Harveys Cross
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | South Downs |
| Town: | Saltdean |
| Parish: | Brighton |
| Council: | Lewes District Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | BN7 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Road or Wayside |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Follow the bridleway past Pickers Hill Farm up to Pickers Hill |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 134 |
| Grid reference: | D6 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
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Makers
| Name : | Chris Groom |
| Role: | Restorer |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | The Harvey Family, Bedfordshire |
| Construction period: | Originally between 1873 & 1898, completely rebuilt in 1999 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Harvey family |
| Object listing: | Not listed |
| Description: | A cross mounted on a two stepped base surmounting a stone platform. The second step is inscribed with lead letters and a second stone plaque lies in front of the cross commemorating its restoration. The whole is surrounded by a low metal railing and in front of the railing is situated An inscribed marker stone. |
| Inscription: | JOHN HARVEY ESQ. OF ICKWELL BURY IN THE COUNTY OF BEDFORD DIED SUDDENLY ON THIS SPOT ON THE 20TH DAY OF JUNE 1819. On the commemorative plaque: THIS PLAQUE COMMEMORATES THE RESTORATION OF HARVEY'S CROSS ON 20 JUNE 1999 BY THE HARVEY FAMILY TO PERPETUATE JOHN HARVEY'S MEMORY AND PRESERVE THE HERITAGE OF DOWNLAND Marker stone: J H 1819 On the front of the bench seat, carved: Donated by Rottingdean Windmill Walks |
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Classification
| Categories: | Religious, Roadside / Wayside, Free Standing, Commemorative |
| Object type1: | Cross |
| Subject type1: | Non-figurative |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Base |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 25 |
| Width (cm): | 125 |
| Depth (cm): | 125 |
| Part 2: | Cross |
| Material: | Marble |
| Height (cm): | 120 |
| Width (cm): | 65 |
| Depth (cm): | 15 |
| Part 3: | Stepped base (2) |
| Material: | Marble |
| Height (cm): | 30 |
| Width (cm): | 75 |
| Depth (cm): | 50 |
| Part 4: | Bench |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 40 |
| Width (cm): | 90 |
| Depth (cm): | 29 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Poor |
| Risk assessment: | Immediate risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Surface |
| Condition 1: | Corrosion, deterioration |
| Condition 2: | Bird guano |
| Condition 3: | Abrasions, cracks, splits |
| Condition 4: | Biological growth |
| Condition 5: | Surface spalling, crumbling |
| More details: | The 1999 commemorative plaque inscription is almost completely eroded. The inscription on the cross itself is still in reasonable condition but some letters are missing. |
| Condition 2 of type: | Structural |
| Condition 1: | Broken or missing parts |
| Condition 2: | Cracks, splits, breaks, holes |
| Condition 3: | Loose elements |
| More details: | The arms of the cross are broken off and lie on the stepped base. There are several pieces chipped off the stepped base, the cross itself and the commemorative plaque. Some of the letters of the inscription are damaged or missing - 'VEY' |
| Condition 3 of type: | Vandalism |
| Condition 1: | Structural damage |
| More details: | The arms of the cross are broken off and lie on the stepped base. There are several pieces chipped off the stepped base, the cross itself and the commemorative plaque. Some of the letters of the inscription are damaged or missing. |
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History
| History: | 'Vandals desecrate downland monument'
Vandals took a heavy hammer to the heart of the Sussex Downs and mindlessly smashed a marble monument. One of the arms was broken off Harvey's Cross, which is on a remote track a mile and a half north of Saltdean. The vandals had tried to completely demolish the 6ft monument. It was covered in hammer marks and an attempt had been made to obliterate the black inscription. A stonemason has estimated that full restoration of the white marble monument would cost £3,000. The cross was restored in 1999 following a campaign by local historian and author Douglas d'Enno. He is angry and disgusted vandals appeared to have targeted the remote cross for no reason. Mr d'Enno said: ''I just cannot understand why someone would carry a hammer one and a half miles into the countryside in the middle of winter to smash up a monument. ''There is nothing controversial about Harvey's Cross. The person it is dedicated to did not even live in the area, so there can be no grudge against his family. ''It is amazing someone would want to do this. It is a completely pointless attack. '' The cross is a memorial to John Harvey of Ickwell, Bedfordshire, who died at the spot on June 20 1819. It is believed he was killed in a fall from his horse. He was colonel of the 9th Lancers and a frequent visitor to nearby Rottingdean. The father-of-five was only 48 when he died. His wealthy Bedfordshire family decided to build the monument to him, but it fell into disrepair and was used it for target practice by Canadian soldiers billeted in Rottingdean and Saltdean during the Second World War. Mr d'Enno researched the history of the monument after seeing it on maps. He and John Harvey's descendants raised £4,000 to restore the cross and a ceremony was held in June 1999 to mark its restoration. (Brighton Argus Thursday 17th Jan 2002) The restored cross was unveiled on 20/06/1999 by the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, Admiral Sir Linsday Bryson KCB. Stonemason: Chris Groom, 64 Richmond Road, Brighton, Tel. 01273 699824. (Douglas D'Enno) 'The small downland monument dates from 1810 and stands on sloping ground commanding a panoramic seaward view of west Saltdean and of the undulating gorse-clad down in the vicinity of Balsdean, with its 'lost' village and modern pumping station. The stone is 1-2 miles, as the crow flies, north of Looes Barn and 2-3 miles from the sea. Overgrown to the point of being scarcely noticable from the adjacent public footpath, the memorial was known for much of the 19th century simply as 'Harvey's Stone'. The cross, though to have been made of marble and 5-6 feet in height, was erected on two plinths some time between 1873 and 1898, almost certainly on instructions from the family. …Col. Harvey, who had friends and acquaintances in Rottingdean, was 48 years of age when he met his death. He had come down, ironically, for his health and was staying either with the vicar, Dr Thomas Redman Hooker (1792-1838) or with a Mrs Dealtry of Down House. Col. John was an old Harrovian and a graduate of Cambridge. In 1802 he raised a militia in his village for action in the Napoleonic War. He was a family man, leaving five children, a son and four daughters. Contemporary and later accounts differ as to how John Harvey met his death. On 21 June 1819, the Sussex Weekly Advertiser recorded that he 'fell from his horse in a fit'. Other causes mooted have been a weak heart, a heart attack and death in the heat of the chase. The rider's body was taken back to Northill, near Biggleswade for burial, accompanied by a contingent from Rottingdean. The cost was over £300 - a vast sum in those days. In the Second World War, the troops stationed locally - the London Scottish and Hampshire Regiments and a contingent of French Canadians destroyed the cross. They also annihilated the nearby hamlet of Balsdean and Pickers Hill Cottage by way of 'target practice' after wiring off the area.' (Douglas D'Enno, Saltdean historian) 'We are concerned to state, that on yesterday afternoon, Col. Harvey, of the 9th Lancers, was found lying dead on the Downs, nigh to a barn belonging to Mr. Saxby, of Northease, supposed to have fell from his horse in a fit' ( |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | Sussex Weekly Advertiser |
| Article: | 3778 |
| Type: | Newspaper |
| Page: | 3 |
| Volume: | LXXIII |
| Publisher: | Sussex Weekly Advertiser. Lewes. |
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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