Tuesday 28th January 2014

Happy New Year Strollers, albeit almost the Ides of January.

We propose an outing on the above date, truly a stroll, around the village of Seddlescombe, no wet and muddy paths (well, hopefully).  The bus is our old friend No. 349, leaving Havelock Road at 10.34

The name derives from Anglo Saxon times 'sedl' meaning a seat or residence, and 'comb' meaning valley or low place. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
The Battle of Hastings was fought 3 miles from Sedlescombe , and the village suffered badly at the hands of the Norman marauders. After the battle many landowners were forced to pay rents to Battle Abbey.
An iron pot was found in Sedlescombe in 1876, it contained some 3,000 coins from the reign of King Edward the Confessor( 1042 - 1066 ). They were thought to have been the treasure of King Harold , hidden during the Battle of Hastings . Some of these coins can be seen in the Hastings Museum.
The entire village is a conservation area containing many picturesque 15th,16th and 17th century half-timbered houses. During the 17th century, Sedlescombe prospered being in the heart of the famous Sussex iron industry area making cannons, guns and providing oaks for iron smelting and ship building. Iron has been made in Sedlescombe since Roman times. The road that runs through the village follows the route of the original Roman road. It was built to link various Sussex iron-workings to London.
  The village had its own water mill, originally for flour and from 1750's for grinding gunpowder. Sedlescombe powder was reputedly the best in Europe. It was a risky industry, and in December 1764, four men died following an explosion in the sifting house.
  The river Brede runs through Sedlescombe , and in roman times was a ¼ mile wide and part of a tidal estuary of 4 rivers down to Rye. The Danes named the area and river Brede meaning broad. The river shrunk over time and the bridge crossing it was built in the 18th century, by local builder John Catt.