IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Brighton Road, LEWES, BN7 3JN

These five cottages plus a house to the south called Balmer make up the current hamlet though they were all built after the Second World War. To the north is Balmer Farm which also seems to have been rebuilt at the same time with the old farm house and any other structures disappearing either during the conflict or just after when Brighton Council became landlords. The cottages are built on an area called Balmer Green according to Falmer's 1840 tithe map which included the former village pond, now long gone. Balmer (Pronounced 'Bormer') was once a flourishing medieval village whose estate was ones by nearby Lewe Priory and contained its own chapel which survived until the 16th century when it was demolished the settlement having become depopulated probably due to a number of practices; changes in the medieval downland economy whereby the less labour intensive sheep farming became a far more profitable venture than arable farming and a few visitations of plague. By the 19th century only the farm remained.

Balmer derives its name from Bergemere, in the 11th century, meaning Stronghold pool. Although the pool is no longer, there are traces of the stronghold on Balmer Down. Close to the farm is the site of the Medieval village of Balmer.

Near enough all of the farm was rebuilt after the Second World War, one of the old dwellings was originally located to the left, and a few of the barns seem to have retained their flint walls. The track through the outbuildings is the bridleway that heads north from the hamlet to Blackcap.

Once a bigger medieval village now reduced to a hamlet of 5 houses and a farm.

The name of the field according to Falmer's 1840 tithe map that once backed onto the former farmhouse of Balmer Farm which lay out of shot to the left. A part of the American Express Community Stadium can be seen centre left whilst in the far distances are the high rise flats of central Brighton.

The name of the fields according to Falmer's 1840 tithe map that have been joined together to make a larger unit and lie to the immediate north of Image Balmer Green originally lay on the left hand side and to the north whereas Crooked Croft lay to the right and filled the southern part of the left hand side nearer the former hamlet. The field may be one of the sites of the old medieval village as there seems to be an awful lot of earthworks suggesting platforms for former houses in this field.

The name of the field according to Falmer's 1840 tithe map which runs down the western side of Image Newmarket Hill can be seen in the distance.

The name of the wood according to Falmer's 1840 tithe map that lies to the east of a passing place on the access road to Balmer and as can be seen its isolation means it is a popular fly tipping spot.