THE BUXTED VILLAGE WALK
(about 3½ miles)

(a more detailed / accurate map of the above can be found at All Footpaths)

The present church was built in the year 1250, almost certainly on the site of an earlier church, and was dedicated in the year 1251 when St. Richard was Bishop of Chichester, to Margaret, Queen of Scotland (1045-1093), wife of King Malcolm.

 She was the grand-daughter of Edmund Ironsides and her daughter Matilda became wife to King Henry I of England, thus enabling our royal family to trace its ancestry back to the Saxon royal line. She became known for her piety and virtue, and three of her sons became Kings of Scotland, the youngest of whom became known as St. David

There are also several fine brasses, one to Brittellus Avenel, Rector at the end of the 14th century (a rubbing of this brass can be seen framed on the wall near the font) and another to Chrispine Savage whose son was rector at the time of Agincourt, but these brasses are at present hidden by carpet and permission must be obtained for rubbing.

The Old Village

On leaving the church, note on the wall near the porch some old prints from about the year 1800 showing the village as it used to be at that time - grouped around the church. It is not known what was the exact size of the village, but it has been established that there was a parsonage house for an assistant Curate, an inn, a shop, a blacksmith's forge and a few cottages. There were also the village stocks and whipping post just outside the churchyard wall.

Lord Liverpool then declined to do any repairs to the property and in due time the houses fell into decay and the tenants were obliged to move away and by 1836 there was nothing left to be seen of the old village.

On leaving the church, turn left and walk a few yards to the entrance of Buxted Park House. This is not open to the public, but a good view of the front can be obtained. The park is also private property and walkers must keep to the footpaths (clearly marked).

There were references to a manor in Buxted as early as the 13th century and it passed through many hands and in the year 1722, it was sold to a Mr. Thomas Medley of Barcombe, who pulled down the old mansion, which stood on low ground at the end of the lime tree avenue in the park and built a house (where both Queen Victoria and Queen Mary visited) on the higher ground near the church on its present site.

In 1940, the house was partially burnt down and was later rebuilt to the design of Mr. Basil Ionides, the then owner. After the Ionides', Buxted Park became a health hydro and for the past six years, it has been owned by His Highness Zaid, the Sheik of Abu Dhabi.

You will note some magnificent trees, in particular a lime avenue at the bottom of the slope, planted when Charles Stuart was King, 60 feet wide and some of the trees spreading their branches to 50 feet. This avenue led to the old manor house, destroyed over 250 years ago. (If so inclined a slight detour can be made by turning sharp right and following the public footpath along the avenue to some artificial lakes containing a variety of exotic waterfowl, including black swans).

The Old Mill

Leave the Park through a gate adjoining the lodge on the main road and turn right. You will soon pass several interesting houses on your left, i.e. Linden House, which was the first Post Office in Buxted, an old Mill set back from the road and now a private house.

After crossing the stream, you will pass the White Hart Inn, in itself not a very imposing building, but of historic interest. We are told that the White Hart was used quite freely in the 18th century by a smuggler's gang.

A little further up the hill you will pass Totease House, which is only interesting insofar as it is one of the many "Toteases" in Buxted. The name Totease appears to derive from the old Norse tot = little, and ease = water or river, referring to the stream, which flows through Buxted, which is a tributary of the River Ouse, the latter being only another form of 'ease'.

After passing under the railway bridge, you will see Buxted Station on your left. The railway from London and Tunbridge Wells to Lewes (the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) ran through Buxted and was opened in 1858. Today it runs only as far as Uckfield and, after the closure of so many lines, it is the only station for several neighbouring villages.

Practically opposite the station, turn right into Framfield Road at the corner of which is an Oast House and barn. Continue along the Framfield Road, fork left at the signpost and pass behind the well-known Buxted Chicken Packing Factory. (The right hand fork leads to a house called "Tanyards", where leather was at one time prepared in the stream and tanned with oak bark).

Continuing up the hill, as you approach another road junction called Potters Green you will notice through the hedge on your right a pond which may have provided clay for pots and bricks. The ancient cottage by the site housed the old potter himself before it became a bakery, then a farmhouse and finally a private domain.
The signpost points on the right to Nan Tuck's Lane. In the 17th century, when witch-hunting was rife, Nan Tuck was suspected of being a witch; she was harried by her persecutors and fled down this lane. Legend varies about her fate, one story says she hanged herself in Tuck's Wood and another says that she escaped her persecutors.

