Bibliography - Ashdown Forest, East Sussex
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The Ashdown and Wadhurst series of the Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex, by Percival Allen, 1843 at University of Reading (Ph.D. thesis)

Ashdown Forest, or as it was sometimes called, Lancaster Great Park, by Rev. Edward Turner, M.A., published 1862 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 14, article, pp.35-64) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2099] & The Keep [LIB/500233] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Ashdown Forest and Boxgrove Priory, by Edward Turner, published 1863 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 15, notes & queries, p.235) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2100] & The Keep [LIB/500234] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Ashdown Forest, by Mark Antony Lower, M.A., published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. I, pp.21-22, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3314] & The Keep [LIB/500159]   View Online

The Great Forest of Sussex, by Thomas H. B. Graham, published 1893 in The Gentleman's Magazine (vol. 274, Jan to Jun, article, pp.260-271, London: Chatto & Windus)   View Online

Historical Notes of Withyham, Hartfield and Ashdown Forest together with the History of the Sackville Family, by Charles Nassau Sutton, published 1902 (x + 388 pp., Tunbridge Wells: Baldwin) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503092] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Forest Country Again, by E. V. Lucas with illustrations by Frederick L. Griggs, published 1904 in Highways and Byways in Sussex (Chapter XXIII, London: Macmillan & Co.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 41][Lib 12792][Lib 15825] & The Keep [LIB/500142]   View Online

Ashdown Forest in 1632, by W. D. Scull, published 1912 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 55, notes & queries, pp.312-313) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2140] & The Keep [LIB/500273] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Geology of the country around East Grinstead, Sussex: With Report of Excursion to Hartfield, Holtye Common, Forest Row, Ashurstwood and East Grinstead, Saturday, June 16th, 1923, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1923 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 34 issue 4, article, pp.283-300)   View Online

The country to be described covers an area of some thirty-six square miles and is embraced by parts of Sheets IV. and VI. and the whole of Sheet V. of the six-inch Ordnance Survey maps (Sussex). It is a continuation westward of the author's work in the Tunbridge Wells district, some results of which were published in a recent number of these proceedings. The area includes the town of East Grinstead with Felbridge, and extends as far east as Ashurst (Kent); to the north it takes in Cowden (Kent) and a small strip of the Surrey-Sussex border-land; southward it extends to the northern fringe of Ashdown Forest and includes the picturesque country from Kingscote by Forest Row to Hartfield and beyond.
It has been the author's hope that by a combination of six-inchmapping and detailed petrographic investigation of the rocks occurring in the more disturbed area of the Weald, new light would be thrown on some of the still debatable points concerning its tectonics and on the origin of the sediments composing it, anticipations yet further strengthened by the results of the work in this district.

The Hamlet in the Forest: Freshfield, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1925 in Some of the Smaller Manor Houses of Sussex (Chapter I, pp.15-23, London: The Medici Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 42] & The Keep [LIB/502119] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

A House of Mystery: Wapsbourne, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1925 in Some of the Smaller Manor Houses of Sussex (Chapter III, pp.46-60, London: The Medici Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 42] & The Keep [LIB/502119] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

The Home of the Little Bishop: Broadhurst, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1925 in Some of the Smaller Manor Houses of Sussex (Chapter IV, pp.61-78, London: The Medici Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 42] & The Keep [LIB/502119] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

The Smuggler's House: Colin Godman, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1925 in Some of the Smaller Manor Houses of Sussex (Chapter X, pp.162-171, London: The Medici Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 42] & The Keep [LIB/502119] & R.I.B.A. Library

The Smuggler's House: Colin Godman, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1925 in Some of the Smaller Manor Houses of Sussex (Chapter X, pp.162-171, London: The Medici Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 42] & The Keep [LIB/502119] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

The Sussex Highlands: Including Crowborough, East Grinstead, Uckfield, Ashdown Forest and surrounding villages, by George Gibbard Jackson, published 1927 (xxxi + 96 pp., London: Homeland Association) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries

Romantic Ashdown Forest, by J. B. Firth and J. A. Royle, published 1927 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. I no. 8, article, pp.360-362) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2303][Lib 8326] & The Keep [LIB/500137]

The Wild Flowers of Ashdown Forest, by Kathleen Pickard, published 1930 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IV no. 8, article, pp.700-702) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2308][Lib 2309] & The Keep [LIB/500173]

Roman Roads in Ashdown Forest , by Ivan D. Margary, M.A., published February 1930 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 1, article, pp.1-5) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

