Mountfield, (East Sussex)

Parish picture

Mountfield is a small village five miles north-west of Battle. The name derives from Munda's field or land, the name of an ancient inhabitant. The parish church is dedicated to All Saints and is built in the Early English style, with a Norman chancel arch and some Norman windows remaining.

The hamlet of Johns Cross, on the main A21 road, is situated within the parish; this being the location of Mountfield and Whatlington School. From the 17th century Gypsum, a prime ingredient of plaster, has been mined in Mountfield. The mine is connected to the mainline to Hastings.

Parish picture

Unfortunately Mountfield Halt for passengers using this line was closed in 1969. Near to the site of the halt is the former Methodist Chapel built in 1894 on land donated by the Earl of Ashburnham. The building, now a residence, also sports the former name board from the railway halt.

The British Gypsum mine in Mountfield is among the few still working in the country and is by far the largest industrial establishment in rural Rother. Much of the parish is heavily wooded, with a significant acreage designated as Ancient Woodland.

In 1862 William Butcher discovered the Mountfield Hoard while ploughing in his field close to Taylors Cottage. Thinking the yellow metal was brass he sold it to a local ironmonger who, recognising that it was in fact about 12lb of gold items, melted most of it down to avoid it being claimed by the Crown as treasure trove.

Places of worship:

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

All Saints

Methodist (Wesleyan) Chapel

Census returns:

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

People born in this parish but residing elsewhere:

1 individual in the OPC Database for the 1851 census.

82 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1861 census.

Maps:

Grid reference: 573500, 120500 ~ View on: Google Maps, Open Street Map, Streetmap, National Library of Scotland Map or Oldmaps.

Militia records etc:

Roll of Honour has details of the war memorial in the church, together with information on those listed.

Other links relating to this parish:

The Parish of Mountfield The primary purpose of this site is to provide an information resource for those of us fortunate enough to live or work in Mountfield - more particularly, we seek to encourage residents to engage fully in the life of the parish, to make full use of the community facilities and services available, to support community initiatives and, where possible, to 'buy local' in order to safeguard local jobs and livelihood

Poll Registers:

The OPC database contains 50 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 21 entries for people associated with this parish mentioned in Gazettes.

Photographs:

There are 28 images depicting this parish in the OPC database.

POWPics (The new Roughwood churches album) contains 17 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 2 postal directory entries for this parish, (breakdown below).

2 entries 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.

1867 Kelly's Directory for Mountfield is available on the GENUKI site

Publications:

There are 3 books about this parish in the Sussex OPC Bibliography.

There are 4 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 no wills of people who lived in this parish.

The OPC database contains 2 wills which mention this parish.

Interest in this parish:

1 registered user has badged this parish. To contact them or see their details, please register as a frequent visitor to this site.

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