History of the Star Inn
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The Star Inn is sited very near to the parish church of All Saints in the centre of the village.

It is an amalgam of many builds, the core is what remains of a two-bay medieval hall house dating from the mid to second half of the 15th century. The hall would have contained a central hearth, open to the rafters, where the smoke escaped through the roofing material or end gable's. The multi-flued chimney stack was added a century or so later.

In the late 18th century a western addition and the fine function room to the north were built, followed not long after, c. 1800, by the eastern bay with the cellar. The legend that the present Star Inn was built in 1348 to serve the masons working on the church does not hold good in architectural terms, this was also the year of the terrible Black Death when no building work could have taken place.

The first definite documentation for the Star comes in 1716, in the "Tythe Book of Heathfield" with an entry " Jeremiah Heathfield for the Star-10s", this sum was part of an ecclesiastical tax imposed on all parishioners. The Land Tax entry for 1757 shows "Thomas Hoade for the Star" paying a tax of 2s on a valuation of 8s.

Over the years the Star had many landlords but in 1821 there was an important change of ownership, when a brewing company, Wood & Tamplin, bought the Star, and from now on it was always tenanted. As already said the northern wing was added in the late 18th century and from now on acted as a meeting room for important village business. One such meeting of interest was held on the 22nd April 1830. It was a "General Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Parish of Heathfield paying Poor Rates... for the purpose of taking into consideration the expediency of apportioning a portion of the paupers of the parish with the means of going to America." No doubt the most troublesome of the pauper families would have been chosen and they were supplied with free passage and subsistence plus some ready money to help with their needs in America until they could find employment. Fourteen families were named and at another meeting a few days later three more were added to the list.

As one can see for many centuries The Star Inn has played a central part in the lives of the inhabitants of Old Heathfield and the surrounding area as it continues to do to this day.