Archaeological finds suggest that the area around the modern-day village of Herstmonceux may have been inhabited as far back as the Neolithic period, about 5,000 years ago. However, the first written evidence of a settlement at ‘Herste’ appears in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The name is Anglo-Saxon in origin and implies a ‘clearing in the wood’. By the end of the of the 12th century, the family living at the manor of Herste had achieved considerable status. Through the marriage of Idonea de Herste to a Norman nobleman named Ingelram de Monceux, the manor became known as the Herste of the Monceux and eventually Herstmonceux.
In the 15th century, Sir Roger Fiennes, a Monceux descendant, built Herstmonceux Castle, now the oldest brick building of note in the country, to replace the existing manor house. He also decided he didn’t want anyone using the track that passed the front of his new home. As such, he had it blocked off so that travellers had to go north of his estate via Gardner Street. A settlement was established here but it wasn’t until the late 19th century that Gardner Street became known as the village of Herstmonceux.
Herstmonceux Castle was dismantled internally in 1776 on the advice of an architect, Samuel Wyatt, who felt it was not economically viable to repair. The outer walls and gatehouse that remained eventually resembled an ivy clad, gothic ruin before the castle was fully restored as a sumptuous private home in the first half of the 20th century.
At the end of the Second World War, the castle and estate were sold to the Admiralty to become the new home for The Royal Greenwich Observatory, which relocated from the light and smoke pollution of London to the clearer skies of Sussex. A group of buildings were constructed to house the telescopes that accompanied the move to Herstmonceux. These iconic green copper domes now form part of The Observatory Science Centre, which has been offering spectacular science for all since 1995.
In 1993, Herstmonceux Castle and its estate were gifted to Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, by wealthy former student Alfred Bader, whose wife had a house in nearby Bexhill. Born in Austria and raised as a Jew, Bader was forced out of school at 14. At 16 he was sent to England, then at 18 to a Canadian internment camp for European refugees, going on to study for three degrees at Queen's University. The castle now operates as the Bader International Study Centre and is not freely open to the public although guided tours of the castle are offered subject to availability. However, the gardens and grounds are a popular visitor attraction.
Herstmonceux is also famous for its Royal Sussex Trugs. These wooden baskets, designed for use on farms and in gardens, were first made in the village by Thomas Smith in 1829. They found favour with Queen Victoria, who placed an order for some when she visited his stand at the Great Exhibition of 1851, thus assuring his future success. Today trugs are still hand made by craftsmen at Thomas Smith’s Trug Shop.
An ideal base for visitors looking to explore the beautiful surrounding countryside, Herstmonceux also boasts a fully restored 19th century windmill together with the 12th century All Saints Church, which marks the site of the medieval village.
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