WISTON PARK.
To the westward of Brighton and in the South Downs is the antique village of Steyning, near which is Rev. John Goring's home at Wiston Manor, an Elizabethan mansion of much historical interest and commanding views of extreme beauty. This is one of the most attractive places in the South Downs, a grand park with noble trees, herds of deer wandering over the grass, and the great ring of trees on top of Chanctonbury Hill, planted in 1760. Charles Goring, the father of the present owner, planted these trees in his early life, and sixty-eight years afterwards, in 1828, he then being eighty-five years old, addressed these lines to the hill:
"How oft around thy Ring, sweet Hill, a boy I used to play,
And form my plans to plant thy top on some auspicious day!
How oft among thy broken turf with what delight I trod!
With what delight I placed those twigs beneath thy maiden sod!
And then an almost hopeless wish would creep within my breast:
'Oh, could I live to see thy top in all its beauty dressed!'
That time's arrived; I've had my wish, and lived to eighty-five;
I'll thank my God, who gave such grace, as long as e'er I live;
Still when the morning sun in spring, whilst I enjoy my sight,
Shall gild thy new clothed Beech and sides, I'll view thee with delight."
The house originally belonged to Earl Godwine, and has had a strange history. One of its lords was starved to death at Windsor by King John; Llewellyn murdered another at a banquet; a third fell from his horse and was killed. Later, it belonged to the Shirleys, one of whom married a Persian princess; it has been held by the Gorings for a long period. This interesting old mansion has a venerable church adjoining it, surmounted by an ivy-clad tower. Chanctonbury Hill rises eight hundred and fourteen feet, and its ring of trees, which can be seen for many miles, is planted on a circular mound surrounded by a trench, an ancient fortification. From it there is a grand view over Surrey and Sussex and to the sea beyond—a view stretching from Windsor Castle to Portsmouth, a panorama of rural beauty that cannot be excelled.