Westfield, (East Sussex)

Westfield lies about 4 miles north of Hastings on the A28 and consists mainly of modern red brick houses; the original weather boarded centre lies on the minor road to Guestling around the Plough Inn.

The name literally means west open land, and was given to what was once undeveloped land lying to the west of Guestling.

The church of St John the Baptist stands at the southern end of the village. The heavy oak south door is iron-banded and dated 1542.

The church guidebook hints that the large buttresses around the tower and along the south side were made necessary when the Norman builders re-used inadequate Saxon foundations for their construction. This view is not universally subscribed to, however there are no buttresses on the north side which gives the building a somewhat unbalanced external appearance.

The Church has undergone many changes through the centuries, including bomb damage during World War II which destroyed the stained glass in the east end. The pulpit is Jacobean, the font 14th century, and the tall wooden canopy covering it was carved in the late 17th century.

The lych-gate, visible in this picture, was erected in 1887 as a memorial to the death of a child. It has four carved angels incorporated into the design.

The old village centre is quite a distance away from the church. This is likely to have been caused by the Black Death of 1348. The settlement that used to be based around the of church was probably moved because of the number of plague victims in the churchyard.

On November 5th 1908, Westfield's last windmill was burnt down. As it was the evening of the village Bonfire Societies torch light procession, naturally the Bonfire Boys fell under suspicion. However, nothing was ever proved and so the culprits were never found.

The Methodist church is no longer a place of worship, having been converted to a residence after the congregation dwindled.

Places of worship:

Church details, together with baptism, marriage, monumental inscription & burial records can be accessed by clicking on the church name.

Beulah (Bible Christian) Chapel

Primitive Methodist Chapel

Sanctuary of the Risen Healing Christ

St John the Baptist

Census returns:

The OPC Database has no census returns for people residing in this parish yet.

People born in this parish but residing elsewhere:

52 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1861 census.

3 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1891 census.

Maps:

Grid reference: 581500, 115500 ~ View on: Google Maps, Open Street Map, Streetmap, National Library of Scotland Map or Oldmaps.

Militia records etc:

Roll of Honour has a transcription of the war memorial and wooden board in the church together with further information about the people listed.

Poll Registers:

The OPC database contains 104 poll register entries for people entitled to vote in this parish.

1641 Protestation Returns:

There are no protestation returns for this parish in the OPC database.

Gazettes:

The OPC database contains 120 entries for people associated with this parish mentioned in Gazettes.

Photographs:

There are 23 images depicting this parish in the OPC database.

POWPics (The new Roughwood churches album) contains 1 photographs of churches in this parish. This album will also display any postcards or other images of churches which are in the Sussex OPC database.

Postal directories:

The OPC database contains 1 postal directory entry for this parish, (breakdown below).

1 entry from the 1832 Pigot's Directory of Sussex.

The OPC database contains the following directory sections which cover this parish.

1832 Pigot's Directory of Sussex for Battle.

1851 Post Office Directory for Westfield

Publications:

There are no books about this parish in the Sussex OPC Bibliography.

There are no articles about this parish in the OPC Sussex Archeaological Collections Index.

There are no people from this parish in the OPC Sussex Archeaological Society Members Index.

Wills:

The OPC database contains 1 will of someone who lived in this parish.

The OPC database contains 1 will which mention this parish.

Interest in this parish:

No registered users have badged this parish yet. To share your interest with others, why not register as a frequent user of this site?

Please contact the OPC co-ordinator if you have information or links you would like to contribute.

Remember that OPCs are volunteers and are unlikely to have information not listed on this page.

Please be courteous and patient - they, like you, have busy lives and will try and respond as quickly as they can.

The advertisements below are served by Google; the very small revenue generated when people click on them sometimes covers the cost of hosting the Sussex OPC website.