[6] In 1677, Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex, was paid £3 when he went to a cricket match played at "ye Dicker", a common near Herstmonceux, one of the earliest references to the sport.

[7] The Herstmonceux area is known for the making of trugs, baskets made from split willow boards set in an ash or chestnut frame.

Herstmonceux Castle, two miles (3.2 km) south-east of the village, is a former site of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

The castle grounds are also home to the Observatory Science Centre and the Herstmonceux Mediaeval Festival.

The site is of biological interest consisting of low-lying grazing meadows, hosting a wide variety of wetland flora and fauna.