Sussex secrets

A manor and a villa on the site of a lost mill are two examples of the fine country houses in this home county

- Penny Churchill

THE ancient village of Barcombe, on the edge of the South Downs National Park near Lewes, East Sussex, is actually three villages in one: the original settlement surrounding the village church of St Mary; the newer village of Barcombe Cross, to which the villagers fled to escape the Black Death in the 14th century; and Barcombe Mills, an old watermill complex on the banks of the River Ouse, at the bottom of the hill on which Barcombe Cross sits.

There have been mills at Barcombe since Roman times and local records reveal the existence of corn, paper and even button mills on the site from the 16th century onwards, notably in the 1790s, when the River Ouse became navigable from Lewes to Cuckfield. In 1870, a grand new mill was erected on the site. Built over four floors of pitch pine, with an imposing, semiClassical façade, it was powered by two enclosed water-wheels and eventually closed in 1918. In March 1939, the former mill building mysteriously caught fire and swiftly burned to the ground.

Today, the only evidence of its existence is a grass mound, two peak millstones that lie discarded by the river and the name Barcombe Mills, now a peaceful hamlet, nature reserve and wildlife haven. Traversed by the Ouse and its tributary, St Andrew’s Stream, its waters provide a rich habitat for many varieties of fish, including large sea trout that swim up the river to spawn in its higher reaches. Such is the tranquil setting for Barcombe House, a fine mid-19th-century country house, currently for sale through Savills Country Department (020–7409 5945) at a guide price of £4.5 million.