Many contemporary badges of a similar design were made of pewter, but the Chiddingly example is one of only three known pieces fashioned from precious metals - another having been found on the site of Richard's dénouement at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and the third on the foreshore of the River Thames.

[9] The village was on the periphery of Sussex's endemic smuggling trade in the 18th century, but even this insubstantial link has left an indelible mark on the area - albeit one of somewhat dubious provenance - by way of 'the ghost of the staggering smuggler'.

As reported in the Derby Mercury of 1786, a violent and wide-ranging confrontation took place between a gang of smugglers and a group of excise officers which culminated in a pitched battle at the eastern end of Stalkers Lane in the July of that same year.

This encounter left one of the freebooters fatally wounded - 'miserably cut about the head and other parts of the body' - and he reputedly sought refuge in the outbuildings around Stream Farm where he duly expired.

It is claimed that on occasion his spirit has been seen staggering around, as if mortally wounded and in search of its deathbed... Burgh Hill Farm Meadow is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the parish.

[12] The annual Chiddingly Festival hosts an eclectic selection of artistic endeavours in and around the village each autumn, with performers of not insubstantial renown having taking their place in the programme over the years .

The bonfire society instead fabricate an enormous anvil from heavy-duty cardboard, stuff it with pyrotechnics and blow the thing to pieces as a precursor to their main firework display.

Historical pursuits in the village included a biannual 'rook shoot' around Latchett Wood which provided the staple ingredient of rook pie for the participants - a welcome addition to their usual impoverished agrarian fare - and, more esoterically, the recreation ground opposite the present school is marked on several older maps as a 'wrestling place'.

The village cricket club has been extant for many years, disporting themselves with enthusiasm and no little skill across the grounds of the county, although football and rugby seem only to have had prompted more fleeting interest, by way of irregular teams raised by patrons of The Six Bells .