34-552: Streat is a village and parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex , England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Burgess Hill and 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Lewes , within the South Downs National Park . The 11th-century parish church has no dedication; the ecclesiastical parish is joined with Westmeston . Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a Site of Special Scientific Interest , which stretches from Hassocks in
68-570: A wild service tree on the western boundary still bears seasonal fruits. Now all that is left of the Commons are the two Streat greens, Streat Lane Green and Shergold's Farm Green, only parts of which are registered as common land, but remain open and public areas. The Lower Greensand ridge is cut deep by the old swine pasture droves. Streat Lane itself is an example of such an ancient droveway, used by villagers to seasonally move their livestock and crops. The partial survival of archaic pasture vegetation on
102-547: A consequence has lost most of its ancient species-rich chalk grassland to invasive scrub. Only islands of that very rich turf remain on the bostal's deep cut sides, though it is still a lovely place. It has green hairstreak , dingy skipper and wall brown butterflies. There are purple bar , black pyrausta and burnet companion day flying moths. The soft turf has the characteristic chalk grassland moss species Bubble Wrap Moss, Neckera crispa , Slender Comb Moss, Ctenidium molluscum , and Broom Fork Moss, Dicranum scoparium . To
136-460: A gipsy caravan, a London bus, and there is a stream side with fallen trees across and tree swings. The parish reaches its highest point at the top of Streat Hill where it rises to 224m above sea level. There are two tumuli or bowl barrows, though they are scarcely visible. They have been termed by archaeologists the Western Brow round barrow cemetery. In past centuries much traffic traversed
170-682: A north-south Roman or Romanised Celtic road known as the Middleton Track just over the west parish boundary border at Hayleigh Farm sweeping past Middleton Manor which ascends the South Downs escarpment passing above the Victoria Jubilee Middleton Plantation Although most of the Streat greens are no longer registered as common land, their boundaries still exist. The western arm, Streat Lane Green ( TQ 352 167 ),
204-422: A shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The leaders of the council since 1999 have been: Following the 2023 election and changes of allegiance up to June 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2019
238-448: Is a fine three span oak south of the railway, hidden on the east side boundary bank ( TQ 351 164 ). One sensitively managed area has pepper saxifrage and stone parsley. Where the sward is allowed to flower it is very colourful, with clovers and vetches , knapweed , fleabane , oxeye daisy , bird's foot trefoil , meadowsweet , agrimony , burnet saxifrage and wild carrot . The eastern arm, Shergold's Farm Green , ( TQ 356 165 )
272-524: Is common along one length. There's spiny restharrow too, and scattered pepper saxifrage and stone parsley . At its southern end, by the railway, the Green crosses the Bevern Stream with thick thorn on either side. Listen out for nightingales in spring". The woods in the parish are lovely and species-rich. Brocks Wood ( TQ 349 143 ) is a bluebell wood with a stream. Dean's Wood (around TQ 353 169 )
306-601: Is named after the town of Lewes . The largest town is Seaford . The district also includes the towns of Newhaven , Peacehaven and Telscombe and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The council meets in Lewes and has its main offices in Newhaven. The district lies on the south coast, and a large part of it lies within the South Downs National Park . The district covers an area of 113 sq mi (290 km ), with 9 miles (14.5 km) of coastline. Plumpton Racecourse
340-617: Is not always a spore stalk present, and the plants do not always send up a leaf, sometimes going for a year to a period of years living only under the soil, nourished by association with soil fungi . The plant grows from a central, budding, fleshy structure with fleshy, radiating roots. Ophioglossum malviae is known as the world's smallest terrestrial fern. Ophioglossum has a high chromosome count in comparison to other species , with 120 or up to 720 chromosomes possible in intervals of 120 due to polyploidy (multiple possible copies of chromosomes). It has almost 1260 number of chromosomes in
374-451: Is not surprising that it was let as a farmhouse for a long time. The building has an E-shaped plan with central porch and projecting wings. Its national listing gives it as Grade II* and reveals its architectural merit as including its entire facing of knapped flints with long and short ashlar quoins to each window bay. The Blackberry Wood Campsite ( TQ 351 147 ) has been described as "enchanted and eccentric". It has an American diner,
