| Official Name: | Playden |
| Country: | England |
| Region: | South East England |
| Area Footnotes: | -inc East Guldeford[1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 16.6 |
| Population: | 340 |
| Population Ref: | (Parish-2011)[2] |
| Population Density: | 51/sqmi |
| Os Grid Reference: | TQ925226 |
| Coordinates: | 50.97°N 0.74°W |
| Post Town: | RYE |
| Postcode Area: | TN |
| Postcode District: | TN31 |
| Dial Code: | 01797 |
| Constituency Westminster: | Hastings and Rye |
| London Distance: | NW |
| Civil Parish: | Playden |
| Shire District: | Rother |
| Shire County: | East Sussex |
Playden is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located one mile (1.6 km) north-west of Rye.
Playden is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Pleidena; it is a largely rural parish, having no village centre, and the hamlet of Houghton Green is included in the parish. Playden's main occupation was fishing: the fish were salted in a one-time settlement known as Saltcote, after the fact that it had a fish salting industry based there. Saltcote Street is now all that remains of that industry.[3]
Playden Parish Council has four councillors,[4] and meets monthly at the WI Hall in the village.[5]
The parish is within the Rother District of East Sussex. In the United Kingdom Parliament, it is part of the Hastings & Rye constituency, represented since the 2019 UK general election by Sally-Ann Hart, of the Conservative party.
The Norman church is dedicated to St Michael.[6] It was begun in 1190, and contains a ladder to the bell tower dated 1686.[7] The field in front of the Church formerly known as Beacon Oak Field was the site of a 15th century beacon at Sawcut (sic), sighting from Tenterden and Alomsbridge (about Newington Bridge, Kent, name has disappeared). The beacon was in the form of a tar filled barrel in an oak tree that was burnt down around 1930 but the stump remains.
The parish includes a two-acre field known as The Butt Field, which since 1703 has been available to the people of the village for "archery practice, recreation and sport".[8] It is now mainly used for the grazing of sheep.
Within the parish there is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Houghton Green Cliff. This is an exposed cliff face displaying sandstones of geological interest.[9]
In addition, part of the Dungeness, Romney Marsh & Rye SSSI lies within Playden parish.
The artist and scientific illustrator Brian Hargreaves (1935-2011) lived in Playden up until the time of his death.[10]
6 A New History of Rye, Leopold Aaron Vidler, 1934
7 A Perambulation of Kent, William Lambarde, 1596
8 The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex, Thomas Walker Horsfield, 1825