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 Rotherfield in East Sussex lies on the Mayfield to Crowborough road, about
halfway between the two on the top of a hill. It is the
source of two rivers, the Rother which comes from a spring in
the cellar of one of the houses in the village, and the Uck
from the other side of the village.
The first reference that there seems to be about Rotherfield ,
is in AD792, when Duke Berthoald bequested a church on his
estate of Hryoeranfeld or Ridrefeld. The church was dedicated
to saint Dionysuis , a French saint to whose monastry Berthoald
had made a pilgrimage to in order to have his illness cured.
Before the Battle of Hastings Earl Godwin was the landowner, but
the land was given to Odo of Bayeux , the half brother of
William the Conqueror before the Domesday Book was written.
In 1087 the village was give to the De Clare family, whose last
male was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. About 50
years later the female side of the De Clare family married into
the Neville family, who were the Lords of Burgavenny which
changed later in 1724 to Abergavenny .
The original wooden church was replaced in the 11th century
by a stone structure, with additions in the 12th 13th and
14th centuries, by this time the dedication to St Dionysuis
had been corrupted to St Denys.
From the 1450's the Neville family owned the village, and their
emblems can be seen in the villages from Rotherfield to Eridge .
In 1557 Alexander Hosmar and Ann Ashdown were arrested for heresy
and were burned at the stake in Lewes with other Sussex Martyrs.
Again this is one of the villages influenced by the wealden iron industry ,
with furnaces and forges found in the area.
The Argos Hill Windmill was first recorded in 1656 and was producing
flour until 1927. The early windmill was replaced by a new one
in 1835 built by the Weston family, and this is the one currently
found on the site. During the second world war the roof was painted
red to help the British pilots to navigate back to their bases.
Today the windmill is in the process of restoration by the
Friends of Argos Hill Windmill please visit their
website and offer to help. |
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 Rotherfield in East Sussex is one of those Sussex villages that you can't forget
once you have been there, perhaps the archictecture, perhaps the
feeling of ancient times.
The village centre is very pretty, and lying as it does on the
top of a hill, provides very pretty views all round.
Views from around the Argos Hill Windmill are very good as it is
a high point of the area. |
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 Rotherfield in East Sussex has a few local services, but the main shopping
centre is at Crowborough about 3 miles west. Tunbridge Wells
lies about 6 miles to the north and provides the services
you expect from a large town.
The nearest trains also run from from Crowborough. |
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| Rotherfield is shown as the red symbol on the map. |
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Nearby Villages
(click on symbol to see the village page) |
| Village= | |
Town= | |
Recorded in Domesday= |  |
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Bells Yew Green |
(The ruins of Bayham Abbey) | | 5.18 miles |
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Buxted |
(The first Iron Cannon in England) | | 5.47 miles |
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Colemans Hatch |
(Church on the edge of the forest) | | 7.12 miles |
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Crowborough |
(The home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) | | 2.56 miles |
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Eridge Green |
(The home of the Neville Family) | | 3.66 miles |
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Fairwarp |
(Charcoal and the Army) | | 5.85 miles |
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Five Ashes |
(Vast collection of rock plants) | | 2.99 miles |
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Frant |
(King Johns hunting lodge) | | 4.13 miles |
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Hadlow Down |
(Wealden Cannons and Charcoal) | | 3.83 miles |
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Hartfield |
(A.A.Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh) | | 6.12 miles |
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Maresfield |
(Soldiers and Iron) | | 6.69 miles |
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Mark Cross |
(Policeman arrests eccentric landowner) | | 1.99 miles |
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Mayfield |
(Saint Dunstan and the Devil) | | 2.58 miles |
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Wadhurst |
(Last bare fisted Prize-Fight in England) | | 5.29 miles |
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Withyham |
(De La Warrs and Sackvilles) | | 5.33 miles |
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!["Steam]("cuckooline.jpg")
The Cuckoo Line was the old steam railway which ran from Polegate
to Tunbridge Wells.
The track was started in 1849 with the single track link
from Polegate to Hailsham . In September 1880 a further
length of single track line from Eridge to Hailsham was opened,
providing a service from Charing Cross to Eastbourne via
Tunbridge Wells .
The track ran from Polegate to Tunbridge Wells via Hailsham ,
Hellingly , Waldron , Horam Road , Heathfield through a tunnel
to Mayfield , Rotherfield then on to Eridge where it joined
the Uckfield to Tunbridge Wells line.
Its name came from the Cuckoo Fair held at Heathfield.
Legend has it that a quaintly dressed old lady always
turns up at the annual April Heffle( Heathfield ) Cuckoo
Fair, to release from her basket the first cuckoo of spring.
Drivers of the trains referred to the trip as "going down
the Cuckoo".
The majority of the traffic on the line was from the Express
Dairies milk plant at Horam .
In 1895 Heathfield station was famous due to being the first to
be natural gas lit, no others stations were so illuminated prior
to the First World War, the gas continued to flow till the 1930's.
The gas was discovered, by the Railway company looking for water
near the station to fill the steam train water tanks.
Horam station must have been confusing to passengers, as it had
a number of names starting with "Horeham Road" then "Waldron",
"Horeham Road - Waldron", "Waldron - Horeham Road", "Waldron - Horam"
and finally in 1953 "Horam".
Today the Heathfield to Polegate section has been opened up to
the public for walking, cycle riding, and in some sections as
a bridleway, and is known as the Cuckoo Trail . |
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