Etchingham
Encyclopedia
Etchingham is a village
and civil parish
in the Rother
District in East Sussex
, southern England
. The village is approximately twelve miles (20 km) north-west of Hastings
, on the A265, half a mile west of its junction with the A21.
Etchingham railway station
is on the Hastings Line
.
. In 1166 it was left to the de Achyngham (Etchingham) family, who were well-known landowners of the time. The Etchingham family papers record that William was so pleased with his right-hand man that he gave him the land now known as Etchingham.
The moated manor house, long since demolished, stood at the point now occupied by the London to Hastings railway line. Some of the stone from the manor was probably used in the construction of the station buildings. There is one legend that a great bell lay at the bottom of the moat surrounding the church and manor, and that it would never be seen until six yoke of white oxen were brought to drag it up. Centuries have passed by, the moat is long gone and no bell has surfaced.
The 14th-century church was originally built within the grounds of the manor; evidence of the moat can still be seen.
A second possible derivation of the name is that it could come from the Anglo-Saxon "ecen", meaning great and "ham" (homestead), but the former explanation is the most likely.
. It also has the second largest series of misericords in the county; one depicts a fox preaching to geese.
. A similar design is used for the parish council logo, the primary school badge and the church weathervane.
, who lived at Haremere Hall in the 1620s. He was a judge at the trial of Charles I
and signed the execution warrant.
Haremere was later owned by the second Sir John Lade, a notorious gambler and close friend of the Prince Regent
. He was a notable whip. His wife, Letty, had been the mistress of a highwayman before becoming a mistress of the Duke of York. She too was a notable horsewoman and whip and was painted by Stubbs. Sir John ran through the family fortune and ended his life as a coachman.
Another famous resident, the novelist and critic Anthony Burgess
, lived in a semi-detached house called Applegarth on the south side of the A256 road (west of the High Street). His house can be distinguished by the presence of a small statue of a Siamese cat next to the building (he and his first wife Lynne were notable cat-lovers).
The folk musicians Ashley Hutchings
and Shirley Collins
lived there in the 1970s and formed the Etchingham Steam Band
in 1974.
, which serves as the meeting place for the Under 5's Playgroup and a Toddlers' Group. Other groups in the village include Brownies
, The Etchingham Military and Aviation Preservation Group, The Women's Institute, and a Darby and Joan Club.
A Social Club exists that serves as the base for the village branch of the Royal British Legion and the clubhouse for the Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket
Club.
FSA, the designer of the first postage stamp, the Penny Black
, died at Hurst Green
, having been taken ill there while travelling back to London from the coast, and was buried in Etchingham parish church. There is a memorial tablet on the wall of the church, which for many years was believed to be the only known likeness of Corbould.
In 1990, as part of the 150th anniversary of the postage stamp, the village produced two First Day Covers to mark the Corbould connection, and held the Etchingham Stamp Festival to raise funds for church repairs. The festival was held over the weekend following the issue of the Miniature Sheet in May, in the church and village hall
.
The design on the cover is based on architectural detail in the church; the pictorial handstamp for the Etchingham Stamp Festival is based on the church weathervane. One cover was issued in January with the full set of the 'double headed' commemorative stamps and another for the miniature sheet issued in May, both covers bearing special handstamps featuring detail from the church weathervane. Both covers were limited editions. Sarah Godwin, the designer of the 1987 Isaac Newton
stamps, designed the cover, her family home being in Etchingham.
, and in the early days of the telephone
arriving in the village it housed the first telephone exchange
in the village. Along with several other properties in the village, the premises suffered flooding in October 2000; the then owners decided not to re-open the shop.
Many village residents were unhappy about the loss of the village shop so a public meeting was arranged to discuss the possibilities of getting the shop back in business. After further meetings, many hours of negotiations, fundraising and a great deal of frustration, sufficient funds were raised to enable the purchase of the premises. Village residents purchased shares in the newly-formed Etchingham Community Shop Association Ltd. After many weeks of hard work, the shop was finally ready for opening on 14 June 2003, when a large crowd gathered outside the shop, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Etchingham had an active cricket
team in 1939, the Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket Club, but the start of World War II
brought play to an abrupt end. After the war the cricket field was not brought back into use. In early 2006, a group of enthusiasts decided to revive the tradition.
