Frant is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the
Wealden District of
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in Ea ...
, England, on the
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it fac ...
ish border about three miles (5 km) south of
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. Th ...
.
When the iron industry was at its height, much of the village was owned by ironmasters.
Smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are variou ...
occurred here in the 17th and 18th centuries, and one of the
turnpike roads (now the A267) came through here at that time.
Frant church is dedicated to
St Alban and there is a church school. St Alban's Frant was a major surveying point for the
Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790)
The Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) was the geodetic survey to measure the relative position of Greenwich Observatory and the Paris Observatory via triangulation. The English operations, executed by William Roy, consisted of the measuremen ...
calculating the precise distance and relationship between the
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its hist ...
and the
Royal Greenwich Observatory
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in ...
, undertaken by General
William Roy
Major-General William Roy (4 May 17261 July 1790) was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of G ...
.
There are three public houses in the parish: the Abergavenny Arms on the A267 in Frant, the George Inn in the High Street and the Brecknock Arms at Bells Yew Green. The George Inn plays host to the Sloe Gin World Championships each December, attracting entries from around the globe.
Lieutenant-Colonel
John By
Lieutenant-Colonel John By (7 August 1779 – 1 February 1836) was an English military engineer. He is best known for having supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and for having founded Bytown in the process. It developed and was desi ...
, the Royal Engineer who headed the
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain ...
project in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, 1826–1832, is buried here. He was also the builder of
Bytown
Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a sod ...
, which became Ottawa, the capital of Canada.
History
Frant is an ancient village and some of its Victorian buildings (the old Frant Church of England Primary School and other High Street buildings) still stand. Although it was not mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
of 1086, a settlement certainly predates the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...
; indeed, excavations in 1929 by
S. E. Winbolt uncovered pottery fragments and ironworkings that indicated the presence of a settlement dating back to 100 BC.
There is also evidence that a pre-Norman road, with military posts, ran from Frant to
Crowborough
Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles ...
.
The first mention of an area within the parish was in 742, when the
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
chief
Æðelberht granted the
manor of Ridrefelde (Rotherfield) and Ramslye to the Abbey of
St Denis in France; though part of
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. Th ...
today, Ramslye was at the time part of the parish of Frant.
Broadwater Down was part of Frant parish until 1894, when it became part of Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
The village was within the
Rape of Pevensey
The Rape of Pevensey (also known as Pevensey Rape) is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. With an area of it is the largest of the Sussex rapes.
History
William the Conqueror gran ...
and the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to d ...
of
Rotherfield.
Toponymy
From the 12th century onwards Frant appears in charters and records, in as diverse spellings as Fernet, Fernthe, Fernth, Ferthe, Ferring, Vernthe, Franthe, Fraunte, Feruthe, Frenthe and Fant; these variations notwithstanding, the
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the name has its roots in the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
meaning "place of the fern" or "place of the bracken", a reflection of the verdant countryside around the settlement.
Governance
Frant is part of
Wealden District
Wealden is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Hailsham. The district's name comes from the Weald, the remnant forest which was once unbroken and occupies much of the centre and north of the area.
Histor ...
and, along with
Withyham
Withyham is a village and large civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The village is situated 7 miles south west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Crowborough; the parish covers approxi ...
, makes up one of the District's 35
wards. The population of this ward (called Frant/Withyham) at the 2011 census was 5,274. The ward contributes two of the District's 55 Councillors.
The Member of Parliament for Wealden is the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
Nus Ghani
Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani (born 1 September 1972) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wealden in East Sussex since 2015. She is serving as Minister of State in the Department for Business, Energ ...
. She was elected in 2015 with a majority of 22,967.
Geography
Frant is just inside the border of East Sussex with Kent, about three miles (5 km) south of Tunbridge Wells and south of London.
The village is at the northern edge of the
High Weald, a ridge of hard
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
that runs across southern England from
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
along the borders of
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent. The
River Teise
The River Teise ( , ) is a tributary of the River Medway in Kent, England.
Course
The source of the Teise is in Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. From there the river flows eastwards past Bayham Abbey and then through Lamberhurst. downstr ...
, a tributary of the
Medway
Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to fo ...
, runs through the parish.
There are a number of
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...
within the parish.
Eridge Park is a site of biological interest, consisting of park and ancient woodland, hosting a wide variety of flora and fauna. The site encloses the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
reserve known as Nap Wood.
Eridge Green is an area of ancient woodland with outcrops of sandstone that hosts some unusual fauna. Another site is
High Rocks
High Rocks is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Tunbridge Wells in East Sussex and Kent. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
Prehistory
The location was formed when a melting ice sheet at the end of the last ...
, an area of geological interest due to the weathering patterns of the local sandstone.
Demography
The population of Frant rose steadily from just under 1,100 in 1801 to a peak in 1891 of around 3,500.
The records show a marked drop to 1,692 in 1901, but this is due to the transfer of the Broadwater Down parish to Tunbridge Wells that took place in 1894.
Over the course of the 20th century the number of people living in the parish has declined slowly, and a 2007 estimate by
East Sussex County Council
East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex.
East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). ...
put the population of Frant at 1,367.
Transport
Frant is on the
A267, which runs south from Tunbridge Wells to
Hailsham
Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden district of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Dat ...
. The B2099, which branches off the A267 just south of the village, runs south east to Wadhurst.
The village is served by
Frant railway station which is located on the
Hastings Line in the hamlet of Bells Yew Green, approximately 1.2 miles from the village. The station is served by hourly
Southeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...
services (half-hourly during the peak hours) between and
London Charing Cross.
The village is also served by the
Stagecoach South East
Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury providing services in Kent and East Sussex in the south east of England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group.
History
Stage ...
bus routes 251, 252 and 254. These buses provide connections to
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. Th ...
,
Heathfield and
Hawkhurst.
References
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External links
{{authority control
Villages in East Sussex
Civil parishes in East Sussex
Wealden District
Burial sites of the Stratford family