St John Without is a small

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

Lewes District Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, Seaford, East Sussex ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

, England, covering an area to the north-west of the town of

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre ...

. Much like its sister parish, St Ann Without, the parish was formed in 1894 as Lewes St John Without from the part of the ancient parish of Lewes St John outside (that is, 'without', as opposed to 'within') the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle ...

of Lewes. From 1894 to 1974 it was in the rural district of

Chailey Chailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located 7 miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury. The Prime Meridian passes just to the east of Chailey. The parish consist ...

. The shape of the parish, like many of the parishes north of the Sussex Downs in this area is long and thin (see link to the parish map in the External links section below). The parish includes the small hamlet of Chiltington and a few dispersed farms and houses along Allington Road to the foot of the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the ea ...

Landmarks

Clayton to Offham Escarpment Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a linear biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which runs from Clayton in West Sussex to Lewes in East Sussex. Its ownership and management is divided between over fifteen landowners and farmers. ...

is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which stretches from Hassocks in the west and passes through many parishes including St John Without, to Lewes in the east. The site is of biological importance due to its rare chalk grassland habitat along with its woodland and scrub.

Ashcombe Bottom Ashcombe Bottom () is a 66 hectare (163 acre) woodland valley owned by the National Trust that runs south from Blackcap, East Sussex, Blackcap, East Sussex, England. The area is nested in the South Downs and can only be reached by walking or cycl ...

is a wooded area in the south of the parish, which forms part of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Blackcap The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are s ...

reserve. The reserve makes up a section of the

SSSI.

Notable areas

St John without is a parish squashed between East Chiltington to its east and

Hamsey Hamsey is a civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The parish covers a large area () and consists of the villages of Hamsey, Offham and Cooksbridge. The main centres of population in the parish are now Offham and Cooksbridge. ...

to its west. To its north is the

parish and to the south,

Falmer Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falm ...

. Within its boundary is the ancient woodland of Warningore, the scarp top between Mount Harry and

Blackcap, East Sussex Blackcap is a hill and nature reserve in East Sussex, England. It is on a peak of the South Downs, just south east of Plumpton and west of Lewes. The flatter landscape is made up of open ground with chalk paths, surrounded by thickets. The st ...

and the valley of

. The largest settlement is Chiltington. The Bevern streams runs along the northern boundary of the parish. On Allington Lane, there was the 150 acre Beechwood Common, which was enclosed by 1584. The

Sussex Greensand Way The Sussex Greensand Way is a Roman road that runs east-west linking the London to Lewes Way at Barcombe Mills to Stane Street at Hardham. The road, which has almost entirely fallen out of use, follows the free draining ridge of greensand whic ...

, a Roman road, runs through the top of the parish.

Wickham Wood

Wickham Wood () lies to the south of the Bevern stream at the northern most point of the parish and just north of the Roman

Greensand Way The Greensand Way is a long-distance path of in southeast England, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. It follows the Greensand Ridge along the Surrey Hills and Chart Hills. The route is mostly rural, passing through woods, and ...

road. Its name is likely to derive from Latin. Wickham (as in vicus) indicates a small Roman settlement and the woodland. The woodland is carpeted with

wild garlic Plant species in the genus ''Allium'' known as wild garlic include the following: *''Allium canadense'', wild onion *''Allium carinatum'', keeled garlic *''Allium drummondii'', Drummond's onion *'' Allium ochotense'', Siberian onion *'' Allium oler ...

and occasionally frequented by beautiful lime longhorn beetle that come from the line of lime trees at Hurst Barns in the neighbouring East Chiltington parish.

Warningore Wood

Warningore Wood () spans the East Chiltington and St John Without parish. It is a big wood that stands on sticky

Gault Clay The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in Fol ...

. It has up to 25 ancient woodland indicator species, including early purple and butterfly orchids. It mainly consists of

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornb ...

trees, but there is also

wych elm ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches ...

, wild service,

crab apple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone ...

spindle Spindle may refer to: Textiles and manufacturing * Spindle (textiles), a straight spike to spin fibers into yarn * Spindle (tool), a rotating axis of a machine tool Biology * Common spindle and other species of shrubs and trees in genus '' Euony ...

guelder rose ''Viburnum opulus'', the guelder-rose or guelder rose () is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae) native to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia. Description ''Viburnum opulus'' is a deciduou ...

and

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

Ashcombe Bottom

() is a woodland valley that runs south from

that has been owned by the

since 1993 with Blackcap, Mount Harry and most of the scarp. It is rich in scrubland species and has

bryony ''Bryonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the gourd family. Bryony is its best-known common name. They are native to western Eurasia and adjacent regions, such as North Africa, the Canary Islands and South Asia. Description and ecology B ...

, rosebay willowherb,

, honeysuckle and occasional wood sage. The ash which is being managed for

ash dieback ''Hymenoscyphus fraxineus'' () is an ascomycete fungus that causes ash dieback, a chronic fungal disease of ash trees in Europe characterised by leaf loss and crown dieback in infected trees. The fungus was first scientifically described in 20 ...

. It is a biodiverse area with many butterflies and migrant birds in spring.

Governance

St John Without is governed at local level by a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

. A merger with East Chiltington parish council has been suggested, although no formal plans have been made. The next level of government is Lewes District Council. The District council supplies services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. St John Without is covered by the Plumpton, Streat, East Chiltington and St John (Without) ward which returns a single seat. In the May 2007 election, a councillor from the local Liberal Democrat party was elected. St John Without lies within the Chailey ward for the next tier of government, East Sussex County Council. The ward also includes

Ditchling Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling. ...

, East Chiltington, Newick, Plumpton, Streat,

Westmeston Westmeston is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England heavily dependent in amenities on larger Ditchling to the near-immediate northwest. It is four miles (6 km) south-southeast of Burgess Hill and (10 ...

and Wivelsfield. The County Council provides services such as roads and transport, social services, libraries and trading standards. The UK Parliament constituency for St John Without is

. Prior to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

in 2020, the village was represented by the South-East England constituency in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...

References

External links

St John Without parish layout in MagicMap
{{Lewes district Civil parishes in East Sussex