Hellingly, Sussex

HELLINGLY, including Horsebridge, is an extensive parish, in the Eastern division of the county, Hailsham union, Dill hundred, Lewes county court district and archdeaconry, rape and rural deanery of Pevensey, and diocese of Chichester, 2 miles north from Hailsham Station, 66¼ from London by railway, 12 east from Lewes, and 14 south-west from Battle. The church of SS. Peter and Paul is a plain building, chiefly built of stone, with a tower with 6 bells: the tower was rebuilt in 1836, when 112 additional sittings were obtained all of which are free. The living is a vicarage, value £344 per annum, with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Chichester, and held by the Rev. Henry Geldart, M.A., of Clare College, Cambridge. There is a National school. The parish extends for several miles, but the principal part is the hamlet called Horsebridge, which lies on the main road from Battle to Lewes. There is a medicinal spring in the parish, the water of which is considered to be of excellent quality. The fairs are held at Horsebridge annually, on the 9th of May and 29th September, for cattle. There are two Dissenting chapels in the parish - one Independent and one Baptist. The Hailsham Union Workhouse is situated in this parish, and will accommodate 350 persons besides the officers. About 1820 enclosure of land took place. The Earl of Chichester and the Rev. E. H. Johnson, are the largest landowners. The area is 6,015 acres; the population in 1861 was 1,606.
HORSEBRIDGE is a hamlet on the river Cuckmere.

[Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]