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Wadhurst

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WADHURST is a large parish and railway station, on the Tonbridge and Hastings Railway, 9 miles from the former, and 24 from the latter town, in the Eastern division of the county, Loxfield Pelham hundred, Ticehurst union, jurisdiction of Tunbridge Wells county court, Pevensey rape, diocese of Chichester, and archdeaconry of Lewes: it is 42 miles from London by road, 17 from Battle, 23 from Hastings, 22 from Rye, and 6 south-east from Tunbridge Wells. The church of SS. Peter and Paul is partly in the Early and partly in the Later style of English architecture: it has a high tower, with clock, shingle spire and 6 bells, nave, aisles, and deep chancel, divided from the nave by four lofty arches; there are memorial windows to the children of the Rev. John Foley; also one over the west entrance to members of the Wace family: the church was restored in 1858, and contains several monuments, with one to "John Legas, gent.," which, as showing the change of currents in manufacturing affairs, may be worth noticing: this gentleman died in 1752, aged 62 years, having acquired a handsome fortune "by his industry and diligence in the iron works of this county." The register dates from 1604. The living is a vicarage, value £659 per annum, with residence and 12 acres of glebe land, in the gift of Wadham College, Oxford, and held by the Rev. John Foley, B.D., formerly Fellow of that college. Here are National schools; also places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. A public library. and reading room was opened in June, 1862. There is a Post Office savings bank, also a penny savings bank. Fairs are held on the 29th of April and 1st of November. The Marquis Camden and lord Dacre are lords of the manor; and E. W. Smyth, G. C. Courthope, J. J. Newington, Esqrs., and the Marquis Camden, are the chief landowners. In the vicinity of the railway station are stone quarries, where sandstone of a superior quality is produced, which is much used for building purposes; there are also brickmaking yards in the parish. The charities are £23 l0s. perannum. The scenery in and contiguous to the village is very picturesque. Wadhurst Castle, a modern building, situated on an eminence, is the residence of Edward Watson Smyth, Esq., J.P. The area is 10,147 acres and the population in 1861 was 2,470.
TIDE BROOK is a hamlet, 2½ miles south-west from Wadhurst, and 2½ north-east from Mayfield, aboundinq in picturesque scenery. A new church (St. John the Baptist) was erected here in 1856, the expenses of which were defrayed by voluntary contributions, the principal contributor being George Campion Courthope, Esq.: it is a stone building, consisting of nave and chancel: the stone was given by J. J. Newington, Esq.: the design was by Thomas Henry Rushforth, Esq., architect. The living is a perpetual curacy, value £53 per annum, with residence, in the alternate gift of the vicars of Wadhurst and Mayfield, and held by the Rev. Albert James Roberts, M.A., of St. John's College Oxford. There is also a school house, with teachers' residence attached. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]

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