Broadbridge Heath

Broadbridge Heath

St John's Church
Broadbridge Heath
 Broadbridge Heath shown within West Sussex
Area  2.16 km2 (0.83 sq mi) [1]
Population 3,021 [1] 2001 Census
   – density  1,401/km2 (3,630/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTQ150315
   – London  31 miles (50 km) NNE 
Civil parishBroadbridge Heath
DistrictHorsham
Shire countyWest Sussex
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town HORSHAM
Postcode district RH12
Dialling code 01403
Police Sussex
Fire West Sussex
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentHorsham
WebsiteParish Council
List of places
UK
England
West Sussex

Coordinates: 51°04′17″N 0°21′33″W / 51.07137°N 0.35909°W

Broadbridge Heath is a village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is about two miles (3 km) west of the historic centre of Horsham and is now a suburb of Horsham. It lies on the other side of the A24 road. In recent years the population has increased dramatically, a trend that will continue as the area is developed by housing

History

The village began life as a scattered group of houses around an unenclosed common before the 19th century, and by 1844 there were about twelve houses and an inn. There was an amount of quarrying for Horsham Stone and in 2014 one working quarry exists to south west of the centre of the suburb. In spite of the enclosure of the heath in the 1850s, there was little further development until the late 1880s when land along the main Horsham to Five Oaks Road was offered for sale and large numbers of semi-detached houses were built there over the next 13 years.[2]

After the Second World War, the pace of development increased and new large housing estates were built to the south of the village. This tend has continued into the 2010s. The opening of the Horsham in the late 1950s, reduced traffic congestion in the village, and a supermarket and leisure centre were built on the land left vacant by the closure of an army camp (formerly the UK Bomb Disposal Unit Headquarters) on Wickhurst Lane.In 2014 Broadbridge Heath has increased considerably in size with the building of a new estate of fifteen hundred houses under the marketing name of Wickhurst Green.

In 1964, a sculpture of Jesus Christ, created by Edward Bainbridge Copnall was placed on the church. In December 2008 it was removed and was put in Horsham Museum. It has since been replaced with a glass cross.

In March 2014, West Sussex County Council proposed a new 'Quadrant' area south of the village, that would include a new leisure centre and other recreational services to serve Horsham but to be built in Broadbridge Heath.[3]

Facilities

Shops & Businesses

Social

War Memorial, Broadbridge Heath
Brethren's Meeting Room[4]

Religion

Education

Shelley County Primary School, located on Wickhurst Lane provides mainstream education for boys and girls aged between 4 and 11 years.

Sport and leisure

Broadbridge Heath has a Non-League football club Broadbridge Heath F.C. who play at Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre. The Centre consists of a full size running track, athletic facilities and football pitch as well as the District's Indoor bowls Centre. The Grenadian Olympic Team trained at the Centre in the weeks preceding the London 2012 Olympic Games, at which Kirani James won Grenada's first Olympic gold medal in the men's 400m.

Broadbridge Heath also has a cricket club whose teams play in the West Sussex Invitation Cricket League. They also have a junior section. Closely linked with the cricket club is the Broadbridge Heath Stoolball Club. On the same site, Broadbridge Heath Tennis Club have two courts. All these three clubs are situated at the 'Top Common' in the village.

Horsham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (HAODS) are also based at Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre.

Transport

The village is situated at the junction of the A24 and the A264 road. The village is served hourly by public transport by the Metrobus, Compass and Arriva bus companies. The nearest railway station is at Christ's Hospital although Horsham has more frequent services. The nearest airport is London Gatwick.

Geography

Neighbouring areas
Cranleigh Dorking Warnham, Crawley
Slinfold Horsham
   Broadbridge Heath  
Billingshurst Christ's Hospital, Southwater Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath

Notable residents

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, was born at Field Place, which stands about a mile to the north of the village.

The bestselling novelist Georgette Heyer lived at the Swan Ken, Broadbridge Heath, for several months in 1931.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Broadbridge Heath.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish". West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  2. ↑ Hudson, T. P. (editor) (1986) A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6. (Part 2 Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) including Horsham.)
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Brethren's Meeting Room Built in 1908 as a daughter church of 382506 it was known as Broadbridge Heath Free Church until the late 1990s/early 2000s when its congregation had dissipated. It was the home of Busy Bees pre-school until the Unitarian church sold the property to its current owners. Under the left-hand window is a commemorative stone made almost illegible by countless layers of paint. It reads, "This stone was laid by Mr Samuel Barrow of Burningfold Hall July 16th 1908"