A Celtic Enclosure in Ashdown Forest , by Ivan D. Margary, M.A., published August 1930 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 3, article, pp.71-72) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

King's Standing, Ashdown Forest , by Ivan D. Margary, M.A., published August 1930 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 3, article, pp.72-76) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

The Mystery Mounds on Camp Hill and Stone Hill, Ashdown Forest , by Ivan D. Margary, M.A., published November 1930 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 4, article, pp.101-106) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

The Camp Hill Mystery Mounds, Ashdown Forest , by Ivan D. Margary, published May 1931 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 6, article, pp.190-191) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

Across the Valley of the Medway, by Raymond C. Chandler, published 1932 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VI no. 7, article, pp.423-426) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9325] & The Keep [LIB/500175]

Ashdown Forest, by Rev. W. Budgen, published November 1934 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. V no. 4, query, p.126) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2204][Lib 8223][Lib 8862] & The Keep [LIB/500207] & S.A.S. library

Gill's Lap, Ashdown Forest, by P. R. E. Tanner, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 6, article, p.344) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500179]

Ashdown Forest, by W. A. Raper, published February 1935 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. V no. 5, article, pp.146-147) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2204][Lib 8223][Lib 8862] & The Keep [LIB/500207] & S.A.S. library

The Magic Isle of Thorns, by Horace Beddington, published 1937 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XI no. 5, article, pp.317-322) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2316][Lib 9332] & The Keep [LIB/500182]

Lost Mills of Ashdown, by Ernest Straker, F.S.A., published 1938 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XII no. 3, article, pp.203-206) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2317] & The Keep [LIB/500183]

Ashdown Forest and its Inclosures, by Ernest Straker, published 1940 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 81, article, pp.121-136) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2166] & The Keep [LIB/500348] & S.A.S. library

The Parliamentary Surveys of Ashdown Forest - Topographical Details, by Ivan D. Margary, F.S.A., published 1940 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 81, article, pp.137-140) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2166] & The Keep [LIB/500348] & S.A.S. library

Pack-Horse routes across Ashdown Forest, by Ivan D. Margary, F.S.A., published May 1940 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VIII no. 2, article, pp.34-40) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8865][Lib 2207] & The Keep [LIB/500210] & S.A.S. library

Ashdown Forest and its Enclosures, by Ivan D. Margary, F.S.A., published August 1942 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. IX no. 3, article, pp.64-66) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8227][Lib 2208] & The Keep [LIB/500211] & S.A.S. library

War Damage to Antiquities on Ashdown Forest, by Ivan D. Margary, published February 1946 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XI no. 1, article, pp.1-3) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8229][Lib 2210] & The Keep [LIB/500213] & S.A.S. library

Royal Foliage: A Brief History of Ashdown Forest, Sussex, by Molly Pears, published 1959 (61 pp., London: S. J. Heady & Co.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Mystery Mounds on Ashdown Forest, by P. D. Wood, published May 1965 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVI no. 5, note, p.166) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8234] & The Keep [LIB/500218] & S.A.S. library

The Colemans Hatch-Wych Cross Roman Road, by Ivan D. Margary, F.S.A., published November 1967 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVI no. 10, article, pp.330-331) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8234] & The Keep [LIB/500218] & S.A.S. library

Rabbit Warrens on Ashdown Forest, by C. F. Tebbutt, published November 1968 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVII no. 2, article, pp.52-54) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8235] & The Keep [LIB/500219] & S.A.S. library

List of Myxomycetes collected from Ashdown Forest 1965?69, by D.W. Mitchell, published 1969 in Bulletin of the British Mycological Society (vol. 3, no. 2, article, pp.126-128)

The myxomycetes of Ashdown forest?II, by D.W. Mitchell, published 1970 in Bulletin of the British Mycological Society (vol. 5, no. 1, article, pp.21-24)

Rabbit Warrens on Ashdown Forest and the site of Warren Lodge, by C. F. Tebbutt, published November 1970 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVII no. 6, article, pp.193-195) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8235] & The Keep [LIB/500219] & S.A.S. library

The Productivity of the Scots Heather ( Calluna vulgaris ) in the Calluna-Ulex minor Complex of Ashdown Forest, Sussex, by P. W. Freeland, published December 1970 in Journal of Biological Education (vol. 4, no. 4, article, pp.297-304)

An Experimental Investigation into the Behaviour of the Heather Weevil (Strophosomus sus) on Heathland in the Ashdown Forest, Sussex, by P.W. Freeland, published 1971 in Journal of Biological Education (vol. 5, no. 1, article, pp.7-14)

