Salehurst
Oast house near Parsonage Farm, Bocks Hill
Salehurst is located in East Sussex
Salehurst
Salehurst
Location within East Sussex
OS grid referenceTQ741242
• London44 miles (71 km) NW
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townROBERTSBRIDGE
Postcode districtTN32
Dialling code01580
PoliceSussex
FireEast Sussex
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
East Sussex
50°59′N 0°29′E / 50.99°N 0.48°E / 50.99; 0.48

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 thirteen miles (21 km) north of Hastings, just east of the A21 road.

In historical terms Salehurst is much older than its neighbour; before the bridge over the River Rother was built it already existed, and it is named in the Domesday Book of 1086. At the time the river crossing was by ford or ferry, but in the 12th century a newly established order of Cistercian monks constructed the bridge, and the two settlements of Robertsbridge and Northbridge Street came into being; eventually - since the main road now bypassed the village - becoming much more important than Salehurst.[1]

Salehurst lies approximately three miles from Bodiam, Sussex, site of Bodiam Castle. One owner of Bodiam Castle was the Levett family, who lived at Salehurst during their 'occupation' of the castle.[2] In 1588 John Levett of Salehurst contributed to the Armada loan,[3] and in 1607 his sons John and Thomas of Salehurst were regranted by the College of Arms their right to the Levett coat of arms issued to their Sussex ancestors.[4][5]

John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper (c. 1600–1660) was an English peer, military officer and politician [6] who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1642–43) and Master of the Rolls (1643) was an influential counsellor of King Charles I during the English Civil War. His family came from Wigsell in the parish of Salehurst.

St Mary the Virgin

The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.[7] It is reputed to be the largest rural parish church in East Sussex.[8] Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, KG, GCB, GCMG, PC (1854–1925) is buried in the churchyard. Rev. John Lord (1614–81) was rector from 1640 until his death; in 1937 his descendants donated to the church a portrait of him which had been owned by the family for generations.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Salehurst.
  1. ^ Historical notes: Salehurst and Robertsbridge Parish Council Archived 2008-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Bodiam and Its Lords, Mark Antony Lower, John Russell Smith, London, 1871
  3. ^ Lower, Mark Antony (1848). "On the Names of the Sussex Gentry in 1588". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 1: 36. doi:10.5284/1086833.
  4. ^ 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: 122. doi:10.5284/1086058.
  5. ^ The regrant of arms is signed by Sir William Segar, Garter King of Arms under James I.
  6. ^ Yorke, Philip Chesney (1911). "Colepeper, John Colepeper, 1st Baron" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). pp. 675–676.
  7. ^ Salehurst Church and the Culpeper family
  8. ^ Photographs of the church
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