South Downs, England

Chanctonbury Ring

Mythago Wood

Walking on the South Downs near Worthing in Sussex, England, we came across an old ring of Beech Trees dating from 1760 and called Chanctonbury Ring. This ring is alleged to have mystical properties and is said to be the home of fairies and magic little people. Further, it is claimed if you go there on Midsummer's Eve and recite Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream, these magical little people will appear to you.

If you want to read more about the tale, check out Puck of Pook's Hill, by Rudyard Kipling, Chapter I. Weland's Sword. This is Robert Stockton's work of putting books on the Net.

If you are interested in finding out more about Southdowns, the best I have found is by Valerie Martin who wrote a wonderful piece on Chanctonbury Ring. If you would like to learn more about the area, the site where I found this article is the homepage of Findon, West Sussex, which is loaded with good content.

The Southdowns Way, another good overall site about the area, has an excellent photo of the ring as it looked before the 1987 hurricane did serious damage.

Discovering Steyning gives a brief description of it and some more about the local area.

It was natural that I also be reminded of the book, Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock (William Morrow Books), where wanderers and mythological beings had inextricably become part of the primeval forest. An enchanting book, I loaned it out many times and bought more copies. Even though they rate it with five stars, Amazon.com says this 1984 book is out of print but you can place a back order.

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