Blackdown, West Sussex

Tennyson's Lane c. 1900. The gate marks the Surrey/Sussex border, and was a favourite destination for Lord Tennyson's walks

View from two miles (3 km) away

The hill presents as a dark-sided mass that towers over the near parts of the Low Weald of West Sussex and, an elevated corner of south-west Surrey. Geologically part of the Greensand Ridge and lying on the western margins of the Weald, Blackdown has been protected as part of the South Downs National Park. It starts about 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south of Haslemere, and its northern slopes are in Surrey. There is no village or hamlet on Blackdown – Fernhurst is just to the southwest, and Lurgashall to the southeast.

There are 3 National Trust car parks on Tennyson's Lane, which runs up Haste Hill from Haslemere, and a footpath from the town centre. It is also possible to walk to Blackdown from Lurgashall, walking up the steep southern escarpment. Blackdown is crossed by the Sussex Border Path and the Serpent Trail.

Tennyson's Lane in memory of the poet is a high, slightly sunken, tree-tunnel lane that runs from Haslemere past the highest home, Aldworth House (today a couple of dwellings). The lane keeps to Arthur Paterson's description in 1905:

Trees meet overhead, copsewood surrounds it, and later, it is hedged by high sandy banks thickly overgrown with plant and scrub; squirrels and rabbits, and all other small woodland creatures, disport themselves over it. It twists and turns, and to the stranger appears to lead nowhere in particular.

Pine trees cleared and thinned to restore heathland

The acid sandstone of Blackdown limits the range of plants. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Blackdown was a grazed common where trees were kept down by sheep, and heather dominated. After the end of regular grazing Scots Pine became the dominant species. The National Trust now carries out a programme of tree-felling and controlled burning to maintain and regenerate areas of open heath. The reserve has been fenced so that conservation grazing with cattle can be used as a management tool. Blackdown is an important habitat for insects and birds.

A geological relief model of Blackdown, and much information on its natural history, can be found in the Haslemere Educational Museum.

Old Manor Farm, Tennyson's Lane

Although common land, Blackdown was the property of various landowners until W. E. Hunter donated it to the National Trust in 1944, as a memorial to his wife. The Hunters are remembered by an inscribed stone seat at the Temple of the Winds. Flint artefacts show there has been settlement on Blackdown since the mesolithic period, around 6000 BC. The name of an ancient track, pen-y-bos, indicates links with the Celtic world long since lost in more accessible parts of south-east England. (The name "pen-y-bos" comes from the Brythonic language of the ancient Britons that lived in the area – rather like the well-known pen-y-ghent in Yorkshire.) Blackdown is managed by the National Trust, with guidance and financial assistance from the Blackdown Committee of the National Trust. The ownership Blackdown Estate can be traced back to the fourteenth century when the first recorded William Yaldwyn of Blackdown was born in 1298 and received the Patent of Esquire in 1330 (died 1375) William de Blackdown and Sutton 1342–1418 is said to have fought at the Battle of Agincourt. From the first William Yaldwyn, the family tree shows Blackdown Estate as having been inherited,in succession, by eight generations of William Yaldwyn. Although the Yaldwyn's had owned extensive farmlands in Sussex for at least three hundred years before, it was William Yaldwyn the elder who succeeded to the property in 1600 and had the extraordinary drive to make full commercial use of the estate and surrounding lands. In 1627 William Yaldwyn the elder secured the sole right to purchase iron ore mined on the extensive Petworth Estate.This made him an extremely wealthy man and by 1640 he completed the build of the central portion of the present Blackdown House. During the Civil War of 1642 there was an enormous increase in the demand for iron, cannons and other weapons. It is noted that Oliver Cromwell stayed at Blackdown House, although the actual date of his visit is unknown it was probably during 1644–45 when Oliver Cromwell went to assist the Earl of Essex and Sir William Waller during the campaign in the west of England. The room where the General slept at Blackdown is still known as the Oliver Cromwell bedroom. The four poster bed remained in the house until Blackdown was sold by William Henry Yaldwyn (1801–1866) in 1844. When Richard Yaldwyn died in 1807 the Blackdown Estate consisted of 1300 acres and included Blackdown, Brockhurst, Vale Wool, High Diddlesford, Cotchett, Reeth, Sheetland, Cooks Bridge Farms and Blackdown Cottage Barfold-under-Beacon. Many members of the Yaldwyn family are buried at St. Laurence's at Lurgashall. (References Yaldwyn of the Golden Spurs by J.O.Randell published by the Melbourne Mast Gully Press 1980. Church records at Lurgashall of the Yaldwyn Family)

As well as Aldworth House (sharing the steep east side leading to the wood-surrounded hamlet, or farmstead, Roundhurst Common) and Foxholes (which together formed the estate of Alfred, Lord Tennyson), walkers can see architecture, especially in Victorian and turn-of-the-20th-century, rustic styles (such as Arts and Crafts architecture). These include Blackdown House, west, surrounded by daffodils in the spring, and Old Manor Farm (Upper Roundhurst Farm), east.

Because of its elevation, from 1796 to 1816 Blackdown hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which quickly linked the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in Portsmouth.

Aldworth, painted by Helen Allingham

Aside from its height and its wild beauty, Blackdown is best known as the site of the poet's houses, Aldworth and Foxholes. Keen to escape the summer 'trippers' who came to his Isle of Wight home, Farringford House, Tennyson purchased Blackdown, and built Aldworth in 1869. The French-style Gothic revival house was designed by Sir James Knowles, built of local sandstone. It stands on a ridge overlooking the Weald, with magnificent views. Lord Tennyson used it as his summer home, taking long walks over Blackdown. Helen Allingham was a frequent visitor then, and her illustrations to The homes of Tennyson vividly capture the landscape. He died in the house on 6 October 1892.

On 4 November 1967, a medium-sized aereoplane of Iberia Airlines descended too far and crashed without survivors on its flight from Málaga to London Heathrow, piloted by Captain Hernando Maura. It struck hard vegetation and the soil beneath, parts fell off, destroying a garage, killing a flock of sheep, and damaging parts of the roof of Upper Black Down House. Lost were an all-Spanish crew of six, 25 Britons, and two: Americans, Spaniards and Australians—actress June Thorburn was amongst them.

• Paterson, Arthur and Helen Allingham (1905). The homes of Tennyson. London: A&C Black.
• Blackdown Committee (n.d.). Blackdown and Marley Common. National Trust.

• Trotter, Wilfred Robert (2003). The hilltop writers (Second ed.). Grayshott: John Owen Smith. ISBN 1-873855-31-1. Book on the many writers (including Tennyson) who settled around Haslemere after the coming of the railway in 1859.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blackdown, West Sussex.

Map of Blackdown c. 1880

• "Walk #609: Haslemere to Liphook". British walks. Retrieved 7 January 2006.
• National Trust: Black Down
• Haslemere Educational Museum
• Fernhurst Society Blackdown Air Crash
• Iberia crash record at the Aviation Safety Network
• Iberia crash record at airdisaster.com