Gibbet WoodsAs was his nature, Powys would frequently escape from the village for long, solitary walks on the downs, slipping out unnoticed through the churchyard.
The photograph shows the path along the bottom of New Down where the woods do indeed mingle with the downs, sometimes advancing as far as the path itself, sometimes retreating up the slope.
Adjoining the Gibbet Woods was another of JCP's favourite walks, the beech copse at Michelgrove, the entrance to which (the West Door?) is shown above. The woods are now known as Wepham Wood, but there was a sound reason for their older name.
This post commemorates the event Powys refers to. The initials JU stand for Jack Upperton, although the date of the poor man's demise was 1771, not 1774. He held up the King's Mail at Lyminster in September 1770, was tried at the Sussex Assizes at East Grinstead the following March and hanged at the notorious Horsham 'hang fair' in April. In accordance with the judge's directions, his body was then 'hung in chains on the most convenient spot upon Burpham New Down'.
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