From the foreword: "When Adam and Eve gave names to all the places of
the earth, they marked the beautiful downlands of Sussex for Paradise.
This charming fancy, as related by the author Hilaire Belloc, serves to show
why so many artists and writers have chosen Sussex as the setting for their
paintings and poetry.
How many dedicated recorders of 'local colour' there are, dotted about the
English countryside on warm summer days, intent on capturing, in oils or
watercolours, or in memorable prose and verse the treasured impressions of a
lost time. Such poets and painters, some of whose names became
synonymous with Sussex ways and byways, have made their own special mark
upon the scene, in their varied attempts to discover their own version of
Paradise.
Bramber is one of the most painted and photographed of the downland
villages, with its imposing Norman castle keep, its ancient cottages of
flint and brick, and the magnificent timber-framed pilgrim inn of St.
Mary's, a house of which the writer, Ashley Courtenay, once said that
'happiness dwells in every room'. This enchanting house and its
gardens are enjoyed today by countless visitors who seek something of that
old-world charm that remains quintessentially English."
32 pp.
ISBN 0 9526786 6 7 £3.50
Bramber Press
