Little Horsted (also known as ''Horsted Parva'') 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 Wealden 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. It is located two miles (3.2 km) south of

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology "Uck ...

, on the A26 road. The village is recorded 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 ...

of 1086. The church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. Horsted Place, now a country hotel, is located in the village, together with two

golf courses A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

, including the East Sussex National.

History

Among the prime movers of the early Wealden iron industry were the

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of ...

family. The family's iron interests were begun by John Levett of Little Horsted. On Levett's early death, his share of the family's interests in the emerging iron industry of the Weald went to his brother, an Oxford-trained rector in

Buxted Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included wit ...

. William Levett took to his unlikely role and became the leading armaments supplier to the King. In his will of 1533, John Levett left his iron mills and furnaces to his brother, with the provision that his children be cared for with the proceeds. Levett's widow Eve Adam remarried Laurence Ashburnham, ancestor of the Ashburnham baronets of Broomham, Sussex.

Landmarks

Within the parish is the Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum. There is a

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 ...

partly within the parish. Plashett Park Wood is a site of biological importance as an area of ancient woodland. It provides a habitat for a variety of breeding birds plus a number of rarer invertebrates and flora.

References

External links

Villages in East Sussex Civil parishes in East Sussex Wealden District {{EastSussex-geo-stub