Эшкомб и окрестности: история, наследие и природа Сассекса.

Ashcombe Toll House stands on the corner of Ashcombe Hollow that runs up to Kingston from the A27. It is a relic from the age of the turnpike. Originally there were a pair but the northern one has been lost to road widening. The tollgate opened in 1820 and is likely to have closed when the turnpike was wound up in 1871. Some have speculated that what remains may have been the domestic part of the tollgate due to the existence of fireplaces. The roof was originally bricked in a circular fashion but was stolen in the 1940s before East Sussex County Council restored it in the 1950s. After that ownership became a little blurred until it was finally claimed by Sussex Heritage Trust in 1996.

People of Lewes come to St Ann Without on their walks on to the South Downs. Despite being heavily agricultural there are a number of areas of interest,

Ashcombe Farm is beautifully folded in the shelter of 18th century Ashcombe plantation. It has a handsome Georgian manor house and old flint barns and cottages. It was owned by the University of Sussex until 1985.

The old racecourse was preserved as a training gallops after its closure in 1964. It runs in a giant loop from Lewes Prison up the Spital ridge from Spital Road, Lewes, almost to the scarp, then runs south along the next ridge, above Ashcombe. It embraced giant Down pastures covering Cuckoo Bottom and Offham Down, and most of Houndean and Landport Bottom.

The Spital Gallop is part of the old Lewes Racecourse. It has views of the Lewes Brooks (the Vale of the Brooks) and of Malling Down. One can follow the course of the Ouse from there. It was once mostly ancient chalk grassland and chalk heath, but all that has now been lost to scrub and arable tillage. There are a number of ancient barrows in the area but most of them hard to find. One along the worn tracksides was still visible even after the turn of the century, and a rich fragment of old Down pasture flora survived on top and around it with rare bastard toadflax, horseshoe vetch, autumn gentian, thyme and the lichen, Cladonia rangiformis, but all that has now been lost to scrub encroachment.

Long Hill is just to the north of the A27 above Newmarket. An ancient terrace way , now a public footpath, rises from the A27 opposite Newmarket to the top of Long Hill above Ashcombe Farm. It forms a fine corridor of ancient turf and the two little white ghosts, mullein wave moth and white plume moth, can be found there on a summer's evening amongst the pyramidal orchid, crested hairgrass, hairy rock cress, milkwort and Sussex Rampion. The south face of Long Hill is not rich in old Down pasture herbs, but is still flowery in parts. The north face, however, is a very flowery and protected from the noise of the A27. There are fragrant, pyramidal and spotted orchids, cowslips, chalk and common milkworts, heath speedwell, betony, devil’s bit, lesser scabious, rockrose, ox eye daisy and the round headed rampion.

To the west of the old racecourse buildings lies Cuckoo Bottom It is a mile by half a mile long. It is a shallow, dry valley with dense thorn scrub, young woodland and open, long views. No ancient chalk grassland survives there. The farmed land is all arable. East Sussex County Council is the next tier of government, for which St Ann Without is within the Newhaven and Ouse Valley West division, with responsibility for Education, Libraries, Social Services, Civil Registration, Trading Standards and Transport. Elections for the County Council are held every four years. The Liberal Democrat David Rogers OBE was elected in the 2005 election. The UK Parliament constituency for St Ann Without is Lewes. The Conservative Maria Caulfield has been serving as the constituency MP since 2015.