Burgess Hill
Encyclopedia
Burgess Hill is a civil parish and a town primarily located in the Mid Sussex
district of West Sussex
, England
, close to the border with East Sussex
, on the edge of the South Downs National Park
. Located 38 miles (62 km) south of London
, 10 miles (16 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 29 miles (47 km) east-northeast of the county town of Chichester
, it occupies an area of 2339.57 acres (946.8 ha) and had a population of 28,803 at the time of the 2001 Census, making it the most populous parish in the district. Other nearby towns include Haywards Heath
to the north east and Lewes
, the county town of East Sussex, to the south east.
Burgess Hill is predominantly situated just on the West Sussex side of the border dividing the two counties, although parts of the World's End district in the northeast are across the county boundary in the Lewes district
of East Sussex.
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 was awarded the status of Town Council of the Year 2006.
, the London to Brighton Way
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 town's 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.
The few buildings in the area were the two farmhouses, at Hammonds Ridge (still standing as a residence) and one at Queen's Crescent, in the west of what is now Burgess Hill. But 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 Clayton and Keymer manors for grazing and as a source of fuel. Buildings which supported the common land were the King's Head pub, a blacksmith
's forge
, and several cottages.
From the fourteenth century or earlier the annual Midsummer Fair was held on this common land on 24 June: the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. The last such sheep and lamb fair was held in 1913.
This sheep and lamb fair was the first of the year in Sussex, and there was much interest. It is said that farmers from as far afield as Hastings
to the east and Findon
to the west visited, and at its peak, more than 9000 lambs were sold at the fair, together with numerous horses, cattle and sheep.
With the development of the London
to Brighton
mainline railway, however, those in the business soon realised that transporting sheep by train was more cost effective and easier than using the old roadways. Most livestock trading began to centre around railside markets such as those at Hassocks
, Haywards Heath and Lewes railway stations. By the dawn of the 20th century, the livestock trading business had all but left the Burgess Hill area.
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 was still undertaken until very recently, 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 1857, in an area now known as either 'the top of the town', or Hoadley's Corner, the Hoadley family of Heathfield
established a large department store
, of which the original building still stands, on the corner of Station Road and Junction Road. This successful business also had branches at nearby Ditchling
, and Seaford
too, but it was in Burgess Hill that the head offices were based.
In 1876, a large building known as Wynnstay was constructed opposite to the Hoadley's store on Junction Road, to house a Mr Sampson Copestake. Mr Copestake provided money to create a new parish, building a church, and purchasing land around it.
Wynnstay eventually became the Wynnstay Hydropathic Institution, known as the Hydro for short. The property was bought up and converted by a Professor Weidhaus when Copestake moved on, and converted to a nature cure establishment. It is thought that the views from the property, along with the fresh country air and proximity to Burgess Hill railway station were the reasons for this enterprise. The Hydro remained until 1909, when the business was moved to Franklands, a large property to the south of the town. Wynnstay later became a convent
and school for Catholic
children.
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 3 acres (12,140.6 m²), 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 Business Park, although reality it is more of an industrial estate.
Supermarine Spitfire
fighter crashed at Greenlands Farm, off the Keymer Road, killing the Belgian pilot.
The town gradually enlarged, having its largest population increase between the years of 1951 and 1961, when the population of about 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 British
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. Both Sheddingdean and Victoria have now been renamed as business park
s.
In the seventies and eighties several new housing estates were built, namely the Folders Lane estate (formally known as Oakwood), the Oak Hall Park estate and the Sheddingdean estate. The 1980s saw the largest single development in the town's history; new housing was created in the northwest of the town with a development known as West End Meadows. Along with this a link road to the A23 was built, replacing the previous route along Gatehouse Lane and Jobs Lane.
Next there was construction to the south and west of the town. Land to the south was developed, and the area is now known as either the Hammonds Ridge estate or Tesco estate due to its proximity to the supermarket, which was built at a similar time. The development is formally known as Priory Village.
The Triangle, a large leisure and conference centre was built in the northwest of the town and opened by the Queen in 1999. In 2005 St Paul's Catholic College moved from Haywards Heath to their new site opposite the Triangle.
In the southeast of town new housing known as Folders Keep is nearing completion, becoming the latest in a steady chain of development.
As well as the aforementioned developments, there have been two council estates built in the town - one around Cants Lane, in the town's north east, and the area around Denham Road in the west, both of course adding to the ever rising population of the town.
Some of the areas put forward for further development are the old Keymer Tileworks, space to the north of the town, and around the south east, off Folders Lane. With the proposed housing quota for the area high, it is expected to grow further as we progress into 21st century, and new housing will be created in the town centre in the form of flats
as a result of the redevelopment
plans, which are in more detail further down this article.
governed constituency of Mid Sussex
. The member of parliament representing Mid Sussex is Nicholas Soames
, who was first elected during the May 1997 election
. It was in the historic county
of Sussex
, and in 1974 swapped from the administrative county
of East Sussex to the shire county
of West Sussex, under the Local Government Act 1972
. It falls under the European Parliament
constituency of South East England
.
A small residential area in the northeast of the town, as well as land which may be developed for housing in the future, lie on the East Sussex
side of the county boundary, which otherwise runs beyond the eastern edge of the urban area. Both Mid Sussex District Council and Lewes
District Council, under whose control this area falls, have raised concerns that planning decisions made at a regional level
do not take it into account properly.
, the most of any settlement in Mid Sussex. These wards are Dunstall, Franklands, Leylands, Meeds, St Andrews and Victoria. Three councillors were elected to represent each of these wards in the town council, and half of these wards had a Conservative majority
, the other half Liberal Democrat
majorities. Nine of the town councillors are Conservative, eight are Liberal Democrat, and the other is independent.
and Burgess Hill East
, and Hassocks & Victoria
, which covers the villages of Clayton, Hassocks and Keymer as well as the Victoria town council ward of Burgess Hill. Three councillors were elected to represent each ward in the county council, all of whom are Liberal Democrats.
is 15 miles (24 km) to the northwest. Crawley
, a major settlement is 13 miles (21 km) to the north, and Gatwick Airport is 16 miles (26 km) in the same direction.
