Poynings, West Sussex

The Royal Oak pub in Poynings

Poynings is a small village at the foot of the downs, about five miles north-west of Brighton. There is a medieval parish church and a traditional village pub, the Royal Oak.

Devil's Dyke

On the hill above Poynings is the Devil's Hill, an Iron Age hillfort. Nearby is a steep-sided cleft called the Devil's Dyke, which runs along the crest of the South Downs from Poynings towards the sea.

An old legend tells that the dyke was created when the devil tried to drown the local inhabitants by digging a ditch to let the sea in.

In the Victorian period, the Devil's Dyke was a popular spot for viewing the surrounding downlands and the weald.

Holy Trinity Church

Poyning's attractive 14th-century church was built by the brothers Thomas and Richard de Poynings around 1370. The brothers lived at Poynings Place, which survives only as fragments incorporated into Manor Farm. Though a church was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, no stonework from this early  building survives.

The octagonal font is 14th century, though its wooden cover is Jacobean. The lower part of the medieval rood screen remains, and there is a 14th-century sedilia and piscina in the chancel, as well as remnants of medieval brasses.