Guestling

This article is about the village and parish. For the common assembly of coastal towns, see Cinque Ports.

Guestling is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Hastings on the A259 road to Rye. Its parish church is dedicated to St Laurence.

Guestling
St Laurence's Church, Guestling
Guestling Location within East Sussex
Area	15.9 km^2 (6.1 sq mi) ^[1]
Population	1,432 (Parish-2011)^[2]
• Density	207/sq mi (80/km^2)
OS grid reference	TQ848132
• London	53 miles (85 km) NW
District	Rother
Shire county	East Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HASTINGS
Postcode district	TN35
Dialling code	01424
Police	Sussex
Fire	East Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Hastings and Rye
List of places UK England East Sussex 50°53′N 0°38′E / 50.89°N 0.63°E / 50.89; 0.63

History

Guestling, referred to in the Domesday Book (1086) as Gestelinges, was originally named as a settlement of the family of a man named Gyrstel.^[3] The Domesday entry records that the village consisted in 1086 of 21 households, 14 villagers and 7 cottagers.^[4]

In 1542, Gregory Martin was born in Guestling and went on to do the majority of the translation for the Douay–Rheims Bible, the first full official Catholic English Bible translation.^[5] In 1896, hand made bricks were first produced in Guestling,^[6] which would go on to be used in Royal locations such as Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court.^[5]

In June 2017, Brian Bellhouse was trampled to death by a herd of cows in a field at Church Lane, Guestling.^[7][8]

Geography

The village of Guestling is located 2 miles (3.2 km) from the coast, and about 3.25 miles (5.23 km) north east of Hastings^[9] The village is a scattered one, consisting of multiple parts, including Guestling Green and Guestling Thorn. The hamlet of Three Oaks also lies within the parish.^[10]

Landmarks and culture

The village was probably originally centred around the St Laurence's Church, built in the 11th century: the building has a Norman tower which has been Grade I listed since 1961.^[11] However, the villagers moved further away from the church, possibly owing to victims of the Black Death being buried in the churchyard.^[12][13] Also buried in the graveyard was Olive "Nou" Rand Brockwell, nanny of Christopher Robin Milne.^[14] The church was restored in 1886, but was further damaged by a fire in 1890.^[15] The village's war memorials are located within the church, with 24 names from the First World War and 8 from the Second World War.^[16] There has been an annual Flower Festival since the 1990s at St Laurence's Church.^[17]

The school in the village is the Guestling-Bradshaw CE Primary School, which dates back to 1835.^[18]

References

1. "East Sussex in Figures". East Sussex County Council. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
2. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 7 October 2015.
3. Mills, A. D. (2011). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 216. ISBN 9780199609086.
4. Powell-Smith, Anna. "Open Domesday". Retrieved 1 March 2020.
5. "Guestling Parish Council". Guestling Parish Council. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
6. "Refurbishment". Royal Institute of British Architects Journal. 97. RIBA Magazines 1990. 1990.
7. "Tributes to Oxford Professor who was trampled by herd of cows | Meridian - ITV News". Itv.com. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
8. "Former Oxford professor Brian Bellhouse 'trampled to death by cows' (From Oxford Mail)". Oxfordmail.co.uk. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
9. "History of Guestling, in Rother and Sussex". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
10. Google (1 March 2020). "Guestling" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
11. "St Laurence, Church Lane". Historic England. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
12. Collins, Mark. "Westfield, (East Sussex)". Sussex OPC. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
13. "Guestling in East Sussex". Village Net. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
14. "The Parish Church of St Laurence". Historic England. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
15. "Guestling Church: Church of St Laurence". Weald and Downland Churches. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
16. Comber, Chris. "Guestling War Memorial". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
17. "Popular Guestling Flower Festival returns for another year". Rye and Battle Observer. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
18. "Our School". Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School. Retrieved 1 March 2020.