Hooe, East Sussex

Hooe is both a small village and a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex; the village being located about two miles (3 km) north-west of Bexhill, and north of the A259 coast road, on the B2095 road from Ninfield. The parish name takes account of local usage, and the location of the parish church; in fact the main population centre is to the north, and is called Hooe Common.

History
The name Hooe comes from the Saxon word meaning a ridge, since the village stood on a ridge of land between two arms of the sea. Those areas are now low-lying land, one being the Hooe Levels, across which flows the stream known as Waller's Haven. The River Ashbourne flows into the Haven, down which iron products, particularly cannon, used to be shipped from the Wealden iron works at Ashburnham.

During the 18th century Hooe was connected with other local gangs in smuggling.

The church, dedicated to St Oswald, is part of a combined ecclesiastical parish with that at Ninfield. Hooe church, both Saxon and Norman, was built in its location as meeting point of several of the surrounding hamlets, including Hooe Common. There were suggestions by a local historian that there was a village surrounding the church but this was burnt down during the plague and the village moved to Hooe Common but there is no archaeological evidence for this. There is an abandoned medieval village, Northeye, which is located on Hooe Levels. This may have been abandoned during the plague.

Landmarks
Hooe windmill was situated where the house the Retreat is now, next to the recreation ground.

Pevensey Levels, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies partially in the parish. The site is of biological interest consisting of low-lying grazing meadows, hosting a wide variety of wetland flora and fauna.

Hooe today
There are now no shops in Hooe, although over the years it has had a post office, a general stores, (once owned by the Mayes family) two garages, now only one, and at least one butchers shop, at 2 Victoria Villas. The village school has also closed: children now attend the school at Ninfield. There is a farm shop and fruit picking farm, and two pubs: the Red Lion in Hooe Common and the Lamb Inn on Pevensey Marsh in the south of the parish.

Public Transport
Renown Coaches operate two buses services Monday-Friday which consists of: Route 97: Currently Departs Hooe Lamb Inn at 09:03 and 12:03. There is a 15:03 on non school days which operates via Hooe Common 5 minutes later.(This is subject to change due to the national concessionary pass times changing.) These buses operate to Bexhill. There is also a School bus which departs Hooe Common at 08:08 to Claverham with a bus departing Claverham at 15:30. This is route 356.