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About
Robertsbridge
Origin of the name
The 20th Century
Francis Frith
Listed Buildings
Medieval
origins
Sources
Publications for sale
Robertsbridge is the largest of three distinct
settlements within the civil parish of Salehurst
& Robertsbridge It lies 12 miles north of Hastings on the
A21 and has a population of approximately 2600 (2007
AD).
Salehurst the oldest settlement was recorded in the
Domesday survey of 1088 as being in the possession of the Count of
Eu and having “ ……land for 4 ploughs, 7 villagers and 8
cottages with 6 ploughs. A church; meadow 16 acres”.
Origin
of the name – Robertsbridge owes its existence and its name to
the arrival of Cistercian monks from Boxley,
Kent. They founded a small chapel believed to be near the
present George
Inn
and in 1176 a charter was granted to the Abbey of Robertsbridge. At some time
point the Abbott, Robert de Martin, or perhaps
some other benefactor named Robert, is believed to have had a new bridge built
to replace, or improve, the river crossing at Salehurst. The latinised form, Pons
Roberti, Robert’s bridge, appears in the abbey records and on
the abbey seal of the 13th century and is the first
recorded use of the name. In about 1210, a new abbey was started
about 1 mile east of the original chapel and on the opposite bank of
the river to Salehurst and the abbey started their 'new Vill of
Robertsbridge' on its present site. At this time they probably depopulated an earlier
settlement Drigsell and moved it into their 'new vill of Robertsbridge'.
A market
Charter was granted to Robertsbridge in the 13th C. and it became a
f lourishing and prosperous town as shown by the many fine
timber framed
houses dating from the 14th – 17th C. – amongst
these are the Seven Stars
and Rosebank both dating from c.1400 and 25-27 High Street dating
from c.1510. The
earliest house dates from c.1390 and is now divided into 4 cottages
- 1-4 Fair Lane.
A small settlement grew up on the north
side of the river,
Northbridge Street
, which suggests that a bridge was in place near this river crossing
point at least from the early 15th C. Northbridge Street
has remained a small settlement but the surviving medieval buildings suggest
it was also as prosperous as its neighbour across the river.
Although Robertsbridge became the largest
settlement,
St Mary’s at Salehurst remained the parish
church. The present building dates from the late 13th C. and has
some fine medieval glass and 18th C. table tombs with terracotta
plaques by [link] Jonathan Harmer. In the 18th C. however, along
with many other villages, non-conformist religions challenged the
orthodox church. John Wesley visited the village on several occasions and eventually 4 chapels
were built within Robertsbridge; 3 of these buildings survive but 2 are now
private residences.
In 1840 the Post Office opened, one of the earliest
in
England
and in 1841
Salehurst
Primary School
opened its doors in
Northbridge Street
– a
National
School
which replaced the subscription school. The school remained in this
location until 1988 when it moved to a new building in Robertsbridge
to make way for the bypass which opened in 1992.
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The
George
Inn
was the stopping place for stage coaches which were the public
transport before the coming of the main line railway from
London
to Hastings
in 1851. The Ostrich Hotel opened in the same year.
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| Another inn, The
Railway Tavern was built in the High Street to accommodate the Irish
navvies constructing the railway but earned a reputation for
drunkenness and bad behaviour – it closed as a pub in the 1920s
and was demolished in the 60s.
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The Railway
Tavern |
In 1900, the Kent & East Sussex
railway was built from Tenterden to Robertsbridge giving access to
the main line for the rural villages. This branch line closed to passenger
traffic in 1954.
By the 1900s, the parish was a thriving community
with shops, inns and in addition to agriculture had a number of
industries including saw milling, flour milling – both now ceased
– and the manufacture of cricket bats. The latter industry,
started by L. James Nicolls, quickly established a reputation and
all the leading players from W.G. Grace to the present time have
used their bats. The industry continues today as the Gray-Nicolls
company, which supplies bats all over the cricketing world.
