Just north of Haywards Heath, Lindfield (the name means 'open land with lime trees') gained national notoriety when it had to withdraw from the Best Kept Village in all Sussex competition in order to give other villages a chance!!! A genuinely pretty village with several dozen fine old houses, some dating back to the 14th century when weekly markets and annual fairs were held here. Before the redrawing of the county boundaries, "Pevsner" described Lindfeld as having ' the finest village street in East Sussex'
The oldest house in the village is Church House, now known as The Tiger. Arguably the finest house is the Old Place, a timber-framed, late 16th century gabled building. Lindfield High Street runs about half a mile up a gentle slope. Passing various shops and pubs up to All Saints Church, which can be traced back to 1098, at the top of the village. The slender church spire is 116 feet high. Thatched Cottage which was King Henry VII's Hunting Lodge also served at some time as a "Poor House" and Old Place was the home of Charles Kempe the Victorian stained glass expert
Thatched cottage -King Henry VII’s Hunting Lodge (1390), beyond is”Old Place”
An original illustration of “Thatched Cottage” probably from the 18th century.
The main focus of Lindfield village life centres on the King Edward Hall, built opposite the pond in 1911. Activities as diverse as book and jumble sales through to the local amateur dramatics are held here. During the lst World War it was used as a military hospital and the 2nd World War saw the Canadian troops using it for recreational and educational purposes . Built to a design by W. Tower on land donated by W.A. Sturdy it was opened by Lt. Col. D. Samson on 11.1.11
Lindfield is one of the Sussex villages which still holds annual Bonfire Processions with the effigy of Guy Fawkes and lighted torches being paraded through the streets of the village prior to the lighting of the bonfire itself. Over 6000 people have attended in the past.
High Street, looking North
On April 20th 1912 in the early days of aircraft, H.M. Airship “Gamma” captained by Captain P..E. Broke-Smith (later Brigadier) landed on the Common from South Farnborough. It was an instructional flight and travelled by Guildford, Cranleigh, Horsham, Cuckfield and Haywards Heath before landing here its highest point being 1000 feet.
About 175 years ago a man from Lndfield, a brother of Mr. Thomas Wells, went to Australia and settled down in Sydney. His son built a house a few miles out of Sydney and called it “Lindfield” after his uncles old home. The name caught on and a large suburb of Sydney is now called Lindfield. In 1936 the place had grown so much that its church had to be enlarged,the vicar asked that a stone from our Lindfield should be sent to him. Accordingly the Rev. Sidney Swann looked him out one with angels on it. Empire House in the Strand, motored down to collect it and sent it out (free) by P. And O. To Sydney
The above material is drawn from the publication ”Lindfield Past and Present, by Miss Helena Hall of Lindfield and published in 1960 by Charles. Clarke (Haywards Heath)Limited,
Street Map of Lindfield, Sydney showing location of the bowling green and “All Saints” church
DID YOU KNOW?
This village is so famous that in Sydney, Australia, there is a suburb named after it, which has a bowling club also named after this one and the Anglican church is called All Saints. Both are shown on the street map below, the church being identified with a figure 1. There follows an extract from an Australian website about the town and its bowling club.
A well-established suburb on Sydney's North Shore, Lindfield takes its name from a small town in West Sussex which has long been known as 'the most pristine village in all England.' It is an apt name because the Sydney Lindfield is noted for its superb bushland reserves sweeping up a sandstone escarpment from Middle Harbour and fine homes set back from heavily, tree-lined streets. The eastern and northern boundaries of Lindfield are formed by a natural green belt which stretches from Koola Park, through the Middle Harbour-straddling Carigal National Park to Rosevill Chase and golf course.The Pacific Highway, the North Shore railway and a frequent bus service offer comfortable access to the large, diverse shopping centre at Chatswood, the elegant restaurants of North Sydney, the harbour and, beyond the bridge, the most exciting city in the land. The highway and the local station are also gateways to the north.
Search results published at foot of this page
South Road
Haywards Heath
The town of Hayward Heath is a product of railway mania which spread across Britain in Victorian times. At the beginning of the 19th Century, Haywards Heath was little more that a large tract of wasteland. The tranquility of the area was disturbed in 1837 when rowdy labourers from as far afield as Ireland descended en-mass. Upwards of 5000 men using horses and steam driven machinery gouged and hammered their way through the countryside building the London to Brighton railway. line.
Following a remarkable feat of engineering, involving dangerous tunnelling and the construction of the Balcombe Viaduct with its 11 million bricks, the railway opened to Haywards Heath on 12th July 1841 - and all the way to Brighton two months later.
Although firmly on the map, Haywards Heath had a population of less than 200 in the early 1850's, but rapid expansion was heralded by a significant event in 1859.
In that year the Sussex County Lunatic Asylum (St. Francis Hospital) opened and the asylum along with the railway became the area's biggest employers.
Victorian labourers cottages sprang up along Asylum Road (now Colwell Road), Gower Road and Sussex Road - the centre of Haywards Heath's brick making industry.
Lured by the "good life in the countryside" London workers left the grime of the city and headed for Haywards Heath - prompting writer Augustus Hare to describe the town as "A Colony of Cockney Villas" in 1894.
The Sergison family sold off parcels of land from their estate, and businessmen built or rented fine Victorian and Edwardian villas near the railway station along Muster Green, Oathall Road, Paddockhall Road and Lucastes Avenue.
By 1931, the population of Haywards Heath had risen to 7344 - intensifying the pressure for cheap affordable housing.
The towns first council house was built near New England Road in 1924 and Franklands Village followed in 1935.
The Franklands Estate was provided by the towns Rotary Club as a model village of houses and flats to be let at low rents.
