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244 THE SUSSEX COAST
far from the spirit that led even M. A. Lower to fall over himself in apologies for including Shelley among the Worthies of Sussex, and while duly recording the life of John Cade to omit all mention of the Regicides! Lewes yet maintains the tradition of her martyrs, and by no town in the kingdom probably is November 5th still annually celebrated with such zeal.
The Downs above the Martyrs' Memorial, dedicated to golf and commanding magnificent views all around, are cut off from the rest of the range by the valley of the stream called Glynde Reach, up which the tide flows into the Weald nearly as far as Laughton Place. The upland grass is varied by great patches of fragrant furze and by a few tufts of heather. Overlooking the junction of the two streams on the flat land below is Mount Caburn, said to be derived from Caer Bryn, " hill fort." At any rate there is a Celtic camp, roughly oval in form, the defence being doubled on the side towards the Downs, which is not protected by the steep descent to the rivers. An additional agger and fosse defend the ridge towards Lewes.
A very short distance up the Ouse from the capital is the ancient village of Mailing, where was a college in Saxon days, dating at any rate from the eighth century and lasting till the sixteenth. Its dignitaries seem to have been very fond of living elsewhere. The existing church, dated 1626, with tower and nave, is a good example of the Jacobean Gothic revival. The windows are trefoiled lancets, and it has quite the character of a much older building at first sight. It was built by John Stansfield, the grandfather of John Evelyn, who spent his boyhood at Mailing. The |
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