Like many other communities across the country, the
1st World War had a profound effect and the distinctive War Memorial
clock tower, erected in 1926 records those from the parish who lost
their lives in that war and the 2nd World War.
The
20th Century
- There have been many changes over the last 100
years.
In 1986 the main line railway from
London
to Hastings
was electrified and in 1992 the A21 bypass was completed taking much
of the traffic out of Robertsbridge and
Northbridge Street
.
A hurricane in October 1987 caused much damage in the village and
surroundings and in November 2000 severe flooding damaged over 70
properties and made more than 40 families temporarily homeless.
Since then, new flood defences have been installed which will
hopefully prevent a repetition. See Floods
& Tempests
 Many new houses have been built, particularly in the
1980s & 90s
and two of the main providers of employment – the
flour mill and the saw mill have closed. Many residents now commute
from the village to work. As with other villages, changes to
shopping habits and greater mobility has brought about the closure
of a number of shops and businesses but the village has adapted to
these changes and is still a thriving community. There is a butcher,
general store, post office, hairdressers, 2 florists, a chemist, 3
farm shops and a second-hand book shop. In addition, there is a
travel agent, estate agent, a bank, a forge, a vet., an agricultural
machine centre and a garden machine centre and there are numerous
individual traders providing services ranging from gardening,
building and computing.
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There is a
long-established cycle shop which now also specialises in Classic
American motorcycles and there are four public houses, three with good
restaurants, an Indian restaurant and a fish & chip shop and
there is a doctors’ surgery and 2 dentists.
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The primary school has around 200 pupils and the
Community College which started life in 1955 as a Secondary Modern
now has some 600 pupils, many of whom travel from outside the
parish. Sixth form provision is at Bexhill or Hastings
College. A flourishing Playgroup, which for many years used the village
hall, has now (2007 AD) moved into purpose-built accommodation near the
primary school. There is also a Youth Centre which caters for other
villages besides out own.
Robertsbridge Hall, which opened in 1988
after years of fund raising by local residents, is now used
regularly by many village organisations such as W.I., Age Concern,
W.E.A., Short mat bowls, ballet and slimming classes and for dances,
jumble sales; it is also a popular choice for wedding receptions.
There are Scouts and Cubs and Brownies and Guides with their
separate HQs and parish recreational facilities cater for football,
cricket and stool ball; rugby and tennis facilities are available at
the Community College. In addition to the recreation grounds, the
Parish Council owns or controls over 20 acres of land which are
maintained for wildlife and quiet recreation. Adult education
classes are run by the Community College and the local W.E.A. group.
In 1999, the parish twinned with the town of St.
Brice Courcelles in France
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Francis
Frith
(b.1822 – d.1898)
A
Victorian photographer, he travelled widely in the Middle East and
in the
United Kingdom
. After he finished his travels in the Middle East in 1859, he
opened the firm of F. Frith & Co. and embarked on the project of
photographing every town and village in the
UK
, in particular, notable historical or interesting sights.
Initially, he took the photographs himself but then hired people to
help him and then established his postcard company which became one
of the largest photographic studios in the world. After his death in
1898, his family continued the business but this was finally closed
in 1970 by which time it had amassed hundreds of thousands of
images.
Bill
Jay, a leading photographic historian, identified the collection as
nationally important and at risk and persuaded Rothmans, the tobacco
company, to buy the collection to ensure its safety. In 1977, John
Buck, a Rothmans executive bought the company and re-launched it as The Francis Frith Collection.
Their web site contains 18 photographs of Robertsbridge, mostly from
the 1950s, which can be viewed on the site and copies ordered if you
wish!
Another good
collection of photos from the past is 'Battle and Robertsbridge
in Old Photographs' collected by Alan Gillet and published
by Alan Sutton Publishing, 1989. Now out of print but copies can
often be found in secondhand book shops.
