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362 THE SUSSEX COAST
writer once saw a board specially provided to prevent people having to scribble over the white marble, and for their further convenience separate spaces were thoughtfully provided for poetry, drawing, and prose. Something of the kind would be a decided advantage for the autographs of the many distinguished people who visit the glen and do not desire to leave it without some memento of their visit.
High up on a ridge farther east stands Fairlight church, from which a magnificent view to the northward embraces many foldings of the Weald, diversified with every shade of green, with patches or lines of cultivated land, and a red roof here and there. To the south one looks straight over the shipping of the Channel, with a peep of the flats by Winchelsea to the east. The church itself was rebuilt in 1845, but the glorious situation seems to have failed to inspire the architect, and one of the most conspicuous sanctuaries in the county is hopelessly commonplace, though fairly good Gothic for its period.
On the lower ground to the north, overlooked from Fairlight, are the villages of Guestling and Westfield. The former has a church with an interesting Norman tower having a receding upper story with shafted double windows and a stair in the north-west corner; the western quoins of the original high aisleless nave can be seen; the tower opened into it merely by a door. The rest is largely rebuilt; the nave has aisles and the chancel has chapels, each with two bays; there are arches, niches, and windows of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Westfield church retains a Norman chancel arch having shafts with little volutes to their caps on the side towards the nave. The |
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