Etchingham 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Rother district of

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

in southern England. The village is located approximately southeast of

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly 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 Weald, High Weald, whose sand ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and northwest of

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, on the A265, half a mile west of its junction with the A21. The most notable landmarks in Etchingham include the

Etchingham railway station Etchingham railway station is on the Hastings line in the south of England and serves the village of Etchingham, East Sussex. It is down the line from London Charing Cross. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southeastern. ...

, the Etchingham CofE primary school and its local amenities, such as a post office and butchers.

is on the Hastings Line to London Charing Cross and Cannon Street.

History

Long before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of 1066, Etchingham was a moated manor house; after this time the manor was taken over by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

. In 1166 it was left to the de Achyngham (Etchingham) family, who were well-known landowners of the time. The Etchingham family papers record that William was so pleased with the right-hand man that he gave him the land now known as Etchingham. The manor, long since demolished, stood at the point now occupied by the London to Hastings railway line. Some of the stone from the manor was likely used in the construction of the station buildings. Legend of a great bell that lay at the bottom of the moat surrounding the church and manor is frequently recounted amongst locals and that it would never be seen until six yokes of white oxen were brought to drag it up. However centuries have passed by, the moat is long gone and no bell has surfaced. The 14th-century church was originally built within the grounds of the manor; evidence of the moat can still be seen.

Etymology

The name Etchingham is probably derived from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, and roughly translates as "The homestead or enclosure of family and followers of a man called Ecchi". In a place name, "inga" usually refers to 'people of' or 'dwellers at', and 'ham' to a homestead or settlement. A second possible derivation of the name is that it could come from the Anglo-Saxon "ecen", meaning great and "ham" (homestead), but the former explanation is the more likely.

Churches

The 14th-century parish church is dedicated to The Assumption of Blessed Mary and St Nicholas. On its spire is what is probably England's oldest brass

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

. It also has the second-largest series of

misericords A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...

in the county; one depicts a fox preaching to geese. A

Memorial brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latte ...

Agnes Oxenbridge and Elizabeth Etchingham Agnes Oxenbridge (died 4 August 1480) and Elizabeth Etchingham (died 3 December 1452) have a joint memorial brass on the floor of the side aisle of The Assumption of Blessed Mary and St Nicholas church at Etchingham, England. The brass is in fron ...

is visible on the floor of the side aisle. There was formerly a Wesleyan (Methodist) Church on the High Street: built in 1902, it closed in 1970 and is now a private residence.

Village sign

The design of the

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The desig ...

is based on the ''de Etchingham'' family

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. A similar design is used for the parish council logo, the primary school badge and the church weathervane.

Famous residents

Among the famous former residents of Etchingham is the regicide

James Temple James Temple (c. 1606–1680) was a puritan and English Civil War soldier who was convicted of the List of regicides of Charles I, regicide of Charles I of England, Charles I. Born in Rochester, Kent, to a well-connected gentry family, he was ...

, who lived at

Haremere Hall Haremere Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean building near Etchingham, East Sussex. Location The hall is approximately in size and sited in an grounds. It is around 12 miles north of Hastings and the grounds overlook the River Rother. Histor ...

in the 1620s. He was a judge at the trial of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and signed the execution warrant. Haremere was later owned by the second Sir

John Lade Sir John Lade, 2nd Baronet (1 August 1759 – 10 February 1838) was a prominent member of English Regency, Regency society, notable as an owner and breeder of racehorses, as an accomplished Driving (horse), driver, associated with Samuel Jo ...

, a notorious gambler and close friend of the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

. He was a notable whip. His wife, Letty, had been the mistress of a highwayman before becoming a mistress of the Duke of York. She too was a notable horsewoman and whip and was painted by Stubbs. Sir John ran through the family fortune and ended his life as a coachman. Another famous resident, the novelist and critic

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

, lived in a semi-detached house called ''Applegarth'' on the south side of the A265 road (west of the High Street). His house can be distinguished by the presence of a small statue of a

Siamese cat The Siamese cat (; แมวสยาม, Maeo Sayam; แมววิเชียรมาศ, Maeo Wichien Maat) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmat landrace. The Siamese cat is one ...

next to the building (he and his first wife Lynne were cat-lovers). The uncorrected proofs of his novel ''Tremor of Intent'' state that it was written in Etchingham between 20 June and 30 August 1965. The folk musicians

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings (born 26 January 1945), MBE, sometimes known in early years as "Tyger" Hutchings, is an English bassist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of three noteworthy Engli ...

and

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

lived there in the 1970s and formed the

Etchingham Steam Band The Etchingham Steam Band were a folk group formed by Ashley Hutchings and Shirley Collins in England in 1974 after the Albion Country Band had disbanded in late 1973. They were named after the village of Etchingham in Sussex where Hutchings a ...

in 1974. In July 2020 the journalist and former editor of

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

Charles Moore was given a life peerage under the government of then Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

. Having been born 13 miles away in Hastings, Moore chose Etchingham as the seat of his barony.

