Warbleton 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. Within its bounds are three other settlements. It is located south-east of Heathfield on the slopes of the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High W ...

Etymology

The place-name Warbleton, derived from the

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 ...

''Wǣrburhe tūn'', means the farmstead or village of a woman called Wǣrburh. 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) the name is recorded as 'Warborgetone'. It is subsequently recorded as Warberton (1166), Walberton (1340), and Warbleton (1404). Wǣrburh is said to be one of the half-dozen or so women who owned property in the land of the South Saxons.

History

The manor of Warbleton was held by 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 of Sussex for several centuries. The same family held

Salehurst Salehurst is a village in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, within the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge. It lies immediately to the north-east of the larger village of Robertsbridge, on a minor road; it is approximately ...

, and had earlier held

Firle Firle (; Sussex dialect: ''Furrel'' ) is a village and civil parish in the Lewes (district), Lewes district of East Sussex, England. Firle refers to an Old English word ''fierol'' meaning overgrown with oak. Although the original division of ...

Catsfield Catsfield is a village and civil parish in the Rother District, Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is located six miles (9.7 km) north of Bexhill-on-Sea, Bexhill, and three miles (5 km) southwest of Battle, East Sussex, Battle ...

, Hollington and other manors across Sussex. The family is of Anglo-Norman descent, and members of the family were vicars, ironmasters, and landowners. The Levetts of

, Warbleton and

Fittleworth Fittleworth is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located west from Pulborough on the A283 road and south east from Petworth. The village has an Anglican church, a primary s ...

owned

Bodiam Castle Bodiam Castle () is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III of England, Edward III, with the permission of Richard II of England, R ...

and sold it to Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet. Some of the Levett family's property was forfeited due to the bankruptcy of an early heir, and other lands were carried by marriage into other prominent Sussex and Kent families.

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein ( ; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put hi ...

, manager of the Beatles, once owned a house in the parish named Kingsley Hill.

Governance

The parish council consists of eleven members.

Geography

The parish consists of two villages, Rushlake Green and

Bodle Street Green Bodle Street Green is a small village in the civil parish of Warbleton, in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. Its nearest town is Hailsham Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden distr ...

; and two hamlets, Warbleton and Three Cups. They lie in an area of the Weald between the

A267 road List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it i ...

between Hailsham and Heathfield to the west and the B2096 Hailsham to

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

road to the north.

Principal buildings

There are two churches in the civil parish, St Mary the Virgin at Warbleton; and St John the Evangelist at Bodle Street Green. The two form a united benefice under one vicar. Chapel services are held at Three Cups.Churches
/ref> Warbleton has a village hall; and a second, Dunn Village Hall, is at Rushlake Green.

References

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