Buxted
Encyclopedia
Buxted is a village and civil parish
in the Wealden
District of East Sussex
in England
. The parish is situated on the Weald
, north of Uckfield
; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundaries. At one time its importance lay in the Wealden iron industry
and later became commercially important in the poultry and egg industry.
The village has both road (the high street is also the A272) and rail links to Uckfield and to London via Oxted.
The iron-making industry became a major part of Buxted's early prosperity. The first standard blast furnace
was called Queenstock and was built in Buxted parish in about 1491. The cannon
-making industry in the Weald
started at a furnace on the stream at Hoggets Farm lying to the north between Buxted and Hadlow Down
. The first cast iron cannon made in England
was cast in 1543 by Ralf Hogge
, an employee of Parson William Levett
, a Sussex rector with broad interests, paradoxically enough, in the emerging English armaments industry.
Levett
was removed as Buxted's vicar in 1545 by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. But thanks to friends in high places, Levett was quickly reinstated. After regaining his clerical position, Levett died a very wealthy man, thanks to his iron mining and smelting operations, originally founded by his brother John Levett, one of the founders of the Sussex iron industry and one of the wealthiest men in Sussex, who controlled 20 Sussex manors at his death in 1535. The family is of Norman descent and one of the oldest in Sussex. William and John Levett were the sons of a large landowner in the Hollington area of Hastings, Sussex. In his lengthy will, parson William Levett left large charitable bequests which he directed be supervised by his friend Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu
. Richard Woodman
, an ironmaster
was born here, but he was burnt as a Protestant martyr in 1557.
The manor house, known as Buxted Park
, was purchased by the then Prime Minister
, the Earl of Liverpool
, in the early part of the 19th century. He set about extending the park surrounding the house, and eventually coerced the villagers to vacate their own houses to enable him to do so. The village (although not the church) was cleared away and the village then took up its present location. By 1836 the entire original village centre was no more, having been relocated to the site it occupies today. Some of the outlying houses pre-date this move, such as Britts, a 17th-century farmhouse, which still stands. The original manor house was built further down the hill next to the railway where Queen Victoria once visited - the house being the Chequers
of its day. The original house burnt down in the latter part of the 19th century and was rebuilt in its present location.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
, although the village itself is outside it. Tributaries of both the Rivers Rother
(flowing eastward) and Cuckmere
flow through the parish, and were used by the iron industry for power. It is largely a rural parish, although the original Britts farmland is now largely covered by modern houses along Britts Farm Road, constructed in the 1980s.
The parish contains an area of Site of Special Scientific Interest
—Buxted Park
, an old deer park which is very important for the conservation of invertebrates. Buxted Park is now a country house hotel, owned by Hand Picked Hotels
around which there are some lovely walks.
The wholesale Buxted Chickens had a factory in Buxted as well as one in Five Ash Down. Buxted Chickens was founded by Antony Fisher
, who founded the Institute of Economic Affairs
. The Buxted brand, formerly owned by the Grampian Country Foods
, is now owned by 2 Sisters Food Group
. The Buxted site closed down in the 1980s, and is now owned by the Woodland Trust
.
. Other churches in the parish include St Mary the Virgin, consecrated 1887, Buxted Methodist
Church, built 1907 and Holy Trinity Church in High Hurstwood.
For elections, the parish is divided into two wards, Buxted (ten seats) and High Hurstwood Ward (five seats) and includes Five Ash Down. The May 2007 election was uncontested, with the High Hurstwood ward having only two candidates.
Wealden District council provides the next level of government with services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. Buxted lies within the Buxted and Maresfield Ward, which provides two councillors. The May 2007 election returned two Conservative councillors.
East Sussex county council is the third tier of government, providing education, libraries and highway maintenance. Buxted falls within the Buxted Maresfield district. Tony Reid, Conservative, was elected in the May 2005 election with 63.2% of the vote.
The UK Parliament constituency for Buxted is Wealden
. The conservative Charles Hendry
was re-elected in the May 2010 election.
At the European level, Buxted is represented by the South-East region, which holds ten seats in the European Parliament
. The June 2004 election returned four Conservatives, two Liberal Democrats, two UK Independence, one Labour and one Green, none of whom live in East Sussex.
passes through the village from west to east; it connects with the A22
and A26 road
s about a mile (1.6 km) to the west.
Buxted railway station
lies on the Oxted Line
between Uckfield
and Crowborough
. The line serves London
at London Bridge railway station via East Croydon
. Or you can change at East Croydon for Victoria.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Wealden
Wealden
For the stone, see Wealden GroupWealden is a local government district in East Sussex, England: its name comes from the Weald, the area of high land which occupies the centre of its area.-History:...
District of East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The parish is situated on the Weald
Weald
The Weald is the name given to an area in South East England situated between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It should be regarded as three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre; the clay "Low Weald" periphery; and the Greensand Ridge which...
, north of Uckfield
Uckfield
-Development:The local Tesco has proposed the redevelopment of the central town area as has the town council. The Hub has recently been completed, having been acquired for an unknown figure, presumed to be about half a million pounds...
; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundaries. At one time its importance lay in the Wealden iron industry
Wealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Ironmaking in the Weald used ironstone from various clay...
and later became commercially important in the poultry and egg industry.
The village has both road (the high street is also the A272) and rail links to Uckfield and to London via Oxted.
History
The origin of the name Buxted comes from the Saxon Bochs stede (place of the beeches).The iron-making industry became a major part of Buxted's early prosperity. The first standard blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
was called Queenstock and was built in Buxted parish in about 1491. The cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
-making industry in the Weald
Weald
The Weald is the name given to an area in South East England situated between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It should be regarded as three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre; the clay "Low Weald" periphery; and the Greensand Ridge which...
started at a furnace on the stream at Hoggets Farm lying to the north between Buxted and Hadlow Down
Hadlow Down
Hadlow Down is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road three miles north-east of Heathfield. The parish is within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
. The first cast iron cannon made in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was cast in 1543 by Ralf Hogge
Ralf Hogge
Ralf Hogge was an English iron-master and gun founder to the king.Working with French-born cannon-maker Pierre Baude and for his employer, parson William Levett, Hogge succeeded in casting the first iron cannon in England, in 1543...
, an employee of Parson William Levett
William Levett (vicar)
William Levett was an English clergyman. An Oxford-educated country rector, he was a pivotal figure in the use of the blast furnace to manufacture iron...
, a Sussex rector with broad interests, paradoxically enough, in the emerging English armaments industry.
Levett
Levett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
was removed as Buxted's vicar in 1545 by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. But thanks to friends in high places, Levett was quickly reinstated. After regaining his clerical position, Levett died a very wealthy man, thanks to his iron mining and smelting operations, originally founded by his brother John Levett, one of the founders of the Sussex iron industry and one of the wealthiest men in Sussex, who controlled 20 Sussex manors at his death in 1535. The family is of Norman descent and one of the oldest in Sussex. William and John Levett were the sons of a large landowner in the Hollington area of Hastings, Sussex. In his lengthy will, parson William Levett left large charitable bequests which he directed be supervised by his friend Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu
Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu
Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu KG PC was an English peer during the Tudor period.He was the eldest son of Sir Anthony Browne...
. Richard Woodman
Richard Woodman (martyr)
Richard Woodman was a Protestant martyr, who was born in Buxted and lived in nearby Warbleton in East Sussex. He was burnt during the Marian Persecutions in 1557 in Lewes...
, an ironmaster
Ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
was born here, but he was burnt as a Protestant martyr in 1557.
The manor house, known as Buxted Park
Buxted Park
Buxted Park is a 83.43 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, located in East Sussex, England. The site was notified in 1989 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The site is an old deer park, which consists of large amounts of unimproved grassland areas...
, was purchased by the then Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, the Earl of Liverpool
Earl of Liverpool
Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III...
, in the early part of the 19th century. He set about extending the park surrounding the house, and eventually coerced the villagers to vacate their own houses to enable him to do so. The village (although not the church) was cleared away and the village then took up its present location. By 1836 the entire original village centre was no more, having been relocated to the site it occupies today. Some of the outlying houses pre-date this move, such as Britts, a 17th-century farmhouse, which still stands. The original manor house was built further down the hill next to the railway where Queen Victoria once visited - the house being the Chequers
Chequers
Chequers, or Chequers Court, is a country house near Ellesborough, to the south of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, at the foot of the Chiltern Hills...
of its day. The original house burnt down in the latter part of the 19th century and was rebuilt in its present location.
Geography
The parish of Buxted lies partly within the High WealdWeald
The Weald is the name given to an area in South East England situated between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It should be regarded as three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre; the clay "Low Weald" periphery; and the Greensand Ridge which...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
, although the village itself is outside it. Tributaries of both the Rivers Rother
River Rother (Eastern)
The River Rother , at 35 miles , is a river flowing through both East Sussex and Kent, England. Its source is near Rotherfield , and its mouth is on Rye Bay, part of the English Channel....
(flowing eastward) and Cuckmere
River Cuckmere
The River Cuckmere rises near Heathfield in East Sussex, England on the southern slopes of the Weald. The name of the river probably comes from an Old English word meaning fast-flowing, since it descends over 100 m in its initial four miles...
flow through the parish, and were used by the iron industry for power. It is largely a rural parish, although the original Britts farmland is now largely covered by modern houses along Britts Farm Road, constructed in the 1980s.
The parish contains an area of Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
—Buxted Park
Buxted Park
Buxted Park is a 83.43 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, located in East Sussex, England. The site was notified in 1989 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The site is an old deer park, which consists of large amounts of unimproved grassland areas...
, an old deer park which is very important for the conservation of invertebrates. Buxted Park is now a country house hotel, owned by Hand Picked Hotels
Hand Picked Hotels
Hand Picked Hotels, set up by financier Guy Hands and his wife Julia, owns and operates a collection of individual and historic country house hotels. Julia, a former lawyer, now runs Hand Picked Hotels.TIMELINE...
around which there are some lovely walks.
