The Heffle Cuckoo fair first started in 1315 when the Bishop of Chichester obtained permission to hold a weekly market and an annual fair.
According to tradition, Dame Heffle would arrive at the market in April and release two Cuckoos from her basket to signify the coming of Spring.
Heffle is the old name for Heathfield. Each year the Cuckoo fair is held in Heathfield to bring the community together as well as raising money for Demelza Hospice care for children. The Heffle Cuckoo fair is the basis of Rudyard Kipling’s poem the ‘Heffle Cuckoo fair’, and features in lots of his other stories.