Many centuries ago, Britain was a far wilder place than it is now. Great forests covered much of the land, and these dense wild woods were inhabited by fearsome beasts - wolves, wild boar and bears.
However as the forests were cut down, and towns and cities grew up, all these ferocious animals died out. Partly from being hunted but largely due to the shrinking of their habitat. The great brown bears are believed to have died out in the early medieval period. However an old legend tells us of the fate of one of the last wild bears of Britain.
On the eastern side of Fernhurst, near Blackdown Hill, in Sussex, one can find the last remnants of Verdley Castle. According to an ancient tale, this was the place where the last bear was in Sussex was killed. And given that Verdley Castle began as a hunting tower built in the 13th century, perhaps this was the last bear in all of England.
According to local lore, the harsh winter that year had driven the bear to leave the forests, and on Christmas Day, it made its way through deep snows to forage for food. However this brought the animal into contact with the locals who chased it into the Great Hall of old Verdley, where it was slain.
But it is said that every year at Christmas time if one wanders through the ruins of Verdley Castle, one can hear that final battle once again, with the growls of the cornered beast, and the shouts of the locals ringing between the old stones...
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