The wholesale Buxted Chickens had a factory in Buxted as well as one in Five Ash Down. Buxted Chickens was founded by Antony Fisher
Antony Fisher
Sir Antony Fisher was one of the most influential background players in the global rise of libertarian think-tanks during the second half of the twentieth century, founding the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Through Atlas, he helped establish up to 150...
, who founded the Institute of Economic Affairs
Institute of Economic Affairs
The Institute of Economic Affairs , founded in 1955, styles itself the UK's pre-eminent free-market think-tank. Its mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social...
. The Buxted brand, formerly owned by the Grampian Country Foods
Grampian Country Foods
Grampian Country Foods was a Scottish-based meat processing company, now part of the UK division of Netherlands-cooperative, Vion NV.Established in 1980 by a Scottish farming family, Grampian expanded quickly through pan-UK acquisition. Moving its headquarters to Edinburgh and then Leeds, it became...
, is now owned by 2 Sisters Food Group
2 Sisters Food Group
2 Sisters Food Group is a West Bromwich, England based chicken meat processing company.Established in 1993 by Chief Executive, Ranjit Singh Boparan, as a frozen retail cutting operation, it has through acquisition expanded to cover 13 manufacturing sites in the UK, 1 in the Netherlands, and 1 in...
. The Buxted site closed down in the 1980s, and is now owned by the Woodland Trust
Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.-History:...
.
Religion
The original parish church, St Margaret the Queen, is located in Buxted Park and was built in 1250. Its dedication is to Saint Margaret of ScotlandSaint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
. Other churches in the parish include St Mary the Virgin, consecrated 1887, Buxted Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
Church, built 1907 and Holy Trinity Church in High Hurstwood.
Governance
The first, community level of government is Buxted Parish Council which meets once a month, except in August. The Parish Council is responsible for local amenities such as the provision of litter bins, bus shelters and allotments. It is also a statutory consultee on local planning applications and liaises closely with Wealden District Council on local development issues. The Parish Council works closely with WDC on safety, planning, transport and other issues and is a channel of communication between district and parish tiers of government.For elections, the parish is divided into two wards, Buxted (ten seats) and High Hurstwood Ward (five seats) and includes Five Ash Down. The May 2007 election was uncontested, with the High Hurstwood ward having only two candidates.
Wealden District council provides the next level of government with services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. Buxted lies within the Buxted and Maresfield Ward, which provides two councillors. The May 2007 election returned two Conservative councillors.
East Sussex county council is the third tier of government, providing education, libraries and highway maintenance. Buxted falls within the Buxted Maresfield district. Tony Reid, Conservative, was elected in the May 2005 election with 63.2% of the vote.
The UK Parliament constituency for Buxted is Wealden
Wealden (UK Parliament constituency)
Wealden is a county constituency covering the Wealden district in East Sussex. It is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:...
. The conservative Charles Hendry
Charles Hendry
Charles Hendry is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Wealden. In May 2010 he was appointed Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.-Early life:...
was re-elected in the May 2010 election.
At the European level, Buxted is represented by the South-East region, which holds ten seats in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. The June 2004 election returned four Conservatives, two Liberal Democrats, two UK Independence, one Labour and one Green, none of whom live in East Sussex.
Transport
The A272 cross-country roadA272 road
The A272 is a road in South-East England. It follows an approximate East-West route from near Heathfield, East Sussex to the city of Winchester, Hampshire. It has achieved somewhat unlikely fame in recent years by being the subject of a book by the Dutch author, Pieter Boogaart...
passes through the village from west to east; it connects with the A22
A22 road
The A22 is one of the two-digit major roads in the south east of England. It carries traffic from London to Eastbourne on the East Sussex coast...
and A26 road
A26 road
For the road in Northern Ireland see A26 road The A26 road is one of the three cross-country two-digit numbered roads in the southeast of England, the others being the A25 road and A27 road. It carries traffic from Maidstone in Kent in a generally south-westerly direction to Tunbridge Wells and...
s about a mile (1.6 km) to the west.
Buxted railway station
Buxted railway station
Buxted railway station serves Buxted in East Sussex. Train services from the station are provided by Southern, and the station is on the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line...
lies on the Oxted Line
Oxted Line
The Oxted Line is a railway line in southern England. It was originally operated jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern Railway. It is now part of the Southern franchise....
between Uckfield
Uckfield railway station
Uckfield railway station serves Uckfield in East Sussex, England. Train services from the station are provided by Southern, and the station is the terminus for the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line.- History :...
and Crowborough
Crowborough railway station
Crowborough railway station serves Crowborough in East Sussex, England. Train services from the station are provided by Southern, and the station is on the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line.-History:...
. The line serves London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
at London Bridge railway station via East Croydon
East Croydon station
East Croydon station is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, 10.35 miles south of London Bridge in Travelcard Zone 5. It is the largest and busiest station in Croydon and the busiest in London outside Travelcard Zone 1 in terms of the number of passengers entering and exiting...
. Or you can change at East Croydon for Victoria.