Lamberhurst
Encyclopedia
Lamberhurst is a village
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 in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 although the latter parish was at first in both Kent and 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:...

. The line of the county border was adjusted following the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...

, which required that parish boundaries be aligned with counties. The ecclesiastical parish has for its parish church the 14th/15th century building dedicated to St Mary.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, Lamberhurst was a centre for the Wealden iron industry
Wealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Ironmaking in the Weald used ironstone from various clay...

, originally set up during Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 times. Since then it had some importance for the hop industry; was home to Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

; acquired an extensive golf course; has controversially been by-passed
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....

; and played a major role in English wine production.

The village lies in the valley of the River Teise
River Teise
The River Teise is a tributary of the River Medway in Kent, England. It begins in Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. and flows eastwards past Bayham Abbey and then through Lamberhurst...

, one of the main tributaries of the River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

. The valley of one of its tributaries, the River Bewl
River Bewl
The River Bewl is a tributary of the River Teise in Kent, England. Its headwaters are in the High Weald, in Sussex between Lamberhurst, Wadhurst and Flimwell. The valley is deeply incised into Tunbridge Wells red sandstone, with a base of alluvium on Wadhurst clay.Between 1973 and 1975, a was...

, was dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

med and flooded between 1973 and 1975 creating the Bewl Water
Bewl Water
Bewl Water is a reservoir in the valley of the River Bewl , straddling the boundary between Kent and East Sussex. It is about 4 km south of Lamberhurst, Kent, England...

 reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

.

Nearby are the ruins of Bayham Abbey and the 14th century Scotney Castle
Scotney Castle
Scotney Castle is an English country house with formal gardens south-east of Lamberhurst in the valley of the River Bewl in Kent, England. It belongs to the National Trust....

, Scotney being a property of the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 and Bayham of English Heritage. The moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

 and lake in the grounds of the latter is the result of a dam on the River Teise.

The village was bypassed in 2005 by the A21 trunk road, which previously ran through the village. The decision caused some controversy due to its location in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...

.

Transport

The closest railway stations (both about 3 miles (4.8 km) distant) are Frant
Frant railway station
Frant railway station lies on the Hastings Line in East Sussex, England, from London Charing Cross. Although situated within the civil parish of Frant, the station is actually located some from the village of that name, in the hamlet of Bells Yew Green....

 or Wadhurst
Wadhurst railway station
Wadhurst railway station is on the Hastings Line in East Sussex in England, and serves the town of Wadhurst. The station is at the bottom of a fairly steep hill, with the town centre about a mile away at the top...

. Bus services are provided by Autocar
Autocar
Autocar is a weekly British automobile magazine published by Haymarket Motoring Publications Ltd. It refers to itself as "The World's oldest car magazine".-History:...

 and Countryliner Coaches
Countryliner Coaches
Countryliner is a large independent bus and coach operator, based in Merrow, Surrey, England. It operates in Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex, running a number of bus and private hire coach services...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK