It's true Bepton lost its school more than 50 years ago, but even before that, villagers in the northern part preferred to walk across the common to the old Midhurst Primary School opposite the Half Moon.

Yes, there was a shop in Severals Road which older villagers remember being run by Mr Holden and then Mrs Cole, who also ran the village taxi.

However, villagers at the southern end of Bepton usually used the Cocking village shop and those closer to Midhurst tended to turn to the town's shops.

The village pub, The Country Inn, sits opposite the modest village green and according to villagers dishes up a first-rate meal, but with no focal point Bepton is not a village with a thriving community spirit and even the parish council has to look at The Grange at Midhurst to hold its meetings.

But its country lanes are dotted with the distinctive yellow-painted window frames of Cowdray Estate homes and dozens of meticulously-kept homes and gardens.

The Park House Hotel which has had its home in Bepton for 60 years has a smart new look and the Grangefield Children's Riding School of Wendy and Sarah Sugden is legendary.

And those who have, over the years, come up with unpopular planning applications, have discovered Bepton will pull out all the stops to preserve its rural existence nestling under the slopes of the South Downs.

Claire Cox moved to Bepton with her husband Brian 43 years ago and together they brought up their three children there, becoming parish councillors and governors at the nearby Midhurst Intermediate School.

Mrs Cox has been chairman and still serves on the council: "We are not a very close-knit community because there is nothing to draw us together.

"Perhaps there is more community spirit at the southern end because of the church, but we don't have an annual event and there is no meeting place."

Six years ago Mrs Cox and others organised a Jubilee barbecue on the village green and although it was well supported and villagers were thrilled to be part of a community event, it has not yet been repeated.

So village life continues, with a cluster of houses around the County Inn and along the road to Midhurst to the north.

Beyond the farmland divide, behind a new signpost which welcomes visitors to 'Bepton Village' is the southern end.

Here a dilapidated sign points the way, along a bumpy lane past the pond where a huge oak tree leans into the water, to Bepton's stunning church with its Saxon origins.

And further down is the Park House Hotel where the building of a new indoor swimming pool and health and fitness centre is currently taking place.

Several years ago a special parish council meeting was held to discuss renaming the two halves of Bepton to end the misery of delivery drivers who could not find addresses.

Upper and Lower Bepton were the names put forward, but they did not find favour, especially at the southern end of Bepton where some exception was taken to becoming the 'lower' end!

But Bepton's rural tranquillity and the sudden glimpses of breathtaking views behind the trees make it a unique corner of West Sussex and those drawn there seldom want to leave.

"On the whole, I think people seem to stay," said Mrs Cox. "When we came, we were a young family. Our children have grown up and left, but there are still families here and we don't have weekend cottages."

The timeless scenery is made up of a patchwork of fields, most of which are owned by Bepton Estates.

To a certain extent there is still an uneasy feel in the air over preserving Bepton's rural heritage. There are those who cast their protective eyes over the redundant farm buildings and wonder what will become of them.

Ros Hart is responsible for planning at Bepton Parish Council where there has been concern over two current developments taking place either end of Bepton.

Opposite the pub and of most concern are two vast new houses – expected to come on the market with a price tag of at least £2m, they are growing high above the roof lines of their neighbours, bringing cries of dismay from villagers.

And in Bepton village there were concerns over a rebuilding of Little Park – a big house – next to the hotel.

"I have lost count of the number of times I have been to planning at Chichester district council over those two houses opposite the pub, said Mrs Hart.

"It is very disheartening because applications like this, change the whole nature of Bepton which is a rather sleepy little backwater."

Although the O'Brien family, owners of the Park House Hotel, are popular and well respected, the parish council was unable to support their plans for Little Park next to the hotel, but the house was granted planning permission and is currently being built.

On the other hand, parish councillors did support plans at the hotel for the health and fitness centre which they felt would keep the commercial enterprise viable in a world where guests were now demanding these facilities.

However, the parish council is keeping a watchful eye on the abandoned farm buildings at Upper Farmhouse and Heathlands Farm.

Their distress over planning is shared by Tom Harris, who took over his father's chimney sweeping business and ran it until ill health forced him to retire.

Tom and his wife Georgie live at Fair Oak Cottages, which his family have owned for three generations and where he was born 60 years ago.

He has been trying for many years to get planning permission to build a bungalow beside Fair Oak Cottages in Severals Road and is angry that only a few hundred yards away two enormous 'palaces' are emerging on the skyline

"I don't think it's equitable," he said. "A modest dwelling isn't going to have the environmental impact of a £2m mansion – especially when there are two of them."

But he intends to keep the plot and continue pushing for permission so
that he can stay.

One of the few villagers who remembers Bepton when there was a shop across the road and who like his mother, Peggy, walked across the
common to Midhurst Primary School, he does not believe much has changed except for the huge number of trees which have sprung up.

"There were more children then, we all knew each other, but it's still rural, it's off the beaten track.

"We have mains water, gas and electricity – it's civilisation in the woods."

Mike O'Brien, whose son Seamus and daughter Kate Rossi now own the Park House Hotel, has also known the village all his life.

His grandfather bought the hotel as a home for £12,500 in l946. Three years later his parents, Mike and Ione, opened it as a hotel.

Later it was passed to their son Mike and now he has sold it to his children and the old hotel has undergone a complete facelift.

He said the health centre and swimming pool were essential to keep the business going, with more than half guests asking before they booked, if they had the facilities.

"Amazingly Bepton has not changed, it's ageless," he said, "although it is true there isn't a huge amount of community spirit as we have no centre.

"It's a pity really, we could do with a little village hall as a focal point."