Whatlington

Whatlington is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is seven miles (11 km) north of Hastings, just off the A21 road. The village is in two parts, one in the valley on the road from Battle, where the church and the parish hall lie on either side of the stream, and one a mile or so further on the main A21 to Hastings, with a triangular village green in front of the Royal Oak pub and restaurant. The Norman parish church is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene; the yew tree which stood there until 1987 was traditionally thought to be one thousand years old, and to have been used by William the Conqueror to hang members of King Harold's personal guard. Malcolm Muggeridge lived with his family in Whatlington; both he and his wife are buried in the churchyard. On the main road a now disused chapel serves as a commercial business. The early feminist Barbara Bodichon was born here in 1827.