Cade Street

Cade Street is part of the town  of Heathfield which hosts a dark past. In 1415 discontent was rife throughout the country so Jack Cade decided to take a stand. He roused the men of Kent “to correct public abuses and to remove evil counsellors”. An army of 20,000 rallied in Blackheath and fought the King’s men in Sevenoaks. Flush with triumph, the men degenerated into a murderous rob and Cade’s dream with them. He tried again at Rochester, but it was hopeless. In desperation he fled for Heathfield and hid on a local farm. But one fateful day he poked his head out at the top of Cade Street and was captured. He was dead before he reached London.

His corpse was dragged through the Capital, decapitated, disembowelled and quartered. Portions were exhibited throughout the country. On the far side of Cade Street stands the Cade Stone, our most famous monument, which reads: “Near this spot was slain the notorious rebel Jack Cade by Alexander Iden, Sheriff of Kent, AD1450. His body was carried to London and his head fixed upon London Bridge. This is the success of all rebels and this fortune chanceth ever to traitors”.

Cade Street also sported a long-standing tradition that was upheld throughout Sussex for many years. On 14th April gipsy horse traders and pedlars from all over the South of the country would gather in Cade Street for an annual Spring market. Once everyone had gathered, an elderly gipsy woman would release a cuckoo from her basket. Once the cry of ‘cuckoo’ has been heard by all, the buying and selling could begin. The gipsy woman was nicknamed Dame Heffle, or Hefful, as this is a contraction of Heathfield. Sadly the fair faded away shortly before WWI but was revived in 2005 with a parade of children instead of horse traders and pedlars.