Malling Church is of no interest except perhaps for the fact that John
Evelyn laid the foundation stone. At Old Malling once stood a Saxon
collegiate church founded by Caedwalla in 688 and therefore one of the
first Christian churches erected in Sussex. The Archbishops of
Canterbury had a residence near, and in the _Memorials of Canterbury_
Dean Stanley tells how Becket's murderers entered the house and threw
their arms on the dining-table, which immediately threw them off;
replaced, they were again thrown farther off with a louder crash. One
of the knights then suggested that the table refused to bear its
sacrilegious burden. This is still a popular local legend.

Ringmer, about two miles to the north-east, is closely connected with
Gilbert White; the oft-quoted letter in which he says "I have now
travelled the Downs upwards of 30 years, yet I still investigate that
chain of majestic mountains with fresh admiration year by year" was
written from here. There are several interesting monuments and brasses
in the church, especially those to the Springett family.

[Illustration: THE EASTERN DOWNS.]




CHAPTER II

TO EASTBOURNE AND PEVENSEY


Two miles distant from Lewes on the Eastbourne road is Beddingham,