Excavations 1970: Pippingford 'Steel Forge', Ashdown Forest, by D. W. Crossley, published March 1971 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 2, article, pp.3-4) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations 1970: Pippingford Bloomery, by C. F. Tebbutt, published March 1971 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 2, article, p.4) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Pippingford Bloomery (c. TQ 446 313), by C. F. Tebbutt, published Spring 1971 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No 2, article, p.12) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

This bloomery site was discovered when a member of the Buxted team tripped over a piece of slag on a footpath in Ashdown Forest. Work on the site has now nearly finished and, to preserve it, the excavated soil will be backfilled before next winter.

Blacklands, Cansiron Bloomery (TQ 447 383), by C. F. Tebbutt, published Spring 1971 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No 2, article, p.12) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

This Roman site, first noticed by Mr I.D. Margary (S.N.Q. XIII p.100), was rediscovered by members of the Buxted team.

Damage to Kings Standing earthworks, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt, published 1972 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 110, shorter notice, p.115) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2195] & The Keep [LIB/500319] & S.A.S. library

A Romano-British Bloomery at Pippingford, Hartfield, by C. Frederick Tebbutt and Henry Cleere, published 1973 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 111, article, pp.27-40) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2196] & The Keep [LIB/500318] & S.A.S. library

King's Standing, Ashdown Forest, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt, published 1974 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 112, article, pp.30-33) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5960] & The Keep [LIB/500317] & S.A.S. library

The Prehistoric Occupation of the Ashdown Forest Area of the Weald, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt, published 1974 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 112, article, pp.34-43) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5960] & The Keep [LIB/500317] & S.A.S. library

Warrens and Fossil Fields on Broadstone Warren, Ashdown Forest, by Peter F. Brandon, published 1974 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 112, shorter notice, p.164) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5960] & The Keep [LIB/500317] & S.A.S. library

Excavations 1973: Wealden Iron Research Group: Hartfield - Pippingford Furnace, by D. W. Crossley, published January 1974 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 12, article, p.47) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations 1974: Pippingford Blast Furnace, by C. F. Tebbutt, published September 1974 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 14, article, p.59) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Cannon-Manufacture at Pippingford, Sussex: The Excavation of Two Iron Furnaces of c. 1717, by David Crossley, published 1975 in The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (vol. 9, article, pp.1-37) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502341]   View Online

Two blast furnaces produced iron at Pippingford Park, Sussex (TQ/4503l6) in the early 18th century. At the first to be built (the west furnace) guns were cast; this was excavated in 1974, although its surroundings remain to be explored. A boring mill was sited close to the east furnace, the wheels of the boring carriage being in situ on their tracks. The east furnace was construded during the life of the west site, and the surviving casting beds showed that pig iron had been produced. Robbing of stone had been severe in the case of the east furnace, in contrast to its predecessor, whose rubble core survived 1-1.5 m. in height, and whose gun-casting pit was in good order.

Forest Standings, by Kenneth Neale, published 1975 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 113, note, pp.194-195) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6177] & The Keep [LIB/500316] & S.A.S. library

The Pippingford Cannon: New Data, by D. W. Crossley, published 1977 in The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (vol. 11, article, p.106)   View Online

Some New Dating Evidence for Pippingford Furnace, Sussex, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1977 in The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (vol. 11, article, p.106)   View Online

Pippingford Cow Park Bloomery, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1977 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 12, report, pp.3-4) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Pippingford Cow Park Bloomery: Preliminary Report, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1977 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 11, report, p.4) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Iron Sites on Ashdown Forest, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1977 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 11, article, pp.9-13) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

A Dispute over Iron Ore between two County Grandees, edited by Judith Brent, published 1977 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 11, article, pp.20-26) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Given below are extracts from correspondence between Sir Richard Sackville and Sir Edward Gage in 1560 and 1562 which is deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society. (G6/50) Sir Richard Sackville, first cousin to Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth, had established himself as a prominent member of the rising gentry before her accession, having grown rich by the exploitation of secularised monastic and chantry property. In 1558 he was elected M.P. for Kent and in 1563 for Sussex. Sir Edward Gage's father, Sir John Gage, a prominent and successful courtier under Henry VIII and Queen Mary, had also waxed rich through the purchase of monastic properties but the continuing allegiance of Sir Edward Gage to Roman Catholicism may have sapped somewhat his local standing and power. Rest Hills, the copyhold in question, lay on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest in the Manor of Maresfield but in the parish of East Grinstead adjoining the highway from Newbridge to Forest Row and consisted of 111/2 acres of arable and 511/2 acres of woodland.(see G6/10).

