Bibliography - Netherfield, Battle District, East Sussex
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Netherfield, by Mark Antony Lower, M.A., published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. II, p.57, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3315] & The Keep [LIB/500158]   View Online

On some New Macrurous Crustacea from the Kimmeridge Clay of the Sub-Wealden Boring, Sussex, and from Boulogne-sur-Mer, by Henry Woodward, published January 1876 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 32, issue 1-2, article, pp.47-50)   View Online

It has always appeared to me to be a point of special interest to geologists to record those forms found in a fossil state which have a considerable vertical range, and yet belong to genera existing at the present day. Among higher groups now living, we find the vertical range exceedingly small; but when we examine the Invertebrata, we meet with such genera as Lingula, Pentacrinus, and Limulus having an extremely high antiquity; but the higher forms of these types follow precisely the same general law, having a much more restricted range in time than the lower and humbler genera.
One of the Crustacea about to be described by me belongs to a very interesting group, the family of the Thalassinidæ.

Sussex Industries No 5. A Gypsum Mine, by A. R. Bellingham, F.R.G.S., published 1927 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. I no. 13, article, p.602) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2303][Lib 8326] & The Keep [LIB/500137]

Darwell Hill, Netherfield, Battle, designed by Mr MacDonald Gill, by Country Life contributor(s), published 3 March 1928 in Country Life (article)

Excavations: Panningridge, by D. W. Crossley, published Spring 1969 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No 1, article, pp.4-7) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Documents in the De l'Isle and Dudley Collection show that Panningridge (Nat. Grid Ref. TQ 687 175) was built in 1542 for Sir William Sidney to smelt the ores of the Ashburn Valley, mined in the area now known as Pannelridge Wood. Pig iron was carried, probably along the existing hollow way towards Netherfield, to be converted into wrought iron at the finery forge at Robertsbridge. Between 1542 and 1546 this forge was also supplied by a furnace near Robertsbridge, built in 1541, but this fell into disuse during 1546 and Panningridge was the sole supplier until 1563. After 1563 less is known of the furnace; in that year the Sidneys relinquished the lease of the site, and thereafter it was run by William Relfe and Bartholomew Jeffrey, two ironmasters with widespread local interests in the industry. The length of their tenure is not known, and by 1574 the site was in the hands of John Ashburnham, who is also recorded as holding it in 1588. Whether it was still in use at these dates is uncertain, but by 1611 its existence seems to have been no more than a local memory.

Field Notes: Bloomery slag in Netherfield, East Sussex, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2004 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 24, report, pp.2-5, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506571]   Download PDF

Charcoal Production in Woodland around the Blast Furnace at Darwell in East Sussex, by Jonathan Prus, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.25-37, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

Seventy-seven charcoal burning platforms have been identified in the woodland surrounding Darwell Furnace near Brightling in East Sussex (Cleere and Crossley, 1995. p.328). Although there is no direct evidence linking these platforms to the furnace, the later energy-hungry industries in the area (lime-burning and brick-making) are more likely to have used wood as a fuel, and later, coal (Beswick, 2001). There is only one place (TQ 6932 2072) within the woodland investigated with any bloomery slag, so it is unlikely that charcoal burning on this scale was associated with bloomeries. One platform (at TQ 7074 2021) is cut by what appear to be mine pits, placing those pits at a date after that platform was last used.