Cross-in-Hand

Cross-in-Hand is a small village outside Heathfield town to its west, in the Wealden District situated in East Sussex, England. It is occasionally referred to as Isenhurst.

==The village== thumb|Cross In Hand Inn sign Cross-in-Hand is situated at the junction the A267 running between Royal Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne, and the B2102 which terminates in Cross-in-Hand but joins the A22 in Uckfield. It is the easternmost location of the A272 road, which continues west to the A30 in Hampshire. The village has a high street on the B2102 road that links Cross-in-Hand to Uckfield. Retail shops include a petrol station, wooden furniture shops, a motorcycle shop, a bakery, and a funeral director's. The Church of England parish church is dedicated to St Bartholomew, and there is one pub, the Cross in Hand. Other village facilities include a village hall, rugby football, bowls and tennis clubs. ==Etymology== The English Place-Name Society gives the earliest reference to the village as Cruce Manus, the Latin for Cross-in-Hand, recorded in 1547, which by 1597 was being rendered Crosse atte Hand and by 1656 was being called Crosse in the Hande. The name is believed to be based on a legend that Crusaders assembled here before sailing for the Holy Land from Rye to fight Saladin. An alternative explanation is that it is the place where some murderers managed to escape their pursuers by turning to face them with a cross in their hands.