Today Haywards Heath has a population of 23,000 and is proclaimed to be the Heart of Mid Sussex!.
Did this web site interest you? If so perhaps a visit to the following by the same webmaster, you would also find enjoyable and informative -
Louis XVI and the French Revolution - CLICK HERE
World War II - Epic Events - Key Players - CLICK HERE
Aviation - 1890 - 1949 The Pioneering Years - CLICK HERE
The History of the British Empire - CLICK HERE
Fall of The British Empire - CLICK HERE
Victorians and Empire, The British Way - CLICK HERE
True Tales of War, Adventure and Exploration - CLICK HERE
Greatest Highlights of Sport in the 20th Century - CLICK HERE
Milestones of the 20th Century Cinema - CLICK HERE
The fascinating story of the British Monarchy - CLICK HERE
Eyewitness to the History of America CLICK HERE
Eyewitness History of America - The Later Years - CLICK HERE
Lindfield Village - An English Classic - CLICK HERE
Start Lawn Bowls - CLICK HERE
Sussex England - A History - CLICK HERE
Explore Sussex England - CLICK HERE
Gripping True Stories - CLICK HERE
Play Lawn Bowls to Win - CLICK HERE
The Heath or “Waste”, from which the town derives its name was once a large tract
of poorer land around which farms and estates developed from Medieval times.
A survey commissioned by Nicholas Hardman of Great Haywards in 1638, shows the extent
of the heath and the farmsteads then in existence, many of which remain. Encroachment
and enclosure were slow and for industrial use at first e.g many of the brick fields
and the windmill, which stood just north of where St. Wilfrid’s Church is today.
Some portions of the heath still remain, the largest by far being the woodland and
playing fields at Clair Meadow.
“Haywards “ is derived from “Hayworth”, or enclosure for keeping animals for sport,
and not from the name of a mythical highwayman who has been romantically linked with
the heath. The first record of “Haywards Heath” is in 1540 as Haywords Hoth”.
Sited here because of public opinion decried a route through Cuckfield, the railway
is a central feature of the town and is the reason for its growth. The London to
Brighton railway was opened as far as Haywards Heath on 12th July 1841, reaching
Brighton in September 1841 as one of the great routes to the seaside.
It was renamed the London to Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in 1846 and
was steam-hauled until electrified in 1933. It was nationalised in 1948. A vital
link in wartime between the North, London and the South Coast, today it is used by
thousands daily commuting to London.
The Market for live and dead stock being adjacent to the railway, had loading bays
for livestock. It was run by the family firm T. Bannister and Co. Until 1989 when
it was sold to J. Sainsbury. On the site there is now a large supermarket.
There were Tuesday weekly general markets and others were held on Mondays and Fridays,
making it one of the busiest markets in the country, turning over up to 100,000 head
of stock in a year on the 8 acre site. Altogether this small corner of Haywards Heath
was a very busy focal point, there being a good range of shops and two pubs, the
Hayworthe Arms (now offices) and the Burrell Arms where farmers would gather on market
and other days.
The names America Lane, New England Road, Penn, Washington and Boston all link this
part of Haywards Heath to the experimental “smallholding” community created by the
Quaker William Allen in the 1820’s. An internationally well respected philanthropist
and social reformer William Allen was well known in London and abroad for his involvement
in the abolition of the shameful British slave trade with the Americas. More recently,
a local history project has been exploring the story of this community through peoples
memories. This has produced a series of exhibitions that has been used by local schools.
Anna Sewell and Black Beauty
The author of this tale of Victorian life - told from the point of view of a horse
- lived in Petlands House formerly at the corner of New England Road and Hazelgrove
Road from 1849 - 53. To commemorate this local connection Heyworth School have installed
a Blue Plaque and adopted a Black Horse as its school emblem and blazer badge.
The Significance of the Dolphin to Haywards Heath
The Dolphin Leisure Centre, Dolphin Road, the Dolphin GP practice along with the
Dolphin pub and the Dolphin Fair - why a dolphin when the town is so far from the
sea? A glimpse at the coat of arms of the Sergison family shows the connection with
the area. Charles Sergison, who bought Cuckfield Place in 1690 and was, therefore,
one of the original landowners of the district was a commissioner in the Royal Navy,
hence a maritime link. The most obvious reminder of this family since the 1830’s
is the Dolphin pub. This was known as the Sergison Arms from 1845 - 1997 and very
recently has reverted to the name. Built in the late 16th century, the house is one
of the oldest buildings in the town.
The Farm at Oathall School
As part of the Dig for Victory campaign during the Second World War, the farm was
opened in 1941 at what was then The Haywards Heath County Secondary School. Boys
were released from their lessons after lunch and, provided that they brought their
spade, would dig over the one acre plot to grow produce for the school canteen.
Poultry and rabbits were kept and later pigs and bees. A rota ensured that these
were looked after during weekends and holidays, as continues to this day. Fifty-eight
boys turned over an acre of grassland to arable, thus gaining a grant of £2 from
the Ministry of Agriculture.. The last sod was turned by the Head, Mr. Miles.
A fierce campaign was waged recently to ensure that the farm remained open and resulted
in victory from the campaigners and a visit by the Prince of Wales. The children
receive from this unique facility not only of awareness of the needs of animals
and food production but a range of curriculum resources, ranging from an NVQ in Agriculture
and work placements for students studying at Plumpton Agricultural College to practical
Science Studies, Maths, Art, English ICT and History. The farm acts as a focus fro
visits from pre-school groups, Adult Education courses, and other schools and Young
Farmers Clubs. Oathall YFC boasts 100+ members and the animals regularly win prizes
at local shows
