| Henfield | |
|---|---|
 Henfield from the air | |
  Henfield Location withinWest Sussex | |
| Area | 17.35 km2 (6.70 sq mi) [1] |
| Population | 5,012 [1]2001 Census 5,349 (2011 Census)[2] |
| • Density | 289/km2 (750/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ215162 |
| • London | 40 miles (64 km)N |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HENFIELD |
| Postcode district | BN5 |
| Dialling code | 01273 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | West Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
| |
Henfield is a large village andcivil parish in theHorsham District ofWest Sussex, England. It lies 41 miles (66 km) south ofLondon, 12 miles (19 km) northwest ofBrighton, and 30 miles (48 km) east northeast of the county town ofChichester at the road junction of the A281 and A2037. The parish has a land area of 4,285 acres (1,734.1 ha). In the 2001 census 5,012 people lived in 2,153 households, of whom 2,361 were economically active. Other nearby towns includeBurgess Hill to the east andShoreham-by-Sea to the south. The population at the 2011 Census was 5,349.[2]
Just west of the village, the two branches of theRiver Adur, the western Adur and the eastern Adur, meet atBetley Bridge. From Henfield the Adur flows on into theEnglish Channel at Shoreham-by-Sea.[3]
Henfield was already a large village, of 52 households, at the time ofDomesday (1086).[4]
Henfield has an old centre.
It has a modern village hall just off the High Street, the 13th-centurySt Peter's church, old inns, a wide common, and many houses in private ownership.[citation needed]
There is a fire station, part of the West Sussex Fire Brigade, equipped with a single fire engine.
Henfield has one of the oldest cricket clubs in the world, dating back to 1771. A women's team was formed from 2006.[5]
Henfield also officially has the oldestScout group in the country (1st Henfield), dating from 1907. When officially registered in 1908 there were 36 scouts in the group. The group was started in winter 1907-8 by Audrey Wade, whose brother, A. G. Wade, had metRobert Baden-Powell when both were travelling to the UK from Africa when they were in the army. A. G. Wade later had several administrative roles in the developingScout movement.[6]
To the south is Woods Mill, a restored mill, now the headquarters of theSussex Wildlife Trust, its attractions including an extensive nature trail.
South of the village on the road towards Small Dole is a business park containing the Royal Mail Delivery Office, the Etwars and small businesses.
There is a theatre company which is held in the village hall.[citation needed]
Henfield Leisure Centre at Northcroft has a sports hall and fitness suite. There is a skate park located next to the sports centre. Near to the leisure centre is Henfield tennis club, founded in 1920.[7]
The Cat House is at Pinchnose Green, so called because there used to be atannery nearby and the process of tanning produces unpleasant odours. This house was once owned by George Ward who had acanary. This bird was killed by a cat belonging to theAnglicanCanonNathaniel Woodard who lived at nearby Martyn Lodge. So incensed was Ward that he painted his house with pictures of a cat holding a bird that would be seen by the canon every time he walked past on his way to the church.[citation needed] He also rigged up strings of sea shells to rattle, and a black figure would appear at a small window called the zulu hole when the hapless canon was seen approaching.
Started in the 1930s, Henfield Museum moved to its current location in the Henfield Hall in 1974. It contains collections related to local events and people from mesolithic times onwards as well as local natural history. It also contains materials linked to local people such asMarjorie Baker andWilliam Borrer and enterprises including the Allen-Brown Violet Nurseries andHenfield railway station (closed in 1966).[8] It is run by the Friends of Henfield Museum and the Henfield Parish Council.
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Henfield is home to the Sussex Wildlife Trust headquarters, four commons, brooks, moors and tributaries to the River Adur.
Henfield Parish Council supports four Commons: Henfield Common, Broadmere Common, Oreham Common and the Tanyard. All are ecologically rich and support a diverse range of wildlife.[9]
Henfield Common (TQ 219 156) is at the southern end of the High Street. It covers almost 20 hectares, including a cricket pitch, two football fields, rich marshland and heathy grassland.[10][11] It is botanically important and supports a wide range of wildlife. Its main character historically was that of a moor and three quarters of its special plants grow best on marsh or wet ground and the other quarter on heath and grasslands. In June and July thesouthern marsh orchid can be seen amongst thecommon spotted orchid. In the late summer to the south of the marsh, the grass can be tinted purple by thedevil's-bit scabious. There are surviving patches ofwild chamomile on the cricket pitch. In autumn, there are many species of field fungi includingwaxcaps andfairy clubs on the heath. The natural environment supports much fauna and conservation groups monitor the area.[12]
Despite the historical botanical richness and beauty of the common, many species have already been lost from the area since the drainage ditch was dug in 1886, making the area less wet. Lost species includesmall fleabane,starfruit,mudwort, lesser marshwort,bogbean,sundew,marsh cinquefoil,beaked andwhite sedges,chaffweed andbog-myrtle. Recent changes in the management of the Common mean even more species have been lost or are rapidly disappearing includingdwarf gorse,common heather andpetty whin. In 2017 disaster struck for the future of the botanical richness and the accompanying, often unseen, wildlife of the Common when the football pitches were sprayed with herbicide and ploughed destroying the gloriouschamomile lawn and the recovering marsh vegetation. In the processheath and southern marsh orchids,marsh pennywort and the only patch of scarceadder's tongue fern were killed. If any of the botanical richness of the area is going to persist, the marsh will benefit from re-wetting and the heath will benefit from grazing, as well as mowing.[13]
