Piddinghoe is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located in the valley of the River Ouse between Lewes and Newhaven, five miles (8 km) south of the former, downstream of Southease. The village was once a central player in Sussex smuggling. It is also notable for having the only remaining bottle-shaped brick kiln in the country. Piddinghoe is regularly visited by sailing enthusiasts as the body of water by the village is a fine location for dinghy sailing in particular but also windsurfing. An old saying of unknown origin says that "Piddinghoe people shoe their magpies". One theory is that this refers to the habit of shoeing oxen, which if black and white, were called magpies. History Piddinghoe does not appear in the Domesday Book, but by 1220 a manor of that name was in the hands of William de Warenne. In the 13th century the village name appears as Peddinghowe or Pidingeho and in the 14th century as Pydynghowe. It means "hill-spur of the family or followers of a man called Pyda". The village was part of the Holmstrow hundred until the abolition of hundreds in the 19th century. In 1929 part of the parish on the coast was made into the parish of Peacehaven. Notable buildings and areas There are a number of notable areas around Piddinghoe. From east to west it runs from River Ouse, over the Downs to Peacehaven. Due north is Southease and south is Newhaven. St John's Church St John's Church is one of three in the Ouse Valley with a round Norman tower, the others being at nearby Southease and St Michael’s, Lewes. It may be built upon a large prehistoric burial mound, again like Southease upstream. Court Farm Court Farm once farmed much of the surrounding downland the land close to the farmstead is now a smallholding with pigs. The house is medieval and the derelict flint barns are similarly old. The little wildfowl lake was a Victorian brickfield. Piddinghoe Pond Piddinghoe pond was a quarry site from the late 19th century. By the mid 1950's excavation had stopped and the pit had filled with water. It has now been acquired by the Newhaven & Seaford Sailing Club. Broadgreen Bottom Despite the Downs around Piddinghoe once being almost entirely old Down pasture, now the best surviving fragment is to the north of the