Editing Wadhurst (section)

==History==
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The name Wadhurst (Wadeherst in early records) is Anglo-Saxon and most probably derives from ''Wada'' which is believed to be the name of a Saxon tribe which occupied the area and began the clearing of the forests in the 7th or 8th century. There is an Anglo-Saxon manor known as Bivelham which lay between the parishes of Wadhurst and Mayfield.

Although Wadhurst was almost certainly in existence at the time of the [[Domesday]] survey in 1086, it was part of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]'s land and was therefore not mentioned. The earliest record relating to the area is a reference in the Cartulary of Battle Abbey to "Snape in the parish of Wadhurst".

[[Henry III of England|Henry III]] granted Wadhurst its charter in 1253, allowing Wadhurst to hold a market every Saturday<ref name="Bocking">{{cite journal |last1=Bocking |first1=Charles |title=Summary of Central Wadhurst |journal=Wadhurst History Society Newsletter |date=2018 |issue=41, November 2018 |url=http://www.wadhursthistorysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Newsletter-41.pdf}}</ref> and a fair on 29 June, the feast of St Peter and St Paul.

In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Wadhurst, as did many towns and villages in the Weald, had a thriving iron industry. Two of the large Georgian buildings on the High Street, Hill House and The Old Vicarage, were both ironmasters' houses, along with a number of other large houses on the outskirts of Wadhurst. In the church of St Peter and St. Paul there are several iron ledger-stone memorials of ironmasters, which are unique to this area.

During the [[First World War]], Wadhurst lost 149 men, out of a total village population of 3,500. The worst losses were during the [[Battle of Aubers Ridge]], when 25 men from Wadhurst were killed in one day: nearly 80% of the men from Wadhurst who went into [[no man's land]] that day.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Jon|title=Thankful villages: The places where everyone came back from the wars|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15671943|access-date=11 November 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=11 November 2011|archive-date=11 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111131118/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15671943|url-status=live}}</ref> Wadhurst is now actively twinned with Aubers.

In March 2023, Wadhurst was named by ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' as the best place to live in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mureddu-Reid |first=Hamish |date=24 March 2023 |title=Wadhurst is named as the best place to live in the UK |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-65061678 |work=BBC News |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>