Welcome to Rodmell

in the heart of the South Downs

Don't Miss

Pub Quiz

4 December at 8.00pm in the Abergavenny Arms

Rodmell is a small, quiet and charming village nestling in some of the finest scenery of the South Downs. It lies in the lower valley of the Ouse some four miles south of Lewes, the County Town of East Sussex, and a similar distance north of the port of Newhaven, home of the Dieppe ferry.

There has been a village here since at least the time of William the Conqueror, and our little church, dedicated to St. Peter, dates back to Saxon times.

The name might be derived from “The Mill on the Road”, or from the red mould that gives a warm colouring to the surrounding fields of this rich farming country. Nowadays far fewer of our two hundred or so households are involved in farming, and sadly – here as elsewhere – many traditional countryside crafts are dying out, but we remain a diverse community with a strong sense of the importance of our village life.

Ours is a village of great character with many lovely old buildings. Most people outside of the area probably know Rodmell as the country home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, scions of the Bloomsbury Group, whose home, Monk’s House, enjoys spectacular views and is now a National Trust property. For walkers Rodmell, with its excellent pub, is a popular watering hole on the South Downs Way. Whatever your motivation, Rodmell will not disappoint.

Details of your Council, its meetings, current issues, agendas, parish documents and items of statutory information can now be found on a new stand-alone website. The next meeting of the Council is 18th November, at 7pm in Rodmell Village Hall. 

This site is run by the Parish Council and we have tried to make it as easy as possible to understand. However, if you have a disability and find some parts are not fully accessible you can look at our Accessibility Statement, which gives advice on what to do to get the information that you require.

We have many small businesses operating here, including B&B accommodation, artists, cakemakers, property maintenance, an award-winning vineyard, and many more. Tell us if you’d like your business included.

The most significant of Rodmell’s recent events have been the Spring Show and the Flower Festival  – the first an old village favourite  and the second a very successful first time event.

Rodmell has plenty of groups dedicated to all sorts of things from children’s activities to sports and horticulture. Most of them are back to post-Covid normal, but the Good Neighbour Scheme has changed the way it works to become more informal.

A tour of the village, old and new: find out about the church and Monks House, and see some of the books that have been written about Rodmell or by Rodmell people. And read about the success of our local vineyard, Breaky Bottom, in recent wine awards.

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