Withyham
| Withyham | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 Withyham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ495356 |
| Location: | 51°5’50"N, 0°7’35"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 2,654 (2011) |
| Post town: | Hartfield |
| Postcode: | TN7 |
| Dialling code: | 01892 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wealden |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wealden |
Withyham is a village in Sussex, found in the north of the county, seven miles south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells (which spils over from across the Kentish border) and three and a half miles from Crowborough.
This parish lies on the edge of Weald, in the valley of the River Medway, where a group of tributaries enter from the south, and to the north of Ashdown Forest. The B2110 road passes through the village, between Groombridge and Forest Row. Much of the area is rural; the hamlet of Buckhurst, part of the parish, contains Buckhurst Park, the home of Lord De La Warr.
Withyham village itself is very small, containing a few houses, the church, a bed and breakfast,[1] and the Dorset Arms (a village pub which was once a farmhouse).[2]
Parish church
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The village church, St Michael and All Angels,[3] was, according to early records, almost completely rebuilt in the 14th century to contain a Sackville chapel.
On 16 June 1663 the church was struck by lightning, which melted the bells and caused a great deal of damage; few parts of the building survived. The rebuilding of the church does not seem to have been finished until 1672, and the Sackville Chapel was not completed for a further eight years. Of the old church, only the lower part of the tower, the west wall from the belfry door to the north-west corner, and the north and south-east walls remained to be incorporated into the new building. It was also around this time that the rectory was built.
Later important alterations were carried out in the 19th century, including a new south aisle, the removal of the low ceiling, and the construction of a new south porch. In 1849, a set of four paintings was donated to the church: it is thought they are the work of Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (c. 1340–1414). The paintings were sold at Sotheby's in London in 2012.
There are eight bells in the tower. Five bells were recast after the rebuilding in 1674, and a sixth (treble) bell was added in 1715. These bells remained until 1908, when they were recast and a further two added.
History
Withyham is not included in the Domesday Book, although the manor of Buckhurst is, as "Biochest" (from the Old English "boc hyrst" or beech wood). There have been two houses at Buckhurst for many centuries: the older Buckhurst House, now no more, and the present day Buckhurst Park: both remained in the hands of the Sackville family for generations. Buckhurst Park is the family seat of the De La Warr earls, and the current Earl De La Warr continues to live there.
Outside Buckhurst, many of the houses in the village were probably built to contain estate workers. A significant number of council houses were built in the post-war period at Balls Green, near a now-closed railway station.
Withyham was also home to the Gildredge family, who later moved to Eastbourne, acquiring a large share of the town's land by purchase and through marriage.[4] "Gildredge House and estate was formerly the property and residence of the family of the same name," says Thomas Walker Horsfield in his history of Sussex, "who afterwards (temp. Henry VIII) removed to and became lords of the manor of Eastbourne."[5] Today's Gildredge Park in Eastbourne is named after the family. The Gildredge family was related to the Eversfield family, who eventually owned much of St Leonards-on-Sea, as well as to the Levetts.[6]
According to the Sussex historian Mark Antony Lower, the ancient house and estate of Gildredge "gave name to a family of considerable antiquity, who subsequently had their chief residence at Eastbourne, and gave their name to the manor of Eastbourne-Gildredge."[7] Later the Gildredge lands were carried by marriage into the Gilbert family (today's Davies-Gilbert family), who continue to own much of Eastbourne.
To celebrate the millennium in Withyham, the 11th Earl De La Warr planted a yew sapling taken from a tree said to be 2,000 years old, which is to say from the time of Christ. The sapling was uprooted by vandals, but was replanted by Earl De La Warr. A millennium map was also commissioned by the Church to commemorate almost 1,000 years of Withyham.
About the village
Buckhurst Park, historic seat of the Earls De La Warr, head of the Sackville family, has a garden by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. The Hundred Acre wood, immortalised by A.A. Milne in his Winnie-the-Pooh stories, is part of the Buckhurst Estate.
Penn's Rocks within the parish have been designated a site of special scientific interest. This is a site of biological interest. Its sandstone outcrops providing a rare habitat for many ferns and bryophytes.[8]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Withyham) |
References
- ↑ "Dorset House Bed & Breakfast, Withyham, East Sussex". http://www.dorset-house.co.uk/. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ↑ "The Dorset Arms Pub - Withyham, Hartfield, Sussex". https://www.dorset-arms.co.uk/.
- ↑ "St Michael and All Angels, Withyham, East Sussex". http://www.withyhamchurch.org/.
- ↑ Raynes, William (1849). "Letter of Congratulation, addressed to Sir Thomas Pelham, Bart, on his marriage with Judith Shirley, 1637". Sussex Archaeological Collections (Sussex Archaeological Society) 2: 100. doi:10.5284/1085068.
- ↑ "The Weald - Books, directories, magazines and pamphlets". http://www.thesussexweald.org/d10.asp?BookId=Hfield393.
- ↑ Attree, F. W. T. (1894). "Lists of Gentry at Various Dates, with Descriptions of the Arms of a Few Families Not Previously Noticed". Sussex Archaeological Collections 39: 120. doi:10.5284/1086058.
- ↑ "The Weald - Books, directories, magazines and pamphlets". http://www.thesussexweald.org/d10.asp?BookId=Lower2264.
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Penn's Rocks
