Pyecombe

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 10 May 2009

There are two settlements within the parish of Pyecombe, the village itself and Pyecombe Street. The original medieval village was based around the church next to an ancient east-west route which travelled across the Downs. However, this decayed and sometime in the 15th or 16th century the residents upped sticks and moved a quarter of a mile up the road leaving the church isolated. Pyecombe Street remained the more populous part of the parish until the late 18th century when the growth of nearby Brighton as an aristocratic tourist destination led to a proliferation of turnpikes that linked London via various routes through Sussex to the coast. One of these came via Clayton Hill and past the doorstep of the church and as a result 'old' Pyecombe began growing again, until the mid 20th century when once again it became the more populous part of the parish. Taken from above the village with the junction of the A23 (T) and A273 just beyond it.

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