Former cultivated fields

The pronounced banks or lynchets around Coombe Bottom delimit former field boundaries. They are evidence of arable farming and represent the continued activity of the plough turning the soil downhill, on the higher side by its removal (negative lynchets) and on the lower side by its build up where the ploughing stopped (positive lynchets). The necessity of taking this marginal land probably arose with population increase in the 13th century, but with the exception of the two linear fields which follow the contours at the foot of the hill above the concrete road, they were probably abandoned within the next 300 years.

Agricultural History

Sheep and cattle grazing on so extensive an area of downland is neither typical of the South Downs today nor of the area of the Country Park at any time in the past.

Although occupied since Neolithic times, there is as yet no direct evidence of land use until the Middle Ages. However, it is not unreasonable to speculate from archaeological evidence in nearby areas, that much of the land was under the plough from at least Bronze Age times (2000 B.C.) and that by 1000 B.C. there was a fully developed arable and pastoral landscape. This mixed economy persisted throughout succeeding centuries and until recent times was largely based on corn and sheep. By the 12th century the land in New Barn Bottom was being farmed under the open field system in which the arable was divided into linear strips, each strip in different ownership and sometimes cropped in different ways. A block of strips aligned in the same direction was termed a furlong and a number of these together made up one of the open fields or laines as they were often referred to on the Downs. A grant of 1521 refers to "the common fields of Exceat" and in 1648 there was a conveyance of "4 acres of land intermixed with other lands of said William Thomas in Little Exceate". However, a lease of 1527 refers to 6 acres of "arable land at Exceat which was lately appointed to the said Thomas Markwick for the amendment and bettering of his laynes there", local evidence of the consolidation of the strip system into single ownership farms by a piecemeal process extending over several centuries. Meadow, down, marsh and arable when in fallow (ie when not carrying a crop, either after harvest or for a whole year), were pastured by stock according to strict rules (stinting) administered through a manorial court.

The introduction in the 14th century of peas and beans, and of sheepfolding on the arable in which the sheep were penned within portable hazel wattle fencing, enriched the soil and contributed towards the eventual elimination of the wasteful practice of a fallow year. Although large quantities of coarse wool were exported from Sussex ports in the medieval period, sheep were less profitable than corn. It was not until the late 18th century when John Ellman of Glynde brought the Southdown breed to perfection, that sheep became an economic reality in their own right and not largely providing, in the words of a grant of 1379, a means of "reserving the soil". His Southdowns grew a choice soft wool which commanded a high price and their mutton had a succulent and distinctive flavour. They required, however, a more nourishing feed and greater care than coarser breeds. This was accomplished by the winter flooding of the water meadows (brooks) in the Cuckmere valley and their subsequent control by a system of sluices and ditches to provide an early bite of sweet grass in early summer, by moving the flocks later in the year from downland pasture in the day to post-harvest arable in the evening, and in winter by folding the flocks on root crops. They were constantly looked after by a shepherd and his dog.

In 1801 arable occupied a quarter of the total acreage of the parish of Westdean, of which four-fifths were in corn and the remainder in peas, turnips and rape. The parish supported one of the largest flocks on the East Sussex Downs (1990 sheep and 829 lambs) and the 56 draught (ploughing) oxen outnumbered all other cattle. The oxen were more than twice as numerous as the draught horses, a characteristic which was to remain throughout the 19th century, and indeed Exceat had one of the last ox teams in the County.

The Tithe Map of 1840 gives us our first detailed picture of the land use in the Country Park, when about one-third of the land, on either side of Newbarn Bottom, was arable. With slight changes of emphasis the land use was very much the same in 1875. In the depression years of the mid-1930's, when much downland had been returned to grass, the north slope of Newbarn Bottom remained under the plough, and surprisingly, the meadow in the valley bottom just north of the lake was also in arable cultivation. The war years saw much ploughing of the Downs, a feature that has continued to the present day. The last 40 years has also seen a general depletion of the sheep flocks and an increase in number of cattle, although the ratio between the two has fluctuated in response to farm prices.

Until 1972 arable persisted in Newbarn Bottom and when the land became a Country Park 83 hectares (205 a.) were arable and 173 hectares (437 a.) permanent grass and scrub. Today, most of the Country Park is laid down to permanent pasture, and is being grazed by sheep. This allows the maximum public use of the land, and its management through grazing licences held by a tenant grazier, ensure a flexible approach to conservation objectives.

There are four features of interest in Newbarn Bottom. The larger field north of the cottages contains very few plant species; this is because it was seeded to grass in 1972 having carried a crop of oats the previous year. Also note, that although it is a valley tributary to the Cuckmere, it is streamless and present day rainfall percolates rapidly through the joints and fissures in the chalk to aquifers below; from these much of the local water supply is pumped. Dry valleys are particularly characteristic of chalk downland and must have been formed at some time in the past when there was surface flow of water. This could have happened when sea-level was higher and ground water in the chalk was at the surface; at times of considerably higher rainfall than at present (most recently between 5500 and 3000 B.C. the Atlantic Period); or in the last Ice Age when the South Downs, although not carrying glaciers, had a very cold (periglacial) climate with deep snow cover. Except at the surface, the chalk was then deeply and permanently frozen, a permafrost, and any water from rain or snow would have been unable to penetrate the chalk. This is confirmed by research in the Canadian Arctic where it has been shown that the floods which follow the summer snowmelt, have considerable erosive powers.