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Groombridge
Groombridge is a village of about 1,600 people. It straddles the border between Kent and East Sussex, in England. The nearest large town is Royal Tunbridge Wells, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) away by road.
The main part of the village ("New Groombridge") lies in the Withyham civil parish, which forms part of Wealden District of East Sussex. Across the county boundary lies the much smaller and older part of the village ("Old Groombridge"). This is within the Speldhurst civil parish, which forms part of the Tunbridge Wells Borough of Kent. At the 2011 Census the population of the Kent portion of the village was included in the civil parish of Frant.
New Groombridge has a primary school associated with the church of St Thomas, part of the Diocese of Chichester. It has a general store, a bakery, a post office, a hairdresser, a car dealership and the Junction Inn public house. The railway station is also in the East Sussex part of Groombridge.
Old Groombridge has the church of St John, which is part of the Diocese of Rochester. It also has the Crown Inn public house and the "Blooming Perfect" florist. The village hit the headlines in November 2020 due to East Sussex and Kent going into different Coronavirus tiers. With East Sussex being in Tier 2, the Junction could open and serve alcohol with a substantial meal, but, with Kent in Tier 3, the Crown Inn was forced to remain closed.
Groombridge Place is a popular visitor attraction, with a history beginning in 1239. Groombridge Place has been owned by some of Kent's most distinguished families, including the de Cobhams and Sir Richard Waller.
The first reference we have is from Saxon times, when there was a settlement on the north bank, the Kent side, of the stream which is now called The Grom. The head of the tribe was Groman and it was his responsibility to keep the bridge across the stream to ensure no unwanted types from the South got across. So it became known as Gromensbregge, which became corrupted over the years to Groombridge.
MacKinnnon's History of Speldhurst records that Groman built a castle within a moat and that the Normans later destroyed it after the conquest.
The next firm evidence is of two Royal Charters. One was granted in 1239 to William Russell and his wife to build a Chantry Chapel to their house at Gromenbregge, endowed with a Priest. This chapel was dedicated to St John the Evangelist. This indicates another house had been built on the site of the Saxon one. The second Royal Charter, granted to Henry de Gobham in 1286, was to hold a weekly market and a fair once a year on the eve, day and morrow of the feast of St John before the Latin Gate, which translates into 5, 6 and 7 May each year. Groombridge must have been important in the area to have been granted a market. Originally it was held on and around the Green but in Victorian times it moved over the stream to a site in Withyham Road opposite the garage and became a fortnightly cattle market until the 1950s when it closed for good. The fair had died out much earlier in the 1900s. According to legend the finale of each Fair was the rolling of a blazing tar barrel down the hill.
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Groombridge
Groombridge is a village of about 1,600 people. It straddles the border between Kent and East Sussex, in England. The nearest large town is Royal Tunbridge Wells, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) away by road.
The main part of the village ("New Groombridge") lies in the Withyham civil parish, which forms part of Wealden District of East Sussex. Across the county boundary lies the much smaller and older part of the village ("Old Groombridge"). This is within the Speldhurst civil parish, which forms part of the Tunbridge Wells Borough of Kent. At the 2011 Census the population of the Kent portion of the village was included in the civil parish of Frant.
New Groombridge has a primary school associated with the church of St Thomas, part of the Diocese of Chichester. It has a general store, a bakery, a post office, a hairdresser, a car dealership and the Junction Inn public house. The railway station is also in the East Sussex part of Groombridge.
Old Groombridge has the church of St John, which is part of the Diocese of Rochester. It also has the Crown Inn public house and the "Blooming Perfect" florist. The village hit the headlines in November 2020 due to East Sussex and Kent going into different Coronavirus tiers. With East Sussex being in Tier 2, the Junction could open and serve alcohol with a substantial meal, but, with Kent in Tier 3, the Crown Inn was forced to remain closed.
Groombridge Place is a popular visitor attraction, with a history beginning in 1239. Groombridge Place has been owned by some of Kent's most distinguished families, including the de Cobhams and Sir Richard Waller.
The first reference we have is from Saxon times, when there was a settlement on the north bank, the Kent side, of the stream which is now called The Grom. The head of the tribe was Groman and it was his responsibility to keep the bridge across the stream to ensure no unwanted types from the South got across. So it became known as Gromensbregge, which became corrupted over the years to Groombridge.
MacKinnnon's History of Speldhurst records that Groman built a castle within a moat and that the Normans later destroyed it after the conquest.
The next firm evidence is of two Royal Charters. One was granted in 1239 to William Russell and his wife to build a Chantry Chapel to their house at Gromenbregge, endowed with a Priest. This chapel was dedicated to St John the Evangelist. This indicates another house had been built on the site of the Saxon one. The second Royal Charter, granted to Henry de Gobham in 1286, was to hold a weekly market and a fair once a year on the eve, day and morrow of the feast of St John before the Latin Gate, which translates into 5, 6 and 7 May each year. Groombridge must have been important in the area to have been granted a market. Originally it was held on and around the Green but in Victorian times it moved over the stream to a site in Withyham Road opposite the garage and became a fortnightly cattle market until the 1950s when it closed for good. The fair had died out much earlier in the 1900s. According to legend the finale of each Fair was the rolling of a blazing tar barrel down the hill.