Uckfield


Uckfield is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald.

Etymology

"Uckfield", first recorded in writing as "Uckefeld" in 1220, is an Anglo-Saxon place name meaning "open land of a man called Ucca". It combines an Old English personal name, "Ucca" with the Old English locational term, "feld", the latter denoting open country or unencumbered ground. A number of other places in the area also contain the suffix "feld", which may be an indication of land that contrasts with the surrounding woodlands of the Weald, including in particular Ashdown Forest immediately to the north.

History

The first mention in historical documents is in the late 13th century. Uckfield developed as a stopping-off point on the pilgrimage route between Canterbury, Chichester and Lewes. The settlement began to develop around the bridging point of the river, including the locally famous Pudding Cake Lane where travellers visited a public house for slices of pudding cake; and the 15th-century Bridge Cottage, the oldest house still standing in Uckfield, now a museum. The town developed in the High Street and in the New Town areas.
The Eversfield family, who later became prominent in Sussex history, giving their name to the prime waterfront street of St Leonards-on-Sea, first settled in Uckfield from their Surrey beginnings. The family, who later owned the mansion Denne Park in Horsham, which they represented in Parliament, acquired a large fortune through marriage, real estate acquisition and iron founding. Their climb to wealth and prominence was a heady one: in 15th-century Sussex they were described as "yeomen", but within a generation they were already among the first rank of Sussex gentry.

Church Street

Church Street was at the heart of the original settlement of Uckfield, near the medieval chapel, which was replaced by the present parish church in 1839. It is situated on an ancient ridgeway route from the direction of Winchester in the west, to Rye and Canterbury in the east. Local hostelries along the route are the Maiden's Head, the King's Head or the Spread Eagle. Uckfield was part of the Archbishop's extensive Manor of South Malling.
Church Street contains a number of post-medieval buildings. These include the Old Grammar School, Bakers Cottage and the Malt House with Malt Cottage, and Church House with Andertons, Copping Hall and Milton Cottage.

Bridge Cottage

Studies suggest that the cottage dates to around 1436. Between 1500 and 1900, it was inhabited by a number of local families, including local merchants. In October 2014, the Heritage Lottery Fund granted one million pounds to enable the restoration of the cottage. Work started in October 2014, with an estimated completion date of late summer 2015.

Governance

The town council consists of 15 councillors, representing five wards: West ward ; New Town ; North ; East ; and Ridgewood. Mayoral elections take place every year.
Uckfield was previously represented at Westminster by Charles Hendry, Member of Parliament for the constituency of Wealden from 2001 until he stood down at the 2015 general election.
On 7 May 2015, Nus Ghani was elected as the MP for Wealden with a majority of 22,967. In the 2017 snap general election, Ghani was re-elected with a slightly increased majority of 23,268.

Geography

The town of Uckfield has grown up as a road hub, and on the crossing point of the River Uck. Traffic on the A26 between Royal Tunbridge Wells and Lewes, from the north-east to the south-west, joins with that on the A22 London – Eastbourne road around the town on its bypass; whilst the long-distance cross-country A272 road crosses them both north of the town.
As the town has grown, new housing estates were developed: Hempstead Fields, Harlands Farm, Rocks Park, West Park, Manor Park and Ringles Cross among them.
Parts of Uckfield, owing to its location on the river, have been subject to extensive flooding on a number of occasions, the earliest recorded being in 1852. More recent floods have occurred approximately every nine years: in 1962, 1974, 1989, 1994, 2000 and 2007, although those in 2007 were not as severe as previous floods. Local residents have long been lobbying for flood defences in the town, and when the local Somerfield became a Co-op, its car park's walls were rebuilt as flood defences with a ramp to access the car park and a watertight pedestrian gate that can be closed when flooding is imminent. It is hoped that this new wall will act as a reservoir to contain the flood water until it recedes, allowing the water to flow back into the river Uck, which runs alongside the carpark.
Due to the positioning of the river within Uckfield, any flooding is within the lowest part of the town centre and industrial estate, and so does not affect residential areas as these are all built on higher ground. The Hempstead Meadows Nature Reserve can be accessed from the car park and shows classic meadows formed on the flood plain.
The West Park Nature Reserve contains a wide variety of habitats; it is located on the western edge of the town.

