Wilmington Church & Priory

Today, Mrs Catspaw and I took advantage of the last of this September's Open Days to visit Wilmington Priory. Now leased by the Landmark Trust, when I last visited - as a child, more than 50 years ago! - it was open to the public regularly as a property of the Sussex Archaeological Society.

I remember three things very vividly about that first (and, until today, my only) visit to the Priory back in 1964:

Firstly, we paid our admission fees to a man dressed in army fatigues - which left me wondering why the Army would be in charge of a place such as this.

Secondly, the building was used to house a number of old agricultural tools and other items depicting the life of this rural area in days gone by: one of the items was a huge man trap on display with its jaws open - which terrified me for weeks afterwards.

Thirdly, there was talk of a lost underground passage used by smugglers, leading to the coast: some people were said to have once tried exploring the tunnel with torches, but these blew out and the 'explorers' ran back in terror!

Our visit to the Priory this afternoon was followed - just like my visit there with my parents back in 1964 - with a stroll to the base of the well-known Long Man of Wilmington on the Downs nearby, which can be seen across the fields in my 'Extra' for today.