Robertsbridge is a village in the
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 ...
of
Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the
Rother Rother may refer to:
General
*Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther)
*Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England
*Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
*Rother Kup ...
district of
East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and 13 miles (21 km) south-east 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. ...
. The
River Rother passes through the village.
History
The village is thought to date back to 1176 when a
Cistercian abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The con ...
was founded there by the Abbot, Robert de St Martin. When a
market charter
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
was granted in 1198 by
Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...
to Robertsbridge (''Pons Roberti'' in Latin) it was the first recorded use of the name. The abbey was
dissolved in 1538; however, the town flourished, and many of the oldest existing houses in the village date from the 14th and 15th centuries, including
The Seven Stars Inn
The Seven Stars Inn is a 14th-century public house in Robertsbridge, East Sussex, a well-preserved example of a medieval building and a typical Sussex village pub. It is associated with historical events, both real and rumoured. As of at least a ...
in the High Street. From the village was discovered the
Robertsbridge Codex (1360), a music manuscript from the 14th century. It contains the earliest surviving music written specifically for keyboard.
Transport
Robertsbridge Railway Station is on the main railway line from
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
to London, and the
A21 trunk road. The Robertsbridge
bypass opened in 1989.
Education
Robertsbridge Community College, a specialist mathematics and computer college, is the smallest such in the county of East Sussex. Salehurst Church of England Primary School is also located in the village.
Community facilities
Robertsbridge cultural organizations include Robertsbridge Arts Partnership (RAP], a Jazz Club and Robertsbridge Wine Club (RWC). Sports clubs include Robertsbridge Cricket Club. and formerly Robertsbridge Rugby Football Club, which disbanded in the 2008-2009 season. Robertsbridge has a bonfire society.
Economy
Robertsbridge is the home to several notable sporting equipment brands. Parent company Grays International have been based in Robertsbridge since moving from Cambridgeshire in the 1990s. The company makes
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
equipment under the
Gray-Nicolls
Gray-Nicolls is an English cricket equipment and clothing brand and is a subsidiary of Grays International. Formed as a result of merger between two companies, Grays and Nicolls, the company is based in Robertsbridge, East Sussex.
Gray-Nicolls ...
brand,
netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
and
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
equipment as
Gilbert, and
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
equipment as Grays.
Religion
Robertsbridge United Reformed Church, a
Grade II-listed
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 ...
chapel built in 1881, stands on the High Street.
The former
Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel, built in 1842 and also listed Grade II, is nearby.
A residential
Bruderhof community, known as Darvell, is located on the outskirts of the village.
Notable people
People who have lived in Robertsbridge include educationalist and women's rights activist
Barbara Bodichon, journalist
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, in Essex). In ...
,, model
Heather Mills
Heather Anne Mills (born 12 January 1968) is an English former model, businesswoman and activist.
Mills first came to public attention in 1993 when she was a model and was involved in a traffic collision with a police motorcycle in London. T ...
, and footballer
Sam Jennings who died there in 1944.
Demography
The demographics above are drawn from the National Statistics Office, 2001 Census. As data is not available for Robertsbridge in isolation, the table includes the entire parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge.
As data for the table above is not available for Robertsbridge in isolation, it is drawn from the Salehurst Ward which covers a larger area including Salehurst, Robertsbridge and Bodiam.
References
External links
*
Salehurst and Robertsbridge Parish CouncilRobertsbridge Community College
{{authority control
Villages in East Sussex
Market towns in East Sussex
Rother District
