The Seven Stars Inn

The Seven Stars Inn is a well-preserved 14th Century public house in Robertsbridge, East Sussex, and a well-preserved example of a medieval building and a typical Sussex village pub. It is associated with historical events, both real and rumoured.

Architecture

Owned by Harveys, a brewery in Lewes since [http://www.harveys.org.uk/laynewsfebruary02.htm February 2002] , the pub has existed in its current form for at least 300 years. Built in about 1400, in traditional Wealden timber frame, it is Grade II* Listed, [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=413192 Shown with image here] . It was altered in the 16th Century, and re-faced in the 19th Century, and has a recessed centre, with curved timber brackets supporting the eaves. The first floor oversails on brackets, and has a Crown-post-supported roof.

History

Medieval Robertsbridge was granted a market charter in the 13th Century, and quickly became prosperous. The Seven Stars dates from this era of early prosperity. The earliest surviving building in the village is only 10 years older.

Put in its historical context, the Seven Stars was built 13 years after Chaucer published the Canterbury Tales, 15 years before the English and Welsh longbow archers put paid to the heavy cavalry of the French at the Battle of Agincourt, and a hundred years before Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. Bodiam Castle, built at around the same time to defend the area against French raids is now in ruins; the pub survives.

[http://www.francisfrith.co.uk/search/england/east+sussex/robertsbridge/photos/robertsbridge_R332002.htm A 1955 photograph] shows the Seven Stars on the right.

There are rumours and snippets of folk history associated with the building. Charles II is said to have been confined there for a time during his escape from England following the Battle of Worcester. This is unlikely: Charles eventually escaped by ship from Shoreham, having travelled from the west.

The Seven Stars is listed as one of [http://www.spookystuff.co.uk/BritainsTopTenHauntedPubs.html the Top Ten Haunted Pubs in England] . Experiences include phantom footsteps, shadowy apparitions and dogs reacting to sights unseen. The Inn was frequented by 18th Century smugglers, so strange noises in the middle of the night might have another explanation.

mugglers

Robertsbridge was within the area controlled by the Hawkhurst Gang who ran the smuggling in the area between 1735 and 1749. John Amos, a prominent member, lived in Robertsbridge. Their influence extended from Kent to Dorset and they operated freely enough to use as many as 500 pack-horses to carry contraband, and raid a government customs house to recover captured goods. Robertsbridge itself was the site of a famous ambush, [http://www.smuggling.co.uk/gazetteer_se_16.html 30 smugglers assembled] , fortified themselves with drink, and ambushed a wagon-load of seized contraband tea on Silver Hill, killing a customs officer in the process.

Horace Walpole reported a miserable journey that ended at Robertsbridge in one of his [http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Letters-of-Horace-Walpole-Volumex79565.html letters to Richard Bentley] , dated 5 August 1752. Arriving in "Rotherbridge" after passing Silver Hill, they found only one available bed, "all the rest were inhabited by smugglers".

Origin of Name

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable [cite book
last = Ayto
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors = Ian Crofton
title = Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Second Edition
publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicholson
date = 2006
location = London
pages = 870pp
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 978 0304 36809 1] , the "Seven Stars" can be a reference to the Pleiades, a cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus, (also known as the Seven Sisters, named by the Greeks for the seven daughters of Atlas); the seven moving heavenly bodies known to the ancients: the sun, the moon, and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn; or the constellation Ursa Major, "the Plough", important for its symbolism in a rural arable area, and for indicating the direction North. "The Plough" is also a common pub name.

The reference to "seven stars in the sky" in the famous Green Grow the Rushes O! Teaching Song or Dilly Song gives further, if mystical, insights. The Seven Stars could be the Seven Stars referred to in Revelations as representing the seven angels of the seven early Christian churches; or the Pleiades, or Ursa Major. The song is replete with Christian and Pre-Christian symbolism, and dates to medieval times, if not earlier.

Citations

External links

* [http://www.bartleby.com/81/ 1898 edition: complete searchable text] from bartleby.com
* [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=413192 Details of Grade II Listing]
* [http://www.francisfrith.co.uk/search/england/east+sussex/robertsbridge/photos/robertsbridge_R332002.htm 1955 Photographs]
* [http://www.spookystuff.co.uk/BritainsTopTenHauntedPubs.html Haunted House]
* [http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Letters-of-Horace-Walpole-Volumex79565.html Famous Politician on his travels ]
* [http://www.smuggling.co.uk/gazetteer_se_16.html The Hawkhurst Gang]
* [http://www.seven7stars.co.uk The historic 14th C Seven Stars Inn, Robertsbridge]