Guestling 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 ...

, England. The village is located north-east 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 A259 road to

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

. Its parish church is dedicated to St Laurence.

History

Guestling, referred to in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

(1086) as ''Gestelinges'', was originally named as a settlement of the family of a man named ''Gyrstel''. The Domesday entry records that the village consisted in 1086 of 21 households, 14 villagers and 7 cottagers. In 1542, Gregory Martin was born in Guestling and went on to do the majority of the translation for the

Douay–Rheims Bible The Douay–Rheims Bible (, ), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by member ...

, the first full official Catholic English Bible translation. In 1896, hand made bricks were first produced in Guestling, which would go on to be used in Royal locations such as

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

and

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

. In June 2017, Brian Bellhouse was trampled to death by a herd of cows in a field at Church Lane, Guestling.

Geography

The village of Guestling is located from the coast, and about north east of

The village is a scattered one, consisting of multiple parts, including ''Guestling Green'' and ''Guestling Thorn''. The hamlet of ''Three Oaks'' also lies within the parish.

Landmarks and culture

The village was probably originally centred around the St Laurence's Church, built in the 11th century: the building has a Norman tower which has been

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

since 1961. However, the villagers moved further away from the church, possibly owing to victims of the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

being buried in the churchyard. Also buried in the graveyard was Olive "Nou" Rand Brockwell, nanny of Christopher Robin Milne. The church was restored in 1886, but was further damaged by a fire in 1890. The village's war memorials are located within the church, with 24 names from the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and 8 from the

Second World War 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 ...

. There has been an annual Flower Festival since the 1990s at St Laurence's Church. The school in the village is the Guestling-Bradshaw CE Primary School, which dates back to 1835.

References

{{East Sussex1 Civil parishes in East Sussex Rother District