Excavations 1976: Pippingford, by C. F. Tebbutt, published April 1977 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 21, article, p.113, ISSN: 0307-2568) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations 1977: Pippingford Cowpark, by C. F. Tebbutt, published December 1977 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 23, article, p.126, ISSN: 0307-2568) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Pippingford Cow Park Bloomery: Interim Report, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1978 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 13, report, pp.2-6) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Following a second report on Cow Park bloomery, Pippingford, in Bulletin 12 (1977) and the completion of its excavation, further details and possible conclusions have become apparent.

Soil formation and classification in the high weald of Kent and Sussex with particular reference to Ashdown Forest and the development of compact subsoils. , by M. K. Abbas, 1979 at University of London (Ph.D. thesis)

Waldron and Pippingford Furnaces, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1979 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 15, report, pp.10-11) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

A Roman Coin from Great Cansiron bloomery site, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1979 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 16, article, pp.14-15) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

The Church of Sir Richard de Wych and the Thompson Family of Ashdown Park, Hartfield, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, historical note, pp.389-392) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library

Ashdown Forest (pipe-line) Bloomery, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1980 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 17, report, pp.15-16) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Excavation Report 1980: Saxon Ironworking Site on Ashdown Forest, by C. F. Tebbutt, published December 1980 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 32, article, p.216, ISSN: 0307-2568) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

A Metallurgical Site Near King's Standing Farm, Ashdown Forest, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1981 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 1, article, pp.11-14) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

At the end of July 1980 the course of pipe laying by the Mid-Sussex Water Company was being watched, the section concerned being that running from the SE side of the B2188 road (S of the new Blackhill reservoir) to a point just E of Kings Standing Farm buildings. At the time when this was being examined only the shallow preliminary 'top soiling' trench had been completed. This operation consists of removing the top soil over a 4in-wide strip leaving, in this case, the yellow clay subsoil exposed.
At a point about 115m. N of Kings Standing Farm (TQ 476205) a circular area of burnt clay was noticed, and next to it an oval area of dark loam contrasting with the surrounding yellow subsoil. As it was expected that pipe distribution and laying, involving further trenching, would probably take place over the following few days, an emergency rescue excavation was organised by WIRG field group members.

Ashdown Forest (Millbrook) Saxon Bloomery, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1981 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 1, article, pp.17-20) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Reference to this important find was made in Bulletin (WIRG Wealden Iron, 1st Series) XVII (1980), p.15, and again in Newsletter 1, p.3, where the archaeomagnetic date of ninth century ad was given. It has now been decided to give it the name 'Millbrook', that being the nearest feature on Ashdown Forest named on Ordnance Survey maps.

Field Group Report; Ashdown Forest, compiled by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1981 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 1, report, pp.20-23) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

A Middle-Saxon Iron Smelting site at Millbrook, Ashdown Forest, Sussex, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt, published 1982 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 120, article, pp.19-36) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8620] & The Keep [LIB/500307] & S.A.S. library

Chert Axe or Pick from Ashdown Forest, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt, published 1982 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 120, archaeological note, p.205) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8620] & The Keep [LIB/500307] & S.A.S. library

Archaeological finds in Dane Hill and Chelwood Gate, by Leslie A. Buckland, published 1982 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 120, archaeological note, pp.228-229) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8620] & The Keep [LIB/500307] & S.A.S. library

Medieval Pottery found at Chelwood Gate, Sussex, by Leslie A. Buckland, published 1982 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 120, archaeological note, pp.229-230) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8620] & The Keep [LIB/500307] & S.A.S. library

Aspects of the impact of man on the historical ecology of Ashdown Forest, Sussex before 1885, by J. K. Irons, 1982 at Sussex University (Ph.D. thesis)

Field Notes: New Light on Pippingford Steel Forge, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1982 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 2, report, pp.6-11) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Oldlands Roman Bloomery, by M. and C. F. Tebbutt, published 1982 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 2, article, pp.12-15) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

This was probably one of the most important of the large scale 'factory type' Roman iron smelting sites of the central Weald. The working area (TQ 475267) was almost completely destroyed, early last century, when the vast slag heaps were used as a source of road-making material. The site lay astride the stream separating Maresfield and Buxted parishes, the working area being in the former and the mining in the latter. On the north-west side of the stream, the working area side, the valley is relatively flat but with some hollows and undulations. On the south-east side, now known as Mill and Furnace Woods, the ground rises rapidly and the Wadhurst Clay is exposed.