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#1732855648018408-438: Is on the western side of Shergold's Farm, and is similarly lovely with sessile oak , gean and hornbeam . Plumpton Wood is on the parish boundary ( TQ 355 145 ) the western edge that borders Streat is fine and sunny with big oaks , a big old ash , a gean swarm, wild service and pignut . The Streat church ( TQ 350 151 ) commands grand views from the greensand ridge . It has two cast iron grave slabs, likely mined from
442-471: Is owned by the parish council, but is managed by the residents backing on to each section. Parts are managed sensitively for wildlife, but others are over-mown like suburban lawns, and the flowers and grasses get no chance to set seed or attract butterflies and bees (2016). Some parts are lost to thick thorn scrub, making it difficult to envisage the green as a unitary habitat. Some areas do still have archaic and rare species such as adder's tongue fern and there
476-521: Is rich in wildlife. There is an Old Rectory, a listed building , which may indicate the existence of chancel repair liability to any lay improprietors of land which was once belonged to the church. Streat Place is a manor house built in the early 17th century, next to the church, by Walter Dobell who died in 1624. It is a huge Jacobean mansion of flint, with stone details and a Horsham stone roof. In an otherwise modest place such as Streat, this upmarket manor house seems rather incongruous and perhaps it
510-500: Is served by Lewes District Council and is covered by Plumpton , Streat, East Chiltington and St John Without ward which returns a single seat. At the 2011 census the population for this area was only 2,276. The UK Parliament constituency for Streat is Lewes. [REDACTED] Media related to Streat at Wikimedia Commons Lewes (district) Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex , England. The district
544-545: Is the responsibility of the South Downs National Park Authority . The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority. The council has been under no overall control since 2018. Since the 2023 election an alliance of the Greens and Labour has formed the council's administration. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as
578-447: Is well-managed for nature and much is owed to the owner of Shergolds Farm who has loved and preserved the farm's conservation features. David Bangs , a Sussex field naturalist, describes the area as "A green lane that magics you right back to the medieval drovers' roads, meandering between thick hedgerows over uneven, damp or dry ground. Strawberry clover was the thing that first caught my eye, with its fruits like frosted strawberries. It
612-486: Is within the district. There are 28 parishes in the district. The neighbouring districts are Brighton and Hove , Mid Sussex and Wealden . The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 . The new district covered the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named after Lewes, the ancient county town of Sussex . Since 2016
646-486: The Wadhurst Clay in nearby the mine ore pits, in the church aisle, commemorating an 18th century Wadhurst iron master's family. Nearby north of the church and west of Streat Lane the footpath bisects one of a cluster of unimproved meadows ( TQ 349 157 ) that has many archaic meadow species including sneezewort , pepper saxifrage , oxeye daisy and in summer lots of marbled white butterflies (2013). On Streat Lane near
680-512: The adder's-tongue ferns , is a genus of about 50 species of ferns in the family Ophioglossaceae . The name Ophioglossum comes from the Greek meaning "snake-tongue". Their cosmopolitan distribution is mainly in tropical and subtropical habitats . The genus has the largest number of chromosomes in the known plant kingdom, but contrary to popular belief does not have the largest number of chromosomes out of all known organisms, falling short to
714-406: The church the ancient forest specialist Bechstein's and barbastelle bats can be seen flying at twilight. The Bevern Stream's clean and clear waters flow through this parish and support trout, bullhead , minnows , freshwater mussels and caddisflies . Its banks are carpeted with violets, bluebells and ramsons. There are tussocky brook meadows with thick hedgerows and a relict marshy flora that
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#1732855648018748-436: The council acquired Southover House on Southover Road in Lewes, which had previously been offices of East Sussex County Council, to serve as its main offices, remaining there until 2022. The Prime Meridian passes through the district. Sussex Police has its head office in the town of Lewes. The whole district is divided into civil parishes . The parish councils for Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven, Seaford and Telscombe take
