Rotherfield lies on the Mayfield to Crowborough road, about halfway between the two on the top of a hill. It is the source of two rivers, the Rother which comes from a spring in the cellar of one of the houses in the village, and the Uck from the other side of the village.
The first reference to Rotherfield is in AD792, when Duke Berthoald bequested a church on his estate of Hryoeranfeld or Ridrefeld. The church was dedicated to saint Dionysuis, a French saint to whose monastery Berthoald had made a pilgrimage to in order to have his illness cured.
Before the Battle of Hastings Earl Godwin was the landowner, but the land was given to Odo of Bayeux, the half-brother of William the Conqueror before the Domesday Book was written. In 1087 the village was given to the De Clare family, whose last male was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. About 50 years later the female side of the De Clare family married into the Neville family, who were the Lords of Burgavenny which changed later in 1724 to Abergavenny.
The original wooden church was replaced in the 11th century by a stone structure, with additions in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries, by this time the dedication to St Dionysuis had been corrupted to St Denys.
From the 1450's the Neville family owned the village, and their emblems can be seen in the villages from Rotherfield to Eridge.
In 1557 Alexander Hosmar and Ann Ashdown were arrested for heresy and were burned at the stake in Lewes with other Sussex Martyrs.
Again this is one of the villages influenced by the Wealden iron industry, with furnaces and forges found in the area.
The above coordinates are not for the cache.
The published co-ordinates will take you to this 'Fine Pair’ in Rotherfield village centre. Make a note of the telephone number of the phone box which become ABCDEFGHJKL and the postcode numbers on the letter box which become MNOP.
The cache can be found at:
N51 AE.M(C-B)(G+P)
E000 J(H+L).K(G+N)(D-B)
Parking can be a little tricky at times but there is a small free car park at Millennium Green a few hundred yards away. See additional waypoints.
The Fine Pair series was originally started by wizardsmum.
If anybody would like to place 'A Fine Pair' of their own please do, I would just ask that you let mattd2k know first so he can keep track of the numbers and names to avoid duplication.
He also keeps a public Bookmark List of this series so once your cache is published please contact him via his profile page to have yours added.
While you’re in the area you may wish to visit a couple of my other series which are nearby:
HHW Revisited
Big Millhole Stroll