Burgess Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Burgess Hill | |
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| Population | 29,000 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Mid Sussex |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Burgess Hill |
| Postcode district | RH15 |
| Dial code | 01444 |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | Mid Sussex |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| List of places: UK • England | |
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex. It is located 10 miles (16km) north of Brighton. The civil parish had a population of 28,803 (2001 census) and occupies an area of 946.79ha. Burgess Hill is twinned with Schmallenberg in Germany and Abbeville in France. It has recently achieved the status of being a Fairtrade Town. Burgess Hill Town Council has been awarded the status of Town Council of the Year 2006.
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[edit] History
Although a Roman road was built connecting London to the South coast and passing through what is now Burgess Hill, there is no evidence that the Romans settled.
Burgess Hill originated in the parishes of Clayton, Keymer and Ditchling - all of them mentioned in the Domesday Book. The town's name comes from the Burgeys family when the name John Burgeys appeared in the tax rolls. The name of Burgeys stood for 'bourgeois', the inhabitant of a borough. By the Elizabethan period a community had established itself and many buildings dating from this era still stand.
The hill in the towns name is taken to mean different things to different people; many believe that the hill in question is the hill on which the train station currently stands, but there is a Burgess Farm on a hill in the south-east of the town, on Folders Lane. Whether this is the hill referred to in the town's name is not known - at least not for certain.
Until the nineteenth century, the town was known as St John's Common, and much of what is now the town centre was common land used by the tenants of the manors of Clayton and Keymer for grazing and as a source of fuel. From the fourteenth century or earlier the annual Midsummer Fair was held on this common land on the 24th June: the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. The last such sheep and lamb fair was held in 1913.
By the early seventeenth century small scale brick and tile manufacture was flourishing and during this time parcels of common land were allocated for house building and small businesses. By the early eighteenth century brick making had been extended and four shops and one or two alehouses established on the common. Craftsmen such as smiths, shoemakers and weavers also worked there. Brickmaking by hand is still undertaken today, by Keymer Tiles (formerly the Keymer Brick and Tile company) whose tiles can be found in buildings such as St. James Church, Piccadilly and Manchester Central Station (now G-Mex).
The growth of Brighton in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries brought an influx of professional people looking for places to live. With accessibility, the common was ripe for development with the result that the Keymer and Clayton portion were enclosed in 1828 and 1855 respectively. Between 1850 and 1880 the area changed from an insignificant rural settlement to a town of 4,500 residents.
In 1897 the Victoria Pleasure Gardens were opened by local household name Edwin Street, a well-known farmer and butcher. The gardens were opened in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and contained a large lake, which covered three acres, and what can only be described as a small early version of a roller coaster, known as a switchback (an alternative general term for a roller coaster). The lake was used for boating in the summer, and skating in the winter. The frozen lake was always tested by Mr Street, a man of 23 stone, before being used in the winter. This area is now the Victoria Industrial Estate.
World's End, to the north of the town, was originally a separate community. Although it is now part of Burgess Hill, it retains its own shops and community association.
The town gradually enlarged, having its largest population increase between the years of 1951 and 1961, when the population of approximately 7,000 residents almost doubled. This earned Burgess Hill the title of fastest growing town in the south-east. By 1956, the Victoria Industrial Estate was completed, and has since expanded. It now contains the local headquarters of two substantial international companies. In 1986 a smaller industrial estate to in the north of the town developed, known as Sheddingdean Industrial Estate.
[edit] Redevelopment
In 2004 Mid Sussex District Council announced the Burgess Hill Master Plan, a scheme arranged with Thornfield Properties plc to massively redevelop Burgess Hill Town Centre. The Master Plan is part of a larger scheme which will also see the redevelopment of Haywards Heath and East Grinstead town centres.
[edit] Historic buildings
Hammonds Place, to the west of London Road as it leaves the town to the south, is a handsome Elizabethan residence which was substantially re-built by the Michelbourne family in 1565, the date engraved on its porch. Part of a structure dating from about 1500 was retained with the house. Grove Farm House, just south of Station Road, can be dated to about 1600 and was built about the same time as Farthings in Keymer Road. Chapel Farm House and Walnut Tree Cottages on Fairplace Hill are on medieval sites and the present buildings date from the late Tudor period, as do Pollards Farm and Freckborough Manor House on the eastern boundary of the town.
High Chimneys in Keymer Road (a handsome farmhouse once called Woodwards), and West End Farm (now known as Old Timbers) were all built or, more correctly rebuilt in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The farm from which the town derives its name, referred to as Burgeshill Land in the 16th century, is now the site of Oakmeeds School and the Chanctonbury Estate. The farmhouse itself is long demolished.
Almost all the Victorian detached houses and workmen's terraced cottages built in the second half of the nineteenth century (when the town was renowned as a health resort) have survived.
[edit] Business
National and International: The finance giant American Express has one of its European headquarters located in Burgess Hill. Previously, telecom company Ericsson were also located here. The site where Ericsson once stood is soon to be occupied by Hoffmann-La Roche - more commonly known as Roche - who are a major Swiss pharmaceutical firm [1]. There is also Porsche Mid Sussex Headquarters located in the town [2], one of 33 in the UK and Ireland.
