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Smuggling In Alfriston

The Smugglers Inn originally went by the name of Market Cross House, as it is indeed very near the market cross. The house itself has 21 rooms, 47 doors and 6 staircases, as well as an assortment of hiding places such as the cellars and a hiding place in the roof, all intended to confuse the enemy and allow easy escape from excise men. There were even said to be tunnels leading to other houses in Alfriston, and one going as far as the Long Man of WilmingtonThe smuggler and owner of this house was one Stanton Collins who led the local smuggling gang in Alfriston. His father was the butcher at Chiddingly before he bought the house, leaving it to his son who became the local butcher in 1822, at a time when the troops stationed at Alfriston during the Napoleonic Wars left, leaving Alfriston a less prosperous place to live. Not much is known about Collins smuggling exploits, which probably means he was very good at it. He and his gang were fairly ruthless and their influence within Alfriston was great. When a new minister was installed in the Lady Huntingdon Chapel (now the United Reformed Church) who wasn't to the liking of Mr. Collins, he and his men forceably removed the upstart and brought back the old minister, a Mr. Betts, to complete the service, posting guards outside to make sure their wasn't any further disturbance. Collins was eventually arrested in 1831, but not for smuggling. Reports say it was either sheep stealing or theft of barley from Litlington Farm. The last member of Collins gang died in the workhouse at Eastbourne in 1890, aged 94.

Smuggling was not the only illegal pastime in the Alfriston area. The looting of cargo from a wrecked ship could bring in much money to the area and any inteference could provoke violence. Such was the case in 1635 when the son of Thomas Chowne, the JP living in Frog-Firle, tried to stop looters on Seaford beach.

The . . . Thing

In the Dene car park on the north side of town is a strange building with an unknown history. Constructed of flint, theories regarding it's use include a shot tower, a lock-up, a dovecote, a kiln and a gun store.

Litlington Church

Just south of Lullington and east across the river from Frog-Firle is the village of Littlington with a slightly larger church built east-west on the edge of the Downs on a natural spur. The church is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel who has many connections with churches on hills. The church is Norman and roughly 800 years old with later additions to the nave and chancel of a south porch, vestry and bell turret. The list of Rectors begins in the 14th century and the windows on the north side of the nave has been blocked at some time in the past. There are three scratch-dials on the outside of the church. The hamlets of Frog Firle and Litlington are joined across the river by a bridge called the White Bridge. The presence of three churches in such a small area points either to great importance and wealth for Alfriston in the past or a building of churches on pagan areas to convert them, requiring a greater number of churches than would otherwise be necessary.