Ditchling, Sussex

Description
Ditchling or Ditchelling, a village and a parish in Sussex. The village stands near the Roman road to Pevensey, 1 1/2 mile E of Hassocks Gate station on the L.B. & S.C.R., and 3 miles ESE of Hurstpierpoint. It was once a market-town, and has now a post and money order office under Hassocks (R.S.O.); telegraph office, Keymer. The parish comprises 4265 acres; population, 1226. Ditchling Beacon is the highest ground of the South chalk downs of Sussex; has an altitude of 858 feet avove sea-level; is crowned with remains of a square camp, probably Roman; and commands a very extensive and grand view. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester; value, £384 with residence, in the gift of trustees. The church is cruciform, partly Transition Norman, partly Early English. There is a Unitarian chapel, a workhouse, and a working men's club. St George's Retreat is a Roman Catholic institution for the insane, founded and erected in 1870. The Cottage Homes of the lightermen and watermen of the river Thames are about half a mile from the village, and consist of a block of 12 cottages erected in 1889-90. There is also a convalescent home in connection with the Sussex County Hospital. The village is noted for its healthy dry soil and splendid air.