Village hall and organisations

The village had an old

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

, that closed in 2014 and was subsequently demolished. The new Village Halls are two halls at the new community complex at Parsonage Croft. One is shared between the school and the community, and the other serving the community. The shared hall is known as the Ahrens Hall and the smaller hall is the Parker Hall which serves as the meeting place for the Toddlers' Group. Other groups in the village include The

Pickleball Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...

Club, Brownies and a Darby and Joan Club. A Social Club exists that serves as the base for the village branch of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

and the clubhouse for the Etchingham & Fontridge

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Club.

Philatelic connections

Henry Corbould Henry Corbould (11 August 1787 – 9 December 1844) was an English artist and draughtsman. Life Henry Corbould was born in London, on the 11 August 1787. He was the third son of Richard Corbould and Charlotte Phillipson. He studied painting with ...

FSA, the designer of the first postage stamp, the

Penny Black The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public Mail, postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until 6 May. The stamp features a profile of Queen Victoria. ...

, died at Hurst Green, having been taken ill there while travelling back to London from the coast, and was buried in Etchingham parish church. There is a memorial tablet on the wall of the church, which for many years was believed to be the only known likeness of Corbould. In 1990, as part of the 150th anniversary of the postage stamp, the village produced two First Day Covers to mark the Corbould connection, and held the Etchingham Stamp Festival to raise funds for church repairs. The festival was held over the weekend following the issue of the Miniature Sheet in May, in the church and

. The design on the cover is based on architectural detail in the church; the pictorial handstamp for the Etchingham Stamp Festival is based on the church weathervane. One cover was issued in January with the full set of the 'double headed'

commemorative stamps A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

and another for the miniature sheet issued in May, both covers bearing special handstamps featuring a detail from the church weathervane. Both covers were limited editions. Sarah Godwin, the designer of the 1987

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

stamps, designed the cover, her family home being in Etchingham.

Village shop

The first village shop, "The Etchingham Stores", was built when the South Eastern Railway reached

Robertsbridge Robertsbridge is a village in the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Royal Tunbridg ...

c. 1860. In the early days of the telephone's arrival in the village, it also housed Etchingham's first

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

. Along with several other properties in the village, the premises suffered flooding in October 2000; the then owners decided not to re-open the shop. Many village residents were unhappy about the loss of the village shop. After meetings, many hours of negotiations and fundraising, sufficient funds were raised to purchase the premises. Village residents purchased shares in the newly formed Etchingham Community Shop Association Ltd. The shop was ready for opening on 14 June 2003, when a large crowd gathered outside the shop, bringing traffic to a standstill. Village Shop Article by Ken Thomas
/ref> The Shop & Deli ceased trading in 2017 as it was no longer considered viable to run a grocer out of the premises. The building is now leased to two local businesses.

Cricket

Etchingham had an active

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team in 1939, the Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket Club, but the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

brought play to an abrupt end. After the war, the cricket field was not brought back into use. In early 2006, a group of enthusiasts decided to revive the tradition. The new club has in its possession several artefacts, minutes of meetings and games dating back to the 1920s when the club was known as the "Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket Club". Keen to maintain a link with the original club, the new club uses the same name. The original club was formed by Mr W. F. Foster, who later became its President. A pavilion was erected in 1920, and as the number of playing members increased, a 2nd eleven was formed. Records show that Colonel Hornblower was elected chairman in 1934, with Mr H. H. Howard as Secretary. By 1934 Mr J. Gorwyn had become Captain of the 1st team. The newly reinstated club uses the previous club name to maintain a link with tradition. It is pleased that Lionel Dengate, who was secretary to the club in the 1930s agreed to serve as Honorary Club President. The club does not yet have a suitable cricket field in the village, so for the time being all matches have to be away fixtures.

References

Sources

* ''Etchingham, Past and Present'', published by the Hurst Green Historical Society, 1994 * ESCIS (East Sussex Community Information Service) * ''Etchingham Parish Church Guide'' (1983, revised 1994), compiled by Ilse M. Baker BA * ''Hidden Sussex'' & ''People of Hidden Sussex'', Warden Swinfen & David Arscott *

External links

Parish church

Online Parish Clerks page for Etchingham
{{authority control Villages in East Sussex Civil parishes in East Sussex Rother District