The Hartfield History Group

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PLEASE NOTE WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW MEMBERS TO JOIN OUR COMMITTEE DUE TO RETIREMENT OF LONG TERM MEMBERS.

THE HISTORY GROUP COMMITTEE WOULD WELCOME ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN LOCAL HISTORY WHO CAN BRING WITH THEM ENTHUSIASM AND IDEAS AND SPARE A MODEST AMOUNT OF TIME. THIS IS A NON-POLITICAL, ENJOYABLE AND ENTERTAINING GROUP.

Why not come along to a committee meeting to see if it would be of interest to join in more regularly, just let me know. 

DROP A LINE VIA THE CONTACT BUTTON IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION.


The Hartfield History Group was formed in 1972 to discover and record the history of the small Parish of Hartfield and the Surrounding District that is part of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) of East Sussex.

Meetings are held monthly in the Village Hall on the fourth Wednesday of each month (except December when there is no meeting) and from September 2014 at the NEW TIME of 8:15 pm. Local walks or activities are arranged for the summer months (See Current Programme.)

Annual membership starts at the September meeting with the 2015/16 subscription set at £10.00 per annum.

Non members are welcome to each meeting for which the charge is £2.50 from September 2015.

Walks and visits may be separately charged but will be advised in advance.

Initially we had a one-page website but as from November 2014 the new website is being developed ‘live’. This means that information will be added at any time and thus we would suggest you re-visit and should you have any suggestions do please make contact.

The aim is to develop the website to provide not only information on the current programme and reports on the activities carried out but also a history resource for the local parish and residents.

A great deal of work has been carried out over many years by our local historian Mike Parcell and others and we are sure that the world-wide community that is now available through the ‘connected world’ of the internet will also be fascinated by the history of this special – and ancient – parish.

This is of course a substantial task so please be aware that there may well be big gaps in the information as it is being added live but at least we retain a point of contact for anyone searching on-line.

If you wish to be added to an email circulation list which currently provides details and reminders of meetings and items of interest, please email: info@hartfieldhistorygroup.org.uk OR go to the ‘Contacts‘ page and click on the button.

Programme 2014 – To Date.
Click here to go to Current Programme

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14 Comments on “The Hartfield History Group

  1. I am the lucky owner of Andbell House, March Green Lane.
    The bridle path to Pooh Bridge go through my land. I also own, what was the hammer dam for
    Cotchford Forge and Furnace. Part of the dam is still there and is an historic monument.

    In the maps from the eighteens and nineteens century Andbell was named as Pesthouse Farm with
    Pesthouse 1,2 and 3.

    Further before and after the second world war it was a brick work at Andbell.

    For me this is very exiting and I would love to know more about it. Do you have any advice.
    I would have love have little book written about it.

    • Thank you for contacting us. I will forward your enquiry to Mike Parcell who has a great deal of information and years of experience and knowledge of the area and let you know as he is not on email!

    • Hi
      Do you know anything about Lower Pest house Farm? I have posted this question on main site. My ancestors who were Bakers left there in 1855 for America and via doing the family tree I am very good friends with one of their descendants who lives in Missouri.
      Regards
      Roger Barton

      • I have put this enquiry onto a section of Questions & Answers under Parcell’s Postings! I hope he – or someone else can find some answers, Chris

  2. Why don’t you make This group a facebook group? I am admin for a secret Facebook group called Hartfield Hero’s. we have over 50 members, and share memories and photo’s of Hartfield where we were all born and raised. I am a member of the Stapley Clan… we have Best’s Belton’s Beng/King etc… Loads of photo’s from late 1800’s to current. I went to school with Paul Rhodes. If any of your group is on facebook, get in touch with me and I will add you to the group…. as long as they are Hartfield born of course.

    • We do now have a Hartfield History Facebook group. All you have to do is ask to join through ‘contact’ or any other member.

    • Hi
      I was actually born in Colemans Hatch but lived in Upper Hartfield and then Hartfield.
      I have quite a large collection of postcards which I could share, Would love to see your facebook page. I am on Facebook as Roger Barton
      Thanks
      Roger Barton

      • Hi Roger, You should be able to find the Hartfield History Facebook page as it is open. I would love to see your postcard collection. I have collected a huge number of pictures myself and am considering how to share these myself. There are many Roger Bartons on Facebook! I am not too happy with my efforts on this front so perhaps you could help move this forward. Chris

  3. Does anyone have any information on the Ansell family who lived at Neeves Farm in the 1900’s.

    Tom and Maggie Ansell and two sons, Aubrey and Eric. Tom was my Great Uncle and the Uncle of my father Stanley Cox. Tom and Maggie retired to a small bungalow later on in Hartfield.

    • Hello, Jacqui Cox. I have been looking at the Ansell family and found quite a bit but it is by no means straightforward. Could you give me a phone call on 01892 770764 so we can take it further ? Many thanks.

  4. .Dear Hartfield History Group,

    I came across your very interesting website whilst looking for photographs of my Grandmother’s properties…..’Wroth Tyes’ and Brackenhill.
    Kate Harvey….the profoundly deaf suffragist and sometime friend of Charlotte Despard.

    If you would like, I can send you my PowerPoint presentation of her. No commentary or sound, I’m afraid…..the written parts are really cues for me. I am giving the talk again in October, probably.

    I have very distinct memories of Pooh sticks on the bridge near AA Milne’s house before the war and going up Gill’s Lap.

    I live in Hampshire, by the way and am quite active in the Steep History Group.

    I hope this is of interest to you! By the way., if anyone has a photo of Brackenhill from the street side I’d be more than pleased to have it!

    With best wishes, Ann

  5. Due to time pressure and failure to gain any assistance, I have been asking enquirers if they would like to put their questions on the Hartfield History Facebook page which has many local and not so local but strongly connected members who have been helping to answer questions from local knowledge. Just go to Facebook and Hartfield History Group and answer the simple question and we will be able to add you to the group. Many thanks.

  6. I and my sister were evacuated to cotchford lane in 1939. We were welcomed by a very kind couple who together with their housekeeper cared for us. I started school at Hartfield just after my fifth birthday. I have always wished I had remembered the names of our hosts who welcomed us into their beautiful home. I know their son was a friend of my parents,but that is all. I think the house may have been called Cotchford Wood? It was a lovely long I think tile hung house of some considerable age with a a lovely garden a Red Setter (which I was terrified of) and a small scotty dog which l could just about cope with. If you have the time and you are able to tell me if there is a house of this name or the name of the owners in 1939 I should be so grateful.
    I may have already sent you a message but I seemed to lose it when I tried to send it!,
    My age definitely catching up with me.

  7. Do any of your members have any information about the Miles family living at Cotchford Farm in the 19th Century? My grandmother Mildred Miles (born 1898) used to stay (her aunt, I think was a tenant farmer there), with her sisters, Alice and Mary, as a child?

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