Framfield - (380 years without a church tower)

General Details

Framfield in East Sussex in East Sussex in the South East of England lies in the inland hills of the county. It is though that Celtic settlers then the Romans settled in Framfield as there are many bloomeries nearby, together with the Weald Way , the ancient route across Sussex.

A wooden church was built here after 680AD and probably before 838AD when King Egbert gave the parish to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The parishes given to the Archbishop were known as peculiars.

The current church was started about 1288AD, but in 1509AD a fire burned out all the wooden parts of the church, some repairs were carried out but until 1891 the tower remained in ruin. The then High Sheriff of Sussex Robert Thornton had the tower rebuilt to its current glory.

In the church is a brass of Sir Edward Gage ( son of Sir John Gage of Firle ) the Sheriff of Sussex, who in 1556 had the dubious honour of supervising the burning at the stake of the Lewes martyrs .

The churchyard contains two more examples of the work of Jonathan Harmer from Heathfield , who in the early 1800's produced gravestones with terracotta plaques inset into them.

Views

Framfield in East Sussex has one of the prettiest church entrances in the area with a row of medieval houses leading down to the lychgate then into the churchyard the only thing to mar this view are the rows of cars in front.

The church and lychgate are roofed with Horsham Tiles (large stone roofing tiles).

Services

Framfield in East Sussex is a small village with a few local services, shops and public houses.

The nearest ,main shopping centre is at Uckfield a few miles to the west.

The nearest trains also run from Uckfield .

Map

Framfield is shown as the red symbol on the map.

Nearby Villages
(click on symbol to see the village page)

Barcombe

(Village in three places)

5.94 miles

Blackboys

(Charcoal and Soot)

0.99 miles

Buxted

(The first Iron Cannon in England)

1.74 miles

Chiddingly

(Walking on Cheese ??)

4.95 miles

Cross in Hand

(The Crusaders Assembly)

4.22 miles

East Hoathly

(Another Sussex Cannibal?)

3.14 miles

Fairwarp

(Charcoal and the Army)

4.16 miles

Five Ashes

(Vast collection of rock plants)

4.82 miles

Fletching

(Simon de Montfort and Jack Cade)

4.57 miles

Hadlow Down

(Wealden Cannons and Charcoal)

3.26 miles

Halland

(Ancient Slaughter)

2.46 miles

Heathfield

(19th Century Natural Gas)

5.61 miles

Horam

(Which Station do we get off at ?)

5.47 miles

Isfield

(Simon de Montfort and the Lavender Line)

3.45 miles

Maresfield

(Soldiers and Iron)

2.89 miles

Mayfield

(Saint Dunstan and the Devil)

7.05 miles

Newick

(Killer Cricket and Dirk Bogarde)

5.02 miles

Piltdown

(The Piltdown Man hoax)

3.33 miles

Sheffield Park

(Capability Brown and the Bluebell Line)

5.86 miles

Uckfield

(Traction Engine destroys bridge)

1.42 miles

Vines Cross

(Cannons and Doodlebugs)

6.34 miles

Waldron

(Fullers Earth)

3.44 miles

West Dean

(Alfred the Great's Palace)

40.01 miles

Local Businesses

Battle Brewery our local excellent micro brewery

The Bald Explorer for local documentaries

It's the year 1906. Rumours abound that a deadly plot is hatching - not in the fog-ridden back-alleys of London's Limehouse district or the sinister Devon moors of the Hound of the Baskervilles but in faraway Peking...