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The very first National Trust building

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Today we visited the village of Alfriston, in East Sussex, described as the most English of English villages with small tea rooms, antique shops, thatched houses, a village green and old inns. There is a large village church, Saint Andrews, often called ‘the Cathedral of The Downs’.

The purpose of our visit was to see the very first building, and second property, acquired by the National Trust in 1896. Originally built as a farmer’s house, Alfriston Clergy House reflects the fact that the parish priest and a housekeeper used it. It’s a thatched, oak timber framed house, a low ceilinged two- storey building, surrounded by a lovely cottage garden, with views across the river Cuckmere.


By the 1890s it was virtually derelict and would have been demolished but for the efforts of Reverend Beynon, he persuaded the newly formed National Trust to buy it for £10 and restore it. From 1896 to 1976 it was leased to tenants for holidays and weekends, it opened to visitors in 1977.


OH had to stoop through the doorways … at 6’3" that’s no surprise .. I managed to walk through with ease !


The floor to the Hall is made from sour milk mixed with chalk and the lactic acid in milk reacts with chalk to produce a sort of concrete which, it’s estimated, would have taken seven weeks to dry out !
A detail on a cornice wood carving of an Oak leaf may have inspired the National Trusts emblem, though this cannot be confirmed.

The 1 acre cottage garden was laid out by Sir Robert Witt, a tenant in the 1920s and features a magnificent 100 year old Judas tree on the top lawn. There is a fruit orchard, raised beds for vegetables and a reed bed is close by.


The Judas tree is suffering from advanced old age and has decay in some parts of the wood. Good news is new strong growth in the centre, so, it may look drastic now but next Spring will burst into bloom !


Doesn’t look like the companion planting is working, judging by those holey leaves !


In the vegetable garden there are 3 tea-pots buried, not too deeply, as experimental homes for Bumble Bees ! It’s hoped the Bees will crawl down the spouts and make a home in the cosy tissue inside.


The cottage garden was a delight, the Poppies had finished and the seed heads looked wonderful, as did the Acanthus and many Clematis.

I really enjoyed the visit, hope you did too !

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Comments

 

hi Shirley,thank you for sharing this with us ..lovely pics and looks like a nice interesting day out ,look forward to part 2 :o))

28 Jul, 2010

 

Thanks, Joan, part two includes food . . . . .! !

28 Jul, 2010

 

mmmmmmm..cant we have it tonight then lol..

28 Jul, 2010

 

This is not far from me, a lovely place.

28 Jul, 2010

 

Joan - you'll get indigestion this time of night ... lol !
Denise - it took us about an hour by car ... first visit for us today ... don't why we've not been before ... I loved it there ! Still NO RAIN for us .. : o ((((((

28 Jul, 2010

 

Nor me Shirley.

28 Jul, 2010

 

lovely place shirley,, interesting to read about it to £10 wouldnt buy a few bricks these days lol.thanx for sharing shirley ;o))

28 Jul, 2010

 

Thanks, Sandra, it was just so peaceful there. The car and coach parks are just far enough away to not hear the traffic, very few people there, all on the beaches I expect ! Looked in an estate agents window, saw the prices and ran away quickly ! LOL

28 Jul, 2010

 

lol shirley, i would need a brolly to sit on our beach ;o((

28 Jul, 2010

 

Wow! Lovely lovely place and lovely day too! Thanks Shirley! :))

29 Jul, 2010

 

Hi Karen, you would enjoy it, for the Clematis varieties alone ! There are quite a few, climbers, some twining through shrubs and others creeping along at ground level.

29 Jul, 2010

 

Yes, definitely added to my must see in the east of england list!!

29 Jul, 2010

 

Great blog Shirl ... thank you for showing us your day out. Love the teapot idea!

30 Jul, 2010

 

Not sure if I'd want to lift the lids though ! : o ))))

30 Jul, 2010

 

Hi Shirley,thank you for sharing this with us ..lovely pics and looks like a nice interesting day out,Beautiful buildings

31 Jul, 2010

 

Lovely blog Shirley; I think we'll put Alfriston on out 'to do' list, it looks lovely.

2 Aug, 2010

 

Come down to Sussex and tour round, lots to visit, just bring a loaded wallet !
Everything is just so expensive, tea-rooms etc., we're National Trust members so the day wasn't too expensive.

2 Aug, 2010

 

just found this Shirley I have friends in East Sussex and went to Alfriston last summer, it a lovely place ( but I wish the'd stop the cars as they do in some cornish villages) the gardens of the house are very lovely.
My friends family came fom Firle which seems virtually unspoilt, its a lovely area and allbeing well am going to stay with them again in a couple of weeks

5 Aug, 2010

 

I hope the weather is kind to you when you visit ! Have you been to Firle Place at all, tthey had a Spring Show in April which we intended going to but I , unusually for me, was unwell that day so we missed it.

5 Aug, 2010

 

I only come down once or twice a year but my friends have taken me to some lovely places-- Rudyard Kiplings home was a special one and Nymans gardens is it Firle that has the big bonfire

5 Aug, 2010

 

No, Pam, that'll be Lewes, Firle is very close to there. They put on an amazing torchlit procession, burning effigies of whoever is least popular at the time ! Many Politicians have gone up in flames ... lol ! We went to Nymans Gardens recently and I posted a Blog on it, that's where my old camera gave up the ghost, so to speak. Lovely N.T. gardens.

5 Aug, 2010

 

oh of course! Lewes has the long hill with the river at the bottom and when the floods came barrels of beer floated away and later they bottled it! what was it called? flood beer ?

5 Aug, 2010

 

I remember it well, October 2000, the Cuilfail Tunnel which takes you from the dual carriageway into Lewes was flooded, beer barrels, dead cattle and other horrible stuff ! Don't recall the name of the beer though.

5 Aug, 2010

 

Ah, have visited here once, several years ago. Wonderful village and drive in!
Many Thanks for letting me see it again. :-))

16 Aug, 2010

 

You're very welcome, David. It's so nice to see other parts of the country via the blogs on here. : o )))

16 Aug, 2010

 

I agree, Shirley - so much diversity in such a small country! :-))

21 Aug, 2010

 

Hi Shirley, back now from the sunny south ( although the weekend was plagued with low cloud which did nothing for the Shoreham airshow)
went to some nice places which featured more the house than the grounds which were mostly parkland, but they did take me to Paradise Park near Newhaven-- what a place-- huge garden centre with well looked after plants and a huge indoor section too, we didn't have time to visit the gardens as well but I think I could have spent the day there without a problem!

24 Aug, 2010

 

Just seen a picture of a glider which crashed at the air show ! We went to the Isle of Wight Fri-Mon, drizzly but no wind, came back to find quite a lot blown over in my back garden : o (((((

24 Aug, 2010

 

we have apples & plums all over the grass but the birds seem happy to clear up for us!
sorry to hear about the glider but I'm suprised that they flew with the low cloud

25 Aug, 2010

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