Hartfield East Sussex - (A.A.Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh)


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51°06'N
0°06'E

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Hartfield
(A.A.Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh)

Origin of Village Name

Hartfield is probably derived from the Anglo Saxon Heorot feld(the field where the harts are - harts being male deer). It lies on the northern edge of the Ashdown Forest which was once a royal deer hunting park.

General Details

St Mary the Virgin church (Hartfield East Sussex)

The village is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 , but the present church was not started until the 1250's .

The village grew from its agricultural roots until it became a centre for iron and timber . The village had a furnace and forge in the valley to the north, producing iron goods . The wealth from the iron can be seen from the construction of the church and the buildings in the village. A most unusual black and white timbered house lies at the entrance to the churchyard which incorporates a lychgate .

In 1924 the village saw its main claim to fame arrive in the guise of the Milne family who bought Cotchford Farm . A small bridge was built over the stream at the end of their land in 1925 . A young Christopher Robin Milne visited the shops in the village with his nanny in the 1920's, his father A.A.Milne wrote the Winnie-the-Pooh stories which incorporated the young Christopher.( see also Guestling ). A.A.Milne died at Cotchford in 1956.

The area near Hartfield is also included in his books, with the bridge on the farm being the place where Poohsticks were invented.

The bridge can still be visited as it was restored by East Sussex County Council in 1979 the bridge lies to the south of the village.

Services

Hartfield has quite a few local services for a small village, this is probably due to the number of visitors who come to see the area that A.A.Milne used to live in.

The nearest main shopping centre is at East Grinstead, about 6 miles to the north west.

The nearest main line station also lies at East Grinstead , with a regular service into London.

Views

Hartfield has some very nice views to the north across the rolling countryside, one of the best is from the churchyard.

Lychgate cottage which lies at the entrance to the churchyard is a very pretty old building with oak used in most of its construction.

Church lane is very pretty with many old tile hung and half timbered buildings.

Page Last Updated: 09:13 - 20/07/2010
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