Wadhurst | |
---|---|
Wadhurst shown within East Sussex | |
Area | 40.1 km2 (15.5 sq mi) |
Population | 4,883 (Parish-2011) |
• Density | 311/sq mi (120/km2) |
OS grid reference | TQ640318 |
• London | 36 miles (58 km) NNW |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WADHURST |
Postcode district | TN5 |
Dialling code | 01892 |
Police | Sussex |
Fire | East Sussex |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Wadhurst Parish Council |
Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France.
Wadhurst is situated on the Kent–Sussex border seven miles (11 km) east of Crowborough and about seven miles (11 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Other nearby settlements include Ticehurst, Burwash, Mayfield and Heathfield in East Sussex, and Lamberhurst, Hawkhurst and Cranbrook in Kent.
Physically, Wadhurst lies on a high ridge of the Weald – a range of wooded hills running across Sussex and Kent between the North Downs and the South Downs. The reservoir of Bewl Water is nearby. The River Bewl, which is a sub-tributary of the River Medway, and the Limden rise within the civil parish of Wadhurst.
The name Wadhurst (Wadeherst in early records) is Anglo-Saxon and most probably derives from Wada which is believed to be the name of a Saxon tribe which occupied the area and began the clearing of the forests in the 7th or 8th century. There is an Anglo-Saxon manor known as Bivelham which lay between the parishes of Wadhurst and Mayfield.
Although Wadhurst was almost certainly in existence at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, it was part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's land and was therefore not mentioned. The earliest record relating to the area is a reference in the Cartulary of Battle Abbey to "Snape in the parish of Wadhurst".