 | Bolebroke Watermill Hartfield Bolebroke Watermill, Edenbridge Road, Perry Hill, Hartfield, East Sussex, TN7 4JP "Bolebroke Watermill has relinquished its former agricultural use and is now transformed into unusual and superior quality B and B, which has charmed guests for the past 15 years." |
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Bolebroke Watermill
Edenbridge Road, Hartfield, East Sussex, TN7 4JPTelephone: 01892 770061
Fax: 01892 771041
| The Miller's Barn at Bolebroke watermill has now transformed into unusual and superiorB & B, which has charmed guests for the past 15 years. During this time Bolebroke Mill won awards for "Fairy Story Hotel of the Year - World-Wide", (Foreman Houghton Publications 2002), number one in the "World's Most Romantic Hotels", (Observer 2000) and is often featured on TV, and in the press. The accommodation has been listed as Premier Selected in leading guide books and was featured in Which? (2003), The Good Hotel Guide (2003) and Michelin (1993). First recorded in 1086 in William the Conqueror's Domesday Book, corn continued to be ground on the property till 1948. The idyllic setting of woodland, meadows and millpond, tucked away at the end of a winding country lane, evokes a sense of centuries past. In 1994 its unspoilt charm served as the romantic backdrop for the filming of Carrington, starring Emma Thompson and Jonathan Price. The Elizabethan Miller's Barn has been lovingly adapted to form a charmingly unusual B & B with accommodation of great rustic character. All the buildings are listed Grade II and in an area of 'Outstanding Natural Beauty', classified by The Countryside Agency. |
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| The Miller's Barn For those seeking romance, the heavily beamed, rustic Barn is the place to stay. Here, there are 3 double en suite rooms of which two have 4 poster beds - the Honeymooners' Hayloft and the Dovesnest. Downstairs, the Barn has its own charming lounge with doors opening onto a private patio. All the doors and some ceilings are low as would be expected in an ancient country building.  All 3 rooms have en suite bathrooms including a shower over the bath. The rooms have modern facilities which are discreetly present such as colour TV, hairdryers, radio alarm clocks and tea and coffee sets. Breakfast is at nearby Bolebroke Castle which was Henry VIII's hunting lodge and from where he courted Anne Boleyn. Lunch and dinner may be taken at several nearby country style pubs which have good restaurants. Tea rooms are within 1 -3 miles where light lunches are also served. |
| A Brief History of Bolebroke Mill and the Local Area The Mill is situated approx. 1 mile north of Hartfield Church, which was rebuilt of stone circa 1263 on the site of a much earlier Saxon church. To the west of the mill approximately 600 yards, is a Roman road running alongside Bolebroke Castle, circa 1300. Though the mill was first recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086 AD, it existed several hundred years before in Roman times and continued in daily use right up until after the Second World War. The Atherfold family were millers here from 1602 till the mid 1880s and George Atherfold's tombstone can be seen in the church grounds. The Barker family then ran the mill till the wheels finally stopped turning in 1948. This quiet, sleepy corner of England has seena mixed history. Having defeated a superior Viking army on the East coast just days before the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the whole of the English army was compelled to marchfrom East Anglia though London and on to the Southcoast through Sussex ready to engage in battle with the Norman invaders. The Normans remained in England for the next 200 years during which time the peasant population was increasingly taxed into starvationand then ravaged by the arrival of the plague from 1348 onward.In 1381 the "Peasant Rebellion" was started by John Ball and assisted by Watt Tyler who united the serfs, but the rebellion was stopped by the interception of Richard II.The country was in turmoil once more with the outbreak of the first Civil War in 1640 - 46 swiftly followed by a Second Civil War. Then the Glorious Revolution' which finally bestowed equal rights for both Protestants and Catholics. Nonetheless, counter plots still continued. By 1690 smuggling was rife from London to all round the Kent andSussex coast as far as Portsmouth. In the 1840s, in an attempt to stop the pitched battles between hundreds of smugglers and customs and military officers, many import and export duties werereduced. Hartfield, Groombridge, Withyham, Goudhurst and Rotherfield all had their local heroes or midnight gentlemen, such as Robert Pope of Hartfield's "Pope Cottage" who was hanged in1739. Another was Old Joll, a relative of the Atherfolds and a memberof the "Mayfield Gang" who was tried for smuggling and murder and was transported for life in 1749 but returned in 1755/ 60 and died in 1781. Smuggling continued until after the First World War, to a much lesser degree and even to this day. |
| A Few Places of Local Interest Bolebroke Watermill is fortunate to be centrally placed within easy travelling distance of numerous gardens and places of historical interest:
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| 1 Double Room and 2 Honeymoon Rooms with 4 Poster Beds - Sun - Thurs £89.00 per night Fri/Sat £99. All rooms are fully en suite and have the same facilities. As emails can get "lost" or the computer/printer can "go down" please include your phone and/or fax number. |
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