The new club has in its possession several artifacts, minutes of meetings and games dating back to the 1920s, when the club was known as the "Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket Club". Keen to maintain a link with the original club, the new club uses the same name.
The original club was formed by Mr. W. F. Foster, who later became its President. A pavilion was erected in 1920, and as the number of playing members increased, a 2nd eleven was formed. Records show that Colonel Hornblower was elected Chairman in 1934, with Mr. H. H. Howard as Secretary. By 1934 Mr. J. Gorwyn had become Captain of the 1st team.
The newly reinstated club uses the previous club name to maintain a link with past tradition. It is pleased that Lionel Dengate, who was secretary to the club in the 1930s agreed to serve as Honorary Club President.
The club does not yet have a suitable cricket field in the village, so for the time being all matches have to be away fixtures.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Rother
Rother
Rother is a local government district in East Sussex, England. The district is named after the River Rother which flows within its boundaries.-History:...
District in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The village is approximately twelve miles (20 km) north-west of Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, on the A265, half a mile west of its junction with the A21.
Etchingham railway station
Etchingham railway station
Etchingham railway station is on the Hastings Line in East Sussex in England, and serves Etchingham. Train services are provided by Southeastern....
is on the Hastings Line
Hastings Line
The Hastings Line is a railway line in Kent and East Sussex linking Hastings with the main town of Tunbridge Wells, and from there into London via Sevenoaks.-Openings:The line was opened by the South Eastern Railway in main three stages: – :...
.
History
Etchingham was a manor a long time before the Norman conquest of 1066; after this time the manor was taken over by the NormansNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
. In 1166 it was left to the de Achyngham (Etchingham) family, who were well-known landowners of the time. The Etchingham family papers record that William was so pleased with his right-hand man that he gave him the land now known as Etchingham.
The moated manor house, long since demolished, stood at the point now occupied by the London to Hastings railway line. Some of the stone from the manor was probably used in the construction of the station buildings. There is one legend that a great bell lay at the bottom of the moat surrounding the church and manor, and that it would never be seen until six yoke of white oxen were brought to drag it up. Centuries have passed by, the moat is long gone and no bell has surfaced.
The 14th-century church was originally built within the grounds of the manor; evidence of the moat can still be seen.
Etymology
The name Etchingham is probably derived from Old English, and roughly translates as "The homestead or enclosure of family and followers of a man called Ecci". In a place name, "inga" usually refers to 'people of' or 'dwellers at', and 'ham' to a homestead or settlement.A second possible derivation of the name is that it could come from the Anglo-Saxon "ecen", meaning great and "ham" (homestead), but the former explanation is the most likely.
The church
The 14th-century parish church is dedicated to The Assumption of Blessed Mary and St Nicholas. On its spire is what is probably England's oldest brass weather vaneWeather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
. It also has the second largest series of misericords in the county; one depicts a fox preaching to geese.
Village sign
The design of the village sign is based on the de Etchingham family coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. A similar design is used for the parish council logo, the primary school badge and the church weathervane.
Famous residents
Among the famous former residents of Etchingham is the regicide James TempleJames Temple
James Temple was a puritan and English Civil War soldier who was convicted of the regicide of Charles I. Born in Rochester, Kent, to a well-connected gentry family, he was the second of two sons of Sir Alexander Temple, although his elder brother died in 1627...
, who lived at Haremere Hall in the 1620s. He was a judge at the trial of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
and signed the execution warrant.
Haremere was later owned by the second Sir John Lade, a notorious gambler and close friend of the Prince Regent
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
. He was a notable whip. His wife, Letty, had been the mistress of a highwayman before becoming a mistress of the Duke of York. She too was a notable horsewoman and whip and was painted by Stubbs. Sir John ran through the family fortune and ended his life as a coachman.
Another famous resident, the novelist and critic Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
, lived in a semi-detached house called Applegarth on the south side of the A256 road (west of the High Street). His house can be distinguished by the presence of a small statue of a Siamese cat next to the building (he and his first wife Lynne were notable cat-lovers).
The folk musicians Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
and Shirley Collins
Shirley Collins
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...
lived there in the 1970s and formed the Etchingham Steam Band
Etchingham Steam Band
The 'Etchingham Steam Band' were a folk group formed by Ashley Hutchings in 1974 after the breakup of the Albion Country Band. They were named after Etchingham in Sussex where Hutchings was living with his wife Shirley Collins...
in 1974.
