Alfred Baker Playsted

  General Notes:

At 1851 Census, listed as "Beer Retailer" of Snape Wood Beer Shop, Wadhurst



Wadhurst is situated on the Kent-Sussex border 7 miles east of Crowborough and about seven miles south of Tunbridge Wells. Other nearby settlements include Ticehurst, Burwash, Mayfield and Heathfield in East Sussex, and Lamberhurst, Hawkhurst
and Cranbrook in Kent.



Physically, Wadhurst lies on a high ridge of the Weald - a range of wooded hills running across Sussex and Kent between the North Downs and the South Downs. The reservoir of Bewl Water is nearby. The Teise, which is a tributary of the Medway,
and the Limden rise within the civil parish of Wadhurst.



Wadhurst is a small market town (chartered 1253), and has kept a good range of shops considering its size. The population of the civil parish is about 4,500.



Wadhurst (and neighbouring Ticehurst) were very deeply involved in the iron industry, Hawkhurst in a much more hazardous occupation, smuggling. Wadhurst is distinctly more town than village and was, in fact, granted a charter in 1253 by King
Henry III, who conferred the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair. A weekly market is still held on Monday. The name is pure Saxon, Wada's hyrst (wood). Wadhurst is probably the oldest of all the Wealden iron-smelting centres and
one of the most important. The Celts mined iron ore at several centres here, and there is little doubt that the Romans encouraged them to carry on.



There was certainly a Roman ironworks between Wadhurst and Ticehurst, and a Roman trackway led east along the ridge down to Newenden, where iron could have been shipped. Westward the track led to Frant and then north to London. Exactly how
important Wadhurst was as an iron centre can be assessed by a visit to the church, where you will find thirty-one fine cast-iron memorial floor slabs abnd one more in the churchyard. They span a period of over 180 years, from 1617 to 1799.
Wadhurst gave up its iron industry with great reluctance and not without a struggle. Long after all the Wealden furnaces had closed, including its own, Wadhurst opened new mines in Snapes wood, about a mile from the little town. It was in
August 1857. As all the furnaces in the neighbourhood had gone out, the ore was sent to Staffordshire for smelting. It was a gallant attempt but it stood little chance of success. The mines were closed almost exactly a year later, in September
1858, but they are still to be seen, in the wood.



Wadhurst is a place of character, a bright and sparkling place. Shops in pleasant variety line the long high street, and all sorts of architectural styles greet you, red tile, white weatherboards, grey stone and mellow sandstone, wavy roofs and
straight roofs. Though it stands in a green and quiet recess, the church is nevertheless the most prominent building. A slender shingled spire rests on a Norman tower and rises 128 feet from the ground. The rest of the building grew from the
thirteenth century to the sixteenth, replacing original twelfth-century work. The evening sun plays upon the spire when twilight has claimed the rest of the church and most of the town, and it gleams like illuminated silver.



The Parish Church of Wadhurst, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, has a tower of early Norman architecture. The north chapel and north and south aisles are 14th century and the vaulted porch with a room over it was built in the 15th century.
The church's 130 foot spire was originally of beech and oak shingle.



In 1968 the spire was re-shingled with new cedar shingles by steeplejacks who had completed similar work at Chichester and Salisbury cathedrals.



An interesting feature of the church is the fine collection of cast iron grave slabs, or ledgers, 32 of them commemorating various members of families of iron masters of the district. There are said to be more of these in Wadhurst church than
in any other church in Sussex. The dates range from 1617-1799 a period when the iron industry was flourishing in Wadhurst and district.



There are eight bells in the tower, the heaviest weighing about 12 cwt. and the smallest about 4 cwt. Wadhurst has a most enthusiastic company of bell-ringers and the bells can be heard on Wednesday practice nights in addition to the ringing
before Sunday services and sometimes on Saturdays for weddings.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Proprietor, Snape Wood Beer Shop; Farmer.

Alfred married Ann Gadd, daughter of Abraham Gadd and Ann Cork, on 4 Apr 1839. (Ann Gadd was born about 1817 in Wadhurst, East Sussex England and died on 19 Dec 1876 in 18 Palmerston Terrace, Lordship Lane, Camberwell, Surrey England.)