Minepit Surveys 3: Possible mines for the Roman Bloomery at Cansiron, by Giles Swift, published 1982 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 2, article, pp.20-21) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Following the survey of minepits in Tugmore Shaw and considering the proximity of the Roman industrial site at Cansiron it seemed possible that the large quarries at Tugmore might be the source of iron ore for the Roman bloomeries.

Comparison of pitfall trapping and vacuum sampling for assessing spider faunas on heathland at Ashdown Forest, southeast England, by P. Merrett and R. Snazell, published 1983 in Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society (article)

A Palaeolithic Handaxe from the Ashdown Forest, by A. G. Woodcock, published 1983 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 121, archaeological note, pp.185-186) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8902] & The Keep [LIB/500308] & S.A.S. library

A Multi-period Stone Age site on Ashdown Forest, by Charles Frederick Tebbutt and R. M. Jacobi, published 1983 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 121, archaeological note, pp.186-187) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8902] & The Keep [LIB/500308] & S.A.S. library

How Oldlands Roman Bloomery was really discovered, by Anne Dalton, published 1983 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 3, article, pp.34-35) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Lower's account of the discovery of Oldlands by the Rev. Edward Turner is well known. What is probably not so well known is the story of how the Vicar of Maresfield came to hear of the slag heaps at Oldlands. This story appears in Miss Bell-Irving's Mayfield in an extract of a letter to her of 16th February 1895 from Dr. Prince of Crowborough.

Excavations at Great Cansiron Farm, Hartfield, by D. R. Rudling, published 1983 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 3, article, pp.43-47) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

During the winter of 1981-2 Giles Swift of the Wealden Iron Research Group discovered in a ploughed field on Great Cansiron Farm, Hartfield, an area of burnt clay and Roman tile, together with a few pieces of Roman pottery. The site, which lies close to a small stream, is located between an extensive Roman ironworking site to the south west (Tebbutt, 1972) and possible large Roman iron ore quarries to the north east (Swift, pers. comm.). In an attempt to interpret and more precisely date this site an excavation and survey were undertaken in the summer of 1982.

Pippingford Blast Furnace Trust, published 1983 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 3, article, p.49) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

An historic special meeting of the WIRG Committee was held on 9 February 1983, when it was unanimously decided to form a charitable trust to preserve, and eventually to open to the public the considerable remains of Pippingford blast furnace. These are at present covered with sheets since the excavation by David Crossley in 1974/5

The Prehistoric Occupation of a Former Part of Ashdown Forest, by C. Frederick Tebbutt and A. G. Woodcock, published 1984 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 122, archaeological note, pp.208-212) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9140] & The Keep [LIB/500309] & S.A.S. library

Field Notes: Charcoal burner's hut (?) and Bloomery site near Garden Hill, published 1984 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 4, report, pp.2-3, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Structure and grazing of stone surface organic layers in some acid streams of southern England, by Michael J. Winterbourn, Alan G. Hildrew and Alan Box, published 1985 in Freshwater Biology (vol. 15, no. 3, article, pp.363-374)   View Online

Stone surface organic layers were investigated at five sites on small acid streams in the Ashdown Forest.

Further Excavations on Great Cansiron Farm, Hartfield, by David Rudling, published 1985 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 5, article, pp.36-40, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

In 1983, a second season of excavations was undertaken on Great Cansiron Farm in order to follow up and complete the investigations of a Roman tile kiln and an associated drying shed which had been started in 1982, (Rudling, 1983). This second season of rescue excavations was able to take place as a result of generous grants from a modern handmade-tile company, Keymer Handmade Clay Tiles of Burgess Hill, Sussex, and East Sussex County Council. The project thus funded was able to finish the excavation of the kiln and drying shed, to reveal another building to the east of the kiln, to trial trench the flat, 'terraced' area which lies to the west between the 'shed' and the stream, to section the lynchet which appears on the 1982 survey of the site (Rudling, 1983) and to investigate a nearby iron bloomery furnace.

A Review of Ashdown Forest and the Common Rights thereon, by Jonathan Edwin Small, published 1988 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 126, article, pp.155-166) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10371] & The Keep [LIB/500303] & S.A.S. library

The felling of Ashdown Forest [re Birch Grove, East Grinstead], by Michael Hanson, published 23 June 1988 in Country Life (vol. 182 no. 25, article, p.184) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library

Discusses, amongst other things, the proposed sale of Harold Macmillan's home, Birch Grove near East Grinstead. According to the author the house was built 1923-6 and designed by Macmillan's mother; according to 'Brick Builder', no. 23, 1931 Sept., p. 30-31, the architect was Herbert W Cash.

