Lamberhurst ( 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 authority ...

in the

borough of Tunbridge Wells The Borough of Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal Tun ...

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 faces ...

, England. The parish contains the hamlets of The Down and Hook Green. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,491, increasing to 1,706 at the 2011 Census.

History

St Mary, Lamberhurst, Kent - Window - geograph

The place-name 'Lamberhurst' is first attested in the

Textus Roffensis __NOTOC__ The ''Textus Roffensis'' (Latin for "The Tome of Rochester"), fully titled the ''Textus de Ecclesia Roffensi per Ernulphum episcopum'' ("The Tome of the Church of Rochester up to Bishop Ernulf") and sometimes also known as the Annal ...

of circa 1100 AD, where it appears as ''Lamburherste''. The name means 'lambs' hill or wood'. Prior to the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, Lamberhurst was a centre for the

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. Iron ...

, which was established in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times. Since then it has had some importance for hop-growing; been a weekend home to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

; been controversially by-passed; and played a major role in English wine production. The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish church of St Mary the Virgin is east of the village. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and includes stained glass by John Piper. Lamberhurst

on formation, when such parishes first became possible in the 19th century, was in both Kent and

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 East Su ...

. The line of the county boundary was adjusted following the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) 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 un ...

, which required that parish boundaries be aligned with counties. The redrawing of the county boundary included transferring part of Bayham Lake so its entirety was in Kent.

Geography and topography

The village lies in the valley of 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. downstream ...

, one of the main tributaries of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

. The valley of one of its tributaries, the

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 ...

, was

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

med and flooded between 1973 and 1975 creating the

Bewl Water Bewl Water is a reservoir in the valley of the River Bewl, straddling the boundary between Kent and East Sussex in England. It is about south of Lamberhurst, Kent. The reservoir was part of a project to increase supplies of water in the area ...

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

. The village itself has a large conservation area with many 17th- and 18th-century buildings, and the Strict Baptist Church, established in the village since the 18th century.

Historically significant buildings and gardens

To the west of the high street, The Broadway, are the ruins of

Bayham Old Abbey Bayham Old Abbey is an English Heritage property, located near Lamberhurst, Kent, England. Founded c. 1207 through a combination of the failing Premonstratensian monasteries of Otham and Brockley, Bayham functioned as an abbey until its dissolu ...

, owned by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, and its replacement listed gardens and house, while to the east is the 14th-century

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. The gardens, which are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a c ...

, a property of 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 ...

. The

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and lake in the grounds of the latter are the result of a dam on the Sweetbourne stream.

Transport

The village was bypassed to the east in 2005 by the A21, which previously ran through the village. The decision caused some controversy due to its location in the

High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is in south-east England. Covering an area of , it takes up parts of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, and West Sussex. It is the fourth largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England ...

. The closest railway stations (both about 3 miles (4.8 km) distant) are

Frant Frant is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, on the Kentish border about three miles (5 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. When the iron industry was at its height, much of the village was owned ...

and

Wadhurst Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France. Situation Wadhurst is situated on ...

on the north-south London to Hastings line. Most bus services are provided by Autocar with Hams Travel, with Hams Travel operating school service 2. Many services were operated by

Countryliner Countryliner was a bus and coach operator, based in Uckfield, England. It ran over fifty bus services, mainly operating in Sussex and Kent with some operations into Hampshire. On 8 October 2012, it was placed in administration. It continued ot ...

until the operator ceased trading in 2013.

References

External links

The Lamberhurst Village website

Lamberhurst Music Festival

Village notes

{{authority control Civil parishes in Kent Villages in Kent