Nestled on the cusp of Brighton and the South Downs, Devil’s Dyke is well known for its stunning views and fabled past.
Devil's Dyke is famed for its rich Iron Age history with early settlements dotted across the hills.
Its name stems from a legend - the Devil was furious about the conversion of the people of the Weald to Christianity and decided to dig a dyke through the South Downs so the sea could flow in and drown them.
But its more recent history is much more jovial than its name would suggest for the site was once a fairground.
Dating back to Brighton’s heyday as a Victorian resort, Devil’s Dyke began to attract hundreds of tourists for its sweeping views across the Downs.
The site benefited even more when, in 1887, the Devil’s Dyke railway opened to draw tourists from the town centre out to the countryside to sample the area.
Capitalising on the success of The Dyke Hotel, now The Devil’s Dyke pub, J H Hubbard bought the hotel and the Dyke Estate in 1892.
From there, he set about turning the site into Dyke Park, an adventure park housing some of the UK’s most pioneering attractions.
The park entrance was originally marked with two elephant statues which welcome visitors into the area. Now, two smaller statues stand in a clearing near the Devil’s Dyke car park.
The park was known for many things, not least Britain’s first aerial cable car which stretched across the Devil’s Dyke valley for 300m.
The surroundings hills held a myriad of funfair rides and Victorian games and attractions including bicycle railways, merry go rounds and a whale skull.
King William IV is thought to have driven a carriage up to Devil’s Dyke to experience the fair and Queen Victoria, famed for her love of Brighton, rode to the park from the Royal Pavilion shortly before marrying Prince Albert.
The Dyke was also home to a funicular railway – driven in part for the craving for afternoon tea.
Victorian visitors to Devil’s Dyke also wanted to visit Poynings and surrounding villages and stopped off in the area for a refreshment break.
Rather than facing the climb back up the hill, the funicular railway opened in 1987 and ran from the village and up the north side of the slope.
Despite the success of the adventure park, J H Hubbard’s dream forms just a small part of the Dyke’s history.
After just a couple of decades the allure of the park faded and the cable car and funicular closed in 1908.
Now maintained by the National Trust, Devil’s Dyke still bears some of the marks of the adventure park.
Near Poynings, a gulley in the ground is all that is left of the funicular railway.
And concrete blocks can still be found around the Dyke which mark where the cable car’s towers once stood.
J H Hubbard's adventure park is a small but fun part of the history of Devil’s Dyke. If you look closely, you might still see the remains of what was once one of Brighton’s biggest attractions.
Photographs with thanks to the Regency Society and James Gray Archive.
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