Forest Camera: Portrait of Ashdown, by Peter Kirby and edited by Rosalind Bowlby, published 22 October 1988 (176 pp., Sweethaws Press, ISBN-10: 0951179551 & ISBN-13: 9780951179550) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503107] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

The Great Ashdown Forest Case, by R. Cocks, published 1989 in Legal Record and Historical Reality (article, p.192)

Forest and waste in seventeenth-century England: the enclosure of Ashdown Forest, 1600-1700, by Linda Merricks, 1989 at Sussex University (D. Phil thesis)

The Forest: Ashdown in East Sussex, by Barbara Willard, published 8 June 1989 (232 pp., Sweethaws Press, ISBN-10: 0951179527 & ISBN-13: 9780951179529) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Henry VII's First Attempt to Exploit Iron in Ashdown Forest, by Brian G. Awty, published 1991 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 11, article, pp.11-14, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Rhys Jenkins showed that it was in preparation for his war with Scotland that Henry VII commissioned Henry Fyner to erect ironworks in the royal Forest of Ashdown in 1496. A recently calendared document in the Public Record Office shows that the building of ironworks in the forest and the employment of artificers from overseas had been contemplated by Henry five years earlier.

The Ashdown Forest area: agricultural change in the western High Weald from 1970 to 1988, by Brian Short, Sue Swift and Giles Swift, published June 1991 (29 pp., Sussex Rural Community Council, ISBN-10: 187385000X & ISBN-13: 9781873850008) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

On foot in East Sussex : 27 rambles based on the Eastbourne, Herstmonceux, Lewes, Seaford, Brighton, Rye, Ashdown Forest areas, by Society of Sussex Downmen, published 1992 (10th edition, 72 pp., Hove) accessible at: British Library

Without violence and by controlling the poorer sort': the enclosure of Ashdown Forest 1640-1693, by Linda Merricks, published 1994 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 132, article, pp.115-128) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12979] & The Keep [LIB/500294] & S.A.S. library

Ashdown Park, by Eric C. Byford, published 29 June 1994 (published by the author, ISBN-10: 0952483408 & ISBN-13: 9780952483403) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/501662] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Benthic microcrustacean communities in four streams of the Ashdown Forest, south-east England, by A.L. Robertson, published 1995 in London Naturalist (vol. 74, article, pp.113-126)

Field Notes: Great Cansiron Romano-British ironworks, Forest Row, Sussex, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1995 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 15, report, pp.2-4, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506562]   Download PDF

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1995 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 15, report, pp.2-4, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506562]   Download PDF

Status, occupations and landholding: The emergence of an independent peasantry in the High Weald of East Sussex in the late thirteenth century: The evidence of Ashdown Forest and its region, by Bob Parsons, 1996 at University of Leicester (M.A. dissertation in English local history)

The Ashdown Forest Dispute 1876-1882, edited by Brian Short, published April 1997 (vol. 80, vii + 303 pp., Sussex Record Society, ISBN-10: 0854450416 & ISBN-13: 9780854450411) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14342][Lib 13720] & The Keep [LIB/500457][Lib/507863] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

This volume presents a revealing case study in the environmental politics of Victorian England. On 13 October 1877 John Miles was cutting litter (bracken, heather, gorse etc.) on Ashdown Forest on behalf of his landlord Bernard Hale, barrister, J.P, Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex, and Ashdown commoner. William Pilbeam, one of Earl de la Warr's keepers, approached him and told him to stop cutting. Miles later recounted 'I went on cutting', thus initiating the Ashdown Forest case, brought by Reginald Windsor, seventh Earl de la Warr as Lord of the Manor of Duddleswell against Hale and Miles, to test the extent of Hale's common rights. Expensive legal opinion was hired by both sides since many commoners were titled and wealthy landowners; and William Augustus Raper, a Battle solicitor, was engaged to assemble evidence on behalf of the defendants. Some of this evidence is transcribed as the main body of text in this volume - over 100 depositions collected by Raper in 1878 and 1879 from elderly Forest residents.
Raper's visits to his informants' cottages were recorded in five small notebooks whose contents are not easily deciphered. This volume presents their full transcription, together with a contextualising introduction to the Forest and its customs and to the complex legal actions of 1876-1882. A short biography of each of the elderly deponents has also been included.
These narratives are invaluable sources for the history of Sussex, for genealogy, and for environmental, legal, economic, social and cultural history. Herein are recounted the main environmental and local political themes of this surviving area of Victorian open Forest, seen quite unusually from the perspective of rural working people.

