Ebernoe

Ebernoe Horn Fair is held in the small Sussex village of Ebernoe, the location of which is about five miles north of Petworth (grid reference SU975280). The fair is held annually on Saint James's Day, 25 July. The tradition is centuries old though it appears to have been revived in 1864 after a long lapse. The celebration is held on the village common and the main attraction is a cricket match between Ebernoe and a nearby village. Towards the end of the day the highest scoring batsman is presented with a set of horns. These are taken from a sheep which has been roasted during the day. It is thought the presentation of horns is associated with the custom of dressing up with horns as a symbol of cuckoldry (a cuckold is an old English term for a man whose wife has had an adulterous affair. It relates to the cuckoo, a bird which lays its eggs in another bird's nest). Centuries ago horn fairs were boisterous events where cuckoldry and seduction would not be unknown. The practice of dressing up with horns is alluded to in the traditional Horn Fair Song. The old saying All's fair at Horn Fair probably originates from such events. In days gone by it seems that Ebernoe Fair was often beset by thunderstorms. However, the storms were taken as a good luck sign and farmers would look forward to a good harvest. The absence of a storm would suggest the crops would fail. Ebernoe Horn Fair was also the day on which gardeners were reminded to sow their spring cabbages. There was no fair in 1915–18, 1940–45 and 2020.

Ebernoe Common is a 233.9-hectare (578-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Ebernoe, north of Petworth in West Sussex. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a national nature reserve and a Special Area of Conservation. It is managed by the Sussex Wildlife TrustThis site consists of several blocks of ancient woodland. It is nationally important for lichens, with over 100 species, and for fungi, with seven Red Data Book species. It is also nationally important for woodland breeding birds and for bats, especially barbastelles and Bechstein’s.

Balls Cross is a hamlet in Ebernoe civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England.The hamlet comprises a few houses together with a small garage and a pub, The Stag Inn at the junction of the road to Northchapel with the road from Petworth to Kirdford. Not far to the north, fields at Butcherlands Farm have been purchased by the Sussex Wildlife Trust which will be allowed to revert to pasture woodland over many years to double the size of the nationally important Ebernoe Common nature reserve.

Petworth is an electoral division of West Sussex in the United Kingdom, and returns one member to sit on West Sussex County Council.

Shillinglee Lake is a 17-hectare (42-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Plaistow in West Sussex.The lake has been designated an SSSI because it has four nationally uncommon plants. It is one of only ten locations in the country for Leersia oryzoides, a species of cut-grass. The other three are water mudwort, needle spikerush and six-stamen waterwort, all of which are found on mud when the water level is low.Footpaths skirt the lake at several points.

Northchapel is a village and civil parish in Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It stands on the A283 road just south of the Surrey border, around 9 km north of Petworth. The village is believed to have taken its name from a church which was once a chapelry and was the north chapel of the Manor of Petworth, and originally was two separate words, North and Chapel.

Shillinglee is an 18th-century house and estate in West Sussex, England near the Surrey border, in between the villages of Chiddingfold and Plaistow. It is a Grade II* listed building.It was built in the 18th century and was home to the Earl Winterton who hosted cricket matches within the extensive parkland of the estate.

The Farm (also known as Fisher Lane Farm) was a recording studio in Chiddingfold, Surrey owned by the rock band Genesis. The group bought the property in 1980 and, after remodelling it into a studio, recorded every studio album there between Abacab (1981) and Calling All Stations (1997), in addition to production and mixing work, and solo projects from the individual members.

Plaistow ( PLAST-oh) is a village and civil parish in the north of the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. There is a village green, a recreation ground, a children's playground, a village pond, a shop, a pub (The Sun Inn) and the Anglican Church. There are over thirty Grade II listed buildings in the village. The Sun Inn was purchased by the Pullen family in 1807. Holy Trinity Church (a Chapel of Ease) was once a wooden structure which was destroyed by fire. The church was rebuilt in 1859. Plaistow and Kirdford Primary School was built in 1869. A plaque on the front of the school's original Victorian building acknowledges the significant funding from John Napper, Esquire of Ifold House, who then owned much of the land in the civil parish.The Parish lies on the northern boundary of West Sussex, and is made up of four settlements: Plaistow village and the hamlets of Ifold, Durfold Wood and Shillinglee. Ifold is the largest of the settlements and has the largest population in the Parish. It has a land area of 2102 hectares (5192 acres). In the 2001 census 1856 people lived in 701 households, of whom 910 were economically active. Plaistow village has its own football club, Plaistow FC, which formed in 1931 and was admitted to the Horsham and District League. They now play in the West Sussex Football League. The home ground is 'Foxfields'.

Upperton is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. Part of Tillington civil parish it lies on the Tillington to Lurgashall road 1.4 miles (2.2 km) northwest of Petworth. Upperton stands on a ridge of the lower greensand overlooking the Rother Valley, separated from Tillington by the cricket ground and a field. The stone wall of Petworth deerpark bounds the village on the eastern side, with a gate by the house at the southern end giving access to the public. To the west a number of public footpaths through fields, a vineyard and Upperton Common lead to the scenic Pitshill Park. The Serpent Trail hiking trail passes through the village from Pitshill Park to Tillington.

Pitshill is a Grade II* listed house built in the neoclassical style and is located within the Parish of Tillington a couple of miles west of Petworth. Begun by William Mitford in 1760 on the site of an earlier house it was completed by his son, also William, in 1794. It is considered to be one of the most important country houses in West Sussex. The rectangular house of two stories with an attic and basement has a main east facing façade built in 1760 to a design by John Upton, the Petworth Estate surveyor. It is built in limestone ashlar with rusticated ground floor and a balustraded parapet over the side portions.The remaining elevations are brick and render decorated to match the east front and were constructed in the 1790s to plans influenced but not completed by Sir John Soane. Further substantial works were carried out to the house in the 1830s as well as the later Nineteenth Century additions of a veranda and conservatory, these being removed in the 1950s leaving a classical style rectangular building. The main house is augmented by two nineteenth century lodges, an 1840s stable block, a shell house, probably late eighteenth century, all Grade II listed and standing within a Grade II listed park. in addition there is an ice house, also probably 18th century, and a late nineteenth century tower. A public bridleway and public footpaths through the park give access for the public.

Chiddingfold Forest is a 542.5-hectare (1,341-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Chiddingfold in Surrey and West Sussex. One part of it, Fir Tree Copse, is a nature reserve which is managed by the Surrey Wildlife TrustThe site consists of a number of separate areas with a mosaic of habitats, including ancient woodland and conifer plantations. Over 500 species of butterflies and moths have been recorded including several which are rare and endangered, such as the Wood White butterfly and the rest harrow and orange upperwing moths. Other insects include the Cheilosia carbonaria hoverfly.