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Piltdown

East Sussex geography stubsFletchingHamlets in East Sussex
Piltdown Man public house geograph.org.uk 21000
Piltdown Man public house geograph.org.uk 21000

Piltdown is a series of hamlets in East Sussex, England, located south of Ashdown Forest. It is best known for the Piltdown Man hoax where amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson claimed to have discovered evidence of the "missing link" in gravel beds near the village.Piltdown has a pub ("The Piltdown Man", after temporarily being called "The Lamb"), a golf course, and a vineyard. It is in the Wealden district and Fletching parish.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Piltdown (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Piltdown
Goldbridge Road, Wealden Fletching

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.982 ° E 0.051 °
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Goldbridge Road
TN22 3XL Wealden, Fletching
England, United Kingdom
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Piltdown Man public house geograph.org.uk 21000
Piltdown Man public house geograph.org.uk 21000
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Piltdown Man
Piltdown Man

The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning (in 1912), the remains were still broadly accepted for many years, and the falsity of the hoax was only definitively demonstrated in 1953. An extensive scientific review in 2016 established that amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson was responsible for the fraudulent evidence.In 1912, Charles Dawson claimed that he had discovered the "missing link" between early apes and man. In February 1912, Dawson contacted Arthur Smith Woodward, Keeper of Geology at the Natural History Museum, stating he had found a section of a human-like skull in Pleistocene gravel beds near Piltdown, East Sussex. That summer, Dawson and Smith Woodward purportedly discovered more bones and artifacts at the site, which they connected to the same individual. These finds included a jawbone, more skull fragments, a set of teeth, and primitive tools. Smith Woodward reconstructed the skull fragments and hypothesised that they belonged to a human ancestor from 500,000 years ago. The discovery was announced at a Geological Society meeting and was given the Latin name Eoanthropus dawsoni ("Dawson's dawn-man"). The questionable significance of the assemblage remained the subject of considerable controversy until it was conclusively exposed in 1953 as a forgery. It was found to have consisted of the altered mandible and some teeth of an orangutan deliberately combined with the cranium of a fully developed, though small-brained, modern human. The Piltdown hoax is prominent for two reasons: the attention it generated around the subject of human evolution, and the length of time, 41 years, that elapsed from its alleged initial discovery to its definitive exposure as a composite forgery.

Fletching, East Sussex
Fletching, East Sussex

Fletching is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles (4.8 km) to the north-west of Uckfield, near one of the entrances to Sheffield Park. The A272 road crosses the parish. The settlement of Piltdown is part of the parish. The Piltdown Man discovery in 1912 was thought to be the 'missing-link' between humans and apes. The significance of the specimen remained controversial until, amidst great publicity, and much embarrassment in scientific circles, it was exposed in 1953 as a forgery thought to have been committed by Charles Dawson. The village is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Flescinge, an Old English name meaning "(settlement of) the family or followers of a man called Flecci." Despite this, the name has given rise to a belief that the village was a medieval centre for arrow production.The hamlet of Sharpsbridge lies in the south of the parish. It has an historic church of St. Andrew and St. Mary the Virgin dating from the twelfth century. Simon de Montfort prayed there before the Battle of Lewes. Historian Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) is interred in the Sheffield Mausoleum attached to the north transept of the church, having died in Fletching while staying with his great friend, John Baker-Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield. The school is Fletching CE Primary school. There are two public houses in Fletching: The Griffin Inn (which calls itself a gastropub) and The Rose and Crown. Nearby is The Piltdown Man at Piltdown. The village was once the home of the comedian Jimmy Edwards (1920–1988). Fletching is home to Fletching Football Club also known as The Archers. Fletching 1st team play in the Mid-Sussex Football League division 2 - South with the 2nd team playing in Division 5 - South.

Sheffield Park cricket ground
Sheffield Park cricket ground

Sheffield Park is a cricket ground at the Sheffield Park estate, located near Uckfield, East Sussex, England. From 1881 to 1896 it was the home ground of Lord Sheffield's XI, organised by Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, who in 1891 donated £150 to the New South Wales Cricket Association which was used to purchase a plate and establish the competition known as the Sheffield Shield. Cricket had been played at the ground for the previous 30 years before 1881, but these matches were unrecorded. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1881, when Lord Sheffield's XI played Alfred Shaw's XI, which was also the first first-class match on the ground. From 1881 to 1896, Lord Sheffield's XI played 9 first-class matches, the last of which came against the touring Australians. During this match, 25,000 people were allowed to watch the match for free; Lord Sheffield never charged for people to come and watch matches at the ground.Lord Sheffield had an octagonal pavilion constructed during 1881-1882, and later a separate ladies pavilion was built. Following Lord Sheffield's death in 1909, with him cricket largely died out at the estate. During World War I the ground was requisitioned for farming, wiping out the cricket ground. Subsequently trees were planted on the site but most were blown down in the 1987 hurricane. In 2009, a new square was laid, a pavilion was built and the outfield was restored in its parkland setting. The reopening of the ground was celebrated with a match between an Old England XI and a Lord Sheffield Australian XI. Today, the restored ground is the home of the Armadillo Cricket Club.