Albourne

About

Albourne, a small village with a population of about 600, is situated in the low Weald and Mid Sussex, just north of the South Downs. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty. The scattered village is rich in old and historical buildings. The old rectory and the original village school are in an idylic setting adjacent to Cutlers Brook, an alder-lined stream from which the village gets its name: 'Al' from alder and bourne - a small stream.
In the heart of the village is Woodbine Cottage, childhood home of James Stanley, a pioneer maker and inventor of the different gear used on early bicyles, whose success brought prosperity of Coventry. Both 'Gallops' and 'The Pound' are c17th century. The former, a timber-framed building, is perhaps the old building in the village, and the latter used to impound straying animals. Albourne Place, in Truslers Hill Lane, is a large mid-17th century former manor house where William Juxon, later Archbishop of Canterbury, lived following his imprisonment by Cromwell, reputedly for refusing to tell the secret of the last words of Charles 1 on the scaffold.