Nature Reserves

  • West Park
West Park is a Local Nature Reserve. It has several access points, and is a vestige of ancient parkland, containing herb rich uncultivated wet meadow, woodland, some thriving wildlife and the remains of Mesolithic settlement.
  • Hempstead Meadows
Hempstead Meadows is a Local Nature Reserve. The River Uck runs through the flood plain, occupied by the Hempstead Nature Reserve, and is an important area of wetland. The area has an abundance of unusual flora and fauna, which flourish on this ideal site. A new footpath, the River walk is a recent introduction to this area.
  • Harlands Pond
Harlands Pond, located via Mallard Drive, home of the common toad. Regular visitors include the grey heron, in addition to its permanent residents, the coot and moorhen.
  • Nightingale Wood
Almost adjacent to the pond is Nightingale Wood. This is a cool, shady haven, containing many different tree species and is a valuable site for early purple orchids.
This 22-acre Millennium Green is one of the largest. To the south of the town, in Ridgewood, the Green was created on a site of three disused clay pits at the turn of the Millennium.

Development

East Sussex County Council completed phase one of the Uckfield Town Centre Highway Improvement Scheme in November 2014. In January 2016, phase two of the highway improvements were started, taking approximately eight months. The scheme involved the creation of 10,000 m2 of retail space within the town. It also limits to 1000 the number of new homes to be built between then and 2027.
In June 2015, the Ridgewood Farm development was granted outline planning approval. The development would see 1000 new homes of which a minimum of 15 per cent would be affordable housing. The development would include a two-form primary school, a large employment space, community, health and leisure facilities and pedestrian and cycle paths, and a 73-acre Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space nearby.
In July 2015, Network Rail announced plans to upgrade the platforms at Uckfield railway station to accommodate trains with up to 12 carriages. The works were predicted to last from November 2015 until March 2016.
In March 2016, developers were granted a 75 per cent reduction on the roof tax of 146 proposed homes at Mallard Drive, Ridgewood.

Demography

The population of Uckfield in 1811 was 916; in 1841, it was 1,534; in 1861, it was 1,740; in 1871, it was 2,041; in 1881, it was 2,146; in 1891, it was 2,497; in 1901, it was 2,895; in 1911, it was 3,344; in 1921, it was 3,385; and in 1931, it was 3,555. In 2001, the population had reached 13,697.In 2021, the population reached 15,033.

Transport

Uckfield is connected to London Bridge station by Southern services on its Oxted Line via East Croydon. Until 1969, the rail link continued to Lewes; after it was closed, Uckfield became the terminus; the station building was rebuilt in 1991 to allow the removal of a level crossing. The Wealden Line Campaign hopes to reopen the closed section to Lewes.
There are 20 local bus services in the Uckfield area; Brighton and Hove, CTLA, Renown Coaches, The Sussex Bus, Seaford & District and Stagecoach in Eastbourne all serve Uckfield. National Express coaches also operate to London.

Education

is the secondary school in the town. There are four primary schools: Harlands Primary School, Rocks Park Primary School St Philips Catholic Primary School and Manor Primary School.

Churches and chapels

The Church of England parish church is dedicated to the Holy Cross. Queen Elizabeth II made several unannounced low-profile visits to St Michael and All Angels Church, Little Horsted, which became widely known locally when the newsagent was asked to stock a copy of the Sporting Life. The Roman Catholic church is dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri. Uckfield Baptist Church was founded in 1785 by seceders from nearby Five Ash Down Independent Chapel, and a new building opened at the top of the High Street in 1789 ; it closed in 2005, but the congregation now meet at a school. Other churches and chapels include Methodist, Evangelical, United Reformed Church and the King's Church.

Notable people

was born in Uckfield in 1836. Frank Tuohy, prize-winning author and academic, was born in Uckfield in 1925.
Uckfield was the last place Lord Lucan was seen, at Grants Hill House, the home of his friends Ian and Susan Maxwell-Scott. Lady Lucan, his wife, was born in Uckfield. The actress Marjorie Westbury lived at Maresfield near Uckfield.
Nicholas van Hoogstraten, a property developer, owns property in the area. He was engaged in a long-running dispute with the Ramblers' Association about a local footpath running through his land. Work came to a halt on Hamilton Palace in 2001.
The singer Rag'n'Bone Man is from this town. A winner of the Brit Award for Critics' Choice 2017, he had a number one single across Europe with the song "Human".
The actor Roman Griffin Davis is from this town, he starred in the film Jojo Rabbit, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.