Exploring Ashdown Forest, Eight Circular Walks and Two Motor Tours, by David Harrison, published 1998 (Seaford: S. B. Publications) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Alexander Nesbitt, a Sussex Antiquary, and the Oldlands Estate, by Janet H. Stevenson, published 1999 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 137, article, pp.161-174) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14439] & The Keep [LIB/500291] & S.A.S. library   View Online

In 1931 Sir Bernard Eckstein, Bt, proposed to enlarge the east end of Christ Church, Fairwarp, as a memorial to his father Sir Frederick. Despite local enquiries and advertisements placed in The Times from 1 June to 3 June 1931, it proved impossible to trace the representatives of Alexander Nesbitt to seek their permission to alter the position of the east window, which was dedicated to his memory. Thus, in the space of 30 years, the Nesbitts, for whom Oldlands Hall in Buxted had been built, and who had been instrumental in the establishment of a school and church at Fairwarp, had been forgotten, their presence there for 30 years entirely obscured by the later occupation of the Ecksteins. This paper seeks to redress the balance and to recount the history of the Oldlands estate.

The Wealden Iron Research Group Experimental Bloomery Furnace, by B. K. Herbert, published 1999 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 19, article, pp.3-19, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506566]   Download PDF

This note records the setting-up and results of an experimental iron furnace on Ashdown Forest, Sussex. The Wealden Iron Research Group has been carrying out bloomery furnace experiments for about 25 years, initially under Roger Adams but now with a group of eight volunteers. It was one of the first Groups outside a university to study iron smelting under primitive conditions. Although several pieces of iron were produced, one an impressive 7lbs of high quality steel, it was impossible to make iron to order. The object of these experiments is to build on the knowledge already gained and try to consistently produce wrought iron and steel by the bloomery process.

Conservation, Class and Custom: Lifespace and Conflict in a Nineteenth-century Forest Environment, by Brian Short, published October 1999 in Rural History (vol. 10, issue 2, article, pp.127-154, ISSN: 0956-7933)   View Online

Cannon … is busy now bringing fern from the moor to use as bedding, he has cut it about a mile off up the lane behind Belle Green. It is a rough road to bring it down. I think I will go up next time with the cart and help the children to rake it, it is such a nice crackly fern.
At the East Grinstead Petty Sessions in March 1868 Charles, sixth Earl De La Warr brought ten poor men forward charged with oak and beech underwood cutting and trespass. George Edwards the Reeve had discovered six men cutting and tying, another three with handbills but who were not actually cutting at the time, and Abraham Card 'a woodbuyer, etc.' loading the wood onto his wagon. Edwards had cautioned the men against cutting: 'When I got to them I read a paragraph from Mr Hunt's letter [Hussey Hunt, De La Warr's steward, warning against litter cutting]. They laughed and went on cutting. I then gave them all into custody'. It appears that the men were handcuffed and led away. Daniel Heasman, one of the men once again, was convicted and originally imprisoned for 21 days, the other defendants were originally fined 1s. damages, 1s. penalty and costs.

King's Standing, Crowborough, by Ron Martin, published 2001 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 31, article, pp.28-35, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506529]   Download PDF