Taking the left hand fork you are now in Limes Lane, which not so many years ago was a quiet country lane with hardly any houses (Rutt's Hall being the only house on your left), but is now built up on both sides. A few yards along Limes Lane there is a gate and stile on your left. It is possible to take this footpath across fields and through a wood on to the main road and so shorten the walk by about a mile. This footpath is said to have been part of a droveway for driving cattle to market in days gone by.

You emerge finally onto a railed-in patch of grass with a magnificent chestnut tree in the middle, called Pound Green. This was used in olden days as a pound for stray animals.

Opposite on the main road is a rambling old timbered bungalow named The Pound.

We now turn left and proceed gently down the hill. Buxted village and station is about a mile down this road, which is now built-up on each side with fairly new houses intermingled with the old. One thing seems common to all, however, and that is a beautiful view, either to the South towards the South Downs, or the North towards Ashdown Forest. 

One or two houses have interesting features, notably one house on the left with a beautiful Horsham stone roof, and further down on the right, Upper Totease House with a mounting block outside. You may notice one house on the right with the name "Axe Link" on the gate. This commemorates the fact that in 1964, when the house was being built, a man digging into the ground for the foundations discovered a flint axe from the Neolithic Age. 

Though covered in dirt and earth it was found to be in perfect condition and of imposing size - 81/2 inches by 4 inches. Traces of polish on it could help pinpoint its age as Neolithic.

Further down the hill nearly opposite the Post Office are two other interesting houses - Horseshoes Farm dating from the 15th century and a little further down the Olives. 

The latter was until recently the village store. Many of the older occupants must remember the ' good?' old days when they would sit on a well worn chair awaiting their orders being put up, currants and dark sticky sugar going into folded paper cones, in unhurried fashion, giving plenty of time for gossip of the day. They'd remember too the well-loved rosy-cheeked Mr. Theed passing sweets over the counter to small sticky fingers. The shop front has been stripped to reveal the handsome timber structure of the recently renovated house.

Passing once more under the railway bridge on the way back to your car, you go up the hill with Buxted Park on your left and pass Harrock House on your right, hidden from view by trees and a long drive. This was until 1921 Buxted Rectory, when it was sold as a private house, a new Rectory being built. In 1965, it was purchased by the Dame Alice Owen Schools Rural Centre. Dame Alice Owen was a lady who lived in the mid-17th century and founded a school in Islington in those days a fairly reputable part of London. It then moved to Potters Bar where it is still going strong. The Foundation stipulates that 30 children come to Harrock House for one-week stays so as to get country air and pursue country activities, and the house is still run on these lines. It is not unusual in Buxted to see groups of these children walking round the lanes and enjoying the sights and sounds of the country. 

We are now approaching Hogge House across the road on our left, where lived one of the most famous ironmasters in England in the 16th century, Ralf Hogge of Buxted, who cast the first iron cannon in 1543 and was gun founder to the King. There is a cannon ball which was found at Harrock House in the glass case in the church. In those days, Buxted was the centre of a flourishing iron industry as was indeed East Sussex as a whole. The iron industry in Sussex declined rapidly in the late 18th century as new methods of coking coal were introduced in the Midlands, and Sussex forges could no longer compete. The last forge in East Sussex, Ashburnham, closed down in 1808. Ralf Hogge is assumed to have built Hogge House in 1583 and recorded his name and the date in the form of a castiron rebus over the door.

We hope you have enjoyed your walk around Buxted. If you like a longer walk some time and beautiful views, you could turn right down Redbrook Lane, just past Pound Green, follow a footpath at the foot of the hill, (warning: very wet and muddy after rain!) keeping left and following the path, come out on Church Road, past Totease Farm and St. Mary's Church, joining the High Street by the Post Office - about another mile

This page comes directly from a book called 'The Buxted Village Walk'  produced the Buxted WI in 1977, alas now out of print, and contains much local information from longstanding residents, notably Miss Katherine May, and Mrs. Heather Kirkely, and splendid illustrations by local artist Geraldine Evans.

It is reproduced with kind agreement of the WI.