Waterhall Mill

Waterhall Mill, also known as Westdene Mill or Patcham Windmill, is a disused tower mill. It is on the slopes of Coney Hill just north of Westdene. It was built in 1885 by James Holloway of Shoreham, and is believed to be the last brick windmill built in Sussex. Two of the staircases are said to have originated in St Paul's Cathedral. In World War II it was used by the Home Guard as a lookout post. Waterhill Mill was awarded Grade II listed status by English Heritage on 13 October 1952. It was converted into a domestic house in 1964.^[7][8]

Waterhall

Waterhall (TQ 284 087), an area of football and rugby pitches. It is sandwiched between Saddlescombe Road and the A23 which runs north to London. The Brighton rugby club is situated at the west end.

The old Waterhall Golf Course

To the north of the club is the old Waterhall Golf Course, which was given over to rewilding in 2021.^[9] Since the Golf Course has been closed and rewilding has started summer downland flowers are already returning and harebell, scabious, cowslip, rockrose, betony, Sussex rampion and horseshoe vetch have all been seen in the area. There are large old anthills and chalkhill, small and adonis blue and brown argus butterflies. There is still a reasonable population of adders. By the bridlepath just downhill of the old clubhouse there are the damaged remains of a Bronze Age round barrow (TQ 283 087) which has long acted as a marker on the old parish boundaries and at the corner of the Saddlescombe Road and the turn-off to the golf clubhouse there is a sarsen stone (TQ 278 090) marking this point in the medieval boundary between Patcham and West Blatchington parishes.^[10]

Varncombe Hill

At the north end of the old Golf Course is Varncombe Hill which borders the Newtimber parish. The south-west facing slope(TQ 280 099) is a bosky place with lovely old pasture glades. Rockrose is one of the commonest flowers here, with some of its associated fungi. The west facing slopes of Varncombe Hill (TQ 279 105) were sold by Brighton Council with the rest of Saddlescombe Farm to the National Trust, but the Trust did not dedicate them as Access Land, though some have argued that they should have done.^[10]

Sweet Hill

The tracks rising to the east of Waterhall take you to Sweet Hill. The Hill has a flowery bank on its western slope (TQ 286 091), a bushy lynchet and an old dewpond site on its brow. The track joins a branch of the Mid Sussex Sussex Border Path and continues northwest to the Newtimber parish leaving Pangdean Bottom and the Pyecombe parish to the north east.

Pangdean Bottom

Pangdean Bottom is the west of the A23 and is rented by a tenant farmer from Brighton and Hove City Council, who have owned it since 1924. It includes ancient chalk grassland slopes where there are still chalkland flowers and butterflies and many believe it should have been designated Access land status. In late summer, the valley's north side has one of the largest populations of autumn ladies-tresses orchid has been recorded, together with a large population of the white variety of the self heal violet. The scrub at the head of the valley is old and diverse, with wayfaring tree, old man's beard, honeysuckle, hazel, and gorse.^[10]

In July 2021 the Sussex-based 'Landscapes of Freedom' group, together with Nick Hayes and Guy Shrubsole of the 'Right to Roam' network, organised a mass trespass in protest against the lack of public access to this valley and its management for game bird shooting, which has badly affected its chalk grassland wildlife.^[11] Over three hundred people walked from Waterhall, Brighton, to Pangdean Bottom in protest.^[12] The public are actively discouraged from walking in the area and scrub has been allowed to grow on the pristine downland, whilst other parts have been ploughed out.^[13]