Hartfield
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Hartfield is a village and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the Wealden district of
East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...
, England. The parish also includes the settlements of Colemans Hatch, Hammerwood and Holtye, all lying on the northern edge of
Ashdown Forest Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation ...
.


Geography

The main village of Hartfield lies seven miles (11.2 km) south-west of
Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks ...
where the B2110 road between
Groombridge Groombridge is a village of about 1,600 people. It straddles the border between Kent and East Sussex, in England. The nearest large town is Royal Tunbridge Wells, about away by road. The main part of the village ("New Groombridge") lies in t ...
and
Forest Row Forest Row is a village and a large civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-east of East Grinstead. History The village draws its name from its proximity to the Ashdow ...
meets the B2026 road between Edenbridge and
Maresfield Maresfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village itself lies 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north from Uckfield; the nearby villages of Nutley and Fairwarp; and the smaller settlements of ...
.


Governance

Hartfield Parish Council consists of 13 members. The population of this ward as taken at the 2011 census was 2,639.


The parish settlements

Hartfield is the main village in the parish. The church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. There are three public houses: ''Anchor Inn''; ''Gallipot Inn''; and ''Haywagon Inn''. The village street is narrow, precluding much parking although The Anchor and Haywagon Inns have private car parks for patrons only. Note that the Haywagon Inn closed in 2015 following a planning application to convert to housing. The elder brother of the writer
W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
, Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham PC QC, a lawyer and judge who served as
Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
from March 1938 until September 1939, and his son, the author Robin Maugham, are buried in the churchyard. Cotchford Farm, Hartfield was the home of
A.A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...
(1882–1956), author of the
Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...
books, from where many of his books are set; later it was owned by
Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
, guitarist and founder of
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...
who was discovered dead in the pool in 1969. There is a shop in the village dedicated to all things connected with the Winnie the Pooh stories.
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
was believed to have used
Bolebroke Castle Bolebroke Castle is a 15th-century hunting lodge located north of the village of Hartfield, East Sussex, England. It is a grade II* listed building. The house was built around 1480. Henry VIII is said to have stayed at Bolebroke when he went h ...
, located a short distance from the village, where he hunted wild boar and deer at the nearby
Ashdown Forest Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation ...
. He also was believed to have courted
Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...
from this castle. Hartfield had a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
on the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line until it was closed in 1967. Most of the former trackbed is now part of the Forest Way, forms part of National Cycle Route 21, and is much used by walkers and cyclists. The station building itself is now used as a pre-school. There is a bus service that connects the village with Crawley, East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells. There are a number of businesses in the village.


Colemans Hatch

The hamlet of Colemans Hatch lies to the south-west of Hartfield. It is a scattered settlement around a series of road junctions. The church here is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and is part of the joint benefice with St Mary's Hartfield. The ''Hatch Inn'' is located here. The imposing South Hartfield House has some interesting connections. During the 19th century, one of the Wedgwood sisters is thought to have lived at the house and
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
, who was closely related to the family, both by blood and by marriage, was a frequent visitor. The house was later rented by Fruity Metcalfe, an
Indian army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...
officer and a close friend and equerry of
Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...
. Following the Abdication, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor are understood to have stayed there after the war. Another illustrious resident was General Sir
Reginald Hildyard General Sir Reginald John Thoroton Hildyard, (11 December 1876 – 29 September 1965) was a British Army officer who saw active service in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda from 1936 ...
, who died there in 1965, aged 88.


Hammerwood

The name Hammerwood comes from the
Wealden iron industry The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Iron ...
and relates to the numerous hammer-ponds found in the area. Streams in the locality can still run red with the colour of iron in the water. A hammer-pond is a water reservoir created specifically for providing power to water-powered hammers, forges or blast furnaces. There were many
Medway watermills The Medway and its tributaries and sub-tributaries have been used for over 1,150 years as a source of power. There are over two hundred sites where the use of water power is known. These uses included corn milling, fulling, paper making, iron sm ...
in the area. Aside from a number of houses, the most notable buildings are St Stephen's Church and
Hammerwood Park Hammerwood Park is a country house in Hammerwood, near East Grinstead, in East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building. One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was built in 1792 as t ...
at the end of the lane, which was the centre of what was a large country estate extending in its heyday to over . The church was completed in 1880 funded by local landowner Oswald Augustus Smith and built to a design of E.P. Loftus Brock. Smith also funded the rebuilding of St Peter's Church in Holtye within the same parish. The church can be found on the main road. Inside the church is a pipe organ built by T.C. Lewis of
Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th cent ...
in 1884. There is a
Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...
campsite at Hammerwood owned and operated by the Lewisham North District Scouts.


Hammerwood Park

Hammerwood Park Hammerwood Park is a country house in Hammerwood, near East Grinstead, in East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building. One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was built in 1792 as t ...
is a
country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...
south of the village: it is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
. Built in 1792, it was the first work of the architect
Benjamin Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, dra ...
, who was also responsible for the
United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
in Washington, D.C. It was one of the first houses in England built in the
Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
style. It was purchased by the rock band
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
in 1973, but not properly maintained by them. Left almost derelict, it was then bought in 1982 and restoration began: that restoration was award-winning and received a lot of television coverage. The house is often used for filming, and is open to the public in the summer: concerts are often held there.


Holtye

Holtye is immediately north-east of Hammerwood. Here the public house ''The White Horse Inn''closed in 2014; the church is dedicated to St Peter, although the church is now redundant.


Marsh Green

Marsh Green is a group of buildings near Colemans Hatch. The region has been mentioned in census records since 1841. Marsh Green is close to the Poohsticks Bridge, and visitors missing the turning can find themselves there.


Landmarks

Ashdown Forest falls partly within the parish. This
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
is a large area of common ground comprising area of semi-natural woodland, heath and bog.


Demography

In the 2001 census return, there were 2,105 people in the parish. Age breakdown is approximately as follows: 0–15: 28%; 16–59: 49%; 60+ : 23%. There were 1,640 registered voters in 1998. The average values of houses in 2001 for Hartfield parish for all property types was £286,736.About Hartfield


References


External links

{{authority control Villages in East Sussex Civil parishes in East Sussex Wealden District Ashdown Forest