Buxted Parish
Buxted Parish, which includes Five Ash Down and High Hurstwood
is situated in the High Weald Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty between the North and South Downs. The Weald
was originally an area of land between two lines of chalk hills called the North
and South Downs. Weald is an old English word for "forest" and this
area across Kent and Sussex included Ashdown, Tilgate and St. Leonard's forests
which remain today.
Uckfield and Crowborough are the nearest market
towns.
 The village of Buxted sits astride the main Sussex east / west trunk road the
A272, the London to Uckfield railway line, and the river Uck. Five Ash Down and
High Hurst Wood are a few miles to the east and north east respectively.
Depending on your point of view, they are either in the middle of nowhere, or in
the middle of everywhere, and have easy access to the larger towns of Brighton,
Eastbourne, and Tunbridge Wells, shown below and to the M23 and M25 motorways. Buxted is one of the names that indicate the character of the Weald -
it means place of beeches.
(although there is an alternative etymology provided by a local
resident - click
here to read more)
Although not mentioned in the Domesday Book, Buxted has had a long and
interesting history, and has been an important village in Sussex over many
centuries,most notably
perhaps in the 16th and 17th
centuries as a centre for iron and cannon manufacturing.
The population of Buxted Parish is approx. 3,300 although this figure is
likely to increase as a result of Government plans for housing development in
South East England.
Buxted Parish is a rural community, enjoying beautiful High Weald countryside
with numerous public footpaths, some of which are long-distance footpaths.
The Wealdway passes through Buxted Park, and Five Ash Down where deer can often be
seen and the Vanguard Way also runs through the parish. Ashdown Forest, which
covers an area of some 14,000 acres is only a few miles away. These areas all
have a wide variety of flora and fauna.
This website can only give a small taste of life in our village and we hope
that it will encourage you to find out more and play an active part in village
life - what you get out of it depends on what you put in and we do hope that you
will want to get involved in our village life and activities.
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Individual
Photos from the Parish Plan cover