and two miles east of Ditchling village
is the lonely hamlet of Street. The "Place" is a grand old house dating
from the reign of the first James; behind the chimney of the hall was
once a spacious hiding place and a story is told of a Royalist fugitive
who _rode into it on his horse_ and was never again seen. The restored
church has a number of iron grave slabs and a monument to Martha
Cogger, who was a "Pattern of Piety and Politeness."

Nearly two miles on the Lewes road is Plumpton, chiefly famed for its
steeplechases which are held two miles away in the Weald and close to
Plumpton station. The church is uninteresting. The "Place" is an old
moated house, the property of Lord Chichester. The Leonard Mascall who
lived here in the sixteenth century is said to have introduced the
first carp from the Danube, the moat being used as their nursery.
Notice the great V in firs on the face of the Downs; this is a memorial
of the Victorian Jubliee; not particularly beautiful and leading one to
speculate upon its permanence. A cutting in the chalk would probably
recommend itself to the pious care of coming ages when the personage
commemorated had either been entirely forgotten or had developed into a
legendary heroine of fictitious character. That even cuttings are not
always permanent is proved close by, for only occasionally can the
cross cut to commemorate the great battle of Lewes be seen; the turf
shows but a different shade of green at certain times and under certain
atmospheric conditions.

The road to Lewes continues under the shadow of Mount Harry and
eventually drops to the Lewes-London highway near Offham, remarkable as
being the first place in the south where a line of rails was used for
the passage of goods. A turn to the right and we soon reach Lewes near
St. Anne's Church.

CHAPTER V

SHOREHAM AND WORTHING

Public conveyances run from Brighton to Shoreham several times each day
by Portslade and Southwick; the railway to Worthing also follows the
road and little will be lost if the traveller goes direct to New
Shoreham. Portslade and Southwick churches have some points of
interest, the latter a one time church of the Knights Templar, but they
are not sufficient compensation for the melancholy and depressing
route. After passing Hove the road is cut off from the sea by the
eastern arm of Shoreham Harbour, and there follows a line of gas works,
coal sidings and similar eyesores, almost all the way to Sh