"Germany Calling" was William Joyce's (Lord Haw-Haw's) catch phrase from quite early in WWII, his first broadcast being in September, 1939. The British response was to set up a network of short wave transmitters based at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire under the control of the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) with the object of countering the enemy propaganda. Most of this material was of a comparatively innocuous nature, and was really preaching to the converted.
In May 1941 a more ambitious project got the backing of the Prime Minister to use German wavelengths to transmit confusing broadcasts and Harold Robin, the chief Engineer was sent to USA to purchase a large transmitter for £165,000.
There was a search on for a suitable site for the transmitter. By now it was being jocularly known as the "Aspidistra" after the Gracie Fields song "The Biggest Aspidistra in the World" and this was shortened to ASPI. The first one was ASPI 1 and subsequent ones numbered consecutively. A 70 acre site was eventually found on the Ashdown Forest near the parish of Crowborough at King's Standing 620 feet above sea level and work commenced to excavate a large hole to house the transmitter. At first, the task seemed interminable until a team of Canadian Engineers, stationed nearby, were brought in, extensively bribed with the promise of unlimited quantities of beer and the excavation was completed within six weeks. The rest of the building works was carried out by a team of 600 men working round the clock.
There were also two Parasitic Aerial Tuning Buildings in underground bunkers, and a third bunker under the Driven Tower Mast which was on top of and accessible from the main bunker. In the eastern Parasitic bunker was located ASPI 2 and this could be used as a backup in case ASPI 1 failed!
Other buildings that were erected in 1941-42 were the No.1 Power House and Cooling Tower, the Transformer House, the Power Maintenance Workshop, which was also believed to have been used by Harold Robin as his office, and two pillboxes.
The first broadcast made from King's Standing was in November 1942, when in support of the Torch Landings in North Africa, President Roosevelt's nephew spoke in French to the Vichy French. However there were still disagreements between PWE and the BBC and for a time ASP1 1 was only used by the BBC for their European Service.
In addition to this a new short-wave transmitter (ASP1 3) was installed at Crowborough in a building known as the "Cinema" because of its similarity to a 1930s cinema building.

Walks in Ashdown Forest, by Christine Baldwin, published 1 May 2002 (72 pp., Seaford: S. B. Publications, ISBN-10: 1857702395 & ISBN-13: 9781857702392) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Explore this beautiful area of Sussex with twenty three circular walks. This is an area for a day out, or a holiday, to enjoy the forest during all the seasons of the year. Select a short walk, ramble, or a days trek. Each walk describes the places of interest, the terrain and the location of pubs, restaurants and tea rooms. Steeped in history, with the added attraction of a famous bear called 'Pooh', Ashdown Forest has plenty to offer everyone.
The author, Christine Baldwin, lives in Canterbury

Environmental politics, custom and personal testimony: memory and lifespace on the late Victorian Ashdown Forest, Sussex, by Brian Short, published July 2004 in The Journal of Historical Geography (vol. 30 issue 3, article, pp.470-495)   View Online

The late Victorian period witnessed a growing concern for, on the one hand, environmental protection, and on the other, the 'human fauna', with their vanishing folk heritage, living on the margins of a capitalist rural economy. In connection with the Ashdown Forest legal dispute (1876-1882) over the common rights in this ancient Forest area in the Weald of Sussex, the young solicitor William Augustus Raper interviewed over 100 elderly residents to collect evidence of 60 years' gathering of litter (bracken, heather, etc.). Their depositions reveal much about the ways in which local environmental politics were a constituent part of custom and economy on the Forest, and how such contested rights underpinned the more elite conservation movement at this time. Although gathered for a specific legal case, the evidence reveals much about the interrelations between late-Victorian peasant communities and their environments, but also much about the individuals, and their social, economic and spatial relations. The material is assessed for its relationship to similar 19th- and 20th-century sources and for its use within historical geography, and there is also a discussion of the potential and problems associated with the use of transcribed oral evidence and auto/biographical material more generally.

Field Notes: Ashdown Forest Iron Sites - updated locations, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2008 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 28, report, pp.2-8, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506575]   Download PDF

Fair Ways in Ashdown Forest: The History of an Elite Golf Club Playing on Common Land for 125 Years, by Colin Strachan, published 2013 (292 pp., St Andrews Golf Press, ISBN-10: 0957164343 & ISBN-13: 9780957164345) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/508905] & West Sussex Libraries

The Church Of St. Richard De Wych, by Gwen May, published December 2013 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 20 no. 8, article, pp.346-347) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/508979] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

My father, George PHILCOX (1903-1983) was a prolific writer in his notebook diaries and I am fortunate to have inherited these. He was born at Furnace Farm on Ashdown Forest and lived in the area all his life. On 3rd February 1960 he writes of a walk on the Forest from the Hollies.
'I came near the site of the Church of St. Richard de Wych. I could just see the pinnacle of the tower. This Church, although still standing, is only used for a store now. It is some years since services were held there. Aunt Harriet was organist there fora good many years. I think the services were only in the afternoons. I never went there except on Ascension Day when we all trooped along from the school. I don't think we went there for any other religious day. The Church was built, I believe, for a Mr THOMPSON who was 'king' of Ashdown Park sometime about 80 or 90 years ago'

Men of Ashdown Forest Who Fell in the First World War and are Commemorated at Forest Row, Hartfield and Coleman's Hatch, by Ashdown Forest Research Group, published 2014 accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507953]   Download PDF