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Rodmell
Rodmell is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles (4.8 km) south-east of Lewes, on the Lewes to Newhaven road and six and a half miles from the City of Brighton & Hove and is situated by the west banks of the River Ouse. The village is served by Southease railway station, opened in 1906. The Prime Meridian passes just to the west of the village.
The village name has been variously spelled as Ramelle or Redmelle (11th century), Redmelde (12th century), Radmelde (13th century) and Radmill (18th century). It most likely derives from Brittonic where Rhod denotes a wheel and Melin refers to a Mill, hence mill wheel. A less likely derivation is from Old English read *mylde, "[place with] red soil". Before the time of the Norman conquest the manor of Rodmell was held by King Harold II. Rodmell was a significant settlement at the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, with 153 households. Between 1091 and 1095 the church was granted to Lewes Priory by William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. The early Norman church is dedicated to St Peter. The font is believed to be Saxon, predating the building itself. More recently, Monk's House was the home of the author Virginia Woolf for twenty-one years until her suicide in 1941.
The village is bisected by the road from Lewes to Newhaven which passes through Iford. This road also passes the neighbouring village of Southease.
The village was part of the Holmstrow hundred until the abolition of hundreds in the 19th century.
Like many of the county's southern parishes, Rodmell, is a long thin parish. From southeast to the northwest, it runs from Saltdean over the South Downs to the Lewes Brooks and as far as the River Ouse. To the north is the Iford parish and to the south is Southease.
There are many reasons why the Downland area is special as well. The South Downs Way crosses the scarp top. West from the track, on the Down between Highdole Hill and Fore Hill, there are many surviving marks from a busy Iron Age and Roman village. It used to be called ‘Isenden’, a Tolkienesque name, which sounds like it meant ‘Ouse dean’. Unusually, the long and convoluted dry valley behind the scarp does not drain southwards to the sea, but easterly, then northerly to the Brooks and the Ouse. There are also many surviving Down pasture sites that deserve to be known better. Michael Light, a worker at South Farm, has written a book/pamphlet with a number of editions recording the birds he has seen in the parish. In 2005 he recorded turtle dove, barn owl and little owl breeding in the area. He also recorded dotterel and yellow wagtail on passage on the flooded arable fields.
St Peter's Church is the parish church and dates from the 12th century. It is a Grade I listed building and unlike many churches it has retained its original features. Consequently it is among the earliest surviving examples of Norman architecture in the country.
There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the parish. Lewes Brooks is of biological importance and is part of the flood plain of the River Ouse. It provides a habitat for many other invertebrates such as water beetles and snails.
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Rodmell AI simulator
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Rodmell
Rodmell is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles (4.8 km) south-east of Lewes, on the Lewes to Newhaven road and six and a half miles from the City of Brighton & Hove and is situated by the west banks of the River Ouse. The village is served by Southease railway station, opened in 1906. The Prime Meridian passes just to the west of the village.
The village name has been variously spelled as Ramelle or Redmelle (11th century), Redmelde (12th century), Radmelde (13th century) and Radmill (18th century). It most likely derives from Brittonic where Rhod denotes a wheel and Melin refers to a Mill, hence mill wheel. A less likely derivation is from Old English read *mylde, "[place with] red soil". Before the time of the Norman conquest the manor of Rodmell was held by King Harold II. Rodmell was a significant settlement at the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, with 153 households. Between 1091 and 1095 the church was granted to Lewes Priory by William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. The early Norman church is dedicated to St Peter. The font is believed to be Saxon, predating the building itself. More recently, Monk's House was the home of the author Virginia Woolf for twenty-one years until her suicide in 1941.
The village is bisected by the road from Lewes to Newhaven which passes through Iford. This road also passes the neighbouring village of Southease.
The village was part of the Holmstrow hundred until the abolition of hundreds in the 19th century.
Like many of the county's southern parishes, Rodmell, is a long thin parish. From southeast to the northwest, it runs from Saltdean over the South Downs to the Lewes Brooks and as far as the River Ouse. To the north is the Iford parish and to the south is Southease.
There are many reasons why the Downland area is special as well. The South Downs Way crosses the scarp top. West from the track, on the Down between Highdole Hill and Fore Hill, there are many surviving marks from a busy Iron Age and Roman village. It used to be called ‘Isenden’, a Tolkienesque name, which sounds like it meant ‘Ouse dean’. Unusually, the long and convoluted dry valley behind the scarp does not drain southwards to the sea, but easterly, then northerly to the Brooks and the Ouse. There are also many surviving Down pasture sites that deserve to be known better. Michael Light, a worker at South Farm, has written a book/pamphlet with a number of editions recording the birds he has seen in the parish. In 2005 he recorded turtle dove, barn owl and little owl breeding in the area. He also recorded dotterel and yellow wagtail on passage on the flooded arable fields.
St Peter's Church is the parish church and dates from the 12th century. It is a Grade I listed building and unlike many churches it has retained its original features. Consequently it is among the earliest surviving examples of Norman architecture in the country.
There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the parish. Lewes Brooks is of biological importance and is part of the flood plain of the River Ouse. It provides a habitat for many other invertebrates such as water beetles and snails.