Mid Sussex is a
local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
in the
English non-metropolitan county of
West Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex. It contains the towns of
East Grinstead,
Haywards Heath and
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
.
The district was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of
East Sussex: the
urban districts of
Cuckfield
Cuckfield ( ) is a 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 tow ...
, Burgess Hill, and East Grinstead and nearly all of
Cuckfield Rural
Ansty and Staplefield, previously Cuckfield Rural, is a civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, covering an area from the north-west side of Burgess Hill, the whole lying around but mostly to the west of Cuckfield civ ...
, the far north-west of which was transferred to
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a p ...
.
The district borders the
Tandridge district
Tandridge is a local government district in east Surrey, England. Its council is based in Oxted, although the largest settlement is Caterham; other notable settlements include Warlingham, Godstone and Lingfield. In mid-2019, the district had an ...
of
Surrey to the north,
Wealden and
Lewes districts to the east, and
Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages.
Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...
to the south, all in East Sussex, and
Horsham district to the west and Crawley, northwest, equally in West Sussex.
The
Prime Meridian passes through the district. The district contains most headwaters of the
River Ouse, Sussex
The Ouse ( ) is a 35 mile (56 kilometre) long river in the English counties of West and East Sussex. It rises near Lower Beeding in West Sussex, and flows eastwards and then southwards to reach the sea at Newhaven. It skirts Haywards Heath a ...
and its largest body of water is
Ardingly reservoir
Ardingly Reservoir is west of Ardingly in West Sussex. The southern end is a Local Nature Reserve owned and managed by South East Water.
The reservoir feeds the River Ouse located in West Sussex, England north of Haywards Heath. The villages ...
which is used by watersports clubs. The north of the area is the High Weald and has sections of
Ashdown Forest.
Civil parishes
Within the Mid Sussex District are 24 civil parishes:
History
Population increased substantially in the 19th century, with most of this increase in the most urban areas and leading by its close to urban districts, town-based and rural districts, multi-village-based.
Mid Sussex was first used, in 1885, as another name for the
Lewes constituency when Sussex representation was reformed to nine approximately equal electorate seats.
The first Parliamentary mention of a Mid Sussex body of any sort is in 1907, to the Mid Sussex Joint Water District, an amalgamation of private water companies to provide safe, treated, piped water.
Sussex has been divided into
East Sussex and
West Sussex for taxation since the late medieval period but this divide changed for the first and most recent time in 1972. Changes were provided for under a 1972 Act, all major proposals debated in outline, and made in detail in its associated Order.
Mid Sussex's change in county was argued under the
Redcliffe-Maud Report
The Redcliffe-Maud Report (Cmnd. 4040) was published in 1969 by the '' Royal Commission on Local Government in England'', under the chairmanship of Lord Redcliffe-Maud. Although the commission's proposals were broadly accepted by the Labour gov ...
's ''Planning Area'' enhancing a
Second Wilson ministry plan with support from locally resident Lords and of the
Heath ministry
Edward Heath of the Conservative Party formed the Heath ministry and was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 June 1970, following the 18 June general election. Heath's ministry ended after the February 1 ...
. Under this plan West Sussex gained an irregular swathe of East Sussex as far as East Grinstead in the north and in its initially passed form, Crawley would have gained two parishes in Surrey instead of the Gatwick part of these – mostly reversed due to a local poll, before its 1974 implementation, with the Charlwood and
Horley Act 1974. East to West Sussex land re-designation was kept with the stated aim of uniting all areas affected by the projected major
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a p ...
and
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after He ...
economy under one supervisory local authority.
The decision was controversial but moved through the House of Lords from the despatch box by Lord Belstead, a well-respected Minister in the Lords:
Home ownership
Homes owned by their occupants, with or without a loan, make up more than 85% of Mid Sussex housing. Mid Sussex's residents had the lowest burden of social housing, at 0.5% of housing stock, at the time of the census, a district which is approximately 30 minutes by its
fast railway services from the area with the highest such proportion covering
London Bridge station
London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...
, the
London Borough of Southwark (having 31.2% social housing) and from a creative and self-declared, progressive authority with 9.8% social housing and 28% of its housing privately rented,
Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages.
Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...
.
In terms of rented housing Mid Sussex at the 2011 census ranked 216th out of in terms of 327 local authorities in England. The proportion of homes which were rented as investments by non-occupants was higher than several other semi-rural districts of Sussex, with 11.7% of housing stock speculatively acquired in this way or to provide for those unable to obtain mortgage finance and 1.0% was let out to residents on either public or private shared ownership schemes, close to the national average. These figures are those of the 2011 census.
[Office_for_National_Statistics]
_2011_Census_Key_Statistics:_Tenure.html" ;"title="Office for National Statistics">Office for National Statistics
2011 Census Key Statistics: Tenure">Office for National Statistics">Office for National Statistics
2011 Census Key Statistics: Tenure
Local politics
Mid Sussex District Council elections are held every four years. The District Council has been under Conservative Party (UK) control since 1999. The 2019 Mid Sussex District Council election, 2019 Mid Sussex District Council elections were held on Thursday 2 May, the results were as follows: 34 Conservatives, 13 Liberal Democrats, 3 Greens and 4 Independents. The Leader of the council is Councillor Jonathan Ash-Edwards.
The
Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency), parliamentary constituency of Mid Sussex covers most (but not all) of the district, and is held by the
Conservative Party. The incumbent
Member of Parliament (MP) is
Mims Davies who was elected in the
2019 general election, succeeding
Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of former
Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, and a former junior minister in the Government of
Sir John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Huntingd ...
(1990–97). The southernmost part of the district, including
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.
Located approximately north of Brighton, with a populatio ...
and
Hurstpierpoint
Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population o ...
falls within
Arundel and South Downs
Arundel and South Downs () is a constituency in West Sussex created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andrew Griffith of the Conservative Party.
Constituency profile
This is a mostly rural co ...
whose MP is
Andrew Griffith
Andrew Griffith (born 23 February 1971) is a British politician and former senior media executive who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel and South Downs since 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been serving as Econ ...
.
The north western part of the district, including
Ardingly
Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chiche ...
,
Balcombe
Balcombe 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 north east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the north west and ...
,
Copthorne and
Crawley Down
Crawley Down is a small village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. There is one church, one school, and a number of social groups. It lies seven miles from Gatwick Airport. The next nearest railway stations are Three Bridges an ...
falls within the
Horsham constituency whose MP is
Jeremy Quin
Jeremy Mark Quin (born 24 September 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Horsham since the 2015 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Crime, Polic ...
.
See also
*
References
{{coord, 51, 1, 14.4, N, 0, 8, 14.38, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB, display=title
Non-metropolitan districts of West Sussex