sanctuary

I wasn't born or brought up in Sussex and I've never lived here but it has many charms. Mostly I'm impressed by the pubs and churches - the older, the better. Today we sampled both at a village called Arlington. The pub is the Yew Tree Inn which serves Harvey's beer (brewed in Lewes) and an amazing range of food.

The church is St Pancras (patron saint of children). We came in out of the stormy wind and rain to find a peaceful sanctuary. A window and some of the stones date from Saxon times (9th c) but archaeological finds suggest that the site was used for hundreds of years before this. I'm sure that places like this have a presence which mirrors their history and all that has happened within their walls - prayers, praise, the joy of baptisms and weddings and the grief of funerals - and St Pancras has it in spades.

The church was once on a Pilgrim route from Canterbury and is now visited by walkers following the Weald way and local footpaths to Arlington Reservoir and Michelham Priory. As the church brochure says, "Many pause here to be refreshed by the beauty of the Natural world enhanced by the presence of this ancient church".

The embroideries were of many kinds of local birds and animals.

And in case you thought that everything in Sussex is old, here is a tune that has been going round in my head all day. Tom Odell is from Chichester.