| The Hatch Inn was originally a row of three cottages said to date back to
1430, which means that they were there before the Newbridge furnaces were blowing, and
might well in due course have housed the workers from this local water-driven hammer
mill at the bottom of the hill. It was not until the eighteenth century that the cottages
became an inn, called at that time "The Cock"; or was chark the word
used and then corrupted by time, for a landlord tells of its use by the charcoal burners,
who working in the forest came toiling up the long hill for refreshment. Later it
became The Hatch to commemorate the original coalman's gate onto Ashdown Forest. There are
numerous other "Hatches" around the area which all designated gates onto the
Royal Ashdown Forest as it used to be.
It is claimed that The Hatch was a haunt for smugglers with rum its speciality and
Captain Kidd its mastermind, although there is little proof of this last fact.
Nevertheless the hill running down from Gills Lap (as shown on the location map) is still
known as Kidd's Hill to this day.
Certainly the Inn looked the part, low, rather dark and hugged into the landscape; a
mysterious place with secrets to confide.
There was also a forge by the inn as can be seen in the photograph below which shows
two horses waiting patiently to be reshoed.
From the "Forest Camera" by Peter Kirby |