The amenities and shopping services in Burgess Hill are also well used by the surrounding villages. The larger villages of Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint
are 5 to 10 minutes drive away from the town centre, to the south and southwest respectively. Albourne
, Ansty
, Bolney
, Clayton
, Ditchling
, Ditchling Common
, East Chiltington
, Goddards Green, Hickstead
, Jacob's Post
, Keymer
, Plumpton
, Plumpton Green, Sayers Common
, Streat
, Twineham
, Westmeston
, Wivelsfield
(which has given its name to a railway station in Burgess Hill), and Wivelsfield Green
are other nearby villages.
One of the tributaries of the River Adur
weaves its way through the town, known locally as Hambrook. The town is a nuclear settlement, radiating out from the centre, curbed on the western side by the ring road, and on the east side by the East/West Sussex border (although it should be noted that some development on the eastern side of the town, particularly in the northeast, is in Lewes District
).
The northern central side of the town (around Wivelsfield railway station
) is known as Worlds End
. It acquired this name around the 23 December 1899, a serious accident happened when a red signal was obscured by thick fog. A train from Brighton collided with a boat train from Newhaven Harbour at 40 mph, six passengers were killed and twenty seriously injured. Due to the nature of the accident and the relatively high (in relation to other accidents of the time) number of deaths and injuries the name Worlds End was coined and has stuck since that day.
(Köppen climate classification
Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
and international
companies, many based at one of the four business park
s in and around the town, organised by the Burgess Hill Business Parks Association. Altogether the Business Parks Association, representing about 200 companies, employs approximately 8000 people, with a combined yearly turnover of 2 billion pounds. Victoria Business Park is the larger of the two parks in the town, to the south west, with the smaller Sheddingdean Business Park to the north. The town’s residents may also commute to Ditchling Common Industrial Estate, another small business park just over the county border, or the Bolney Business Park, located off the A2300 between Burgess Hill and Hickstead. Both of these are also associated with the aforementioned organisation.
Filofax
has its UK headquarters in the town, and Roche
's offices in Burgess Hill are the UK diagnostics headquarters
. American Express
, CAE
, Honeywell
, Porsche
and Rockwell Collins
also all have offices in the town. Almost half of those employed in Burgess Hill's are residents of the town. If not working in Burgess Hill itself, residents may commute to nearby towns such as Horsham, Lewes or Haywards Heath, where 11% of Burgess Hill's population work, or larger employment centres like Crawley and Gatwick (11%), London (8%) or Brighton and Hove (7%). Similarly, people from surrounding villages and towns commute into Burgess Hill, particularly Brighton and Hove, where 14% of Burgess Hill's workers come from, Haywards Heath (5%) and Hassocks (3%).
Burgess Hill is home to several supermarkets: Tesco, situated in the south west of the town, a Co-op
in the north of the town, and branches of Waitrose
, Lidl
and Iceland
are in the town centre. Burgess Hill also has a number of car dealerships, including Peugeot
, Seat
, Ford and Porsche
.
Burgess Hill opened an MPTC Driving Test Centre in Victoria Business Park, which now serves many learner drivers from Brighton
. This was due to the closures of the Brighton
and Hove
test centres in 2009.
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 (once known as Old Timbers, now the Woolpack Pub) 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.
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
and next to the Burgess Hill Library. Regular buses serving Burgess Hill are operated by Countryliner
providing services to Brighton
, Cuckfield
and Haywards Heath
, and also Compass Travel
and Brighton & Hove
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 towards London and Brighton from both Burgess Hill stations, and from Wivelsfield, one can travel on a branch of the East Coastway Line
towards Hastings
.
Burgess Hill is also served by Downlands Community School
in nearby Hassocks and Warden Park School
in Cuckfield.
town centres.
The plan will result in the complete reconstruction of most of the town centre, and will also focus on the redevelopment of the Victorian era
train station, which is seen by many as in need of updating. The implementation, which will take place over about half a century, also includes the construction of two hotels, the widening of a major artery road through the centre of the town, and the creation of a communal space as well as many new commercial opportunities.
The plan has been very controversial, primarily because it was planned to include the demolition of many residences and shops owned by the town's inhabitants. Some inhabitants were worried as to whether they would get a fair price for their property, and how local landmarks such as the independent Orion Cinema would be treated. Many were concerned what negative effects the redevelopment would have on their lives and the prosperity of the town as a whole. The Burgess Hill Master Plan was, and even after some major editing with consideration of the opinions of the townspeople of Burgess Hill and the surrounding villages, remains the most drastic out of all three Master Plans put across by the local council and Thornfield Properties plc.
Early in 2010 Thornfield Properties was reported to be in financial difficulties.
There are nine churches in Burgess Hill.
Burgess Hill is also home to the International Bible Training Institute which founded Mid-Sussex Christian Centre, formally Burgess Hill Pentecostal Church.
Providence Strict Baptist Chapel
, one of many former Strict Baptist
chapels in Sussex, closed in 1999 after 124 years of religious use. The Grade II-listed Neoclassical
building was designed by Simeon Norman in 1875.
Burgess Hill contains two nature reserves, Bedelands and Batchelors Farm and on the east side of town is Ditchling Common Country Park, a 188 acre (0.76080968 km²) area of common land, set up in 1975. In the town centre there is a large park (St. John's), and many other smaller recreation grounds around the town. There is a substantial leisure centre
on the northern edge of the town run by Freedom Leisure
which is named the Triangle. Replacing the lido in St. Johns Park, the Triangle is also used for conferences. The Triangle was opened by HM The Queen in 1999.
Burgess Hill is one of the few towns to retain an independent cinema
. The Orion Cinema, opened in 1928, has two screens and shows a mixture of mainstream and arthouse films. There is also a local theatre, 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 Musical Theatre Society (formerly Burgess Hill Operatic Society) are also held at the Martlets Hall.
The town is also home to the Mid Sussex Brass Band which has a second section contesting main band and a thriving youth band. As well as supporting local fetes and concerts, the band plays at concerts throughout the year in venues from Horsham
to Hever Castle
, and travels to Schmallenberg
, Burgess Hill's German twin town, for the Schmallenberger Woche.
Burgess Hill has a Symphony Orchestra, which draws its members from Burgess Hill and the surrounding area. The Orchestra puts on two classical concerts each year, normally in May and November.
, 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. Burgess Hill also has a baseball team playing in the British AAA league.
Mid Sussex Youth Netball Club train at The Triangle (Freedom Leisure) and have many successful teams. The Triangle leisure centre was the home venue of Brighton Bears
, a former basketball
team. The franchise folded in 2006.
Several local pubs and social clubs enter teams into the Mid Sussex Pool League, although any venue with 10 miles (16.1 km) of "The Duck" in Haywards Heath can apply to join. The league plays World Eight Ball Rules.
There is also a squash club that plays at the Triangle Leisure Centre every Saturday and Monday, and has a team that plays in the East Sussex County League.
There is also a running club that meet at the Burgess Hill School for Girls every Wednesday evening. Members compete in local and national charity and fun races.
The skate park in the centre of town provides sporting opportunities, and holds an annual competition.
The Triangle is one of the venues in the South East supporting the London 2012 Olympic Games, and will serve as a base and training centre for teams from around the world.
, Picardie
- France
. Schmallenberg
, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Germany
.
A square in Schmallenberg has been named Burgess Hill Platz.
Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex is a local government district in the English county of West Sussex. It contains the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill....
district of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, close to the border with East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, on the edge of the South Downs National Park
South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex...
. Located 38 miles (62 km) south of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 10 miles (16 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 29 miles (47 km) east-northeast of the county town of Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, it occupies an area of 2339.57 acres (946.8 ha) and had a population of 28,803 at the time of the 2001 Census, making it the most populous parish in the district. Other nearby towns include Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath
-Climate:Haywards Heath experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Rail:Haywards Heath railway station is a major station on the Brighton Main Line...
to the north east and Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
, the county town of East Sussex, to the south east.
Burgess Hill is predominantly situated just on the West Sussex side of the border dividing the two counties, although parts of the World's End district in the northeast are across the county boundary in the Lewes district
Lewes (district)
Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, and Seaford. Plumpton racecourse is within the district...
of East Sussex.
Burgess Hill is twinned with Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg is a town in the district of Hochsauerland. Relating to its area of 188 square miles it is the largest town belonging to an administrative Kreis in the federal state of North Rhine/Westphalia, Germany....
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Abbeville
Abbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Location:Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and northwest of Amiens...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It has recently achieved the status of being a Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town is a status awarded by a recognized Fairtrade certification body describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fairtrade certified goods...
. Burgess Hill Town Council was awarded the status of Town Council of the Year 2006.
Early history
Although a Roman roadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
, the London to Brighton Way
London to Brighton Way (Roman road)
The London to Brighton Way, sometimes called the London to Portslade Way is a Roman road between Stane Street at Kennington Park and Brighton in Sussex. The road passes through Streatham and Croydon, then through the Caterham Valley gap in the North Downs...
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
Keymer
Keymer is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2116 road south of Burgess Hill.Keymer was an ancient parish that like its near neighbour Clayton was merged into the modern day parish of Hassocks. Both Keymer and Clayton's records go back as far as the...
and Ditchling
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling....
- all of them mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. 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 town's 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.
The few buildings in the area were the two farmhouses, at Hammonds Ridge (still standing as a residence) and one at Queen's Crescent, in the west of what is now Burgess Hill. But 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 Clayton and Keymer manors for grazing and as a source of fuel. Buildings which supported the common land were the King's Head pub, a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
's forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
, and several cottages.
From the fourteenth century or earlier the annual Midsummer Fair was held on this common land on 24 June: the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. The last such sheep and lamb fair was held in 1913.
This sheep and lamb fair was the first of the year in Sussex, and there was much interest. It is said that farmers from as far afield as Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
to the east and Findon
Findon, West Sussex
Findon is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, four miles north of Worthing. The parish has an area of 16.41 km² and a population of 1848 persons ....
to the west visited, and at its peak, more than 9000 lambs were sold at the fair, together with numerous horses, cattle and sheep.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
mainline railway, however, those in the business soon realised that transporting sheep by train was more cost effective and easier than using the old roadways. Most livestock trading began to centre around railside markets such as those at Hassocks
Hassocks
Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields....
, Haywards Heath and Lewes railway stations. By the dawn of the 20th century, the livestock trading business had all but left the Burgess Hill area.
1700 to 1900
By the early seventeenth century small scale brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
and tile
Tile
A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...
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 was still undertaken until very recently, 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
G-Mex
Manchester Central, , formerly known as the GMEX centre and Manchester International Conference Centre , is an exhibition and conference centre built in and around the former Manchester Central railway station in Manchester, North West England...
).
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
Keymer
Keymer is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2116 road south of Burgess Hill.Keymer was an ancient parish that like its near neighbour Clayton was merged into the modern day parish of Hassocks. Both Keymer and Clayton's records go back as far as the...
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 1857, in an area now known as either 'the top of the town', or Hoadley's Corner, the Hoadley family of Heathfield
Heathfield, East Sussex
Heathfield is a small market town, and the principal settlement in the civil parish of Heathfield and Waldron in the Wealden District of East Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, England.-Location:...
established a large department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
, of which the original building still stands, on the corner of Station Road and Junction Road. This successful business also had branches at nearby Ditchling
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling....
, and Seaford
Seaford, East Sussex
Seaford is a coastal town in the county of East Sussex, on the south coast of England. Lying east of Newhaven and Brighton and west of Eastbourne, it is the largest town in Lewes district, with a population of about 23,000....
too, but it was in Burgess Hill that the head offices were based.
In 1876, a large building known as Wynnstay was constructed opposite to the Hoadley's store on Junction Road, to house a Mr Sampson Copestake. Mr Copestake provided money to create a new parish, building a church, and purchasing land around it.
Wynnstay eventually became the Wynnstay Hydropathic Institution, known as the Hydro for short. The property was bought up and converted by a Professor Weidhaus when Copestake moved on, and converted to a nature cure establishment. It is thought that the views from the property, along with the fresh country air and proximity to Burgess Hill railway station were the reasons for this enterprise. The Hydro remained until 1909, when the business was moved to Franklands, a large property to the south of the town. Wynnstay later became a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
and school for Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
children.
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
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...
, and contained a large lake, which covered 3 acres (12,140.6 m²), and what can only be described as a small early version of a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
, 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 Business Park, although reality it is more of an industrial estate.
1900 to present day
On 12 July 1944 a Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
fighter crashed at Greenlands Farm, off the Keymer Road, killing the Belgian pilot.
The town gradually enlarged, having its largest population increase between the years of 1951 and 1961, when the population of about 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 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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. Both Sheddingdean and Victoria have now been renamed as business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
s.
In the seventies and eighties several new housing estates were built, namely the Folders Lane estate (formally known as Oakwood), the Oak Hall Park estate and the Sheddingdean estate. The 1980s saw the largest single development in the town's history; new housing was created in the northwest of the town with a development known as West End Meadows. Along with this a link road to the A23 was built, replacing the previous route along Gatehouse Lane and Jobs Lane.
Next there was construction to the south and west of the town. Land to the south was developed, and the area is now known as either the Hammonds Ridge estate or Tesco estate due to its proximity to the supermarket, which was built at a similar time. The development is formally known as Priory Village.
The Triangle, a large leisure and conference centre was built in the northwest of the town and opened by the Queen in 1999. In 2005 St Paul's Catholic College moved from Haywards Heath to their new site opposite the Triangle.
In the southeast of town new housing known as Folders Keep is nearing completion, becoming the latest in a steady chain of development.
As well as the aforementioned developments, there have been two council estates built in the town - one around Cants Lane, in the town's north east, and the area around Denham Road in the west, both of course adding to the ever rising population of the town.
Future of the town
Mid Sussex District Council put forward its Master Plan for the development of the town in 2006.Some of the areas put forward for further development are the old Keymer Tileworks, space to the north of the town, and around the south east, off Folders Lane. With the proposed housing quota for the area high, it is expected to grow further as we progress into 21st century, and new housing will be created in the town centre in the form of flats
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
as a result of the redevelopment
Redevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
plans, which are in more detail further down this article.
Governance
Burgess Hill is in the ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
governed constituency of Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)
Mid Sussex is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
. The member of parliament representing Mid Sussex is Nicholas Soames
Nicholas Soames
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames MP , known as Nicholas Soames, is a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the constituency of Mid Sussex....
, who was first elected during the May 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. It was in the historic county
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and in 1974 swapped from the administrative county
Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...
of East Sussex to the shire county
Shire county
A non-metropolitan county, or shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.4 million. The term shire county is, however, an unofficial usage. Many of the non-metropolitan counties bear historic names...
of West Sussex, under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
. It falls under the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
constituency of South East England
South East England (European Parliament constituency)
South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
.
A small residential area in the northeast of the town, as well as land which may be developed for housing in the future, lie on the East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
side of the county boundary, which otherwise runs beyond the eastern edge of the urban area. Both Mid Sussex District Council and Lewes
Lewes (district)
Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, and Seaford. Plumpton racecourse is within the district...
District Council, under whose control this area falls, have raised concerns that planning decisions made at a regional level
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
do not take it into account properly.
Town Council
Burgess Hill is divided into six different wardsWards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
, the most of any settlement in Mid Sussex. These wards are Dunstall, Franklands, Leylands, Meeds, St Andrews and Victoria. Three councillors were elected to represent each of these wards in the town council, and half of these wards had a Conservative majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
, the other half Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
majorities. Nine of the town councillors are Conservative, eight are Liberal Democrat, and the other is independent.
District Council
From each of the six wards, two councillors are elected to represent their ward in the District Council. Eight are Conservative, and the remaining four of them are Liberal Democrats.County Council
Burgess Hill is split into three electoral wards; Burgess Hill TownBurgess Hill Town (electoral division)
Burgess Hill Town is an electoral division of West Sussex in the United Kingdom, and returns one member to sit on West Sussex County Council.-Extent:The division covers the northern part of the town of Burgess Hill....
and Burgess Hill East
Burgess Hill East (electoral division)
Burgess Hill East is an electoral division of West Sussex in the United Kingdom, and returns one member to sit on West Sussex County Council.-Extent:The division covers the eastern half of the town of Burgess Hill....
, and Hassocks & Victoria
Hassocks & Victoria (electoral division)
Hassocks & Victoria is an electoral division of West Sussex in the United Kingdom, and returns one member to sit on West Sussex County Council.-Extent:...
, which covers the villages of Clayton, Hassocks and Keymer as well as the Victoria town council ward of Burgess Hill. Three councillors were elected to represent each ward in the county council, all of whom are Liberal Democrats.
Geography
Burgess Hill is situated in the Sussex Weald, 10 miles (16 km) north of Brighton, and about 4.5 miles (7.5 km) south of Haywards Heath. Lewes, in East Sussex, is 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Burgess Hill, and the larger town of HorshamHorsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
is 15 miles (24 km) to the northwest. Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
, a major settlement is 13 miles (21 km) to the north, and Gatwick Airport is 16 miles (26 km) in the same direction.
The amenities and shopping services in Burgess Hill are also well used by the surrounding villages. The larger villages of Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint
Hurstpierpoint
Hurstpierpoint is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Together with Sayers Common it forms one of the Mid Sussex civil parishes, with an area of 2029.88 ha and a population of 6,264 persons....
are 5 to 10 minutes drive away from the town centre, to the south and southwest respectively. Albourne
Albourne
Albourne is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the A23 road three miles east of Henfield. The parish has a land area of 772.9 hectares...
, Ansty
Ansty, West Sussex
Ansty is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A272 road 1.4 miles southwest of Cuckfield.Ansty has a pub , a cricket team , and the Dark Star micro brewery....
, Bolney
Bolney
Bolney is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester, near the junction of the A23 road with the A272 road. The parish has a land area of 1479.41 hectares...
, Clayton
Clayton, West Sussex
Clayton is a small village at the foot of the South Downs in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the north and Lewes, the county town of East...
, Ditchling
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling....
, Ditchling Common
Ditchling Common
Ditchling Common once the King's land as part of the Saxon Manor, is now a Country Park north of Ditchling and lies between Haywards Heath and Lewes to the east of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. It covers an area of and can be found at map reference TQ337181...
, East Chiltington
East Chiltington
East Chiltington is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located four miles south-east of Burgess Hill and five miles north-west of Lewes. It is a narrow-shaped parish of some on the northern slope of the South Downs. The village church is 13th century...
, Goddards Green, Hickstead
Hickstead, West Sussex
Hickstead is a hamlet in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A23 road 2.7 miles west of Burgess Hill.The hamlet is famous as the location of the All England Jumping Course at Hickstead, a short distance to the south....
, Jacob's Post
Jacob's Post
Jacob's Post is a hamlet to the east of Burgess Hill, in Lewes district, East Sussex, England. It is named after a traveling peddler named Jacob Harris who, according to local lore, killed a person at the pub at this spot, the Royal Oak. He was prosecuted for his crime at Horsham gaol and...
, Keymer
Keymer
Keymer is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2116 road south of Burgess Hill.Keymer was an ancient parish that like its near neighbour Clayton was merged into the modern day parish of Hassocks. Both Keymer and Clayton's records go back as far as the...
, Plumpton
Plumpton, East Sussex
Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles north-west of Lewes. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based...
, Plumpton Green, Sayers Common
Sayers Common
Sayers Common is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. With Hurstpierpoint it forms one of the Mid Sussex parishes. It is located two miles west of Hurstpierpoint. Situated until the 1990s on the main London to Brighton A23 road it has become a more popular residential...
, Streat
Streat
Streat is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles south east of Burgess Hill and eight miles west of Lewes, on the northern slopes of the South Downs....
, Twineham
Twineham
Twineham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It is located eight kilometres to the west of Burgess Hill. The civil parish covers an area of In the 2001 census 271 people lived in 100 households, of whom 139 were economically active.The name 'Twineham'...
, Westmeston
Westmeston
Westmeston is a hamlet and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located four miles south southeast of Burgess Hill and west of Lewes, on the northern slopes of the South Downs....
, Wivelsfield
Wivelsfield
Wivelsfield village, and larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green, are part of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are located three miles south east of Haywards Heath...
(which has given its name to a railway station in Burgess Hill), and Wivelsfield Green
Wivelsfield
Wivelsfield village, and larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green, are part of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are located three miles south east of Haywards Heath...
are other nearby villages.
One of the tributaries of the River Adur
River Adur
The Adur is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river was formerly navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large port, but over time the river valley became silted up and the port moved down to the deeper waters nearer...
weaves its way through the town, known locally as Hambrook. The town is a nuclear settlement, radiating out from the centre, curbed on the western side by the ring road, and on the east side by the East/West Sussex border (although it should be noted that some development on the eastern side of the town, particularly in the northeast, is in Lewes District
Lewes (district)
Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, and Seaford. Plumpton racecourse is within the district...
).
The northern central side of the town (around Wivelsfield railway station
Wivelsfield railway station
Wivelsfield railway station serves World's End and other northern parts of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. It is approximately 2 miles from the village of Wivelsfield, which lies northeast of the town of Burgess Hill. The station is also north of...
) is known as Worlds End
World's End, West Sussex
World's End is a Northern district of Burgess Hill, West Sussex, England. It is thought that the name arrived with the railway - it was here that the 'up' line met the 'down' line during construction of the Brighton main line , though it may also reflect the workers’ sense of remoteness while...
. It acquired this name around the 23 December 1899, a serious accident happened when a red signal was obscured by thick fog. A train from Brighton collided with a boat train from Newhaven Harbour at 40 mph, six passengers were killed and twenty seriously injured. Due to the nature of the accident and the relatively high (in relation to other accidents of the time) number of deaths and injuries the name Worlds End was coined and has stuck since that day.
Nearest places
- WivelsfieldWivelsfieldWivelsfield village, and larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green, are part of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are located three miles south east of Haywards Heath...
- Haywards HeathHaywards Heath-Climate:Haywards Heath experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Rail:Haywards Heath railway station is a major station on the Brighton Main Line...
- HurstpierpointHurstpierpointHurstpierpoint is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Together with Sayers Common it forms one of the Mid Sussex civil parishes, with an area of 2029.88 ha and a population of 6,264 persons....
- HassocksHassocksHassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields....
- BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
Climate
Burgess Hill experiences an oceanic climateOceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
(Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
National and international
Burgess Hill is home to the offices of many nationalNational (distribution)
National is an adjective used to describe a product or publication that is distributed throughout an entire nation, e.g., a national magazine. It implies that the item is available for purchase or access anywhere in the country...
and international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
companies, many based at one of the four business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
s in and around the town, organised by the Burgess Hill Business Parks Association. Altogether the Business Parks Association, representing about 200 companies, employs approximately 8000 people, with a combined yearly turnover of 2 billion pounds. Victoria Business Park is the larger of the two parks in the town, to the south west, with the smaller Sheddingdean Business Park to the north. The town’s residents may also commute to Ditchling Common Industrial Estate, another small business park just over the county border, or the Bolney Business Park, located off the A2300 between Burgess Hill and Hickstead. Both of these are also associated with the aforementioned organisation.
Filofax
Filofax
Filofax is a company based in the UK that produces a range of well known personal organizer wallets. The organizers are traditionally leather bound and have a six-ring loose-leaf binder system. The design originated at Lefax, a United States company based in Philadelphia who exported products into...
has its UK headquarters in the town, and Roche
Hoffmann-La Roche
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. is a Swiss global health-care company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange....
's offices in Burgess Hill are the UK diagnostics headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
. American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
, CAE
CAE (company)
CAE Inc. is a leading provider of simulation technologies, modelling technologies and integrated training services to airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and defense customers worldwide. The company has annual revenues in excess of CAD $1.6 billion, with manufacturing operations and training...
, Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
, Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
and Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins, Inc. is a large United States-based international company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, primarily providing aviation and information technology systems and services to governmental agencies and aircraft manufacturers.- History :...
also all have offices in the town. Almost half of those employed in Burgess Hill's are residents of the town. If not working in Burgess Hill itself, residents may commute to nearby towns such as Horsham, Lewes or Haywards Heath, where 11% of Burgess Hill's population work, or larger employment centres like Crawley and Gatwick (11%), London (8%) or Brighton and Hove (7%). Similarly, people from surrounding villages and towns commute into Burgess Hill, particularly Brighton and Hove, where 14% of Burgess Hill's workers come from, Haywards Heath (5%) and Hassocks (3%).
Burgess Hill is home to several supermarkets: Tesco, situated in the south west of the town, a Co-op
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
in the north of the town, and branches of Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
, Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
and Iceland
Iceland (supermarket)
Iceland is a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Iceland's primary product lines include frozen foods, such as frozen prepared meals and frozen vegetables - hence the name of the company...
are in the town centre. Burgess Hill also has a number of car dealerships, including Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
, Seat
SEAT
SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....
, Ford and Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
.
Burgess Hill opened an MPTC Driving Test Centre in Victoria Business Park, which now serves many learner drivers from Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. This was due to the closures of the Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
test centres in 2009.
Local
The town has two shopping centres, the Market Place and the Martlets as well as shops on Church Road, Church Walk, Cyprus Road, Junction Road, Keymer Road, London Road, Lower Church Road, Mill Road, and Station Road. There are several local commercial districts around the town, at Maple Drive, World's End, Weald Road and Sussex Way.Historical buildings
High Chimneys in Keymer Road (a handsome farmhouse once called Woodwards), and West End Farm (once known as Old Timbers, now the Woolpack Pub) 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.
Transport
Cuckfield
Cuckfield is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the southeast and Burgess...
to Brighton across St John's Common was turnpiked
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
. The A23
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
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
A272 road
The A272 is a road in South-East England. It follows an approximate East-West route from near Heathfield, East Sussex to the city of Winchester, Hampshire. It has achieved somewhat unlikely fame in recent years by being the subject of a book by the Dutch author, Pieter Boogaart...
runs north of Burgess Hill, from Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
to near Uckfield
Uckfield
-Development:The local Tesco has proposed the redevelopment of the central town area as has the town council. The Hub has recently been completed, having been acquired for an unknown figure, presumed to be about half a million pounds...
. The B2112
B roads in Zone 2 of the Great Britain numbering scheme
B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme for the rationale behind the numbers allocated.- Zone 2 :- Zone 2 :-Notes:...
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
Burgess Hill railway station
Burgess Hill railway station serves Burgess Hill in West Sussex. Located on the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink 15 km north of Brighton railway station, train services are provided by Southern and First Capital Connect...
and next to the Burgess Hill Library. Regular buses serving Burgess Hill are operated by Countryliner
Countryliner Coaches
Countryliner is a large independent bus and coach operator, based in Merrow, Surrey, England. It operates in Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex, running a number of bus and private hire coach services...
providing services to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Cuckfield
Cuckfield
Cuckfield is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the southeast and Burgess...
and Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath
-Climate:Haywards Heath experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Rail:Haywards Heath railway station is a major station on the Brighton Main Line...
, and also Compass Travel
Compass Bus
Compass Bus, or Compass Travel, is an independent bus and coach operator based in Durrington, Worthing, West Sussex. They operate over 50 bus services throughout West Sussex and Surrey, linking many places other bus companies do not serve. They operate commercial and contracted routes, including...
and Brighton & Hove
Railway: The opening of the London to Brighton railway
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...
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
Wivelsfield railway station
Wivelsfield railway station serves World's End and other northern parts of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. It is approximately 2 miles from the village of Wivelsfield, which lies northeast of the town of Burgess Hill. The station is also north of...
serves the north end of Burgess Hill and was opened in 1886. First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
and Southern
Southern (train operating company)
Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service...
provide regular train services towards London and Brighton from both Burgess Hill stations, and from Wivelsfield, one can travel on a branch of the East Coastway Line
East Coastway Line
East Coastway is the name used by the train operating company, Southern , for the routes it operates along the south coast of Sussex and Kent to the east of Brighton, England. Those to the West of Brighton are named the West Coastway Line...
towards Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
.
Primary education
- Birchwood Grove CP 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
Secondary education
- Oakmeeds Community CollegeOakmeeds Community CollegeOakmeeds Community College is a Secondary School located in central Burgess Hill, West Sussex, England. The headteacher is Colin Taylor B.Ed M.A....
- Burgess Hill Pupil Referral Unit
- Burgess Hill School For Girls
- St Paul's Catholic CollegeSt Paul's Catholic College (Burgess Hill)St Paul's Catholic College is a secondary school in the town of Burgess Hill in West Sussex, England. Mr Rob Carter is the College's headteacher. He succeeded John Flower, after the latter retired in late 2009. The school has Specialist status: Sports .The college accepts children from the age of...
Burgess Hill is also served by Downlands Community School
Downlands Community School
Downlands Community School is a maintained comprehensive for pupils aged 11 to 16. It currently caters for around 960 pupils. It is recognised as a specialist Science and Mathematics school and also has the Sportsmark.-Location:...
in nearby Hassocks and Warden Park School
Warden Park School
Warden Park is a specialist secondary school based in Cuckfield, West Sussex. It specializes in mathematics, ICT and modern foreign languages. There are approximately 1500 students aged 11 to 16 years old...
in Cuckfield.
Further education
- Burgess Hill Adult Education Centre
- Burgess Hill School For Girls (Sixth Form)
- St Paul's Catholic CollegeSt Paul's Catholic College (Burgess Hill)St Paul's Catholic College is a secondary school in the town of Burgess Hill in West Sussex, England. Mr Rob Carter is the College's headteacher. He succeeded John Flower, after the latter retired in late 2009. The school has Specialist status: Sports .The college accepts children from the age of...
(Sixth Form) - Central Sussex CollegeCentral Sussex CollegeCentral Sussex College is a college of further education in West Sussex. It has campuses across West Sussex and offers courses ranging from Sixth form and Adult education to undergraduate courses through partnerships with universities.-History:...
Campus
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 GrinsteadEast Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
town centres.
The plan will result in the complete reconstruction of most of the town centre, and will also focus on the redevelopment of the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
train station, which is seen by many as in need of updating. The implementation, which will take place over about half a century, also includes the construction of two hotels, the widening of a major artery road through the centre of the town, and the creation of a communal space as well as many new commercial opportunities.
The plan has been very controversial, primarily because it was planned to include the demolition of many residences and shops owned by the town's inhabitants. Some inhabitants were worried as to whether they would get a fair price for their property, and how local landmarks such as the independent Orion Cinema would be treated. Many were concerned what negative effects the redevelopment would have on their lives and the prosperity of the town as a whole. The Burgess Hill Master Plan was, and even after some major editing with consideration of the opinions of the townspeople of Burgess Hill and the surrounding villages, remains the most drastic out of all three Master Plans put across by the local council and Thornfield Properties plc.
Early in 2010 Thornfield Properties was reported to be in financial difficulties.
Religion
- All Saints United Reformed ChurchUnited Reformed ChurchThe United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
- Burgess Hill (Gateway) BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church - Methodist Church
- Mid-Sussex Christian Centre
- Sheddingdean Baptist Church
- St Andrew's Church (Anglican)
- St Edward's Church (Anglican)
- St John the Evangelist's ChurchSt John the Evangelist's Church, Burgess HillSt John the Evangelist's Church is an Anglican church in the town of Burgess Hill in the district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The Gothic Revival church, built of locally made bricks, is Burgess Hill's parish church and was its...
(the Anglican parish churchParish churchA parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
) - St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Church
- The King's Church (NewfrontiersNewfrontiersNewfrontiers is a neocharismatic apostolic ministry network of evangelical, charismatic churches founded by Terry Virgo. It forms part of the British New Church Movement, which began in the late 50s and 60s combining features of Pentecostalism with British evangelicalism...
)
Burgess Hill is also home to the International Bible Training Institute which founded Mid-Sussex Christian Centre, formally Burgess Hill Pentecostal Church.
Providence Strict Baptist Chapel
Providence Strict Baptist Chapel, Burgess Hill
Providence Strict Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the town of Burgess Hill in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex...
, one of many former Strict Baptist
Strict Baptist
Strict Baptists, also known as Particular Baptists, are Baptists who believe in a Calvinist or Reformed interpretation of Christian soteriology. The Particular Baptists arose in England in the 17th century and took their namesake from the doctrine of particular redemption.-Further reading:*History...
chapels in Sussex, closed in 1999 after 124 years of religious use. The Grade II-listed Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
building was designed by Simeon Norman in 1875.
Recreation
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
on the northern edge of the town run by Freedom Leisure
Freedom Leisure
Freedom Leisure is the largest provider of community leisure in Sussex.Freedom Leisure is a not for profit organisation with a strong company ethos on providing value for money. The company does this by reinvesting surpluses back into the centres to ensure this happens...
which is named the Triangle. Replacing the lido in St. Johns Park, the Triangle is also used for conferences. The Triangle was opened by HM The Queen in 1999.
Burgess Hill is one of the few towns to retain an independent cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
. The Orion Cinema, opened in 1928, has two screens and shows a mixture of mainstream and arthouse films. There is also a local theatre, 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 Musical Theatre Society (formerly Burgess Hill Operatic Society) are also held at the Martlets Hall.
The town is also home to the Mid Sussex Brass Band which has a second section contesting main band and a thriving youth band. As well as supporting local fetes and concerts, the band plays at concerts throughout the year in venues from Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
to Hever Castle
Hever Castle
Hever Castle is located in the village of Hever near Edenbridge, Kent, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century...
, and travels to Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg is a town in the district of Hochsauerland. Relating to its area of 188 square miles it is the largest town belonging to an administrative Kreis in the federal state of North Rhine/Westphalia, Germany....
, Burgess Hill's German twin town, for the Schmallenberger Woche.
Burgess Hill has a Symphony Orchestra, which draws its members from Burgess Hill and the surrounding area. The Orchestra puts on two classical concerts each year, normally in May and November.
Sport
Burgess Hill Town Football Club plays football in Division One of the Isthmian LeagueIsthmian League
The Isthmian League is a regional football league covering London and South East England featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. It is sponsored by Ryman, and therefore officially known as the Ryman League. It was founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area...
, the eighth tier of English football. The club plays its home games at Leylands Park. Burgess Hill Rugby Football Club
Burgess Hill Rugby Football Club
Burgess Hill Rugby Football Club or BHRFC, known as the Sussex All Blacks, is a rugby union club in Sussex, England. The team currently fields a 1st XV in the Sussex Spitfire 1 league, and a 2nd XV in the Sussex 'Oranjeboom' 2 West league....
, or The Sussex All Blacks, are the local Rugby Football club, playing their home games close to Southway Primary School. Burgess Hill also has a baseball team playing in the British AAA league.
Mid Sussex Youth Netball Club train at The Triangle (Freedom Leisure) and have many successful teams. The Triangle leisure centre was the home venue of Brighton Bears
Brighton Bears
Brighton Bears was a British basketball team based in Brighton, Sussex. From 1984 to 1999 the club was known as the Worthing Bears and was based in the town of Worthing, 12 miles west of Brighton. The Bears played in the top-flight British Basketball League until 2006 when the franchise folded...
, a former basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team. The franchise folded in 2006.
Several local pubs and social clubs enter teams into the Mid Sussex Pool League, although any venue with 10 miles (16.1 km) of "The Duck" in Haywards Heath can apply to join. The league plays World Eight Ball Rules.
There is also a squash club that plays at the Triangle Leisure Centre every Saturday and Monday, and has a team that plays in the East Sussex County League.
There is also a running club that meet at the Burgess Hill School for Girls every Wednesday evening. Members compete in local and national charity and fun races.
The skate park in the centre of town provides sporting opportunities, and holds an annual competition.
The Triangle is one of the venues in the South East supporting the London 2012 Olympic Games, and will serve as a base and training centre for teams from around the world.
Town twinning
Burgess Hill's twin towns are: AbbevilleAbbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Location:Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and northwest of Amiens...
, Picardie
Picardie
Picardy is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.-History:The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department...
- France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg is a town in the district of Hochsauerland. Relating to its area of 188 square miles it is the largest town belonging to an administrative Kreis in the federal state of North Rhine/Westphalia, Germany....
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
- Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
A square in Schmallenberg has been named Burgess Hill Platz.
Notable people
- Elizabeth BartlettElizabeth BartlettElizabeth Bartlett was a British poet.-Life:She grew up in Deal, Kent. She won a grammar school scholarship. At nineteen she married Denis Perkins. She was stepmother to his two sons, Benedick and Adrian, and they had a son, Alex...
, a successful poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, born in Deal, KentDeal, KentDeal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
, spent much of her life at her house in Burgess Hill. - Neil BrandNeil BrandNeil Brand , is a British dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being regular silent film accompanist at London's National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two recently restored films from the 1920s, namely The Wrecker and Anthony Asquith's Underground. Brand has also acted...
, writer, composer and silent film accompanist was born in Burgess Hill. - CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
ers Caroline AtkinsCaroline AtkinsCaroline Mary Ghislaine Atkins is an English cricketer who has played 6 Tests and 24 ODIs since 2001. She was a member of the side which retained the Ashes on tour in Australia in 2008....
and Vallance JuppVallance JuppVallance William Crisp Jupp was an amateur cricketer who played for Sussex and Northamptonshire...
were both born in the town. - David Chick - Infamous rather than famous protester; dressed up as Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, scaled a crane in London to protest for rights to see his daughter after divorcing his wife. - Colin GriffithsColin GriffithsColin Griffiths is an English comedian, DJ, VJ and writer. He is most famous for his work as host of the MTV show Up, Up, Down, Down..., the flagship program of MTV Flux which has also aired on TMF UK and MTV UK and Ireland....
- TV presenter. - Martha KearneyMartha KearneyMartha Catherine Kearney is an Irish-born British broadcaster and journalist. She is the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme The World at One.-Early life:...
- journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and broadcasterPresenterA presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
was educated at St Wilfrids RC School. - Simon NyeSimon NyeSimon Nye is an English comic television writer, best known for creating the hit sitcom Men Behaving Badly, writing all of the four ITV Panto, co-writing the 2006 film Flushed Away, co-writing Reggie Perrin and creating the latest adaption of William Brown in the Just William CBBC...
- TV writer who was born in Burgess Hill. - Television presenter Holly WilloughbyHolly WilloughbyHolly Marie Willoughby is an English television presenter and model, known for her work in presenting children's TV and entertainment shows. In her early career she modelled underwear and went on to present CD:UK...
was educated at Burgess Hill SchoolBurgess Hill SchoolBurgess Hill School for Girls is an independent day and boarding school for girls aged between 2.5yrs and 18yrs . The School also has a small number of boys attending the Nursery. The School is situated on Keymer Road, in the West Sussex town of Burgess Hill, and is a five minute walk from Burgess...
. - Matt RedmanMatt RedmanMatt Redman is an English Christian worship leader, songwriter and author based in Brighton.He has worked with Newfrontiers, Passion Conferences, Hillsong London, Soul Survivor, is an artist for Sixstepsrecords and is a member of Compassionart a charity founded by Martin Smith.He appeared with...
, a Christian worshipWorshipWorship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
leader and songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
is based in the town. - Valentine DyallValentine DyallValentine Dyall was an English character actor, the son of veteran actor Franklin Dyall. Dyall was especially popular as a voice actor, due to his very distinctive sepulchral voice, he was known for many years as "The Man in Black", narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment With Fear.In...
, a famous (voice) actor (a.k.a. "The Man in Black"), lived in Station Road. - Richard MidgleyRichard MidgleyRichard Midgley is a retired British professional basketball player who finished his career at the age of 26. His final club was Everton Tigers of the British Basketball League...
, a professional basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player. - Michael YorkMichael York (actor)Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
, an actor best known for his role in the Austin Powers films, was raised in the town. - Guy Stair SaintyGuy Stair SaintyGuy Stair Sainty, KC*SG is an art dealer and author on royal genealogy and heraldry.-Life and education:Guy Stair Sainty was born on 7 December 1950, the eldest son of Christopher Lawrence Sainty and his second wife Virginia Cade Stair. His father was Chief Engineer and Director of Carrier...
, the author and art dealer, was born at Clayton Priory on what is now the southern edge of the town. - Bobby ZamoraBobby ZamoraRobert Lester "Bobby" Zamora is an English footballer who plays for Fulham and the England national football team. Zamora began his career at Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brighton & Hove Albion, where he found first team success...
, a professional footballer currently playing for Fulham Football Club lived in the town whilst playing for Brighton & Hove Albion. - Rene WoollardRene WoollardRené M.J Woollard is a British session musician.-Career:René's first work was with the Sugababes in 2003, where he made his first television appearance on Top of The Pops whilst performing their number 1 single "Hole in The Head"...
, a session guitarist and vocalist, born in Burgess Hill who has worked with Alesha DixonAlesha DixonAlesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Cheryl ColeCheryl ColeCheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
.
In popular culture
- The town is referred to by once poet laureatePoet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
John BetjemanJohn BetjemanSir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
in the following lines:
- I have a Slimline brief-case and I use the firm's CortinaFord CortinaAs the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
.
In every roadside hostelry from here to Burgess Hill