Little Horsted

Village in East Sussex, England

Human settlement in England

Little Horsted

District

Wealden

Shire county

East Sussex

Region

South East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townUCKFIELDPostcode districtTN22Dialling code01825PoliceSussexFire East Sussex Ambulance South East Coast UK Parliament

Wealden

List of places: UK; England; East Sussex

50°57′N 0°05′E / 50.95°N 0.09°E / 50.95; 0.09

Little Horsted (also known as Horsted Parva)^[3] is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. It is located two miles (3.2 km) south of Uckfield, on the A26 road.

The village is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. Horsted Place, now a country hotel is located in the village, together with two golf courses, including the East Sussex National.

History

Among the prime movers of the early Wealden iron industry were the Levett family. The family's iron interests were begun by John Levett of Little Horsted. On Levett's early death,^[4] his share of the family's interests in the emerging iron industry of the Weald went to his brother, an Oxford-trained rector in Buxted. William Levett took to his unlikely role and became the leading armaments supplier to the King. In his will of 1533, John Levett left his iron mills and furnaces to his brother, with the provision that his children be cared for with the proceeds. Levett's widow Eve Adam remarried Laurence Ashburnham,^[5] ancestor of the Ashburnham baronets of Broomham, Sussex.^[6]

Landmarks

Within the parish is the Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum.

There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest partly within the parish. Plashett Park Wood is a site of biological importance as an area of ancient woodland. It provides a habitat for a variety of breeding birds plus a number of rarer invertebrates and flora.^[7]

References

^ "East Sussex in Figures". East Sussex County Council. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 8 October 2015.
^ Stenton Eardley, Frank (1939). Horsted Keynes, Sussex: The Church and Parish of St Giles. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd. p. 142.
^ Will of John Levett, Little Horsted, Gent., East Sussex Record Office, The National Archives, nationalarchives.gov.uk
^ Marriage of Eve (Adam) Levett to Laurence Ashburnham, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5, Edward Hasted, 1798, Institute of Historical Research, British History Online, british-history.ac.uk
^ Will of John Levett, LIttle Horsted, Gent., East Sussex Record Office, Lewes, nationalarchives.gov.uk
^ "SSSI Citation — Plashett Park Wood" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 12 October 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)