My connection to the Hurst Pierpoint name…

By Alice de Pierpont de Burnot

When I arrived in Sayers Common in 1989 to improve my English language, I was far from thinking that I would come across places in England with the same name as my surname. Very early on in my stay, I noticed the village of Hurstpierpoint on one of my walks. I was very surprised and really interested in finding any connection with my family.

I decided to visit Lewes library, which I was told was one of the best places to find information about the area. I spent a whole day amongst old books and registers only to find that there is so much information to look at that it would take a very long time to ascertain whether Hurstpierpoint has any link with my family. There were various spellings of the name such as: Pierpont, Pierrepont, Pier Point, Pereppount, Perepond, Perpount. To this date I have no idea if these names all have the same root rather than various spelling due to the authors’ inconsistent spelling.

When I visited the little village church, Holy Trinity, with my parents who came to visit me during the year I spent in Sayers Common, we saw the two effigies of what is thought to be Sir Simon de Pierpoint in 13th century chain armour and 14th century plate armour. We were so fascinated that we asked the lady who was present in the church at the time and she led us to a gentleman who lived opposite the church. This gentleman, whose name escapes me after 30 years, welcomed us with open arms and we had a long chat with him over a cup of tea. It was so interesting listening to him that we left his company with a strong Find, follow and share us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram www.hurstlife.co.uk desire to find out more about Hurstpierpoint.

To read more about Alice’s discoveries about the village and her family, you can find the whole story inside this month’s (March) issue of Hurst Life Magazine.

Woodland Flora & Fauna Group Countryside Article

Hurst Life Magazine

Mike Thatcher met Michael Nailard, Chairman of the Woodland, Flora and Fauna Group, to find out a little bit of the group’s history, what it has been up to and his hopes for its future.

The group was founded in 2004 at the invitation of Mid Sussex District and Parish Councils to have a look at the local countryside and how it could be protected, as it was suggested by the council that the low weald between Ansty and the edge of Hurst was going to be given particular attention for future

development. The Parish Council invited lots of groups to a meeting to initiate a biodiversity study of the whole parish in order to determine whether there was anything of value that needed special protection.

Hurst Life Magazine

Michael Nailard (right) was elected as Chairman, and he estimated the study would take between 12-18 months
to complete. “However, there are 200 landowners in Hurstpierpoint parish, and they all had to be approached before any survey teams went on their land. After

a public meeting 120 people turned up, all very keen to stop any development and 60 volunteered to help with the survey.” These volunteers were trained, with the help of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, but then the number of volunteers dwindled when they realised it was hard work going round the fields identifying flowers and fauna. Numbers dropped to below 20 and the survey ended up taking six years.

He spoke at great length about the achievements of the group, which covered a multitude of areas. About 11 years ago it embarked on a bat conservation project in the woodlands. They also investigated where dormice were, and where they found indications they put in boxes, and there are currently six woodlands where they do monthly checks on them.

For the full story see page 14 of Hurst Life’s Feb 2020 issue.

Aspire Sussex Sea Turtles attempt Channel Crossing

Aspire Sussex Sea Turtles

A group of six friends from Hurstpierpoint are attempting one of the hardest swim challenges in the world - the English Channel - in a relay for a brilliant cause. The six are Zoe Collins, Guy Lovegrove, Sally O’Connor, Claire Grose, Tim Garnett and Cath Barton-Smith.

Aspire Sussex Sea Turtles

Known as the Aspire Sussex Sea Turtles, all six friends have a love of outdoor swimming and will attempt to swim the 22 miles from the British coast to Northern France at the end of September to raise money for people who have sustained a spinal injury. Every four hours someone is paralysed by a spinal cord injury. Aspire is a national charity providing practical support from injury to independence.

Life can change in an instant and it can happen to anyone. Having met with Paula Craig, who was supported by Aspire when she suffered life-changing injuries, the team were inspired to take on the challenge.

“After meeting with Paula we’re all excited and determined to cross the channel together and raise money for Aspire,” says Zoe, “an amazing charity that helped Paula so much with her recovery and continues to support her and others in so many ways. Although I suspect Guy is primarily coming because he thinks he’ll get cheap wine and cheese on the other side!”

Each of them must swim in strict order for an hour at a time until they reach the French coast. They can wear only swimming costumes and are not allowed wetsuits or any artificial aids!

The next nine months will mean intense training for the team as they work on their swimming skills in the pool as well as getting used to swimming in the low temperatures of the Channel. By July the team will have had to have swum two hours in the sea at a temperature of less than 16 degrees to prepare them for the day when they are called to Dover for their Channel attempt.

They’ve already started their training in the sea!
Paul Parrish, Director of Fundraising and Marketing

for Aspire, the charity benefitting from the Sea Turtles’ heroic efforts, said: “We are so grateful to the team
for their commitment. Their hard efforts will be so important to us, and they have pledged to raise over £10,000. This will have such a positive impact on the lives of those with spinal injury. Over the past ten years our Channel Swims have raised over £1,000,000 and it’s great to start the decade being supported by the Sea Turtles.”

To commence their fundraising efforts, the Sea Turtles will be holding a Pop Up Charity Shop at 40 High Street, Hurstpierpoint (formerly Olive Antiques next door to Morleys) on Saturday 8th February 10am – 4pm. Please go along to support them on the day and help launch their fundraising efforts, have a chat to the team and enjoy tea/coffee and cake.

If you have anything you’d like to donate for the sale please contact Cath on 07816 932559.

If you wish to donate to their worthy cause please go to their fundraising page on JustGiving:- www.justgiving.com/team/SussexSeaTurtles