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Listed
Buildings
Listed Buildings are designated by
the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport as being of
'special architectural or historic interest'. Recommendations for,
and records of, Listed Buildings are maintained by English Heritage
which acts as the government's advisor on all additions and other
alterations to the Statutory List. Listed Building cannot be altered
or demolished without permission. Buildings are listed for a variety
of reasons and may qualify under one or more of these criteria:
- Architectural
interest: listing aims to include all buildings of
importance to the nation for reason of their architectural
design, decoration and craftsmanship;
- Historic
interest: this includes buildings which display important
aspects of the nation's social, cultural, economic or military
history;
- Historical
associations: buildings with close historical ties with
nationally important people or events;
- Group
value: particularly where buildings together make up an
important architectural or historical unity or a fine example of
planning (for example, squares, terraces, model villages).
Listed Buildings are classified in
grades to show their relative importance, Grade I, II* & II. All
Listed Buildings are of special interest but Grade I buildings are
of paramount importance to the nation and Grade II* are of
outstanding interest.
English Heritage has started a
project of photographing every
Listed
Building
in
England
and those in this parish can be viewed by clicking the link below
and entering Robertsbridge or Salehurst in the ‘Search’ box.
Listed
Buildings
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Medieval
Origins Some
years ago, I published a short pamphlet which showed the
relationship between the medieval buildings in Robertsbridge and the
events which were taking place in the area and nationally and in the
wider world. You can view this document in .pdf format by clicking
this link.
Medieval Origins
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Sources I
have used a number of published sources for the information on this
web site and these are listed below. But I am also grateful to
those who have freely given me the benefit of their longer
association with the village, in particular Margaret Bryson, Ruth
Waghorn and Jean Woodgate.
An Architectural History of Robertsbridge (1974)
David Martin & Barbara Mastin
An Architectural History of Northbridge & Salehurst (1980)
David Martin & Barbara Mastin
A
Sussex
Abbey (1991)
Jerrard Williamson
Houses of Cistercian Monks
www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=36589
Victoria
County
History –
Sussex
The Hundred of Henhurst
A Short History of the Parish of Salehurst (1914)
Leonard J. Hodson
History of Robertsbridge 2nd Edition (1906)
click here to see this in .pdf format
J.J. Piper
History of
Hastings
Castle
(1909)
Charles Dawson
Salehurst C. of E. Primary School – Our village school past and
present (1992)
Margaret Gregory
Survey of Robertsbridge (1944)
Sussex
Record Society Vol. XLVlll
Remarks on some charters and other documents relating to the
Abbey of Robertsbridge (1879)
C.Perceval Archaeologia
Vol. 45
A good
collection of photos from the past can be found in 'Battle and Robertsbridge
in Old Photographs' collected by Alan Gillet and published
by Alan Sutton Publishing, 1989. Now out of print but copies can
often be found in secondhand book shops.
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Publications
for sale The
members of Robertsbridge History Group have done much research into the
history of the parish and produced a number of publications which are
available at reasonable prices.
Please contact them directly to
purchase any of these.
Cheques
or postal orders only, payable to Colin Field, 26 High Street,
Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5AQ
| Who Lived in Robertsbridge
- this is a house-to-house survey broadly based on the
1841-1901 Censuses and updated where information has become
available. £18.50 including
U.K.postage
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Who Lived in Salehurst and
Northbridge Street - this is a house-to-house survey
broadly based on the 1841-1901 Censuses and updated where
information has become available.
£17.00 including
U.K.postage
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| A
Salehurst Notebook by Colin Field
£7.50 including
U.K.postage |
| Leonard
Hodson's Pocket Notebook of Salehurst and Robertsbridge
£6.50 including
U.K.postage
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Leaves
from a Genealogists Notebook - a record of East Sussex
Memorial inscriptions
£10 including
U.K.postage
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East
Sussex Villages by Colin Field - Illustrated and covers a
range of local villlages with historical and other notes
£10.50 including
U.K.postage
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Salehurst
Parish Magazines - Includes such magazines as are
available from the 1900s and scanned onto CD.
Set of 5 CDs -
£16.50 including U.K.postage
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