CROWHURST
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A beautiful village in hilly woodland on either side of the Powdermill Stream. It has a great yew tree thousands of years old - the King Harold Yew. There is a RSPB Nature Reserve at Fore Wood and a locally cared-for nature reserve at Quarry Wood. Further down the stream is Crowhurst Lake which is a haven for herons, swans and cormorants and has a nationally significant number (200) of Shoveler ducks (Anas clypeata) in winter. Up to 80 greylag geese also flock there. The village churchyard has many oaks and yews and its own varied wildlife habitat. Overall its environment and wildlife is outstandingly rich.
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Wikipedia says of its history:
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The earliest mention of the settlement is in 771, when King Offa of Mercia gave the Bishop of Selsey a piece of land here; a church was then built by the Bishop. Crowhurst (then called Croghyrst) itself remained the king's land until 1412, although various landowners were given possession of it over that time:
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Robert Count of Eu, after the Norman Conquest of England
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the Fitz-Lambert family, until the 12th century
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Walter de Scotney, given by Richard I after the Third Crusade, although Walter forfeited it in 1259, having been found guilty of a crime.
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Sir John Pelham, given to him by Henry IV in 1412; Pelham built the present parish church.
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Politically, Crowhurst has a Ward area covering much of Combe Valley with a population of around 2,000 people and a Parish area of around 800 people.
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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Crowhurst like this:
CROWHURST, a parish in Battle district, Sussex; on the Tunbridge Wells and Hastings railway, 2¼ miles S of Battle. It has a post office under Battle. Acres, 2, 160. Real property, £2, 311. Pop., 430. Houses, 76. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged to Harold, in the time of Edward the Confessor; was held by Walter de Scotney, in the time of Henry III.; and passed to the Pelhams. ...
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Remains exist of a manor-house, in late early English architecture, supposed to have been built by Walter de Scotney. Crowhurst Place was long the seat of the Pelhams; and is now the seat of T. Papillon, Esq. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Chichester. Value, £177.* Patron, T. Papillon, Esq. The church was partly rebuilt in 1794; and is very good. A yew tree in the churchyard is 27 feet in girth at 4 feet from the ground.
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