Walks

Did I leave the Iron on

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Memorial inscriptions forged by illiterate craftsmen on iron gravestones line the floor of Wadhurst Church. This walk links the product of the ironworks in the church to the site of one of the works and an unusual iron ore mine from which the raw material for the industry was briefly produced.

Squatters and Chapels

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The Sussex iron industry, which had been a technological marvel in the late 1400s, was obsolete by the 1700s. At Ironbridge in Shropshire, iron was made successfully using coal rather than charcoal in 1709, leading to the transfer of the industry to the areas of the country where coal was available

Rock and Rail

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Before 1860, Groombridge was a tiny village around a green by the entrance to Groombridge Park. Just 40 years later, its residents could travel to Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, London, Brighton and Eastbourne along five rail routes radiating out from the village which now boasted an impressive station and a Victorian “new town”.

The Two Memorials

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In 1450 a group of Sussex farmers, led by Jack Cade, marched on London to air their grievances with the government. After a couple of days their protest ended in disaster, whilst Cade ended up beheaded and quartered. His name lives on today in the hamlet of Cade Street.