Ticehurst

Ticehurst

Bell Hotel
Ticehurst

 Ticehurst shown within East Sussex
Area  32.5 km2 (12.5 sq mi) [1]
Population 3,421 (Parish-2007)[1]
3,393 (2001 census)
3,118 (1991 census)
2,894 (1981 census)
    - Density  273 /sq mi (105 /km2)
OS grid reference TQ689302
    - London  39 miles (63 km) NW 
Parish Ticehurst
District Rother
Shire county East Sussex
Region South East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WADHURST
Postcode district TN5
Dialling code 01580
Police Sussex
Fire East Sussex
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament Bexhill and Battle
Website Ticehurst Parish Council
List of places: UK • England • East Sussex

Ticehurst is both a village and a large civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The parish lies in the upper reaches of both the River Teise before it enters Bewl Water and in the upper reaches of the River Rother flowing to the south-east. The parish includes the parish wards of Ticehurst, Flimwell and Stonegate.[2] It lies to the south-east of Tunbridge Wells, and is about ten miles (16 km) distant.

Contents

History

Ticehurst is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, although the manor came into being in the 14th century; Pashley Manor[3] is also mentioned at the same time, and is within the parish.[4]

The village's name derives from Old English; there are two possible derivations. The most plausible one is that it means wood on the Teise from the river; the second roughly translates as 'The wooded hill where young goats graze', ticce(n) + hyrst.[5] (1248, Tycheherst)

The villages

Ticehurst

There is an active village club, which runs regular social events, and a monthly newsletter "News & Views" is produced by a team of volunteers. The village school serves both Ticehurst and Flimwell.[6] There is also a comprehensive website [1] covering most of the activities in the community.

Ticehurst House Hospital (now part of the Priory Group) specialises in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and is located in the village. Samuel Newington opened the original Ticehurst House in 1792 as a place dedicated to the care and treatment of psychiatric illness.[7]

In the centre of Ticehurst there is a dry cleaner, a hairdresser, a greengrocer, a chemist, an Indian takeaway, a car salesroom, a car repairer and MOT centre, a general village shop incorporating a post office, a model shop, an estate agency, a bank (National Westminster), two antique furniture dealers and two pubs, the Chequers Inn & the Bell (which reopened in November 2011 after a long period during which it was empty), an antiquarian bookseller (closed due to retirement), a butcher (currently closed). Further out, there is a smokery and two more pubs (the Bull at Three Leg Cross, and the Cherry Tree in Dale Hill) and a hotel/golf course at Dale Hill.

The village is the headquarters of the Antiquarian Horological Society.

The village is also home to the first pick-your-own fruit farm to open in Britain, Maynard's Fruit Farm, made The Times "Top 50 places to eat outside in Britain" list.[8]

One claim to fame is that the Scottish singer/guitarist Bert Jansch lived in Ticehurst in the late 1960s and recorded tracks for his 1971 Rosemary Lane album at his house in the village.[9] Ticehurst was also the final residence of Evelyn Waugh's first wife, Evelyn Nightingale.[10] The village church, St Mary's, was the venue for the wedding of her son, the journalist and theatre critic Benedict Nightingale, to the author Anne Redmon.[11]

Flimwell

Stonegate

South-east from Ticehurst and due north-east from Burwash, is a small settlement, Stonegate.[12]

It came into being with the railway station from Tunbridge Wells. The station at Stonegate has hourly train services to London (Charing Cross and Cannon Street) and to Hastings. The next stop from Stonegate to London is Wadhurst and towards Hastings is Etchingham.

In Stonegate, there is a Church of England primary school and the Anglican church of St Peter.[13]

Religious sites

The three village churches are:

Transport

There is a railway station nearby, at Stonegate (it was originally called Ticehurst Road; and before that Witherenden); and there is a bus link to Wadhurst railway station.

Surname

Ticehurst village has also lent its name to some of its past inhabitants, whose descendants now bear the surname Ticehurst. In 1881 the surname was found almost entirely on the south coast, with the highest concentration of Ticehursts being located in Sussex [2]. By 1998 the surname had spread further afield in the UK and also abroad. [3]. There is a Ticehurst Surname DNA Project.

References

  1. ^ a b "East Sussex in Figures". East Sussex County Council. http://www.eastsussexinfigures.org.uk/webview/. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
  2. ^ "Ticehurst". Parish/Town Councils. Rother District Council. http://www.rother.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=863. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
  3. ^ Pashley Manor Gardens: a visitor attraction
  4. ^ A Compendious History of Sussex Vol II, Mark Antony Lower 1870 Google Books
  5. ^ Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, ISBN 0192800744
  6. ^ Ticehurst and Flimwell CE School
  7. ^ Ticehurst House Hospital
  8. ^ Times online
  9. ^ Wilcock, Steve. "Bert Jansch – "Rosemary Lane"". Triste (4). http://www.triste.co.uk/artroselane.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-10.  Triste examines just what makes Bert Jansch's 1971 solo album, Rosemary Lane, recorded on sabbatical from Pentangle, so special.
  10. ^ Michael Davie (15 March 1994). "Obituary: Evelyn Nightingale". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-evelyn-nightingale-1429113.html. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  11. ^ "Anne Redmon Is Bride". New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C15FA3A5B1B728DDDAD0994D0405B848AF1D3. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 
  12. ^ Villagenet, Stonegate
  13. ^ St Peter, Stonegate, Church of England's A Church Near You website.
  14. ^ St Mary the Virgin church, Ticehurst
  15. ^ Parish Church, including photos
  16. ^ St Augustine church, Flimwell

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ticehurst Ticehurst] at Wikimedia Commons