Visiting Burwash

Burwash, Burwash Common and Burwash Weald are well worth a visit. Located at the heart of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the villages offer beautiful walks through breathtaking countryside, fine hospitality in our local pubs, architectural gems on Burwash’s ancient High Street and much more.

Bateman’s, the Jacobean house where Nobel Prize-winning author and poet Rudyard Kipling lived from 1902 to 1936, is a gentle stroll from Burwash High Street where a stunning bronze statue of Kipling has recently been unveiled.

Burwash War Memorial, erected in 1920 next to St Bartholomew’s church, has a unique feature. Its lantern is illuminated on the day of the death of each of those Burwash men and women who died in the two world wars. The Rolls of Honour can be found below.

Accommodation is available in local pubs and B&Bs. The south coastal resort towns of Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne and Brighton are just a short drive away.

Visit the Walks and Activities page for more ideas of where to visit.

Bateman’s is situated on the outskirts of Burwash village, about a 20 minute stroll from the village centre.

National Trust parking is available at the site.

To visit Bateman’s please visit the National Trust website. There are also some lovely walks in the surrounding countryside around the estate.

Rudyard Kipling fell in love with Bateman’s from the moment he saw it. It was a home, he wrote later, “in which to settle down for keeps.” Tucked away in a wooded landscape of the Sussex Weald, this 17th century house with its mullioned windows and oak beams was untouched by modernisation and change. It would provide an idyllic sanctuary for a man who had endured a lonely and unhappy childhood and it was fondly remembered by all who came to know it. Read more about Bateman’s history.

Researched and compiled for Burwash Parish Council by Frank Sanderson, the Burwash Roll of Honour contains the names of 138 dead from the First World War and 29 dead from the Second World War plus two officially listed Civilian War Dead.  This 29 does not include an RAF pilot who crashed in the Parish and is buried elsewhere nor similarly a Luftwaffe pilot.

The population of Burwash in 1914 is estimated to have been about 2100 (,based on the 1911 census). It is believed that 500 men and women (one woman died whilst serving) served in the Armed Forces in the Great War.