Cripps Corner is a village in the civil parish of Ewhurst and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and on a southern ridge of the valley of the River Rother which flows through Bodiam, 2.5 miles (4 km) to the north of Cripps Corner. [1]
Cripps Corner is one of three settlements in Ewhurst parish, the others being Staplecross and Ewhurst Green to the north. The village borders, and extends over the north-east edge of Sedlescombe civil parish, and is 24 miles (40 km) east-northeast from the county town of Lewes, and 2 miles (3 km) east from the A21 road which in East Sussex runs north to south from Flimwell to Hastings. The village is centred on the convergence of three roads forming an open triangle. These roads are the B2165 which runs from Cripps Corner to Beckley at the north-east; the B2089 from the A21 road at the west to Rye at the east; and the B2244 from The Moor (village) in Hawkhurst at the north to Sedlescombe at the south, which within the settlement is named Junction Road. [2] [3] [4]
A viaduct carries the B2089 over the B2244. It was built in 1834 by Stephen Putnam of St Leonards-on-Sea who was responsible for the improvement of the East Sussex section of the road between the Medway towns and Hastings. Putnam followed the designs of Thomas Telford who had, a short while beforehand, been responsible for road-over-road bridges in Kent.[ citation needed ]
The closest school is Staplecross Methodist Primary School to the north in Staplecross. To the north-east, adjacent to the village on the B2165 to Staplecross, is a garden centre and a plant nursery. To the north on the B2244 is a Glamping site. To the west on the B2089 is a pet supplies company; and, at Swaile's Green, a furniture maker & seller. Adjacent at the south, on the B2244 in Sedlescombe, is an organic vineyard and a small light industrial site. [2] [3] [4] Opposite the vineyard is the site venue for the annual 'Big Green Cardigan', a multi-genre music event for approximately 500 people. [5]
Cripps Corner is connected by bus to Hastings, Bodiam, and Hawkhurst (349); Etchingham, Sedlescombe, and Bexhill-on-Sea (360); Westfield, Northiam, Staplecross, and Robertsbridge (381); Westfield, and Robertsbridge (382); Peasmarsh, Sedlescombe, and Robertsbridge (383); and Mountfield, Broad Oak, and Battle (B72). [6] The closest railway station is 2.5 miles (4 km) north at Bodiam, part of the heritage Kent and East Sussex Railway linking to the town of Tenterden to the north-east. [1] The closest National Rail station is at Robertsbridge on the Hastings line, 3 miles (5 km) to the north-west, linking to Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.
Brede High Woods, an ancient woodland of 647 acres (2.6 km2) owned by the Woodland Trust, is 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east on the B2089 road. [7] [8] [9]
At the north-west of Cripps Corner and approximately 100 yards (90 m) north from the B2089 road, are 75 Second World War concrete anti-tank blocks of up to 6 feet (2 m) high, the remains of one sector of defences that surrounded Cripps Corner. This line of traps stretch through fields from Cripps Corner to Poppinghole Lane, a road which runs north from the adjacent hamlet of Swaile's Green. The traps surrounding Cripps Corner were augmented with pillboxes, and provided a defence in vulnerable sectors not protected by the "heavily-wooded" surroundings of the village. In the summer and autumn of 1940 Cripps Corner was considered an enclosed 'fortress', or 'nodal point' in a line of defence using natural or man-made barriers which extended southwestward from the village, and southeastward to the sea at the north-east of Hastings. The Archaeology Data Service states that the Cripps Corner defences "represents the finest surviving example in the country of the concrete anti-tank perimeter defences". [10]
Within Cripps Corner, defined by East Sussex County Council's village entry road signs, are three Grade II listed buildings. 'Forge House', on the B2165 and opposite the garage, and The White Hart pub, which is a two-storey red brick house of two bays, with a gabled porch, dating to the early 19th century. [11] 'Bre Cottage', a two-storey house on the B2089, 250 yards (230 m) south-east from its junction with the B2165, dates to the late 18th- and early 19th century. The 18th-century front part, which sits on a brick plinth, is of timber framing overlaid with white-painted weatherboarding, with a central gabled porch. The 19th-century rear of the building is constructed of two brick and stone gables, the walls of the upper parts with overlapping red tile facings. [12] On the B2244 Junction Road, 125 yards (110 m) south from its junction with the B2165, is the early 19th-century 'Chittlebirch', a two-storey, three-bay, tiled-roof house of brick laid in Flemish bond of alternate red stretchers and gray headers. [13]
At 130 yards (120 m) outside the village at the side of the B2165 is the Grade II 18th-century 'Beaconsfield House', of two storeys with a half-hipped roof, the ground floor of white-painted brick, the upper with overlapping red tile facing. [14]
The River Rother flows for 35 miles (56 km) through the English counties of East Sussex and Kent. Its source is near Rotherfield in East Sussex, and its mouth is on Rye Bay, part of the English Channel. Prior to 1287, its mouth was further to the east at New Romney, but it changed its course after a great storm blocked its exit to the sea. It was known as the Limen until the sixteenth century. For the final 14 miles (23 km), the river bed is below the high tide level, and Scots Float Sluice is used to control levels. It prevents salt water entering the river system at high tides, and retains water in the river during the summer months to ensure the health of the surrounding marsh habitat. Below the sluice, the river is tidal for 3.7 miles (6.0 km).
