Edburton

infobox UK place
country = England
static_

static_image_caption= Edburton Church
latitude= 50.88903
longitude= -0.24796
official_name = Edburton
population =
civil_parish= Upper Beeding
shire_district= Horsham
shire_county= West Sussex
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Arundel and South Downs
post_town=
postcode_district =
postcode_area=
dial_code=
os_grid_reference= TQ233114

Edburton is a small village in West Sussex, England, on the road from Upper Beeding to Fulking.

History

The village was named after Edburga of Winchester [http://www.sussexcoast.co.uk/villages/edburton.php] who was a granddaughter of King Alfred the Great and daughter of his successor King Edward the Elder. The church she founded c.940 at Edburton collapsed and was rebuilt in the late twelfth century on the same foundations. This indicates that there was a sustantial population living where there are only a few houses now. The situation at the foot of the north facing South Downs escarpment provided a year round supply of clean spring water from the chalk of the downs, and access to a range of soil types for farming. Expand-section|date=June 2008

The parish church

The anglican parish church dedicated to St. Andrew was rebuilt in the late twelfth century, in late Norman and Early English style, beginning with the nave and finishing with the tower. The interior stone came from Caen in Normandy. The well proportioned tower is mainly of flint. [St. Andrew's church guide, 2001] There is an unusual lead font with a raisable conical wooden cover. A round stone sink with Saxon carving, which was found in the churchyard, is believed to be the piscina of the original Saxon church. There are three mass-clocks or sundials carved into the stone on the south side of the church. These originally had a projecting metal rod called a gnomon or style to cast a shadow, and were used to divide up the day before clocks existed. A fourth mass-clock on the north side of the church sees no sunshine and is upside down, showing that the stone was reused from the earlier church, which was built c. 940.

References

Gallery