Devil's Dyke Commemorative Seat
| 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: | Devil's Dyke Road |
| Town: | Poynings |
| Council: | Mid Sussex District Council |
| County: | West Sussex |
| Postcode: | BN45 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Road or Wayside |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | On the South Downs Way, at the top of Devil's Dyke overlooking the Weald |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 110 |
| Grid reference: | D3 |
| 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 : | John Leopold Denman, F.R.I.B.A |
| Role: | Designer |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Sir Herbert Carden, Brighton Town Councillor |
| Commissioned also by: | Public subscription |
| Construction period: | 1928 |
| Installation date: | 1928 |
| Unveiling date: | 30/05/1928 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | The National Trust |
| Object listing: | Not listed |
| Description: | Large high-backed, stone bench with seating and inscribed reliefs on the north-east and south-west sides. The seat is set into a rectangular area with decorative broken paving. To the north-west of the seat are three large blocks of stone into which are set information boards. |
| Inscription: | GOD GAVE ALL MEN ALL EARTH TO LOVE Carved inscription to south-west side: IN DEO FIDEMUS His Royal Highness the DUKE OF YORK K.G. R.C. K.T. G.C.M.G. G.C.V.O. dedicated THE DYKE ESTATE To the use of the public For ever on the 30th.May 1928 |
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Classification
| Categories: | Functional, Free Standing, Commemorative, Roadside / Wayside |
| Object type1: | Street furniture |
| Subject type1: | Non-figurative |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Seat |
| Material: | Clipsham Limestone |
| Height (cm): | 200 |
| Width (cm): | 305 |
| Depth (cm): | 147 |
| Part 2: | Stone blocks (3) |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 95 |
| Width (cm): | 142 |
| Depth (cm): | 60 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Surface |
| Condition 1: | Corrosion, deterioration |
| Condition 2: | Biological growth |
| More details: | The inscription and relief on the north-east side is extremely weather-worn and the section of the inscription, ‘GOD GAVE ALL MEN’ now completely eroded away. |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 09/09/2008 |
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History
| History: | The Devil's Dyke is a deep valley in the South Downs, west of Saddlescombe and five miles north-west of Brighton. The hill at the top of the Dyke is 711 feet above sea-level providing spectacular views of the Weald. In April 1928 Herbert Carden led the initiative to purchase 190 acres of downland in the area for the Corporation. It cost £9,000. It was dedicated for public use by the Duke and Duchess of York on 30 May 1928 when the commemorative seat was unveiled following the opening of the Pylons at the boundary of the extended Borough. Tourist attractions at the Dyke since the late nineteenth century have included a hotel, a funfair, roller coaster, bandstand, funicular railway, a cable car, observatory and camera obscura. The funicular railway ran from 1897 until 1908 down the northern slope of the hill to a point west of Poynings village. There were two cars carrying fourteen passengers each. The cable car that ran across the Dyke ran between October 1894 until approximatesly 1909. It was Britain's first cable car and was suspended from two pylons 650 feet apart, carrying people 230 feet above the bottom of the valley.
(Encyclopaedia of Brighton) The pictorial information plaques set into the stone blocks are by Martin Frost and were completed in 1998. |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'Encyclopaedia OF Brighton' |
| Type: | Book |
| Author: | Carder, Timothy |
| Publisher: | East Sussex County Libraries. 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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