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Sussex Towns Guide

• History

Tourist Guide for Amberstone East Sussex

Amberstone is a small hamlet located Northeast of Hailsham in East Sussex.

c. 470-480--High King Ambrosius Aurelianus establishes a system of garrison sites for local defense of the areas threatened by the Saxons. The units based at the sites are known as "Ambrosiaci," and the garrison sites will eventually become the towns of Amesbury, Ambersham, the two towns Amberley, Amberstone, Amsbury, the two towns of Amberland, Ambersury Banks, Emberdon, Amberden, and Ambyrmede. This barrier will prove effective in containing the Saxons for many years.

The few houses that make the settlement are set around a "bridge" which was originally a ford over a stream that runs into the Pevensey levels. The stream now runs under the road but there is no perceptible bridge. The earliest form of the hamlet's name is Ambefeld, the first element being a Saxon personal name (Mawer & Stenton 1930 p.435). The name first recognises the place as a ford in 1212 with Ambeford then moves through Ombeford (1370) before the stone is first mentioned in 1470 with Ombefordstone. Finally in 1588, the ford element is lost leaving us with the Amberstone we have today.

This stone is a real stone, and as the stream which is the focus of the hamlet once formed part of the boundary between the parishes of Hellingly and Hailsham, the stone is likely to be one of the Boundary stones. A piece of folklore has attached itself to this stone. "Local Tradition has it that at every full moon, and every time the