Name/Title
A pair of spurs thought to have been used by the Eastbourne Down's Ranger c1929 - 1974Entry/Object ID
2444Description
A pair of nickel silver riding spurs with leather fittings for attaching to boots, one still having an adjustable leather strap, the other having had this replaced with a piece of cotton or nylon tape. One spur is marked with a stamped "3" and the other a "4", both are also marked either "Cuff" or "Luff and Son".Use
For attaching to riding boots to help to control a horse.Context
In 1929 Eastbourne Borough Council took ownership of a large area of Downland around Beachy Head, in order to prevent development. To police this area the unique post of Downs Ranger was created, a full time mounted officer of Eastbourne Borough Police based at a stable at Beachy Head, using a horse owned by the force (see item 2205). By this time the use of horses by the Borough Force had declined and the Downs Ranger became the only mounted officer in Eastbourne. The role survived the 1968 amalgamation into Sussex Constabulary but was ended in 1974, with the establishment of the Sussex Constabulary/Sussex Police mounted unit.
These spurs are thought to have been used by one of the Down's Rangers and were reportedly found in the old stables at Beachy Head some time after the last horse transferred to Brighton. Pictures of the Down's Rangers from the 1950s and 1960s do show them wearing spurs. Whilst the provenance is not as good as for the other items that the museum has which are known to have been used by the Down's Rangers (items 2316 and 2317), the old stables were left at Beachy Head and for many years were used by HM Coastguard to store equipment, until they were demolished in the 1990s. Being broken these may well have been left behind when the rest of the tack was taken to the stables at Brighton.