principally of four streets, crossing each other, which were mean in their appearance, but have been much improved lately by the Duke of Norfolk, who is the proprietor of the town. Steyning is said to derive its name from its situation on the Roman road called Steyne Street, or Stone Street, which formed the communication between Dorking and Arundel. It is a very ancient town, but not incorporated, its government being vested in a Constable and petty officers, appointed annually at the court leet of the manor. The privilege of electing its two Members of Parliament, is extended to all inhabitant householders, paying scot and lot, and not receiving alms.

The Church, originally built in the form of a cross, is in a ruinous state, the transepts and choir being completely destroyed. The nave, now used for divine worship, has three aisles, and presents some beautiful specimens of Saxon workmanship; some of the arches are so elaborately finished, as to have been chosen by the late Duke of Norfolk for models of a part of his new buildings at Arundel Castle. The interior is magnificent; and it has a tower, of more modern architecture. This is supposed to be a portion of the church of a Benedictine monastery, founded here in early Saxon times, and in which King Ethelwolf, father of Alfred the Great, was interred.

Steyning has a Free Grammar School, founded in the sixteenth century, from which the inhabitants are said not to derive the benefit intended by the donor; and a National School, for boys and girls, supported by voluntary contributions. This town has very little trade, and not any manufactory; but the surrounding land being exceedingly fertile, and productive of corn, while the Downs yield excellent pasture for sheep, agriculture is pursued with success in the neighbourhood, and a large Market is held here every second Wednesday for fat stock, &c.; and two annual Fairs are also held, principally for the same commodities. Upon the hills, about a mile distant, is a good four-mile Race Course. The population of Steyning, in 1821, was 1324; since which period it is believed to have considerably increased.

TARRING, or TERRING, is a small market-town, near Worthing, which gives its name to the hundred in which it is situated. It has a weekly Market for corn on Saturday, but the Market-house has long been pulled down. The Church is an ancient building, in which is placed a strong box, containing the charter for holding the Market. The manor was bestowed by King Athelstan on the see of Canterbury; and several of the Archbishops occasionally resided in the Manor-house, which afterwards became the Rectory; and has since been converted into a Charity School. The population of the parish is about 500.

TROTTON, a village near Midhurst, deserves notice only as the birth-place of the unhappy and highly-gifted Thomas Otway, who was born here March 3, 1651. After receiving his education at Winchester and at Oxford, he went to London, where he became an actor, but as it appears with small success. The Earl of Plymouth having procured him a commission in the army, he went with his regiment to Flanders; but returning in necessitous circumstances, applied himself to writing for the stage, as the means of subsistence. He produced some comedies, which, partaking too much of the licentious spirit of the time, are now deservedly neglected; but in tragedy he is considered inferior only to Shakspeare, and the Orphan and Venice Preserved still retain their place on the stage, and still command the sympathy of the reader. It is believed that the success of his productions was not equal to their merit; and the following account of his death, as given by Dr. Johnson, must excite the most painful feelings. "He died in a manner which I am unwilling to mention. Having been compelled by his necessities to contract debts, and hunted, as is supposed, by terriers of the law, he retired to a public-house on Tower-hill, where he died of want; or, as it is related by one of his biographers, by swallowing, after a long fast, a piece of bread which charity had supplied. He went out, as is reported, almost naked, in the rage of hunger, and finding a gentleman in a neighbouring coffee-house, asked him for a shilling. The gentleman gave him a guinea;

and Otway going away bought a roll, and was choaked with the first mouthful. All this, I hope, is not true; but that indigence, and its concomitants sorrow and despondency, brought him to the grave, has never been denied. His death is supposed to have taken place about 1685. In addition to nine plays, he wrote several small pieces in verse, and translated some portions of the Latin poets.

UCKFIELD is a neat village, 414 miles from London, and 16 from Brighton, with a population of 1099 persons in 1821. The Church is a small Gothic structure, of great antiquity, with a square tower at the west end, and from its situation on a hill forms a pleasing object. Here is also a Chapel for Dissenters, and a National School for the education of poor children of both sexes. Very little business is done here, but two annual Fairs are held for cattle and pedlary.

