[May be conveniently visited by road from Brighton, from which it is The road at first skirts the base of the South Downs, and passes the sequestered village of PRESTON (population, 2470)—i. e. Priest's town, because it formed a part of the possessions of the see of Chichester-where the little Early English CHURCH, dedicated to St. Peter, and consisting of nave, chancel, and tower, is worthy of a patient examination. On the walls of the nave are some rude frescoes, in red and yellow, of the murder of Thomas à Becket, shewing the four knights, and the monk Grim protecting the Archbishop with his arm. St. Michael, with his scales, is figured on the other side. In the nave lies the tomb-stone of Francis Cheynel, D.D., d. 1665, the bitter antagonist of Chillingworth, whose grave he profaned with his unseemly violence. Douglas, the erudite author of the "Nenia Britannica,” and the father of Sussex archæology, lies interred in the churchyard. The vicarage, valued at £306, is in the patronage of the Bishop of Chichester. Hove, and its two churches, St. Mark's and St. John the Baptist's, are within this parish. Anne of Cleves resided here for a short period. From this point HOLLINGSBURY CASTLE (2 miles north), a square camp, five acres in extent; WHITE HAWK HILL, a triple entrenchment, near the Brighton race-course, three quarters of a mile in circumference, and the camps on Ditchling Beacon may be visited, as the three points of a triangle which commanded the sea-coast, and overlooked the passes of the Weald. The tourist should now leave the high road and ascend the downs to the DEVIL'S DYKE (5 miles from Brighton), a remarkable natural fosse, steep, abrupt, and of unusual depth (300 feet), which looks as if the Titans had excavated it as a defence for some enormous stronghold. The legend attached to it is curious: -the Devil, or, as the Sussex hinds more sympathizingly call him, the Poor Man, wroth at the number of churches which sprang up yearly in this neighbourhood, resolved to dig a trench from this point down to the sea, and so to inundate the whole country side. But as he was toiling by night with assiduous energy, he was descried by an old woman from the cottage window, who held up a candle that she might the better comprehend his design, and frightening the devil into the belief that it was the sunrise, he immediately disappeared. When he found out his error, he was too ashamed of his folly to return, and the Dyke to this day remains a witness to an old woman's curiosity and the devil's discomfiture! On the brow of the hill beyond this immense verdurous fosse, the Romans formed, or rather adopted what the British formed, an oval encampment, defended by a wide ditch and huge vallum, about one mile in circumference. They also rendered the sides of the Dyke more precipitous, cutting them down at an angle of 45°. ner. A pleasant "hostelry," where reasonable "creature-comforts" may be obtained, stands on the brink of the down-a point from which the tourist will enjoy the most magnificent prospect in this part of Sussex. "If Nature had endeavoured to create a surprise for man, she could not have done it more effectually than by leading him over the gradual ascent of a vast down, and then suddenly sinking the earth 600 or 700 feet in a bold escarpment, until it formed a plain almost limitless to the eye, and rich in summer foliage and yellow corn. For miles on each side the Downs descend into this plain in an almost perpendicular manIf you throw yourself down on the edge of this fearful descent on a fine summer's afternoon, and strain your eyes over the wonderful plain beneath, you gain a sensation of space that scarce another landscape in England can afford. The valley before you stretches north-east to south-west a space of no less than 120 miles, commencing at Maidstone, and only terminating at the Hampshire Downs, near Portsmouth. To the north and north-west the eye reaches, it is affirmed, but we confess to some misgivings, as far as Croydon and Norwood; no fewer than six counties being rolled out, in this gigantic map, at the spectator's feet, and these, for the most part, garden or park-like in culture and appearance."-(Thorne.) WORTHING BY SHOREHAM (6 miles). The road from Brighton to Worthing lies along the coast, in sight and hearing of the glorious sea. We cross a level of great fertility, the downs rising up to the northward like a formidable bulwark, and descend a slight incline into the valley of the Adur. To our right we pass, in succession, HANGLETON (population, 76), a small hamlet 1 mile west, with an Early English CHURCH and a Tudor manor-house-the rectory (£209) in the gift of Earl Amherst; PORTSLADE-BY-SEA (pop. 3717), where there is an Early English CHURCH, dedicated to St. Nicholas,-the vicarage (£171) in the Lord Chancellor's patronage; SOUTHWICK (population, 2501), 5 miles from Brighton, a populous village, whose church, dedicated to St. Michael, is large and handsome; and KINGSTON-BY-SEA (population, 262), where goods are forwarded for the Shoreham shipping. "The tide once flowed by this place, and brought large vessels as far as Bramber, 3 or 4 miles higher; but the navigation has long since been choked up. Before Old Shoreham is a marshy tract watered by the river Adur; its channel once ran on this side, but about thirty years ago [1750] was diverted towards New Shoreham, not only for the purpose of serving the harbour, but for gaining much good land from the marshes. As a proof that the sea had once occupied this tract, anchors have been found very far from the present shore"-(Pennant). The CHURCH is uninteresting, and is but a portion of the original edifice. The Wyndham family have the patronage of the living (a