Burgess Hill is home to several supermarkets: Tesco, situated in the south west of the town, and Waitrose, along with branches of Lidl, Iceland, and Somerfield, which are all in the town centre.
Local: The town is home to Bright 106.4 FM, a popular local radio station based in the Martlets which broadcasts on 106.4 for Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the surrounding area, and 106.8 for Lewes and the surrounding area. Two free newspapers operate in the area, The Mid Sussex Citizen and The Leader. There is also The Mid Sussex Times (The Middy), which costs 35p and is issued every Thursday.
The town has two parts to its shopping centre, the Market Place [3] and the Martlets.
Burgess Hill may be recognised from the Channel 4 television programme, Risking It All [4], in which local men Lee Saunders and Paul Ground went about setting up a Café Bar in the town centre called Mooch@76. Since the airing of the programme, in which many inhabitants of Burgess Hill spotted themselves, Mooch@76 became a thriving business and is still operating today. It went on to win a local business award.
[edit] Transport
Road: In 1770 the road from Cuckfield to Brighton across St John's Common was turnpiked. The A23 bypasses the town to the west, and joins up with the south end of the A273. The A273 follows the course of Jane Murray Way, directing traffic around the town centre and north on Isaac's Lane to Haywards Heath, or south through Hassocks on London Road. The A272 road runs north of Burgess Hill, from Winchester to near Uckfield. The B2112 runs east of Burgess Hill, going north-south, and both the B2036 and the B2113 pass through the town heading north-south and west-east respectively.
There is a taxi rank outside Burgess Hill railway station. Regular buses serving Burgess Hill and Mid Sussex are operated by Compass Travel [5].
Railway: The opening of the London to Brighton railway in 1841 triggered a further expansion of the town, although Burgess Hill railway station was for many years a request stop and not a regular station. In 1877 the present station replaced the original one; some of the former buildings remain, however. Wivelsfield railway station serves the north end of Burgess Hill and was opened in 1886. First Capital Connect and Southern provide regular train services to London and Brighton.
[edit] Education
[edit] Primary education
- Birchwood Grove Community Primary School
- Burgess Hill School For Girls
- The Gattons Infant School
- London Meed Community Primary School
- Manor Field Primary School
- Newick House School
- Sheddingdean Primary School
- Southway Junior School
- St Peter's School
- St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School
[edit] Secondary education
- Burgess Hill Pupil Referral Unit
- Burgess Hill School For Girls
- Oakmeeds Community College
- St Paul's Catholic College
[edit] Further education
- Burgess Hill Adult Education Centre
- Burgess Hill School For Girls (Sixth Form)
- St Paul's Catholic College (Sixth Form)
- Central Sussex College Campus
[edit] Recreation
Burgess Hill contains two nature reserves, Bedelands and Batchelors Farm. In the town centre there is a large park (St. Johns), and many other smaller recreation grounds around the town. There is a substantial leisure centre on the northern edge of Burgess Hill named the Triangle[6]. Replacing the lido (swimming pool) in St. Johns Park, the Triangle is also used for conferencing. The Triangle was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.
Burgess Hill is one of the few towns to retain an independent cinema. The Orion Cinema [7], opened in 1928, has two screens and shows a mixture of mainstream and arthouse films. There is also a local theatre [8], which puts on productions quarter-yearly, the most popular of these being a pantomime, performed in the Martlets Hall. Musical theatre productions by Burgess Hill Operatic Society [9] are also held at the Martlets Hall.
[edit] Sport
Burgess Hill Town Football Club plays football (soccer) in Division One of the Isthmian League, the eighth tier of English football. The club plays its home games at Leylands Park. Burgess Hill Rugby Football Club, or The Sussex All Blacks, are the local Rugby Football club, playing their home games close to Southway Primary School [10].
Several local pubs and social clubs enter teams into the Mid Sussex Pool League [11] , although any venue with 10 miles of "The Duck" in Haywards Heath can apply to join. The league plays World Eight Ball Rules.
[edit] Town Twinning
Burgess Hill's twin towns are:
A square in Schmallenberg has been named Burgess Hill Platz.
[edit] Famous residents
- David Chick - Infamous rather than famous protester; dressed up as Spiderman, scaled a crane in London to protest for rights to see his daughter after divorcing his wife. [12]
- Colin Griffiths - TV presenter. [13]
- Vallance Jupp - English cricketer [14]
- Simon Nye - TV writer who was born in Burgess Hill. [15]
[edit] External links
- Wikitravel Burgess Hill
- Burgess Hill Town Council
- West Sussex County Council Education Information
- Britinfo Page on Burgess Hill
- Burgess Hill Museum
- InBurgessHill - News, events, forums, accommodation, ratings, eating and drinking
- Eating Out in Burgess Hill
- OnMyDoorstep - Local Information about Burgess Hill and also images of the local area
- BHOS - Burgess Hill Operatic Society (local musical theatre)
