| Sheet |
| Sheet came about when an ancient ford across the
River Rother was used by cattle drovers, whose route can still be seen
along Sandy Lane. This is a lovely little village with a triangular
village green in front of the pub and above all this is the village
church of St Mary Magdalen and inside are two stained glass windows in
commemoration of the Bonham-Carter family. The village street by the green has some 16th and 17th century houses and the village pub is the 19th century Queens Head that also has some 16/17th century timber framing. Sheet was just a small hamlet with a population of twelve in 1327 and the Ashford Stream, a tributary of the River Rother provided power for three mills which are recorded in the Domesday Book. One of the mills near to Pulens is believed to have been a 'fulling' mill and it was rebuilt in 1742, in Old Mill Lane was Sheet Bridge mill which operated from 900AD up to the 20th century and is sadly now derelict. The village school was in a house above the green and the original large school windows can be see still today. The Bonham-Carters were great benefactors of the village and John Bonham-Carter who lived at Adhurst gave the present school in 1897 as a commemoration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and it was he who planted the chestnut tree on the village green, the village hall was also built alongside the green in commemoration of the Jubilee. Adhurst St Mary overlooks the village on the far side of the Rother and it is a large building that was the Bonham-Carters home for many years. It was used as a hospital in WWI and then in WWII girls from a Portsmouth school were evacuated here.
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