfully hugged his pillow and giggled away to himself, dreaming dreams that only the happiest of people ever dream.
Paperback 230 x 155mm 48 pages
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THE MISTRESS OF STANTONS FARM First published 1938. Sussanah Hooker was born in 1814 at Smallfield Place, Surrey. She married Mr Stacey of Stantons and ruled her household at East Chiltington with a rod of iron. She died in 1893 and is buried at Westmeston in East Sussex. There is an introduction by Arthur Beckett. Contents include: Receipts for Food for the Poor, Life at the Farm, Directions to Servants, Ornaments for Grand Entertainments, The Doctor, The Squire, The Parson, Grandma, the Sorceror, Pickles, Preserves and Candies, Grandma's Herb Garden, Vegetables and Herbs, Rural Worthies, Cullis, Sauces and Eggs, Grandma holds her Court, Distilling Cordial Waters, The Good Things of Sussex, Puddings and Savouries, etc., Wine-Making Day, Home-made wines, Punches, etc., A Tale of a Wash-Tub, Family Receipts, Baking Day, Baked Puddings, etc., The Household Gods, Necessary Knowledge, Christmas Gambols, Creams and Syllabubs, The Sign of the Old Thatch, Buns, Black Caps, and Snow Balls, etc.
Paperback 210 x 148 mm 187 pages
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THE SHINING CORD OF SHEILA KAYE-SMITH Sheila Kaye-Smith was a Sussex writer. She wrote more than 30 novels, most of them set in that county, and some in Kent, and she also wrote short stories, poetry, articles, and non-fiction books. One of her most popular novels was made into a film. This new biography about her contains a lot of original research, as well as excerpts from book reviews, articles, interviews, and other sources. Highlights will undoubtedly be the quotes from and plot descriptions of two unfinished novels; details about some of her lesser known stories, as well as the sections about Baa, Trimmer and Pearl, Platnix, The Lodge, Old Gadgett, City Red, The Fairy Housemaid, The Little Flower, the gleams, and, of course, the Shining Cord.
Paperback 210 x 148mm 214 pages
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THE SHIPS AND MARINERS OF SHOREHAM “The days have gone by when sailing ships of large tonnage were launched at Shoreham. The vast strides made in marine engineering and the building of steamships long since silenced the once busy yards so far as the building of sailing ships is concerned, though indeed, as we shall have occasion to observe later, the industry of yacht-building still flourishes.Ship-building flourished in Shoreham from an early date, down to our own day, but some thirty years have now lapsed since the last merchant ship went off the stocks. Of all those that had been built, two only have been seen in the Harbour within the last two or three years, but in this (1909) year's registers no vessels built by any of the old Shoreham builders are given as now existing. This being so, it seemed to the writer something of a reproach that some attempt had not been made to rescue from partial if not entire oblivion, a record of these wood-built sailers, which were indeed so famous in their time that none of their size could beat them.”
Paperback 220 x 140 mm 141 pages
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THE STORY OF HENFIELD A facsimile of this classic first published in 1947. The beginnings of Henfield; Saxon and Norman times; the manor of Stretham; communications - river, road and rail; the church and village in the middle ages; the Bysshopp family; Elizabeth I to the civil war; Henfield Place and the Holneys; old Henfield papers; the church in the 18th and 19th centuries; village life, trade and industries; houses, inns and schools; references, index.
Paperback 220 x 136 mm 207 pages
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THE STORY OF SHOREHAM Facsimile of the first edition of 1921. The history of Shoreham from early times with references to the surrounding area, Lancing, Steyning, etc. The Saxons; the town & harbour in the Middle Ages; watermills & windmills; Old Erringham; early deeds of the Blaker, Monk & Bridger families; De Braose & De Mowbray families; fairs & markets; inns; bungalow town; suspension brudge; ancient religious houses; the ancient ferry; the Marlipins; forgotten street names; smugglers; ship building; etc. Index. Line illus by Arthur B Packham.
Paperback 200 x 138 mm 286 pages
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THE SUSSEX RECIPE BOOK A collection of culinary receipts and others, for ailments of man and beast and dealing with houseshold matters. This book has three sections – from a 17/18th century household book
Paperback 210 x 148mm 116 pages
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THEOS MAGIC GARDEN Theo is a handsome and contented cat living in a cottage in a Sussex village with his mistress, Jenny. A cat, proud of his Persian lineage. But one day his life changes…
Paperback 210 x 148 112 pages
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