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220 THE SUSSEX COAST
When all our work is done, and all our sheep are shorn, Then home to our Captain, to drink the ale that's strong. Tis a barrel, then, of hum cap, which we call the black
ram ; And we do sit and swagger, and swear that we are men ; But yet before 'tis night, I'll stand you half-a-crown, That if you ha'n't a special care the ram will knock you
down."
Pyecombe church stands on the Down-side in a rather bleak position, a conspicuous landmark from the road. The little Norman chancel arch has been supplemented by a smaller arch on each side as at Ovingdean. The east window is also Norman, but of later character, and has been entirely renewed; the heavily buttressed tower seems to have been originally Early English, and the nave has some square-headed windows of late Decorated type. The font is of lead, and both in character and date very similar to that at Edburton. The pulpit with carved panels is dated 1636, and there is other woodwork of similar character.
On the Downs above the village, with heather, stunted hawthorn, and even a little oak among the grass, rises Wolstonbury Hill with a circular camp and a good many pits that look like the sites of huts. Just below on the borders of the Weald are the beautiful woods and turf stretches of Danny Park. The house was built by George Goring of Ovingdean about 1595, this date appearing on the moulded plaster ceiling of the back stair. The front is E-shaped and most impressive in its simplicity, the red brick relieved only by the stone oriel windows with their mullions and transoms; almost the only ornament are pilasters by the front door and heads within circles on the |
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