Rotherfield - (Source of the rivers Rother and Uck)

General Details

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.

Views

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.

Services

Rotherfield Sussex - Argos Hill Windmill 1985

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.

Map

Rotherfield is shown as the red symbol on the map.

Nearby Villages
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