Jarvis Brook

The name Jarvis Brook was historically spelt as "Gervys Brook",^[5] and the spelling of which may have been influenced by Priscilla Jervis of Mayfield, who owned land in the village.

The earliest existing definitive record of the village is in the 1795 map by William Gardner,^[6] showing the current spelling of the villages name. Very few important occurrences happened between then and 1868, when the railway came.

The village grew when the station opened, with factories and houses being built around the area. The Crowborough Country Park was a clay quarry that supplied the Crowborough brickworks until it closed in 1980.^[7] In 2009, it was turned into a local nature reserve.^[8]

The Jarvis Brook Memorial Hall is a hall that was constructed and given to the people by wealthy landowners c. the 1920s^[9] and has been used for various purposes, including a World War 2 hospital, where it got its namesake. In more recent times, the hall has fallen into a state of disrepair, with funding needed for the roof.^[10]

The village gets an hourly service from Crowborough railway station,^[11] and an infrequent local bus around the village and to Crowborough nearby.^[12] Two bus lines operated by Wealdlink serve the village, one heading to Wadhurst^[13] and the other heading down to Battle.^[14]

The B2157 runs along the north of the village and terminates at the B2100,^[15] which cuts straight through the village and heads down to Lamberhurst.^[16]

The Jarvis Brook is a small river that flows from several tributaries around Crowborough. One of the main triburaries is the Crowborough Ghyll. The river feeds into the Eridge Stream, and eventually the River Medway.

Along the river was Maynards Gate Furnace, an iron furnace, was probably in operation in 1562. Anthony Fowle being the operator. In 1574 it was owned by Lord Buckhurst and operated by Arthur Middleton. in 1674 Anthony Fowle of Newick left the furnace to his son Richard. It was working in 1653 but ruined by 1664.^[17][18] It served the Maynards Gate Forge, which shared the same pond as the Furnace. The dam has been recorded as 70 metres (77 yd) long and 3.75 metres (12 ft 4 in) high.^[17]

The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.^[19]

The water quality of the Jarvis Brook is as follows:

• Cate Blanchett currently resides in Highwell House, in the locality of Steep in the south of the village.^[21]
• Richard Jefferies lived briefly at Rehoboth Villa (now Brook View House) near the Rehoboth Chapel.^[22]
• Sam Taylor-Johnson resided in a converted schoolhouse as a child and attended Beacon Academy.^[23]