Beddingham is an English village and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, at the junction between the London–Newhaven (A26) and south coast (A27) roads south-east of Lewes. The parish council joined with that of Glynde shortly after the Second World War, as Glynde and Beddingham, but they remain separate civil parishes. History The area was settled in pre-Roman times with many tumuli in the surrounding hills originating in the Iron Age. The Roman villa at Beddingham was excavated by David Rudling 198–1992. Construction began in the late first century AD, and the villa was occupied until the mid fourth-century. There was a wooden roundhouse built originally (about 50 AD) before Roman construction began towards the end of the century. When the Saxons came, one of the buildings on the site was hollowed out, presumably as a Sunken Feature Building (Grubenhaus). The fill of the cut contains a mix of Late Roman and Early Saxon pottery, suggesting some degree of continuity of settlement. Beddingham was a Saxon royal minster. It was probably seized by Offa of Mercia after his annexation of Sussex early in the 770s. One of Offa's coins was found there. Once back in Saxon possession, the land was bequeathed by King Alfred to his nephew Æthelhelm, and the manor later held by Earl Godwin. The manor of Preston in Beddingham (or "Preston Becklewin") was originally held by the Abbey of Bec and passed to King's College, Cambridge, on its foundation. The original church was wooden. The Normans used local flint from the South Downs to construct the present building. The noted horticulturist Frances Garnet Wolseley, 2nd Viscountess Wolseley was buried in the churchyard in 1936. The 13th-century Itford Farm house (Grade II* listed) was converted into the YHA South Downs youth hostel in 2013. Population The parish population was recorded as 289 in the 2001 census and 242 in the 2011 census. It was estimated in 2018 to be 269. Landscape There are two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the former parish. Firle Escarpment, which extends into the neighbouring parish of Firle. Asham Quarry, which is of geological interest due to its stratigraphy of Devensian and Flandrian deposits. The track that runs from Little Dene up to the Firle Escarpment was laid down as a tank road during the Second World War. This was intentionally abandoned after the war, although it is still