The Weald and Downland Living Museum (formerly known as the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum until January 2017) is an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The museum is a registered charity.[1]
The museum covers 40 acres (16 ha), with over 50 historic buildings dating from 950AD to the 19th century, along with gardens, farm animals, walks and a mill pond.
The principal aim at the foundation of the museum was to establish a centre that could rescue representative examples of vernacular buildings from South East England, and thereby to generate increased public awareness and interest in the built environment.
The Museum principally promotes the retention of buildings on their original sites unless there is no alternative, and encourages an informed and sympathetic approach to their preservation and continuing use.
The buildings that are located at the museum were all threatened with destruction and, as it was not possible to find a way to preserve them at their original sites, they were carefully dismantled, conserved and rebuilt in their historical form at the museum.
These buildings, plus two archaeological reconstructions, help the museum bring to life the homes, farmsteads and rural industries of the last 950 years. Along with the buildings, there are “hands-on” activities, like cooking, and weaving, and a number of yearly activities, including seasonal shows, historic gardens weekend and Tree Dressing.
Pictured below are some of the many buildings located within the museum site. I will Post other buildings in more detail in subsequent posts.
Tags: Vacation, Weald & Downland Living Museum, West Sussex
WWT Arundel is one of nine wildfowl and wetland nature reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, a nature conservation charity in the United Kingdom. The 60 acre (240,000 m2) reserve is situated at the foot of the Offham Hangar, a part of the Arun valley in Arundel, West Sussex, England.
One of the endangered species protected at the centre is the Hawaiian goose, or nēnē, the rarest goose in the world, and state bird of Hawaii. Many species of duck, goose and swan can be seen at the reserve.
The centre provides a variety of habitats from around the world for its various ‘residents’ such as its re-creation of Mývatn, a volcanic lake in Iceland.
With hand feeding and hides situated all over the centre, visitors can get close to many of the ducks. These features, as well as the large number of habitats and different species, are common in WWT centres.
Tags: Arundel, Vacation, West Sussex, Wetlands Centre
These photographs show the only surviving remains of a late 13th Century Franciscan friary that once dominated Priory Park.
Timeline of the guildhall:
- 1269 – 1282 A Franciscan Friary is constructed in Priory Park. Believed to have been the chancel of the friary, it contained the high alter and would only have been used by the resident Greyfriars who remained in Priory Park for more than two centuries until the dissolution of monasteries in the 16th Century.
- 1538 The friary was closed under the reign of King Henry VIII. With the exception of the chancel, all buildings belonging to the friary were demolished. The site was given to the Mayor of Chichester.
- 1541 The City Corporation buys the chancel from the Mayor of Chichester. The building is used as law courts and the Town Hall, or Guildhall. During this time some famous trials were held here including the trial of the Hawkhurst gang of smugglers in 1749 and the trial of the poet & artist William Blake in 1804.
- 1850 The building stops being used as a Guildhall and is used by the Sussex Rifle Volunteers as an Armoury and Drill Hall.
- 1947 The Guildhall becomes Chichester’s first museum site and is used to display historic artefacts for the people of Chichester.
- 2007 – 2009 The Guildhall undergoes a major repairs programme and becomes a hire venue for community events.
- 2015 The Guildhall is granted a license to host civil ceremonies and becomes a wedding venue for the first time in its history.
Tags: Chichester, Priory, Priory Park, The Guildhall Chichester, Vacation
The Bishops Palace Gardens, next to Chichester Cathedral, is a beautifully kept, tranquil garden bordered by the historic Roman city walls, and the Tudor wall. The perfect place to take a relaxing wander a few steps from the thriving centre of Chichester, you can enjoy some of the best views of the cathedral. There are plenty of benches to take that well-earned rest, or sit and admire the immaculately kept gardens.
In the gardens you will find a section of shrubs, trees, roses, climbers and herbaceous plants, with around 100 unusual trees and shrubs throughout. There is also an eye-catching rose pergola which was planted in 2009 and carries climbing roses, clematis and honeysuckle.
Tags: Blackbird, Chichester, Chichester Cathedral, The Bishop's Palace Gardens, Vacation
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you’, that would suffice.
Meister Eckhart
Tags: Kent, Parish Church of St. Mary Willesborough., St Mary's Church, Vacation, Willesborough
We spotted Rye Windmill when we had a brief visit to Rye when we holidayed in Chichester last year. It was near to where we had parked our car and as we walked past the windmill we found out that it was a B&B. How quaint. The mill has an interesting history:
The distinctive and famous Rye Mill is a grade-two listed building and has been the inspiration for artists and photographers throughout the centuries. It occupies an historic site in Gibbet’s Marsh where a windmill has stood, in one form or another, since at least the sixteenth century. The Symondons map of Rye created in 1594 shows an illustration of a windmill in the exact spot where today’s mill now stands. Copies can be seen in Rye Town Hall and in the guesthouse.
The first recorded owner of a Rye Mill was Thomas Chatterton who built a ‘post mill’ in 1758. After his death his widow, Mary, passed it on to a Frederick Barry who demolished the ‘post mill’ in 1820 to erect a ‘Smock Mill’, similar to the one we see today. Milling continued until 1912 when the premises became a bakery. Eventually to be owned by the Webbs, a well regarded family of Rye bakers who were to become custodians of the Windmill for over 60 years.
Unfortunately, on a Friday 13th in 1930, the ovens of the bakery overheated and destroyed the wooden structure on the mill, leaving just the two story brick base. The mill was reconstructed in 1932 and it continued as a bakery until 1976. The ovens were put to good use when the mill became a pottery. The original oven doors can be seen in the base of the Windmill, behind what is now the bar.
The Mill first became a B&B guesthouse in 1984. Since then the Mill has gone through many improvements and, today, its present owners aim to carry on making The Rye Windmill a memorable venue and unforgettable experience for all patrons.
Tags: Kent, Rye, Vacation, Windmill
