East Dean, West Sussex

East Dean is a village and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north east of Chichester on a narrow road between Singleton on the A286 and Upwaltham on the A285 road.

This article is about the village in West Sussex. For the village in East Sussex, see East Dean and Friston.

East Dean

East Dean pond
East Dean
Location within West Sussex
Area16.64 km2 (6.42 sq mi) [1]
Population206. 2011 Census[2]
• Density13/km2 (34/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU903129
• London48 miles (77 km) NNE
Civil parish
  • East Dean
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHICHESTER
Postcode districtPO18
Dialling code01243
PoliceSussex
FireWest Sussex
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament

The village, set in a valley in the South Downs, has an Anglican parish church dedicated to All Saints, and a Nonconformist chapel. The village hall was formerly the school and bears the date 1782. There is one pub, The Star and Garter[3] (formerly the Hurdlemakers[4]).

The church, the pub and most of the houses are built of flint, usually with brick quoins and window dressings. A fire in 1852 destroyed eight houses and several barns, leaving others damaged. Slate roofs replaced the thatch on some of these.

The pond is considered to be the source of the River Lavant. The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath crosses the parish on the downs to the south of the village.

The parish has a land area of 1663.5 hectares (4109 acres). In the 2001 census 217 people lived in 102 households, of whom 107 were economically active.

History

Flint tools from the Stone Age can often be found on the downs and there are a number of British Bronze Age round barrows in the parish. The outline of Celtic field systems can still be seen on Court Hill north of the village. Roman pottery and coins have been found near the village.

In his will of 899 King Alfred the Great left East Dean to his youngest son Aethelweard (c.880–922).

Parish church
East Dean church

The parish church of All Saints, to the north of the main village, is a Grade I listed building. It dates back to c. 1150 and has been described as "a substantially Medieval cruciform church with impressive central tower".[5]

Sports

East Dean have a football team, founded in 1880, that plays in the West Sussex Football League.

Notable residents

The playwright Christopher Fry lived in the village[6] in later life and died in Chichester on 30 June 2005 from natural causes.

References
  1. "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  2. "Civil Parish 2011". Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. "Home". Star and Garter. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  4. Hancock, David (1 February 2006). "Pub Review - Star & Garter, East Dean, East Sussex". Morning Advertiser. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  5. Historic England. "The Parish Church of All Saints  (Grade I) (1026377)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  6. Thompson, Raymond H. (16 May 1989). "Interview with Christopher Fry". The Camelot Project. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
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