Lyminster

Lyminster, a small village on the A284 north of Littlehampton, is one of the best places to enjoy the special views across the Arun Valley to Arundel.

The land west of the main road around the church is the perfect place to admire one of the great sights of Sussex.

You could also take the footpath north for a few hundred metres to visit Lyminster's special place of magic and legend - the Knucker hole.

The Lyminster knucker hole

Lyminster is famous for it's tale of the Knuckerhole - a bottomless watery hole inhabited by a fearsome dragon. The story is one of the best known in Sussex folklore.

Many years before Buffy started slaying vampires on our TV screens a local lad from Wick variously called Jim Pulk (or Jim Puttock) was doing the business in Lyminster, slaying the evil beast with a giant poisoned pie and a well-aimed blow with his axe.

Some versions of the legend say that Jim ruined his moment of triumph by wiping his poisoned hands across his mouth, thereby poisoning himself - a harsh lesson in basic hygiene.

There are other knuckerholes in Sussex too - at Shoreham, Lancing and Worthing, all fed by hidden underground springs.

Although the knucker hole is a short walk from the church it is surrounded by brambles and a wire mesh fence.

Lyminster Church

Fittingly the village church of St Mary Magdalene contains a stone slab which commemorates Jim Pulk - the Slayer's Slab. The slab used to be in the churchyard, but has been moved undercover to preserve it better.

The church itself is a whopper, perhaps reflecting the status of the nunnery which lay nearby for half a millennium until it was dissolved in the middle ages.

Map of the area

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