Yes, and it follows the river. The River Rother runs straight through the village. About one postcode in ten sits in the highest-risk river flood zone. Nearly a quarter rate high on at least one flood measure. Most of Robertsbridge is dry, but check any house near the water address by address.
The Environment Agency's river-and-sea flood zones put 11% of Robertsbridge's postcodes in Zone 3, the highest-probability band, and about 2% in Zone 2. The two bands don't overlap. Zone 2 is the medium-probability fringe beyond Zone 3, so the smaller number sits on top of the larger one rather than inside it. This is river flooding, not coastal: the water comes down the Rother valley, not in from the sea.
Surface water from heavy rain has no separate figure in the published mapping used here. It's folded into the postcode indicators below. That makes those figures broader than the flood zones, and a listing that says "not in a flood zone" has only answered half the question.
The Environment Agency also maps how the zones look with a climate-change allowance built in. On that basis 14% of postcodes fall inside the flood zone. The climate version is the one to read if you plan to stay long enough for it to matter.
For insurance, the village splits in two. A home well away from the river should insure as normal. A home inside the mapped zones, or with a flood history, can face higher premiums, excesses or exclusions. Get an indicative quote before instructing a solicitor, not after exchange.
At postcode level, measuring rivers, sea and surface water together, 23% of Robertsbridge's postcodes rate high on at least one flood measure. Another 11% rate medium and 14% low. These are "at least one measure" figures that include surface water, so they overlap with the flood-zone shares above. Don't add them together.
Counting homes is more useful than counting postcodes. The Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea risk mapping lists 14 Robertsbridge postcodes that carry some risk, covering 238 properties. Of those, 44 are at high risk, 19 at medium, 10 at low and 26 at very low, and 35 of the high-risk properties are homes. Postcodes with no mapped risk don't appear in this count at all, which is why the total is smaller than the village.
Protection is split evenly on paper. About 8% of postcodes sit inside the high-risk flood extent with no defence in the model, and another 8% sit inside it with a defence modelled. "Defended" means something is present in the model, not that the house behind it stays dry. Defences get overtopped, and a buyer who hears "it's defended" as "it's safe" has mixed up the two. The Environment Agency has recorded nine flood events here. The most recent was in October 2000, when the main river overflowed its channel where no raised defences stood. About 11% of postcodes also fall within the Romney Marshes Area Internal Drainage Board, which manages water levels across its district.
The nearest tide gauge, at Dover, recorded sea level rising by about 2.2 millimetres a year over its 1961 to 2010 record. That's a measured historic rate at a coastal gauge, not a forecast for Robertsbridge. For an inland river village, the Rother matters far more.
Before buying near the river:
- Enter the exact address into the Environment Agency's long-term flood risk service, checking rivers and surface water separately.
- Ask the seller directly whether the property has ever flooded, and get the answer in writing through the conveyancer.
- Get an indicative buildings insurance quote before instructing a solicitor.
- Ask whether the property is within the drainage board's district and what that means for its drainage.
- Commission an environmental search that covers flood history for the specific property.
Flood risk is a real weakness in Robertsbridge, concentrated along the river and the homes closest to it. Most of the village sits clear of it, and the rest needs checking before you buy, not after.