Sissinghurst is a small village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. Originally called Milkhouse Street (also referred to as Mylkehouse), Sissinghurst changed its name[[1]] in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the smuggling and cockfighting activities of the Hawkhurst Gang.[ Paul and Mina Tully: Sissinghurst Exposed... a New Slant on an Old Village] It is in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst.
The nearest railway station is at Staplehurst, to the north.
Geography
Sissinghurst is situated with Cranbrook to the south,
Goudhurst to the west,
Tenterden to the east and Staplehurst to the north. It sits just back from the A229 which goes from Rochester to
Hawkhurst.
History
Sissinghurst's history is similar to that of nearby Cranbrook. Iron Age working tools have been found and the village was for centuries a meeting and resting place for people travelling towards the south coast.
Sissinghurst Castle Garden
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West,
[Glendinning, Victoria Vita- the life of Vita Sackville-West George Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1983] poet and gardening writer, and her husband
Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the
Bloomsbury group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of
The Observer, which incidentally – for she never touted it – made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of "rooms", each with a different character of colour and/or theme, divided by high clipped hedges and pink brick walls.
Trinity Church
The Church of England 'Trinity Church' and was built in 1838. It is currently managed by Rev. Pete Deaves who is also Rector of
Frittenden.
People
People of note who have lived in Sissinghurst include:
-
Sir Richard Baker (–1645) a politician, historian and religious writer
-
Laurence Drummond (1861–1946) a British Army general officer
-
Sir Harold Nicolson (1886–1968) British diplomat, author and politician
-
Vita Sackville-West CH (1892–1962) The Hon Lady Nicolson, English poet, novelist and gardener
-
Pamela Schwerdt (1931–2009) joint head gardener at Sissinghurst Castle Garden from 1959 to 1990 and a pioneering horticulturalist
-
Christopher Lee (1941–2021) a British writer, historian and broadcaster
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Ian Hislop (born 1960) editor of Private Eye and team captain of Have I Got News for You, husband of Victoria Hislop.
-
Victoria Hislop (born 1959) novelist and author.
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