Place:Wadhurst, Sussex, England

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook.

Wadhurst is situated on the Kent–Sussex border seven miles (11 km) east of Crowborough and about seven miles (11 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Other nearby settlements include Ticehurst, Burwash, Mayfield and Heathfield in East Sussex, and Lamberhurst, Hawkhurst and Cranbrook in Kent.

Physically, Wadhurst lies on a high ridge of the Weald – a range of wooded hills running across Sussex and Kent between the North Downs and the South Downs. The reservoir of Bewl Water is nearby. The River Bewl, which is a sub-tributary of the River Medway, and the Limden rise within the civil parish of Wadhurst.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The name Wadhurst (Wadeherst in early records) is Anglo-Saxon and most probably derives from Wada which is believed to be the name of a Saxon tribe which occupied the area and began the clearing of the forests in the 7th or 8th century. There is an Anglo-Saxon manor known as Bivelham which lay between the parishes of Wadhurst and Mayfield.

Although Wadhurst was almost certainly in existence at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, it was part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's land and was therefore not mentioned. The earliest record relating to the area is a reference in the Cartulary of Battle Abbey to "Snape in the parish of Wadhurst".

Henry III granted Wadhurst its charter in 1253, allowing Wadhurst to hold a market every Saturday and a fair on 29 June, the feast of St Peter and St Paul.

In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Wadhurst, as did many towns and villages in the Weald, had a thriving iron industry. Two of the large Georgian buildings in the High Street, Hill House and The Old Vicarage, were both ironmasters' houses, along with a number of other large houses on the outskirts of Wadhurst. In the church of St Peter and St. Paul there are several iron ledger-stone memorials of ironmasters, which are unique to this area.

During the First World War, Wadhurst lost 149 men, out of a total village population of 3,500. The worst losses were during the Battle of Aubers Ridge, when 25 men from Wadhurst were killed in one day: nearly 80% of the men from Wadhurst who went into no man's land that day. Wadhurst is now actively twinned with Aubers.

Research Tips

Loxfield Pelham Hundred is in Pevensey Rape in East Sussex. Hawkesborough Hundred contains the following parishes. It is part of what is now East Sussex. Pevensey Rape is the central rape of East Sussex. Hastings Rape contains the following hundreds and parishes. It was part of what is now East Sussex. A rural district in Sussex and East Sussex which existed from 1894 to 1934. Uckfield Rural District was formed in 1894 following the passing of the Local Government Act of that year. It originally was adjacent to Uckfield Urban District. In 1934 there were a number of transfers of area with some neighbouring rural districts and Uckfield Urban District was absorbed into the rural district.

In 1974, with the introduction of municipal districts in Sussex, Uckfield Rural District was transferred to the Wealden District of East Sussex. The Wealden District is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Hailsham. The district's name comes from the Weald, the remnant forest which was once unbroken and still occupies much of the centre and north of the area.

Wealden District was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of the Hailsham Rural District and Uckfield Rural District, both set up under the Local Government Act 1894.