Picture Postcard Parade: Pine Avenue, Buxted Park, Sussex

This is one of the postcards I picked up last Saturday at the WSFHS Open Day and Family History Fair at Woking, Surrey.

There were three, no actually four reasons why I bought this card:

1. I thought it was such a charming picture.
2. When I went walking over at Buxted a few months ago I walked up the avenue and emerged through the gateway on to the road, conveniently next to a bus stop.
3. My great-grandmother Minnie DRIVER (later HEMSLEY) is said to have worked at Buxted Park, at the far end of the avenue.
4. The card was priced at £2.50, which I thought was a real bargain.

The card was sent on the 22nd July 1905, from Hadlow Down, Sussex to Miss H Player at North Cray Rectory, in Toats Cray (at least I think it is Toats Cray), Kent. The message reads:

Dear H?
This is a place not very far from us. I thought it would be nice for your album hope you are keeping well this hot weather with much love Annie

I seem to have started a collection of Buxted Park postcards now, what with the spotted deer and now the avenue, I really must try and find out if my great-grandmother did in fact work there before I get too carried away.

The entrance to Pine Avenue, Buxted Park hasn’t changed a great deal since this postcard was published.  Below is a photo I took of the entrance whilst I was waiting for the bus home. The house is partially hidden behind some trees now and the wall has been replaced (or covered) by a fence.

Festival of Postcards: Spotted Deer at Buxted Park, Sussex

The theme for the latest Festival of Postcards is Quadrupeds, I searched my postcards for animals, and to be honest most of my postcards are of rural nature, so there was no shortage of four-legged animals to choose from.

In the end I settled on these fine looking animals from Buxted Park in Buxted, East Sussex.

I have not really been able to find out much about these deer beyond what was written on the back of the card. It looks like these may well be chital deer, but I am no expert on deer.

In case you can’t make out the handwriting the message reads:

My dear Arthur I thought you would like this card for your book there are no other in England like them they are never hunted I was quite close to them the other day as I often take a walk in the park They belong to Lord Portman and there are about four hundred they are very pretty hope you are quite well from your Aunt Lucy

The card must have been sent in an envelope or delivered by hand, so there is no postmark to help with dating it, and no clues as to who the publisher was either, but I would think it probably dates from the 1920s.

I was walking over at Buxted a couple of months ago, and I didn’t see any deer (only sheep). My great-grandmother Minnie HEMSLEY is said to have worked at Buxted Park, in the house which is now a very nice looking hotel.

In case you are wondering what they look like out in the open here is another postcard of the deer out in the park.

Wandering around Buxted

From High Hurstwood I made my way to the village of Buxted. I was hoping I might find a few ancestral gravestones here, but my hopes weren’t very high as I have no evidence that any of my ancestors were buried at Buxted, but merely lived in the parish for a while.

To be honest I was a little disappointed with the church of St Mary the Virgin at Buxted. I am not sure why, it looks quite nice, but I just didn’t warm to it. There was a small graveyard behind the church, which was being kept trimmed by sheep (at least I think those shaggy things that moved to the next field when they saw me coming were sheep).

St Mary the Virgin, Buxted

A short walk down the road from the church is Buxted railway station. At one stage I had planned to catch the train back to Uckfield, but by this time I had decided I would walk back to the bus route and take the bus home. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the station because it looked quite charming.

Buxted railway station

Next stop was the church of St Margaret the Queen, Buxted, set in the grounds of Buxted Park. This was much more to my liking, lovely and cool inside and well presented outside. There was lots going on here, a stone mason at work in the churchyard, and a gang of men on the roof replacing the shingles on the spire.

St Margaret the Queen, Buxted

I was surprised by the number of people that visited the church whilst I was poking around amongst the gravestones. There are some very old gravestones here with some wonderful carvings, but sadly none that I could identify from any of my ancestral lines.

I resisted the temptation to visit Buxted Park Hotel. I don’t think they would have been amused at a hot and sweaty genealogist turning up in their lovely expensive hotel asking if they had any record of his great grandmother having worked there nearly 100 years ago. Perhaps one day when I am feeling very rich!