Last modified: 2021-05-08 by rob raeside
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![[Flag of Wadhurst, East Sussex]](../images/g/gb-e-wad.gif)
image located by Pete Loeser, 29 November 2015On this page:
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Wadhurst is a historic market town in East Sussex. It is in the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. The name Wadhurst (Wadeherst is Anglo-Saxon and derives from Wada, the name of a Saxon tribe that occupied the area before the Romans invaded early Britain.
Oak and iron formed the character of Wadhurst. There is still an ancient pathway connecting prehistoric and Roman iron working sites and the local iron industry became an important part of Wadhurst's charter. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Wadhurst, as did many towns and villages in the area, had a thriving Wealden Iron industry.
Henry III granted Wadhurst its charter in 1253, allowing Wadhurst to hold a market every Saturday and a fair on 29 June, the feast of St Peter and St Paul. Many churches in the area have iron slab memorials made by the iron craftsmen of Wadhurst. Wadhurst's church of St Peter and St Paul alone has thirty iron slab memorials! The iron slabs date from between 1617 and 1790.
Also over the years local oak was transported down to Chatham Dockyard and used to build great wooden warships of the English Navy. It is said that oak from Wadhurst forms the hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall, commissioned in 1393 by King Richard II and it was certainly used to rebuild it after its bombing in the 2nd World War.
For sports fans, you might be interested in the fact that Wadhurst was also the location of the Last Great Prize Fight on December 10, 1863, when Englishman, Tom King, beat the American champion, John Heenan. That's all I've got.
Pete Loeser, 1 May 2021
From the notes of Graham Bartram, Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist:
Source: The Flag Institute: Wadhurst.."The Wadhurst Flag is a community flag proclaiming the unique identity of this Sussex town and its people.
The Wadhurst Flag displays a green field evoking the town's rural nature. A golden-orange section, forming a 'W' for Wadhurst, recalls the historic iron industry and the mineral colour of local streams. It also symbolises the hills, steep valleys and meandering streams of the surrounding High Weald.
Between the arms of the 'W' lie three estoiles (wavy stars) derived from the Courthope arms. The Courthope family owned the Whiligh Estate that covered much of Wadhurst. This estate also produced the oak used for Westminster Hall's famous hammer-beam roof (1398-1401), the largest medieval timber roof in Europe.
- Flag Type: Town Flag
- Flag Date: 25 September 2019
- Flag Designer: Paul Eldridge with Brady Ells
- Adoption Route: Wadhurst Parish Council
- UK Design Code: UNKG7543
- Aspect Ratio: 3:5
- Pantone® Colours: Green 356, Gold 137, White
- Certification: Graham Bartram, Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist