Slinfold is a village andcivil parish in theHorsham District ofWest Sussex, England.

Slinfold
St. Peter's parish church
Slinfold Location withinWest Sussex
Area	16.95 km2 (6.54 sq mi) [1]
Population	1,647 (2001 census)[2] 2,055 (2011 Census)[3]
• Density	97/km2 (250/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ1131
• London	45 miles (72 km)NNE
Civil parish	Slinfold
District	Horsham
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Horsham
Postcode district	RH13
Dialling code	01403
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Horsham
Website	Slinfold Parish Council
List of places UK England West Sussex 51°04′12″N0°24′18″W / 51.070°N 0.405°W /51.070; -0.405

The village is almost 4 miles (6.4 km) west ofHorsham, just off theA29 road.

The parish covers 4,186 acres (1,694 ha). The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,647 people^[2] living in 627 households of whom 780 were economically active.^{[citation needed]}

Slinfold is the source of the westernRiver Adur, which flows to theEnglish Channel atShoreham-by-Sea^[4]

Alfodean was excavated by archaeological television programmeTime Team in 2006,^[5] the site of one of a probable fourmansiones on the route ofStane Street between London andChichester.^[6]

There has been a house at Dedisham, 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of the village, since at least 1271, whenHenry III granted the then occupier a licence tocrenellate themanor house then on the site.^[7] The present house on the site appears to date from the 16th or 17th century.^[7] During theEnglish Civil War theParliamentarian commander SirWilliam Waller sacked a house on this site in 1643.^[7]

Slinfold Manor, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the village, is aGeorgian house built late in the 18th century.^[7]

Slinfold railway station on theCranleigh Line was opened in 1865 and closed in 1965. The trackbed of the line now forms part of theDowns Link Bridleway. The route of the formerRoman road linkingLondon andChichester passes through the parish^[8] and a Roman posting station existed at Alfoldean. In 1848 it was recorded that Roman swords and brass ornaments had been found in the parish.^[8]

Slinfold has avillage shop and Post Office, a primary school and pre-school, a recreation ground, avillage hall and onepublic house, the Red Lyon.^[9] Where Slinfold Railway station used to be is now aCaravan Club site.^[10]

TheChurch of England parish church ofSaint Peter was designed by theGothic Revival architectBenjamin Ferrey in a late 13th-century style and built in 1861 on the site of the originalmedieval parish church.^[11]

Slinfold Chapel is linked with HorshamUnited Reformed Church.^[12]

It is said that there is a boggy hollow near Slinfold which contains a sunken bell. Long ago some villagers, hoping to retrieve the bell, sought the advice of awitch. She told them that it could only be retrieved by 12 white oxen, at midnight. The oxen were used, but one villager broke the witch's instructions by speaking, and the bell sank back into the bog.^[13]

• Lewis, Samuel, ed. (1931) [1848].A Topographical Dictionary of England (Seventh ed.). London:Samuel Lewis. pp. 120–123.
• Nairn, Ian;Pevsner, Nikolaus (1965).Sussex.The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth:Penguin Books. pp. 328–329.ISBN 0-14-071028-0.

  Media related toSlinfold at Wikimedia Commons