Alfriston, Sussex

Historical Description

Alfriston, a village and a parish in Sussex. The village stands on the Cuckmere river, 2¼ miles S of Berwick station on the L.B. & S.C.R., and 8 SE of Lewes. It has a post and money order office under Polegate; telegraph office, Berwick station. Area of the parish, 2445 acres; population, 585. The name is a corruption of Alfred's Town, and points to ancient entrenchments in the neighbourhood formed by King Alfred. Alfriston formerly had two fairs. The Star Inn, a building about 360 years old, contains some curious sculptures. The manor belonged anciently to Michel-ham Priory. Two fine varieties of apples, one of them called the Alfriston apple, are grown. Roman coins and Anglo-Saxon sceattas have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chicbester; net value, £150. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church, cruciform of 14th century, is Perpendicular in style, and has stone sedilia, piscina, and an ancient tomb. There is a Congregationalist chapel, and in the centre of the village a market cross. Near the church is a 14th century half-timbered cottage, known as the old pre-Reformation vicarage, which has been restored, and is used as the village reading-room.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Alfriston from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Alfriston (St. Andrew))

Maps

Online maps of Alfriston are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Sussex newspapers online:

• Mid Sussex Times
• Chichester Express and West Sussex Journal
• Sussex Agricultural Express
• Hastings and St Leonards Observer
• Sussex Advertiser
• Brighton Gazette
• Bexhill-on-Sea Observer