Rother is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Bexhill-on-Sea. The district is named after the River Rother which flows within its boundaries.
The A21 is a trunk road in Southern England, one of several which connect London and various commuter towns to the south coast. It provides a link to Hastings, East Sussex and parts of Kent. Half of the distance covered is over gently undulating terrain, with some hills and bends. Often traffic is slow-moving, particularly on weekdays on the short single carriageway stretches; and in summer with holiday traffic. Because of this, people have described the A21 as "a joke" and businesspeople have been reported to "hate coming down the A21". There have been many proposals to upgrade parts of the A21 in response to this.
Salehurst is a village in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, within the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge. It lies immediately to the north-east of the larger village of Robertsbridge, on a minor road; it is approximately thirteen miles (21 km) north of Hastings, just east of the A21 road.
Robertsbridge is a village in the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The River Rother passes through the village.
Bodiam is a small village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England. It lies in the valley of the River Rother, near to the villages of Sandhurst and Ewhurst Green.
Bexhill and Battle is a constituency in East Sussex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Kieran Mullan of the Conservative Party.
Brede is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is located eight miles (13 km) north of Hastings and four miles (6 km) west of Rye.
Ewhurst is a civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The parish is on the southern ridge of the River Rother valley, and much of the northern boundary of the parish follows the river. The centre of the parish is 24 miles (40 km) east-northeast from the county town of Lewes, and 9 miles (14 km) north from the coastal town of Hastings.
Northiam is a village and civil parish in the Rother district, in East Sussex, England, 13 miles (21 km) north of Hastings in the valley of the River Rother. The A28 road to Canterbury and Hastings passes through it.
Sedlescombe is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is on the B2244 road, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Hastings. The parish includes the hamlet of Kent Street, which is on the A21 road.
The Rother Valley Railway (RVR) is a heritage railway project based at Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It takes its name from the original name for what later became the Kent and East Sussex Railway, running from Robertsbridge through to Headcorn in Kent, via Tenterden. The project is to replace the "missing link" between Robertsbridge, a station on the Tonbridge to Hastings mainline, and Bodiam on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, a heritage railway which operates from Bodiam to Tenterden.
Junction Road Halt, also known as Junction Road (for Hawkhurst), was a halt station on the Kent and East Sussex Railway. It was located on the eastern side of the level crossing across the B2244 Junction Road near the hamlet of Udiam in East Sussex, England. Closed for passengers in 1954 and freight in 1961 with the line, The line through Junction Road Halt may yet be revived as the Rother Valley Railway, a preservation society, is proposing to reopen the line from Robertsbridge to Bodiam.
Ewhurst Green is a village and the main settlement of the civil parish Ewhurst, in the Rother district, in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings in the valley of the River Rother.
Robertsbridge United Reformed Church is a former United Reformed Church place of worship in Robertsbridge, a village in Rother District in the English county of East Sussex. Built for Congregational worshippers in 1881 following their secession from a long-established Wesleyan Methodist chapel, it was the third Nonconformist place of worship in the village, whose nearest parish church was in the neighbouring settlement of Salehurst. Like the former Strict Baptist and Methodist chapels in the village, which have both closed, it no longer serves Robertsbridge as a place of worship. Local architect Thomas Elworthy's distinctive design—a "rich" and highly decorated blend of several styles—has divided opinion amongst architectural historians. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Staplecross is a village in the civil parish of Ewhurst and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Staplecross is the largest settlement in Ewhurst parish, and is on a southern ridge of the valley of the River Rother which flows through Bodiam at the north of Staplecross. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2011 it had a population of 760.
Vinehall Street, is a linear settlement in the civil parishes of Mountfield and Whatlington, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Vinehall School is situated in Vinehill Street.