The story so far
Shortly after acquiring the Goring Hall estate in 1834, David Lyon planted the mile-long avenue of llex Oaks (Holm Oaks, Evergreen Oaks, or Quercus llex) known as The llex Avenue which is unique in this country and stretches from Goring church in the east to Sea Lane, Ferring in the west. It was planted to line the drive to the entrance of the house, Large wrought iron gates were erected at either end of the drive, with the main entrance near Goring church having a lodge house called East Lodge in order to house the keeper who was employed to guard the entrance and open the gate to visitors. East Lodge was demolished in approx. 1933 to allow the construction of the roundabout at the north end of Sea Lane, Goring.
In 1935 the ownership passed to Worthing Borough Council as the Goring Hall Estate was planned, by Hesketh Estates, Southport, Limited. The General Purposes Committee of Worthing Corporation of 2nd January 1934 states:
Plantation
Area 8.540 acres.
‘The Vendors propose to dedicate this to the Corporation free of cost, as they consider this belt of woodland is, with the Avenue, the finest feature of the Estate, and should be preserved for all time and that both in the interests of the future residents on the estate and of the general public, it should be vested in the Local Authorities.’
The Avenue
The Avenue was donated to the Borough of Worthing in 1935 to be held in Trust, that it should be maintained for all time as a public walk and pleasure ground. The conveyance states ‘The Corporation shall at all times hereinafter maintain the land hereby conveyed and every part thereof as a Public Walk and Pleasure Ground'. While the Avenue stretches from east to west, the Plantation was planted north to south to the beach and intersected the Avenue by Goring Hall forming a cruciform pattern depicted in aerial photographs of the time.
Conservation Area Appraisal-XII Goring Hall by Worthing Borough Council states the following:
Greenery and Open Spaces
Open Spaces are important to the setting of prominent buildings, in the Conservation Area, notably Goring Hall, and to some extent The Bull Inn. The dominance of planting, particularly trees, is an important feature of the area. Quercus llex trees are a strong linking feature along the llex Avenue through to Sea Lane Goring and the church, but also in individual gardens. Scots Pines also are prominent in some views. The llex Avenue is said to be the longest avenue of Quercus llex in the world.
Why was the llex Group formed?
In 1983 it was announced that Worthing Borough Council had received a report by an expert from the Forestry Commission that many of the llex trees were dangerous and that for a start no fewer than 77 trees had to be felled immediately.
Following this, a massive petition was organised calling for the Council to obtain two further opinions on the state of the trees and this was handed to the Leisure and Recreation Committee for their attention. A Public Meeting in the Church Hall was arranged by Mr Byron Wynn-Davies which led to the formation of The llex Preservation Group and a fighting fund was quickly raised.
How the Group's Object was Achieved
Eventually, after some correspondence, Worthing Borough Council agreed that two other opinions on the trees should be obtained, but in the event only one consultant, Dr. Giles Biddle of Wantage was appointed to look into the matter and report back.
It very soon became clear that there was a wide divergence of opinion between Dr. Biddle and the Forestry Commission expert. At this point the llex Preservation Group insisted that Mr. W.E. Matthews should enter into joint consultations, which was eventually agreed. As a result, a compromise was reached to fell only 43 trees and carry out expert surgery to many of the others.
Later, Worthing Borough Council instituted a large tree planting programme to replace the lost trees and this replanting continues to the present day. In the autumn of 1983 The llex Preservation Trust became The llex Group. Later, The llex Group merged with The Sea Lane Conservation Group to form The llex Conservation Group since renamed The Goring & Ilex Conservation Group..
The Goring Gap
Before the war, Hesketh Estates of Southport who owned almost the entire acreage of Goring Hall estate had intended to build extensively, from Sea Lane Goring in the east to Sea Lane Ferring in the west and from the sea to the Littlehampton Road, taking in what is now Maybridge and land east of Titnore Lane to Northbrook.
However, with the advent of the war in 1939 building stopped at the Plantation and after the war, was never resumed as planning permission was refused for further building and the company received £12,450 in compensation. It was being recognised that in order to retain the integrity of existing settlements it was necessary to prevent coalescence between communities and so this led to the creation of the idea of 'strategic gaps' as the Town and Country Planning Acts came into force. Since the war there have been attempts to develop the Gap but they were always rigorously opposed by residents. Frank Fox-Wilson, in his book, The Story of Goring and Highdown,quoted one Planning Officer who said that the Gap was a 'Glorious oasis in a sea of development' and Rev. Fox-Wilson also commented that 'Without the half mile of fields in the 'Goring Gap' the West Sussex coastal strip would be built up without a single break from Brighton to Littlehampton’.
The latest threat to the Goring Gap is from Persimmon Homes. We only learned in March this year that surveyors had been seen on both sections of the Goring Gap (north and south) and that they were carrying out work for Persimmon. In 2013, the SE Plan was revoked and now local authorities have to address strategic issues, such as housing provision, through a 'duty to co-operate' with neighbouring authorities to plan for issues with cross-boundary impacts when their Local Plans are submitted for examination.
So Worthing along with other Sussex Coast authorities commissioned a new survey of housing needs by consultants GL Hearn Limited, and this concluded that Worthing should provide 430 dwellings per year instead of the previous target of 200 per year.
All three groups, Ferring Conservation Group,The Goring & llex Conservation Group and the Goring
Residents' Association together with Councillor Mark Nolan have formed an 'Action Group' to try to safeguard the Goring Gap for future generations.
We must remain vigilant and collect as much evidence as possible to support our contention that there should be no development on any part of the Gap.
In Frank Fox-Wilson's book, 'The Story of Goring and Highdown' published in 1987, he ends with this comment:
"A town or village which has lost contact with its history cannot really be a community. In Goring, most of our history has been hidden under the suburban atmosphere of modern development. This book has been an attempt to bring the past to life, telling the story of those who have lived and died here before us. Whether we are long-standing residents, or like the author a recent arrival, this rich inheritance from the past belongs to all of us. Goring is our community, given in trust for us to hand on to the next generation. May God guide our common endeavours as we gain a new sense of belonging and community from Goring's past, and work together for Goring's future."