Adversane

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Adversane
Sussex
Adversane.JPG
Cottages at Adversane
Location
Grid reference: TQ073232
Location: 50°59’56"N, 0°28’15"W
Data
Post town: Billingshurst
Postcode: RH14
Local Government
Council: Horsham
Parliamentary
constituency:
Horsham

Adversane is a hamlet in northern Sussex, a mile and a half south of Billingshurst. It consists of a cluster of houses and a public house (the Blacksmith's Arms) at a crossroads on the A29 road, on the Roman road named Stane Street.

The name of the hamlet means the hyrne (corner) of the estate of Hadfold and was first documented as Hadesfoldesberne in 1279.[1] The hamlet was known as Hadfoldshern until the 1850s.[2]

The Blacksmith's Arms stands beside the site of the blacksmiths shop, where Gaius (George) Carley was the last of many smiths to work the forge until it closed in the 1960s. He lived at Grigg's Cottage, a half-timbered cottage opposite.

Stane Street cottages, opposite the pub, were probably built using the Roman road as their foundation, as the road deviates slightly at this point, returning to its straight line a little distance further on, and the sandstone houses are precisely in line with both sections of Stane Street. They are in fact a single building, converted in the 1930s from a malt warehouse built by the Allen brothers of Horsham.[3] They were maltsters who smuggled malt from the continent during the Napoleonic wars and hid their contraband in secret cellars under this and several other warehouses in the Horsham area. The cellars had a tendency to flood and were filled in during the 1950s together with the reputed secret passage to the pub.

The malthouse was part of the setting for 'Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard' by Eleanor Farjeon.

Outside links

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References

  1. From Billingshurst's Heritage An Historical Miscellany of a West Sussex Village, Geoffrey Lawes, 2016, ISBN 9781912271023
  2. From Hadfoldshern to Adversane, Deborah Evershed, 2007 ISBN 0-9553608-0-3 Published by South Grove Books 3 South Grove Petworth West Sussex GU28 0ED Tel. 01798 343496
  3. 'A History of Horsham' (Horsham Museum)