rectory, valued at £300). The railway is carried across the Shoreham flat by a viaduct, the Adur Viaduct, 550 yards in length. OLD SHOREHAM lies to the right, just beyond the Portsmouth road; NEW SHOREHAM occupies the banks of the Adur,-one long, squalid, and winding street, irregularly crossed by other streets as squalid and "fishlike," and chiefly inhabited by ship-builders, ship-chandlers, fishermen, and those who go down to the sea in ships. NEW SHOREHAM (population, 3438. Hotels: Dolphin, Surrey Arms, Buckingham Arms, and Swiss Gardens) rose into importance as Old Shoreham, owing to the gradual silting-up of its harbour, fell into decay.. The ancient haven, formed by the estuary of the Adur, was early regarded as of some maritime importance, from its position with respect to the coast of Normandy, and to defend this important pass a Norman stronghold was raised at BRAMBER, up the river, just as Lewes commanded the Ouse, and Arundel the Arun. King John landed here in 1199, immediately after the decease of Richard Coeur-de-Lion. He also embarked from hence in the following June on his way to France. In 1346, when Edward III. fitted out two large fleets of 706 ships, Old Shoreham contributed 26, whilst London furnished but 25, Southampton 21, and Hull only 16. But early in the fifteenth century the sea made rapid encroachments upon its insecure marshes the port was destroyed-and the town had fallen into so sad a decline, that in 1432 it could but number 36 inhabitants. It was long before brighter fortunes dawned upon the natives of Shoreham, but, by degrees, a new town sprang up along the banks of the Adur, and in 1724, the population had increased to 640 souls, chiefly employed in "the building and fitting up of ships." The attention of the Government was at length directed to the condition of the harbour, and considerable improvements were effected. The entrance, however, continued to the eastward, at the rate of a mile in forty years, until the present substantial piers were erected by Clegram, in 1819, and a species of canal fenced in. The mouth is now 218 feet wide, and at spring tides has about twenty feet depth of water, fourteen feet at neap, and only four feet at low. A light-house has been erected for the convenience of mariners. The principal imports are corn, grain, coals, and Irish produce; the export, timber. About 1100 vessels, of 115,000 tons, enter the harbour yearly. The handsome SUSPENSION BRIDGE, built in 1833 at the expense of the Duke of Norfolk, by Clarke, the architect of the Hammersmith Bridge, is not only an ornament but an advantage to the town. It shortens the distance between Brighton and Worthing by 2 miles. The CUSTOM HOUSE was built in 1830, and designed by Smirke. Two Hospitals, and a Priory of Carmelite Friars, are said to have existed here. During the summer the Swiss Gardens are a great attraction. The timber bridge over the Adur (dwr, water), at Old Shoreham, 500 feet long and 12 feet wide, was erected in 1781. The principal historical association of Shoreham is the escape of Charles II. after the defeat at Worcester, and his preservation at Boscobel. Crossing the country, attended by Lord Wilmot, he reached Brighton on the evening of October 14, 1651, and passed the night at the George (now the King's Head) Inn, in West Street. Early on the following morning they set out for Shoreham, where Captain Nicholas Tattersall had moored his bark, and when the tide served, effected their embarkation undetected. On the same day (October 15th) the Earl of Derby, one of Charles's stoutest adherents, was executed at Bolton. The Churches, both at Old and New Shoreham, possess an unusual interest for the archæologist. OLD SHOREHAM CHURCH ( mile west) is an Early Norman church, cruciform in plan, and "remarkable for the small number of windows, and the consequent darkness of the nave, as also for possessing on the tie-beams of the chancel the tooth-moulding which is very rarely found carved in wood." The central tower is supported by four enriched circular arches of conspicuous beauty. An oblong window in the south transept has a zigzag moulding. Mr. Ferrey has "restored" this interesting edifice with commendable care-The vicarage, valued at £458, is in the gift of Magdalene College, Oxford. NEW SHOREHAM CHURCH was probably erected about 1100. It contains some Norman portions, and additions in TransitionNorman and Early English. “When entire it was a stately and capacious edifice of a cruciform shape, having a tower 83 feet high, rising from the centre of the cross. The nave has been long destroyed, and what remains consists of a choir, with side aisles, transept, and tower. The walls of the choir, now used as the parish church, rise considerably higher than those of the transept; two massive flying buttresses support the upper part (Horsfield). The windows in the aisles are semicircular; in the south side they are of a later date. The choir is divided into five bays by Early English arches, springing from columns whose richly foliated capitals should receive a careful examination. The exterior mouldings of the arches are similarly enriched. The east end has a triple lancet window, surmounting three semicircular Norman windows. The transept and the tower are Norman and Transition-Norman. There is a brass of the time of Edward IV. The vicarage, valued at £127, is in the patronage of Magdalene College, Oxford. The rail after passing through Shoreham, crosses the Adur, and, following pretty nearly the coast line, soon reaches LANCING. WORTHING Two and a half miles further and we arrive at the popular watering-place of WORTHING (population, 10,976. Hotels: Royal, Marine, Albion, Commercial, Railway Commercial). From |