WESTHAM is a small village near Pevensey, having an ancient Church, with a square tower, a painted window at the east end, and a baptismal font of great antiquity. The inhabitants of the parish do not exceed 600; it has not any kind of manufacture, and very little trade.

WINCHELSEA.

This venerable town is 67 miles from London, and two from Rye; it is asserted by some writers to have been known to the Romans, and was certainly of considerable importance under the Saxon government. During the first two centuries after the Norman Conquest it was a place of great trade and prosperity; but in the year 1287 the town was totally destroyed by an inundation, which laid all that part the coast under water; and even its site is now uncertain, but is supposed to be near Camber Point, on

of

* The Doctor's criticism on this unfortunate bard is tinctured with that severity which was its prevailing characteristic; in conclusion he says, "Otway had not much cultivated versification, nor much replenished his mind with general knowledge. His principal power was in moving the passions, to which Dryden in his latter years left an illustrious testimony; He appears, by some of his verses, to have been a zealous royalist; and had what was in those times the common reward of loyalty; he lived and died neglected."

the opposite side of Rye Harbour. The inhabitants, who appear to have had sufficient warning of the approach of this calamity to withdraw with a part of their property, purchased a portion of the parish of Icklesham, which, although then near the sea, being a hill, was well adapted to defend the intended town from a recurrence of the fatal visitation which had destroyed the former one. This hill is nearly two miles in circumference, and when covered with buildings, as they are said to have been formed into squares, and erected with more regularity than was usual in the towns of that period, its appearance must have been beautiful and interesting. The walls were built by Edward I, and it was entered by three Gates, which are still standing, although much dilapidated; they are called New Gate, Strand Gate, and Land Gate. In 1377 Winchelsea was in a great measure destroyed by the French; and its decay was completed by a circumstance exactly the reverse of that which had been so fatal to its predecessor-the retirement of the sea from its harbour, and its consequent desertion by the merchant and trader.

In its prosperity Winchelsea had at least three Churches; two of these, dedicated to St. Giles, and St. Leonard, have long since been demolished; and of the venerable

a part only remains. The nave has sunk into ruin,

but the chancel and aisles are still entire, and are used for the purpose of divine worship. This beautiful and interesting relic of what may almost be considered a "departed town," is decorated in the most picturesque manner with a profusion of ivy, which springs from what was once the interior of the building, and spreads over the walls and roof in every direction. A low tower rises above; and the inside of the Church is distinguished by its neatness.

Winchelsea appears to have been raised to the dignity of a Cinque Port by Edward I, and still retains the privileges of sending two Members to Parliament, &c. It has also a corporation, consisting of a Mayor, and twelve Jurats; and the town seal, still preserved, is a curious relic of antiquity. A very small Market is now held here on Saturday, and an annual Fair on May 14th for cattle. The population, in 1821, was no more than 817.

About two miles north-east of the town are the ruins of Camber Castle, one of the fortifications erected by Henry VIII for the defence of this coast, and said to have cost upwards of £20,000. It is similar in form to the other castles erected by the same monarch, and consists of a large circular tower, or keep, surrounded by smaller towers, and connected by other works; it has been long dismantled, and is in a state of dilapidation.

This fashionable watering-place is 56 miles from London, and 12 from Brighton. Its rise from an insignificant fishing hamlet to its present rank has been rapid, almost beyond precedent even in the annals of this coast. It is said to owe this distinction to the superior mildness of its temperature, arising from the shelter afforded by the Downs, which at the distance of scarcely a mile environ it, and exclude the chilling blasts of the northern and eastern winds, rendering bathing practicable even in the depth of winter. The sands, extending nearly ten miles in length, are level, hard, and compact, and afford a beautiful ride or walk

* At a period not very remote, according to the Worthing Guide, the usual rent of the houses in this village did not exceed 40s. per annum, and an acre of ground was frequently sold for half an anker (or five gallons) of brandy.