BULVERHYTHE

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This very ancient harbour was once protected by a cliff called Gallows Head and still has cliffs remaining called Galley Hill. The area has an extensive history, being an inlet of the sea 12,000 years ago and later becoming a medieval harbour. Bulverhythe is the entrance to Combe Valley, the vale of the Combe Haven river (formerly the Asten), fed by the Watermill and Powdermill Streams and the (often ignored) Park Farm Spring. The valley is now an outstanding nature reserve with hundreds of identified species including those on the Red and Amber priority lists for conservation. The valley overall has the largest set of reed beds in Sussex and contains 30% of all the fen landscape in Sussex. It has its own reed beds near Glyne Gap. The protected wreck of the Amsterdam - a Dutch Eastindiaman lies in the sands at Bridge Way nearby. It can be clearly seen at very low tide. It will soon be removed to Holland.

 

Press this button to go to the Wreck of the Amsterdam: 

 

The remains of the  ancient chapel of St Mary at Abbey Drive can also still be seen. This chapel was the terminus point of the Old Coach Road from Crowhurst which ended in a small loading quay at the harbour. Cog vessels used to dock there for a tariff payment.

 

Bulverhythe was once the home to a world famous horse race track which later was moved to South Saxons Valley at Filsham. Just a short distance along from St Mary's Chapel, and past Freshfields Road is the site of

Bulverhythe Recreation Ground on Bexhill Road (A259). This was laid out as a recreation ground in 1927 and opened by Edward, Prince of Wales the same year. Originally there were two pitches located on the lower part of the ground and a sports pavilion (now demolished). The row of pitches on the next tier up are on the site of the old Pebsham Aerodrome, which had ceased to be used as an airfield by the 1960s. The pitch closest to the garden centre was home to Hastings Rangers, during their time in the County League, who were also the first team to play on the ground in 1927, before moving there permanently in 1928. There was a railway viaduct taking the line from Bexhill (West) station to Crowhurst over the Combe Haven river. This viaduct was called locally - The 17 Arches. It was destroyed as part of the cuts to the national rail network.

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History of St Mary’s Chapel, Bulverhythe - Overview

The extant remains of the Chapel of St Mary consist of the south, east and north walls of the chancel. The construction is late 11th/early12th century with some Early English additions, and the Chapel was founded and built by the Norman Counts of Eu, to whom William the Conqueror had given the Rape, Honour and Barony of Hastings.  It was a possession of the Collegiate Church of St Mary-in-the-Castle. Please remember that there was a strong Norman influence in England before 1066. Edward the Confessor has been forced to flee to Normandy where the monks of Fecamp monastery cared for him. When he finally gained the throne of England he encouraged Norman monastic orders to come to England. One of the largest orders from Fecamp took over Steyning and Rameslie, the latter being the area from Hastings to Rye.

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Details: The remains of St Mary’s Church, 73m NNW of the Bull Inn.

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St Mary’s was originally built in the Norman period by the Earls of Eu. It was later rebuilt in the Early English style and is first mentioned in local records in 1372. The church has been in ruin for several centuries. The site was partially excavated in 1861 and 1929. These uncovered the ground plan of the church, a piscina in the north wall and several burials. The walls were consolidated in the late 1980s.

The monument includes the parish church of St Mary’s, dating to between the 13th and 14th centuries, surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated a short distance from the seafront at Glyne Gap, south-west of Bulverhythe. The remains predominantly consist of the walls of the chancel. The nave and tower of the church were demolished during the construction of a modern roadway. The walls are built of stone, flint and pebble, and incorporate the carved stones of an earlier Norman church on the same site. The north wall of the chancel survives to a height of approximately 3.5m at its west and east end and 0.9m in the centre. The east wall of the chancel is 0.2m to 0.5m high. The south wall is fragmentary and is about 0.4m to 0.9m high.

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.

 

Despite having been part-demolished, the parish church of St Mary’s survives well and includes some surviving carved stones of the Norman period. The church was a key feature of the built-landscape and a major focus of religious and community life at Bulverhythe. The ground beneath the church is likely to contain archaeological evidence relating to the history and use of the site.

Source: Historic England

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Wikipedia says of Bulverhythe:

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Bulverhythe village is located to the southwest of the area. The ancient village had a small harbour and pier, and is where the remains of the Amsterdam can be seen.

The village was once in the confederation of the Cinque Ports, under the 'Limb' of Hastings. It helped supply one ship together with Petit Ihamme (originally Pyppels Ham and now the village of Pebsham).

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In January 1921 a British tug was towing a German submarine in the English Channel when it broke adrift in a gale and was washed ashore at Bulverhythe. The U-boat was of a smaller type than the other that came ashore at Hastings in April 1919. The event was reported in the Hastings Observer with the headline: "Another Submarine Visitor!"

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Three tugs tried to refloat the submarine without success and after the hull was badly damaged by stormy seas, it was eventually dismantled.

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Another boat that washed up was the Dutch ship Amsterdam that set sail to Java but ended up running aground on the sandy strip in 1749. The remains can still be seen today at very low tide, just opposite the footbridge over the railway line at Bulverhythe.

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Bulverhythe was only served by a temporary station until the line extended to West Marina. The line was constructed by the Brighton, Lewes and Hastings Railway and when the South Eastern Railway line came from London and tunnelled through to St Leonards, Hastings and the Marshlink Line, a feud started between the companies. The junction for the two routes, called Bo-Peep junction, was named after a nearby public house, which in turn came from the activities of smugglers and excise men. West Marina station is now closed. West St Leonards station is the only remaining station in this area.

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Sussex Historic Archives at Lewes says:

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• Site of the medieval village and port of Bulverhythe

• Description:(Area) TQ 768082. Bulverhythe, deserted medieval village. Period of desertion 17th-18th c. Partly lost to the sea by coastal erosion.
  Building excavations in a field near St Mary's Chapel ruins (TQ 70 NE 2) resulted in the discovery of 14th-15th c pottery fragments. An old well covered by a slab of stone was also discovered by one of the tenants of the housing estate.  Bulverhythe is a parish or chapelry which until lately was marshland, the Bull Inn and the ruins of St Marys Chapel being all that remained of the old town. It is mentioned as a port in 1500 but by the end of the 17th c the greater part of the old town had been swallowed up by coastal erosion.  
  The Bull Inn and St Mary's Chapel are all that remain of Bulverhythe DMV (now called Glyne Gap). The rest of the village area surviving above the coastline is now covered by modern development. No further finds have been made.
  This part of coast for centuries subject to severe erosion by sea. Today area covered by modern settlement of Bulverhythe, although part of Medieval chapel associated with original settlement still survives as ruin. Bulverhythe was an attached limb of the Cinque Port of Hastings, but probably had lost its importance as a harbour to erosion by end of 14th century, and declined in importance, as did Hastings itself at this period. The earliest mention of the place as a port is in the 13th century and the chapel is first recorded in 1372, subsequently falling into ruin it is not certain exactly when and not rebuilt. Bulverhythe is mentioned as a port in 1500, and was still considered such in 1676 although had lost any significance as a port long before the latter date. Indeed by the end of the 17th century the greater part of the town had been eroded.