Crowhurst lies on a back road between Battle and Hastings. The village is first mentioned in 771 as Croghyrst, when King Offa of Mercia, gave the Bishop of Selsey 8 hides (a measurement of area) within the village. In return, the Bishop built a church for the population. Before 1066 the manor was owned by King Harold , and was completely destroyed by the Normans before the battle of Hastings. After the conquest the land was given to Robert Count of Eu. After the conquest, the manor was owned by the Fitz-Lambert family who were the landowners til the late 1200's, when Walter de Scotney came to control it. De Scotney was one of the knights who accompanied Richard I on his 3rd crusade . On returning from the Crusade , Walter was accused of trying to poison his employer the Earl of Gloucester and was found guilty and executed in 1259 at Winchester, and the land reverted to the monarchy. To the south of the church is the old ruined manor house built by Walter de Scotney in the 12th century, it looks small now, but was probably a major undertaking at the time. In 1378 200 oak trees from Crowhurst were felled to repair the fortifications in Rye , which had been damaged by the French who had burned the town to the ground during the Hundred Years War . In 1412, Henry IV gave Sir John Pelham the manor, who subsequently built the present parish church. In 1902, a giant viaduct was built across the Crowhurst marshes to Bexhill. This four mile stretch of track was to enable Bexhill to link to Charing Cross via the London Hastings line. This branch line was closed by Dr Beeching in 1964, and the viaduct was demolished in 1969.

Services

The village has few services, with only the main line train service to London providing convenient access to the capital. The nearest shopping is at nearby Battle about 4 miles north, or Bexhill about 4 miles south with its main shopping centre.

Views

To the south of the church is the old ruined manor house built by Walter de Scotney in the 12th century. Crowhurst is quite an isolated community, and has many attractive rural views.