If you’re looking for Sussex curiosities, look no further than Jacob’s Post in between Ditchling and Wivelsfield and ever so slightly off the beaten track. Don’t get too excited though because it is just a post although it does come with a great Sussex story … and a rooster!
A tale of murder
Jacob Harris was a travelling pedlar. On the 26th May 1734, he broke into The Wayside Inn (which in due course became the Royal Oak) to steal some money but was caught by the landlord, Richard Miles. Harris slashed Miles in the throat with a knife but Miles managed to call for help (and later identify Harris). His wife and maid came running and Harris killed them too.
He then stole a coat (worth 10 shillings) and fled. First he hid in the Cat Inn at Turners Hill and then he hid up the chimney at Selsfield House in West Hoathly but he was caught when soldiers searching for him lit the fire. Harris was taken to Horsham gaol and in due course, he was executed by hanging at the scene of the crime. His body was then hung in a gibbet and the post which has a rooster on it was left as a reminder of the crime. Harris was a Jewish pedlar also known as Yacob Hirsh. He was struggling to make ends meet but some say he was simply a scapegoat for the crime.
But the story doesn’t end there…
While Harris’s body was still on display, barren women would visit and hold his hand in the belief that it would make them fertile and this belief carried on into the 19th century, so much so that people would cut away pieces of the post to ward off evil spirits and cure the ague. The Royal Oak stood on the corner of Ditchling Road and Pepper Close and didn’t close until 2009. It used to have a bit of the post on the bar.
Finding the post
The post does appear on Google maps helpfully because it’s not that easy to find. You’ll find it just to the west side of the B2112 (north of Janes Lane) and north of Ditchling Common. There is a little track off the main road and then you have to just search until you find it. There is an information board but what we haven’t been able to discover is the significance of the rooster … if anyone knows, pray tell!
There is also a post on Ditchling Common with a red rooster carved into it and an arrow but at the time of our visit this was actually pointing the wrong way!
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