Catsfield in East Sussex can be found on the B2204 Battle to Ninfield road.
Its name could have come from the Saxon tribe the Catti, who
settled in the area, or possibly from Saint Cedd who is said
to have built the church here.
In the Domesday book the area was known as Cedesfille, and
was controlled by a Norman priest called Wrenc, prior to
1066 , the area was held by Elfalm, a Saxon. The village
was not destroyed as so many other villages in the area
were during the Norman invasion of 1066 , but its value
was halved, so quite a lot of damage was inflicted.
After the reformation in 1536 the Advowson for the village
was acquired by John Ashburnham from nearby Ashburnham .
At the end of the 1500's, it was purchased by Thomas
Alfraye, the lord of the Manor of Catsfield, a rich and
influential Ironmaster. In the early 18th century the
Ashburnham family who had also become rich re purchased
At the end of the 1600's, Catsfield Manor was purchased
by the London clock and watchmaking family the Markwick's.
In 1791 Princess Lamballe one of Marie Antoinette's ladies
in waiting, was sent with the queens jewels for safe keeping
to Lady Gibbs at Catsfield Place. Marie Antoinette was
executed in 1792 during the French Revolution.
The uncle of Mad Jack Fuller of Brightling , John Fuller
used to own Catsfield house, originally known as Broomham
and Parkgate, which remained in the family until 1865, when
it was sold to Thomas Brassey. Thomas was a railway pioneer
who built lines in India, Canada and Australia, he was
associated with George Stephenson.
|Catsfield in East Sussex has some nice views from the Battle road.
The village centre away from the road is quite pleasant,
and the old church is beautiful. |
|Catsfield in East Sussex lies on the B2204 between Battle and Ninfield ,
it has the usual small village services.|
Battle is the nearest shopping centre about 3 miles to the
north east, this is also on the London to Hastings main
line train service.
The nearest large shopping centre is at Bexhill , together
with the main line train service to Eastbourne .
|Catsfield is shown as the red symbol on the map.|
(click on symbol to see the village page)
||(Last Iron Furnace in Sussex)||2.70 miles|
||(William the Conqueror prevails)||1.96 miles|
||(White Horse on the roof)||4.89 miles|
||(Picturesque village on top of the Ridge)||3.96 miles|
||(Edward I inspects the Channel Fleet)||6.93 miles|
||Broad Oak Brede
||(On the Crossroads)||7.35 miles|
||(Village devastated by the Normans)||2.37 miles|
||(Custers Last Stand!)||5.33 miles|
||(Landing place of the citizens)||4.62 miles|
||Hastings Old Town
||(The ancient Cinque Port)||6.76 miles|
||Hastings Sea Front
||(Modern amusements,pier and promenade)||5.14 miles|
||St Leonards on Sea
||(an Edwardian family's gentile resort)||5.33 miles|
||(Castle and Observatory)||5.67 miles|
||(The Haunt of Smugglers)||2.85 miles|
||(Village at the top of the Hill)||3.18 miles|
||(Last of the Iron Stocks)||1.41 miles|
||(Beautiful yet Remote)||2.51 miles|
||(Open Village and Nuclear Bunker)||6.71 miles|
||(Best gunpowder in Europe)||4.39 miles|
||(World War II defence centre)||4.99 miles|
||(Bonfire Boys under suspicion)||5.38 miles|
||(King Harold's Manor)||3.76 miles|
||(Largest Post Mill in Sussex)||4.89 miles|