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Glynde
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(Home of English Opera)
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General Details
Glynde lies to the north of the A27 on the back road to Ringmer . Its name
is derived from the old Saxon word glind meaning an enclosure. The road
through the village used to be on the main coaching route from Lewes to
Eastbourne and Newhaven. It has the feel of Northern England with its rows
of terraced cottages, and seems out of place in the South Downs .
In the 1200's Glynde Place was built and in 1579 the current building was
created with dragons on either side of the entrance.
Glynde is the birthplace of the delicate bright pink faced Southdown
sheep which were bred in the 1700's by John Ellman who is buried in the
churchyard. This breed of sheep can be found as far afield as Australia
and South Africa.(See
Southdown Sheep Society)
The current unusual church was built in 1763-5 in the Italian style by
Richard Trevor the Bishop of Durham who was the owner of Glynde place.
The church was designed by Sir Thomas Robinson Bart an architect and
landowner from Yorkshire . The building lies on top of the old Norman
church of which only a few artifacts remain.
In the churchyard is another example of a Harmer Terracotta created by
Jonathan Harmer in the early 1800's.
On 28th May 1934 John Christie whose family had lived at Glyndebourne an
old Tudor manor since 1617, opened the Glyndebourne Opera House. The
building catered for about 300 people, and became synonymous with English
Opera. In 1992 the building was demolished and a new one contructed, this
was opened in 1994 seating 1150 people. Glyndebourne is now the major
operatic centre in the UK.
Glynde Reach lies to the south east of Glynde, and as the derivation of
'reach' means 'An inlet of the sea' it is assumed that the Sea Level in the past
would have been up to 10 ft higher than at present. The Ordnance Survey map
from 1813 shows the sea coming all the way to the Laughton Levels , possibly
this was shown as high tide levels..
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Services
 Glynde lies just off the main A27 and has a few small village services ,
but the nearest shopping centre is at Lewes about 2 miles north west via
Ringmer .
The village benefits from a station on the Eastbourne to Lewes and Brighton
line giving regular coastal services.
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