THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — These Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

Wiston House beneath the heights of Chanctonbury Ring in April 2002.  Wiston Manor appears in Domesday Book, the register of English possessions made by William the Conqueror in 1086, twenty years after he won the Battle of Hastings.

WHO MADE CHANCTONBURY RING?

Charles Goring (b. 1744.  d. 1829)

Copyright Valerie Martin 2005

 

Here's a puzzle to put anyone in thoughtful mood.

It did not take me long to unravel the story.

Charles Goring had a vision of a noble ring of trees on top of a hill.   Not just any trees, but beech trees.  I know exactly how he felt because I often have compulsions to do things myself and there is no stopping me.   If I owned some hillsides in Sussex, I can guarantee that I would soon be planting something to mark their summits.

Prior to 1760, neither tree nor bush grew on the Chanctonbury hillside. The slope contained a circular earthwork and not the landmark of beech trees on its eminence.

The trees at Chanctonbury were the inspiration of this enterprising 16-year-old young youth who was the heir to the Wiston Estate.    He was no ordinary boy.   He was born to wealthy parents and lived at Wiston House and he was an ardent lover of the Sussex countryside.

During the summer of 1760, Charles made periodic climbs up to the 750 ft. summit to haul the young beech saplings to their pre-arranged positions.  There was a public outcry by local people even in those days when Charles started to plant the trees.   They feared he was foolhardy and the line of the beautiful Downs would be spoilt for future generations. 

After supervising the planting of the circle of small trees in the grove, Charles arranged for water to be transported up the slope until the young trees had taken root and were well established.   It is said that he even talked to them to encourage them to thrive.    Please do not imagine for one moment that he personally carried a large bucket of water up the hillside for his trees as the slope is far too steep for a young lad.    Maybe he had a horse and cart.....or perhaps two carts ....... or was accompanied by a band of loyal, burly servants.   Somehow, the romantic tale is beginning to lose its charm!

A poor shepherd's boy, 17 years old, hung himself "on Chanctonbury Hill" in the summer of 1787 "in a circle of shrubs called Chanctonbury Ring".     You will note that Chanctonbury Ring was described as "a circle of shrubs"..... this is because Charles Goring had only planted the saplings 27 years earlier in 1760 and they had not yet grown to maturity.

The Chanctonbury hilltop became ideal as a beacon station in 1805 (as it had been during the time of the threatened Spanish Armada in 1588 when King Philip II sent a fleet against England).  By 1814, all was quiet at the Ring and it had become a venue for picnickers who could sit on sunny days on the southern slopes looking towards the coast and Cissbury Ring..... and, of course, to Findon in the south-west.

Having lived to be 85 years old Charles fortunately witnessed some of his trees in their maturity. In his old age he wrote a simple and moving poem about the venture he had seen come to fruition...

 

Oh! could I live to see thy top
In all its beauty dress'd.

That time's arrived; I've had my wish,
and lived to eighty-five.

I'll thank my God who gave such grace,
as long as e'er I live.

 

Within a year of writing this, Charles was dead. 

In January 2012, David Johnston in Petworth emailed......"Another snippit Val - about Chanctonbury Ring!

"---- Bishop Wilberforce, a frequent visitor to this part of Sussex [Steyning and Washington - maybe even Findon?] - he had a house in the Petworth district - writes thus in his diary for 1854 - '--- Walked, amidst pouring rain, to Chanctonbury Ring.  Old Mr Goring planted it when a schoolboy, carrying up some bottles in his pocket. Quite successful. ---'    All best ----- David.

I love that bit ..... “carrying up some bottles in his pocket”.

 

As the beech grove grew it disturbed the ruins of a Romano-British temple buried on the site.  This was excavated in the early years of the nineteenth century and showed it to be a sunken temple with a court.  The many Roman coins discovered on and around the location of Chanctonbury Ring proved that a Roman Temple had been functional on the site for some three hundred years.

Oil painting by Yours Truly of Chanctonbury Ring on a dull day in 1984 from Henfield.  The figure in red is supposed to be me with my Chihuahua named Topaz.

Around 1865, It is said that a Reverend J. N. Walker was out walking on the Chanctonbury hillside and discovered a small lamp dating from the days of the Romans.

As the beeches grew they disturbed the ruins of a Romano-British temple buried on the site of Chanctonbury.  As previously mentioned, this was excavated in the early years of the last century and showed it to be a sunken temple with a court.

Over the ensuing decades, the beeches survived many onslaughts by the elements until the early hours of 16th October 1987 when the most devastating meteorological occurrence of the century occurred.  They could not endure the hurricane-force winds and are now only a shadow of their former self as portrayed in older photographs.  They received a battering well beyond their powers of resistance.   The winds were in excess of a hundred miles an hour in the most ferocious hurricane to have hit Sussex since the 17th century.   The storm cut a broad swathe of destruction through the centre of the circle of trees.  

When daylight broke over the stricken countryside the scene was one of utter devastation.   Chanctonbury Ring had lost its crowning glory.  Some trees were completely uprooted or leaning drunkenly beyond recall.   Rather strangely,

those on the outer fringe of the Ring fared the best in the wild gale.  A prehistoric human leg bone subsequently came to light under one of the uprooted trees.
  

Cissbury Ring from the track to Chanctonbury

The barren summit of Cissbury Ring survived the fateful hurricane much better.

I thought the Chanctonbury Ring skyline would never be the same again but in January 1990 it was reported that Chanctonbury Ring was set to be restored to its former splendour.  Before replanting of the beech saplings could  commence, archaeologists wanted to carry out an exploratory dig to once more locate the foundations of the Roman temple on the Ring.  

The Wiston Estate (yes, still owned by the Goring family) eventually planted four hundred trees in February 1991 with the help of money donated by the public and the West Sussex County Council.    A fence was erected around the trees on the Chanctonbury hilltop to protect them until they were established.  

Chanctonbury Ring still stands as a shadow of its former self even after much replanting to replace the trees lost in the gale on that wild night.

 

Continue to read about Barry Pulford on Chanctonbury

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

 

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Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial.   Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are!