Old Isfield - By V Hopkins

Thanks to Bill Colson for the article.
Many years ago this used to be a quiet village, the sand carts drawn by horses went to and fro from the sandpits to the station where the sand was shovelled into trucks and then sent to Eastbourne. The Mill also had horse drawn vans going to and from the station, loading and unloading grain. Once a boy tried to get on a van while it was moving, but he fell and then wheel went over his leg and broke it. Another van was out on the rounds when its driver was killed, and no one ever found out what happened.  The baker used to make the bread and deliver it through the village from his handcart covered with a lid, what lovely crusty bread that was! Mr Stevens the baker lived in Clappers Cottage, and his sister in law who was the midwife lived next door.

The bungalows built opposite were bought by Mr Schweir, who ran a smallholding; this was later bought by Mr J R Palmer who only recently left the village.

In those days the Mill was a water mill, I can remember the first engine being put in, the engineer had his lunch with us, and on one occasion we had a cherry tart which he enjoyed. He couldn’t understand why we all had stones left on our plate afterwards, he had eaten them all!  Formerly the Mill House went with the mill, and there was a footbridge over the stream to connect the house and the mill. The Mill House has been considerably altered since those times.

I remember my brother sitting on a sack what was attached to a chain, and being hauled up to the very top of the mill. The men nearly had a fit as he went through each trap hatch, but all went well.
The Bridge cottage was lived in by the Funnels, and Mr Funnel was the preacher at the chapel that is now closed.

Isfield Church lies in a very peaceful spot across the fields where long ago the village used to be, it is a lovely church and there my daughter was christened, confirmed and married.

Is is believed that there was an underground passage from the Shurley Chapel to Isfield Place, and it would be interesting to know if it still exists.

Major King was a fine old squire, and when he lived at Isfield Place everyone had to bow when meeting him. When he died the school children lined the path to the church for his funeral, and he was carried on a farm wagon lined with evergreens. He was laid to rest in the family vault, the only time it has been opened for a very long time. His widow established a fund in his memory to help people in the village, and this is still used for Christmas Comforts. At one time the school for Isfield children was held in one room on a plot opposite Chestnut Farm although it had a roll of no less than eighty scholars. But later the building that has recently been converted into the Village Hall was opened and attended by many children, some of whom walked a long way daily. Happy memories of those days remain among us, the school was used for concerts, and some of these were given by the children and were very good.

For years the organist at St Margaret’s lived at Barcombe Mills and he walked or cycled to and from church each Sunday to play at the morning and evening services.

One truly sad event in the village was when foot and mouth disease occurred at Newhouse Farm, and all the livestock had to be slaughtered and burnt, Mr Cheale the farmer was our milkman at that time. He delivered the milk by horse and cart, measuring it out into our jugs from large milk can.

The first Post Office in the village was at The Elms and dealt mainly in stamps, the postman would cycle from Uckfield with the letters which he delivered to the post office. Then the ladies (Burton, Joslin and Wren) would take them round to the houses while the postman sat in his hut in the sandpit all day until it was time to collect the evening mail and take it back to Uckfield.

Many changes have been made to the cottage homes of those days, some have altogether disappeared, and replaced by newer homes. The site of one of these is now occupied by Sappers. Here there once stood a thatched cottage in which lived Mr and Mrs Francis, He was a shoe repairer. Next door were two cottages which were later combined to make Imperial House and the Village stores we next door which are called Grafton Villa’s, which was a butchers and the large front window still remains.

Two cottages known as Chapel Cottages were also altered to make the bungalow now called Robins Post. Not far away in the garden of Side View Cottage stood a wooden hut which served as a shop for a visiting shoe repairer who came two or three days a week.

The village once has its own Brass band and this took pride in its parades on such occasions as Hospital Sunday, Postcards show the band marching behind a banner and between the Fire brigade and the Boy Scouts on July 23^rd 1922. Mr Charlie Heasman, for many years a choir man with a fine bass voice also played the big drum, this very instrument was found in the roof of The Elms.

After the First World War the memorial hall was put up in a combined effort by the village people, its first caretaker who was Mr Goodman took pride of it in his garden; an old postcard shows him standing before the open door under a very large board announcing Isfield Memorial Hall. In this picture there is no annexe room to the right of the door, that was added later. Dances, Socials and whist-drives were well attended there for many years.