Village organisations
The village has an old village hallVillage hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
, which serves as the meeting place for the Under 5's Playgroup and a Toddlers' Group. Other groups in the village include Brownies
Brownies (Girl Guides)
A Brownie is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations for girls from their seventh birthday to their tenth birthday. Exact age limits are slightly different in each organisation.-History:...
, The Etchingham Military and Aviation Preservation Group, The Women's Institute, and a Darby and Joan Club.
A Social Club exists that serves as the base for the village branch of the Royal British Legion and the clubhouse for the Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
Club.
Philatelic connections
Henry CorbouldHenry Corbould
Henry Corbould was an English artist.-Life:The third son of Richard Corbould, he was born in London. He studied painting with his father, and was at an early age admitted as a student of the Royal Academy, under Fuseli, where he gained the silver medal for a study from the life...
FSA, the designer of the first postage stamp, the Penny Black
Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year....
, died at Hurst Green
Hurst Green, East Sussex
Hurst Green is a village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England. The village is located on the A21 road, thirteen miles north of Hastings....
, having been taken ill there while travelling back to London from the coast, and was buried in Etchingham parish church. There is a memorial tablet on the wall of the church, which for many years was believed to be the only known likeness of Corbould.
In 1990, as part of the 150th anniversary of the postage stamp, the village produced two First Day Covers to mark the Corbould connection, and held the Etchingham Stamp Festival to raise funds for church repairs. The festival was held over the weekend following the issue of the Miniature Sheet in May, in the church and village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
.
The design on the cover is based on architectural detail in the church; the pictorial handstamp for the Etchingham Stamp Festival is based on the church weathervane. One cover was issued in January with the full set of the 'double headed' commemorative stamps and another for the miniature sheet issued in May, both covers bearing special handstamps featuring detail from the church weathervane. Both covers were limited editions. Sarah Godwin, the designer of the 1987 Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
stamps, designed the cover, her family home being in Etchingham.
Village shop saved
A shop had been trading at the Etchingham Stores site for over 150 years; it has been a general grocery shop for many years, but in the past also served as the post officePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, and in the early days of the telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
arriving in the village it housed the first telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
in the village. Along with several other properties in the village, the premises suffered flooding in October 2000; the then owners decided not to re-open the shop.
Many village residents were unhappy about the loss of the village shop so a public meeting was arranged to discuss the possibilities of getting the shop back in business. After further meetings, many hours of negotiations, fundraising and a great deal of frustration, sufficient funds were raised to enable the purchase of the premises. Village residents purchased shares in the newly-formed Etchingham Community Shop Association Ltd. After many weeks of hard work, the shop was finally ready for opening on 14 June 2003, when a large crowd gathered outside the shop, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team in 1939, the Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket Club, but the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
brought play to an abrupt end. After the war the cricket field was not brought back into use. In early 2006, a group of enthusiasts decided to revive the tradition.
The new club has in its possession several artifacts, minutes of meetings and games dating back to the 1920s, when the club was known as the "Etchingham & Fontridge Cricket Club". Keen to maintain a link with the original club, the new club uses the same name.
The original club was formed by Mr. W. F. Foster, who later became its President. A pavilion was erected in 1920, and as the number of playing members increased, a 2nd eleven was formed. Records show that Colonel Hornblower was elected Chairman in 1934, with Mr. H. H. Howard as Secretary. By 1934 Mr. J. Gorwyn had become Captain of the 1st team.
The newly reinstated club uses the previous club name to maintain a link with past tradition. It is pleased that Lionel Dengate, who was secretary to the club in the 1930s agreed to serve as Honorary Club President.
The club does not yet have a suitable cricket field in the village, so for the time being all matches have to be away fixtures.
Sources
- Etchingham, Past and Present, published by the Hurst Green Historical Society, 1994
- ESCISESCISThe ESCIS or East Sussex Community Information Service is a computer database of local and community information developed and managed by the Library and Information Services of East Sussex County Council in association with Brighton and Hove Library Service. It is a free resource for everyone...
(East Sussex Community Information Service) - Etchingham Parish Church Guide (1983, revised 1994), compiled by Ilse M. Baker BA
- Hidden Sussex & People of Hidden Sussex, Warden Swinfen & David Arscott