20 6 AN ENGLISH SHIRE, 



in the trackless forest. Such are Billinghurst, Warming- 

 hurst, Itchingfield, and Ardingley. On the Cuckmere 

 river, the villages in the combes bear names like Jevington 

 and Lullington ; but in the upper valley of the little stream, 

 where it flows through the Weald, we find instead 

 Chiddingley and Hellingley. Most of the Weald villages, 

 however, bear still more woodland titles Midhursb, 

 Farnhurst, Nuthurst, Maplehurst, and Lamberhurst ; 

 Cuckfield, Mayfield, Eotherfield, Hartfield, Heathfield, 

 and Wivelsfield ; Crawley, Cowfold, Loxwood, Linchmere, 

 and Harden. Hams and tons, the sure signs of early 

 English colonisation, are almost wholly lacking ; in their 

 place we get abundance of such names as Coney hurst Com- 

 mon, Water Down Forest, Hayward's Heath, Milland 

 Marsh, and Bell's Oak Green. To this day even, the greater 

 part of the Weald is down in park, copse, heath, forest, 

 common, or marshland. Throughout the whole expanse 

 of the woodland region in Sussex, with the outlying 

 portions in Kent, Surrey, and Hants, Mr. Isaac Taylor 

 has collected no fewer than 299 local names with the 

 significant forest terminations in hurst, den, ley, holt, and 

 field. These facts show that, during the later ' Anglo- 

 Saxon ' period, the Weald was being slowly colonised in 

 a few favourable spots. Its use as a mark was now gone, 

 and it might be safely employed for the peaceful pur- 

 poses of the archer and the swineherd. Names referring 

 to pasture and the wild beasts are therefore common. 



To the same time must doubtless be assigned the 

 exact delimitation of the Sussex frontiers. During the 

 early periods, the Kentings, the Suthrige, and the West 

 Saxons would all extend on their side as far as the 



