Hadlow Down is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road three miles (4.8 km) north-east of Heathfield. The parish is within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It came to prominence with the Wealden iron industry in the 17th and 18th centuries. The majority of the population now works outside the parish, but it still has a strong community atmosphere centred on the New Inn pub, St. Mark's school and St. Mark's church. The parish church, St. Mark's, was first built and consecrated in 1836 and rebuilt just before World War I. Edmond William Costello (1873–1949), holder of the Victoria Cross, is buried in the churchyard, and Diana Rowden (1915–44), SOE agent, lived at Hadlow Down before World War II. A former Calvinistic chapel, Providence Chapel, stands on Main Road; it was built in 1849 and converted into a house in 1996. The village school is St Mark's CE Primary School. The village pub is the New Inn, which is a historic Grade II listed building. History Until the burgeoning of the Wealden Iron Industry in the 16th. century Hadlow Down was a rural farming community with the small population living either side of the main road that runs through it, it was relatively quiet and secluded. The Wealden cannon making industry started at a furnace on the stream at Hoggets Farm situated to the north of the centre of the village. It was here in 1543 that the first cannon in East Sussex was cast by Iron Master Rolf Hogget (Hugget) and is commemorated in a small rhyme: 'Master Hugget and his man John, They did cast the first cannon.' The 'John' referred to is believed to be a French cannon maker by the name of Baude whose family is buried at Wartling on the Pevensey Marshes. It is probable that much of the charcoal needed to fire the furnace would have come from charcoal burners living in the area to the south of Hugget's farm and as far as Blackboys. Clubs & Societies The Horticultural Society is well supported as is the unique Variety Club. There is also a thriving Short Mat Bowls Club and Book Club Leisure Wilderness Wood is a 62-acre (24.6 ha) of woodland, located near the centre of the village,. Tinkers Park is the home of the Claude Jessett