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Old Heathfield

Heathfield
Heathfield Village Flag.svg
Flag of Heathfield
High Street, Heathfield, East Sussex.jpg
Heathfield High Street
Heathfield is located in East Sussex
Heathfield
Heathfield
Heathfield shown within East Sussex
OS grid reference TQ586209
• London 40 miles (64 km) NNW
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town HEATHFIELD
Postcode district TN21
Dialling code 01435
Police Sussex
Fire East Sussex
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
Website http://www.heathfield.net/
List of places
UK
England
East Sussex
50°58′N 0°16′E / 50.97°N 0.26°E / 50.97; 0.26Coordinates: 50°58′N 0°16′E / 50.97°N 0.26°E / 50.97; 0.26

Heathfield is a small, affluent market town in East Sussex, England. At the 2011 Census the population the town was included in the civil parish of Heathfield and Waldron.

Heathfield lies near the junction of two main roads: the A267 between Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne; and the A265 from Hawkhurst. It is almost equidistant from Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne: approximately 16 mi (26 km).

Historically, Heathfield lay on an ancient trackway (The Ridgeway), connecting the South Downs with the Weald. Its market charter was granted in February 1316 during the reign of Edward II. The Wealden iron brought prosperity to the town during the 16th/17th centuries; the coming of the railway (the Cuckoo Line) in 1880 gave it another new lease of life. The latter was not a financial success and the branch line between Eridge and Polegate closed in 1968. The trackbed is now named the Cuckoo Trail, part of the National Cycle Network.

The original village — Old Heathfield — is now only part of the town, which has expanded over time.

The crime rates in Heathfield were lower than the national average:

The parish church in Heathfield is dedicated to All Saints: an example of a Harmer terracotta decorated gravestone is in the churchyard. The town is the home of Heathfield Park Cricket Club, formed in 1878, and enjoying one of the most scenic positions of any cricket ground in Sussex.

The nearby mansion of Heathfield Park dates from the seventeenth century. In a corner of the estate stands a memorial named the Gibraltar Tower. To the north-east, on the edge of the parish, Braylsham Castle is a modern house begun in 1993, built in imitation of a moated medieval manor house, complete with working drawbridge.


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