Northiam

Northiam is a village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England. The village is located thirteen miles (21 km) north of Hastings in the valley of the River Rother. The main road that passes through it is the A28 which goes to Canterbury and Hastings.

Governance
The lowest level of government is the Northiam parish council. The parish council is responsible for local amenities such as the provision of litter bins, bus shelters and allotments. They also provide a voice into the district council meetings. The parish council comprises nine councillors with elections being held every four years. Twelve candidates stood in the May 2007 election.

Rother District council provides the next level of government with services such as refuse collection, planning consent, leisure amenities and council tax collection. Northiam lies within the Rother Levels ward, which provides two councillors. The May 2007 election returned two Conservatives councillors.

East Sussex county council is the third tier of government, providing education, libraries and highway maintenance. Northiam falls within the Northern Rother ward. Peter Jones, Conservative, was elected in the May 2005 election with 49.7% of the vote.

The UK Parliament constituency for Northiam is Bexhill and Battle. Gregory Barker was re-elected in the May 2005 election.

At European level, Northiam is represented by the South-East region, which holds ten seats in the European Parliament. The June 2004 election returned 4 Conservatives, 2 Liberal Democrats, 2 UK Independence, 1 Labour and 1 Green, none of whom live in East Sussex.

Landmarks
There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the parish. Officially designated as Northiam, it refers to a disused and partially flooded quarry on the outskirts of Northiam village. It is of geological, palaeoenvironments and palaeogeography interest.

The historic house Great Dixter is found within the village. Many parts of the village are listed including Frewen College, which is a boarding school for dyslexic children. This is where Elizabeth I's slipper can be found after she rested under the oak on Church Road. She left the slipper and since then can be seen on display within the school.

St. Marys church and war memorial
The parish church is dedicated to St Mary which is home to six bells and over the years was funded and supported by the Frewens (which is now the private school). The church is reputed to be haunted in the Vestry.

Four Prime Ministers for D-Day


On 12 May 1944, four prime ministers visited the troops before D-Day in Normandy. The village field gates were erected to commemorate the visit. The four Prime ministers were:
 * Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill P.C., O.M., C.H., F.R.S. - Great Britain
 * Rt. Hon. Mackenzie King P.C., C.M.G. - Canada
 * Rt. Hon. Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts P.C., O.M., C.H., K.G., F.R.S. - South Africa
 * Hon. Sir Godfrey M. Huggins C.H., K.C.M.G., F.R.C.S. - Southern Rhodesia

Notable people
Joanna Lumley - Attended school in the village and is seen regularly.

Christopher Lloyd - Owner & and gardener of Great Dixter

Neil Buchanan - TV Artist And Children TV Presenter

UK's first green village
Northiam is in contention to be the UK's First green village. With plans for a biomass power station providing power to the whole village. . The first planning application was declined in 2009.

Proposal of Blue Cross Closure
The Blue Cross animal charity which is within the village has proposed to close the centre after it opened in the 1960s. The Blue Cross chief executive, Kim Hamilton commented on the proposal via a press release on the 26th January 2010.

Public transport
The nearest mainline train station is Rye. Hourly bus services (except Sunday) operates to Tenterden, Rye, and Hastings. The Kent and East Sussex Railway manages Northiam station which operates for tourists between Bodiam and Tenterden.

Road in London
A residential street in Woodside Park Garden Suburb, North London is named Northiam&mdash;this follows the nomenclature of Woodside Park whereby nearly all streets in the suburb are named after villages, rivers and places in East Sussex.