Upper Beeding in West Sussex UK

Upper Beeding
The Kings Head Pub, Upper Beeding

In an earlier blog I recounted some stories about my time living in Upper Beeding in West Sussex, UK. Today’s blog looks at the village and some beautiful old architecture.

Upper Beeding in West Sussex UK

Where is Upper Beeding?

Upper Beeding
Upper Beeding in West Sussex

The village of Upper Beeding is in West Sussex. It shares a main road with Bramber the next village along. Both villages are now bypassed by the main road going from Shoreham by Sea to Arundel. But at one stage the road through the village took all that traffic. Now it has a more peaceful existence, nestling in the foot of the Sussex Downs but with easy access to the main road.

The village has several public houses (pubs), shops and churches. We used to conduct a pub crawl up the main road, visiting all of the pubs in Upper Beeding and Bramber. Those were the days!

Upper Beeding
Bridge at Upper Beeding

Walking the dog along the bank of the River Adur is popular with local dog owners. There are several places you can join the path along the river including at the bridge that divides Upper Beeding from Bramber. There are picturesque views of the Sussex Downs and countryside, including a great view of Lancing College.

History of Upper Beeding

Upper Beeding
The Kings Head Pub, Upper Beeding

Beeding or Beddinges as it was then known, was owned by the Kings of Wessex (the last one being Edward the Confessor). In the 11th Century, it was owned by William de Braose. He also owned Bramber and built a castle there. Disputes over the church and splitting into the two parishes of Upper and Lower Beeding are all part of an interesting history you can read here. Despite being 10 miles away, Lower Beeding was a part of the Upper Beeding parish until Victorian times. According to Wikipedia, many local people still refer to the village as just ‘Beeding’.

Upper Beeding
View to the Kings Head pub

Interestingly, the oldest building in the village is that housing The Kings Head public house. Its 19th Century look hides much older (15th Century) timber framing. This is a typical Sussex ‘pub’ and plays a central role in village life. Certainly we spent a lot of time in there when we lived there!

Traditional Architecture

Upper Beeding
Flint Cottage Upper Beeding

A large part of the village is of modern construction. But there are a number of houses that include wonderful examples of traditional stone and flint building, timber framing and thatching. Some are Grade II listed buildings.

Examples of traditional flint work include boundary walls, which can be seen from the main road. Several houses are built using these traditional craft building techniques, such as this ‘Flint Cottage’.

Upper Beeding
Landmark House, Upper Beeding

The road through the village is quite narrow with lots of parked cars. You have to really stand back to get a good look at the houses that line the road. When you are standing there it is amazing to think of the amount of traffic that would use the road before the bypass.  One house always stands out for me though because of its position on the road. Coming from one end of the village it marks the beginning of the old section of houses and sticks out slightly towards the road. I always wanted to live there and I bet they were glad when the bypass was built!

Where you can purchase my images from West Sussex

My RedBubble shop offering home decor, personal and gift items with worldwide shipping.

My Pictorem shop offering a range of fine art prints and jigsaw puzzles with free shipping in North America.

Before you go

Mid-week Reflections
Dorothy and Barnet Boy

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!

About Dorothy Berry-Lound 447 Articles
I am having fun living half way up a mountain in Central Italy with my husband Barnet Boy, Stevie Mouse and the rest of my fur family. I am enjoying creating art that people will love having on their walls. I also love storytelling through my blog and short stories.

2 Comments

1 Trackback / Pingback

  1. Bramber in West Sussex UK - Dorothy Berry-Lound Art Blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*