Broadmere Common (TQ 216 150) is at the eastern end of Dag Brooks and is almost 5 hectares. The name derives from the old English term "broad mere" meaning broad lake due its wetness. It has many pools, many of which were originally dug for the clay needed for brick-making. It has many precious plants though includingyellow flag,goat willow,meadowsweet, occasionalmarsh woundwort and even scarcemeadow brome. In the ponds there arewater mint,greater bird's-foot-trefoil,common fleabane andswan mussels. Once it was famed by botanists for even rarer local plants including small fleabane, starfruit, mudwort and lesser marshwort, but of these only the lesser marshwort still exists and its survival is threatened by the invasive Australianswamp stonecrop.[13]Palmate newts are present in the ponds and the Common can still support a number of Birds of Conservation Concern includingnightingale andcuckoo, and evenlesser spotted woodpecker has been seen there.[14] The richness of the Common fauna and flora will benefit from having the ponds cleared and the land grazed.[13]
Oreham Common (TQ 222 139) is almost 6 hectares. In Old English ora means flat top hill and hamm means "a patch of flat, low-lying alluvial land beside a stream".[15] Horn Lane runs through its centre, which is part of the longest section ofthe Greensand Way Roman road that still functions as a road (around 1 mile). It is rich in flora such ascommon meadow-rue,sneezewort,pepper saxifrage,greater bird's-foot-trefoil, adder's tongue fern and common spotted orchids, many grasses and even more herbaceous plants.[13]Palmate newts are present in the ponds and the Common can support a number of Birds of Conservation Concern including nightingale andturtle dove and butterflies such aspurple hairstreak andbrown argus.[16] Like Broadmere Common the fauna and flora will benefit from having the ponds cleared and the land grazed. Additional traffic calming measures will help improve the area.[13]
Woods Mill is the headquarters of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and an environmental education centre. It is an area of 47 acres. There is an ancient woodland, a lake, streams and unimproved meadows with wild hedgerows.
Henfield brooks (TQ 203 153) are to the east of theRiver Adur and to the south west of the village. The fields flood regularly during winter rains. In spring the brooks are full of life withmarsh frogs,lapwings,reed buntings and traditionally the call of the cuckoo, although that is becoming rarer. In summer the ditches support scarce plants such asgreater water parsnip (an aquatic plant which has seen a massive reduction recently and now only occurs in around 50 sites in England[17]),water dropwort,arrowhead andflowering rush. The area can supportcommon snipe, lesser spotted woodpecker andlittle owl.[13]
Between Henfield Common and Woodmancote Place is a low plain with fine unimproved wet rush pastures known as The Moors. The ground is made from the Sussex Gault Clay.gorse andbirch line the fences and the two ditches supportbog pondweed. Behind the Swains Farm shop, in the pony-grazed western fields there is the largest population of (and best managed)meadow thistle in Sussex. You can also find heath spotted orchid,lousewort,tormentil,ragged-robin,marsh pennywort and at least sixsedges.[13]
The Pokerlee Stream is a lovely tributary of the Adur that runs through theBeeding, Horton, and Dag brooks, south of Henfield, Nep Town and The Pools meadows and ends up going through a tiny triangular bluebell wood on the north side of Horn Lane. It separates theWealden Clay of Oreham from the fertileGreensand ridge's large arable fields. The best access is from the south of Henfield. Like many of the steams of east of theAdur, parts have been straightened, partly for millleats and partly for land drainage. There was a farmstead and barns of the same name (TQ 204 144). Only the farm pond and a littleholloway leading down to theHorton brooks survives.[13]
The name, Pokerlee, is first recorded (indirectly) in 1327. The first element might be the word poker, 'hobgoblin', which is of Scandinavian origin and survives as the Durham place-name 'Pokerley'. However, as this is a southern usage this is not very likely. Thus, it could alternatively mean "one who has to do with a poke or bag", which survives in its diminutive form as 'pocket' and in the saying 'a pig in a poke' (sack) which refers to something bought without inspection or through a confidence trick. The second element of word, lee, refers to a meadow or a clearing.[18]
Henfield was the home of ColonelHenry Bishop, who was appointedPostmaster General by KingCharles II in January 1660–61. Bishop devised the first type ofpostmark used in England, which is known to collectors as aBishop mark. His invention was commemorated in 1963, on the occasion of an exhibition by Henfield Stamp Club. A special date stamp, which included the wording HENRY BISHOP'S VILLAGE, was used. Bishop is buried in Henfield churchyard.[citation needed]
The eighteenth century botanistWilliam Borrer, who specialised in the flora of the British Isles, was born and died in Henfield.[19]
When the British government introduced theCat and Mouse Act in 1913, localSuffragetteElizabeth Robins used her 15th century farmhouse at Backsettown, near Henfield, that she shared withOctavia Wilberforce, as a retreat for suffragettes recovering from hunger strike.[20] Robins was the first president of the HenfieldWomen's Institute which was founded in 1917.[21]
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Media related toHenfield at Wikimedia Commons
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