782-437: The council has comprised 41 councillors representing 21 wards , with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The wards, with their populations at the 2021 Census, are: The district straddles the constituencies of Lewes and Brighton Kemptown . Since 2013, full council meetings have been held at County Hall in Lewes, the headquarters of East Sussex County Council. In 2023
816-485: The council has shared a chief executive and other staff with nearby Eastbourne Borough Council . Lewes District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by East Sussex County Council . The whole district is also covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park, town planning
850-402: The council moved its main offices to Marine Workshops, a former industrial building in Newhaven which it shares with East Sussex Colleges Group. When created in 1974 the council inherited four sets of offices from its predecessor councils: The Downs was converted into housing and a leisure centre built behind it. The new council's offices were divided between the other three buildings. In 1998
884-464: The hill between the coast and the deep Weald . The herds of swine, cattle and sheep that have walked up and down Streat Hill over the centuries have created a deep and steep, zig-zagging bostal track. Wayfaring Tree can be found across the steep slopes. This tree is host to the scarce and jewel-like orange-tailed clearwing moth, whose caterpillars burrow into the branches. Streat Hill bostal and scarp slope ( TQ 351 130 ) has long been ungrazed, and as
918-525: The linear greens gives evidence of this history. Streat is a thin parish that stretches from Wivelsfield parish in the north to Falmer in the South Downs . It is squashed between Plumpton to the east and Westmeston to the west. For nearly two miles north of the Downs, Streat Lane is narrow and winding, sufficiently traffic free to make walking possible with care, with tall nutty hedgerows on either side. It
952-412: The protist Sterkiella histriomuscorum . Adders-tongues are so-called because the spore -bearing stalk is thought to resemble a snake's tongue. Each plant typically sends up a small, undivided leaf blade with netted venation, and the spore stalk forks from the leaf stalk, terminating in sporangia which are partially concealed within a structure with slit sides. When the leaf blade is present, there
986-487: The style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. ‡ St John Without, St Ann Without, Tarring Neville and Southease are separate civil parishes with parish meetings, but due to their small size population statistics are not published separately for them. 50°52′26″N 0°00′32″E / 50.87389°N 0.00889°E / 50.87389; 0.00889 Adder%27s tongue fern See text Ophioglossum ,
1020-563: The thinner soils of the Lower Greensand in places such as Streat, where flint tools from the period can be found in abundance. As is true in most of the Weald, Medieval Streat had much common land for people to graze their animals, make hay and garner other resources. A quarter of the common was ploughed up in 1258. Much later, between 1600 and 1684, the rest of the main commons of Streat were enclosed. Before its nineteenth century enclosure there
1054-479: The west and passes through many parishes including Streat, to Lewes in the east. The site is of biological importance due to its rare chalk grassland habitat along with its woodland and scrub. There is a lot of evidence of human activity, such as flint digging, working and cooking during the Atlantic period around seven thousand years ago. Archaeologists have suggested that forest clearances may have started earlier on
Streat - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-745: The west of the Streat Hill bostal there is the Queen Victoria Jubilee plantation ( TQ 348 130 ), which forms the sign of a V on the middle of the bare scarp slope. Six species were planted in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee, including pine. Streat lies within the Chailey ward for the East Sussex County Council tier of government. The ward also includes Chailey itself, Ditchling , East Chiltington , Newick , St John Without , Plumpton , Westmeston and Wivelsfield . Streat
1122-430: Was a third arm to Streat Green which tracked south through Riddens Wood ( TQ 358 170 ) down to Riddens Farm, by the railway line. The braided paths can still be made out in the wood. It used to be called "Chinese Wood" because there was a Chinese temple there. The temple is now gone, but its existence explains the presence of bamboo and other exotic plants in the wood, alongside the sessile oak , gean , hornbeam and
1156-463: Was forgotten for many centuries that Streat owed its name to the presence of a Roman road that cuts through the parish (Anglo-Saxon place names containing "Street", "Streat" or "Stret", usually indicate a Roman road ). This road was re-discovered less than a century ago, and came to be known as the Sussex Greensand Way , though it is difficult to detect as it crosses Streat parish. There is also
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