Alfriston

This week we are taking a look at one of the oldest villages in East Sussex, which dates back to Saxon times. It’s about 30 minutes away from Brighton and I was staying in nearby Berwick, when I came across this lovely looking place on the way to the Seaford Beach. I just had to stop and check it out. It has that instant charm and recognisable layout of a typical village and has plenty of history to delve into as we found out when we started exploring.

There is an interesting connection to Rudyard Kipling here who wrote a poem called “A smugglers song”, which was inspired by a gang who used one of the inns in the village as a bit of a “smuggler’s haunt”. We will get into that haunt in a bit, but here is the poem in the meantime.

As you drive or walk through the village, you can see many examples of medieval inns and houses and considering we planned to just stop for a little brunch, we ended up sticking around for a couple of hours. For a Sunday there was plenty to look at and it was actually hard to get a place for brunch without having booked, so that did make me think how lovely it would be to pop back for a weekend and check out the bits we couldn’t book.

We parked for free (3 hours) in The Dene car park on North Street and from there a really short 5minute and pretty walk past some lovely houses. You can get a bus to here from Seaford or the nearest train station is in Berwick and from there about a 7min taxi ride away.

Walkers

Whilst we were here, we had a good mooch up and down the main roads, you can do a circular loop down the high street, turning off left to the Tye and then looping back up to the High Street from the Old Chapel Centre. You are right on the South Downs and there’s a lovely looking 6mile walk that you can do that starts from the village and takes around 4.5 hours. I would love to try this sometime! And of course, if you can, even if you don’t walk to it, try to make the trip to the Seven Sisters, a collection of chalk sea cliffs on the edge of the South Downs, just beautiful.

Drinkers

For a little village, there are plenty of inns and pubs to choose from for a beverage and the high street will provide you with plenty of options. Some were closed when we visited, that could have been the time of day. Each pub or inn will have a lot of stories and history and what’s lovely about it is that there are navy wall mounted signs dotted about that give you interesting facts about different parts of the village. Look out for them!

I would love to pop into:
Ye Olde Smugglers Inn
Six Bells

Shoppers

The Alfriston Village store is by far one of the stand out places to visit. Right in the heart of the village square, it’s quite unmissable. It’s got everything from gifts to a deli to grocery items to gifts upstairs. A real sense of nostalgia and tradition about it and lovely uneven floorboards upstairs.

Another shop we popped into that was open was Pepper You with lovely gifts and jewellery (and smells incredible when you walk in). This is located also in the main square.

Ones I had my eye on, for next time:
The Dressing Room – a vintage clothing shop
Emmett & White Antiques
Diana Kelly Interiors
Much Ado Books
Fernstore

I would in fact probably like to pop into every shop on this high street!

Cafe’s/Restaurants

Again a nice selection of choices, we stopped at the Singing Kettle and managed to nab a little table outside (hard to get as there aren’t too many) but it’s quite cosy inside so sitting outside and people-watching was what we wanted and got. The brunch was LOVELY and I’m so glad we stopped there.

We also tried to get breakfast at Wingrove and at Dean’s place but no such luck.

I’d love to also go back and try:
The Gun Room coffee shop and I was sooo disappointed to see the Badgers Tea House was shut as that looks amazing from the window.

For dinner because of the amount of inns and hotels around, there are actually some really good choices.

Wingrove House looks incredible and I hope one day I can get there, as does Poco, Six Bells, the Dining Room at Dean’s Place…I can see I’m going to need a weekend or two here!

Places to stay

Ooh there are some choices here! I thought the 15th Century Star Inn looks like it would be a lovely place to stay, once a hostel for Monks and an unmissable red lion. The lion was a figurehead on a Dutch ship which was raided by smugglers and brought back. Incredible that it’s still here.

If you carry on down the High Street, Wingrove House looks really inviting and beautiful, a 19th century country house with cosy rustic interiors. I failed to get a photo but I did pop in to check on breakfast options. You can check it out here. And then I finally also checked in on Dean’s Place for breakfast too! With a beautiful front lawn, it really did look like a nice place to stay.

Sightseeing

As I mentioned before, do keep an eye out for the navy plaques around the village that give you information about some of the buildings.

If you walk down the high street and turn off left to The Tye, you’ll find a lovely green there, with St Andrew’s Church slightly elevated. It really does look lovely! And there are a few benches to sit and relax on too, take in the view. We hadn’t realised that to the right of the church, sitting back a bit is the National Trust Clergy House which I would really like to come back and see.

In the main market square you have the Market Cross monument, opposite the village store, the only one in the county and it was restored in the 1800’s! We also discovered when we parked our car, that in the car park holds a monument of which it’s history is unknown! It’s made of flint and looks like a short tower…intriguing!

Would I return?

The more I have pulled everything together by writing this blog the more I realise I really am itching to come back here. I love coming across places by accident and I feel this village has a lot to offer, especially for a relaxing long weekend. With the sea nearby and Brighton and the South Downs, you’d be able to make this part of a longer break too. What a charming little find. It has a lovely friendly feel to the place, which I think is why I am drawn back.