Ardingly ( ) is an English village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Mid Sussex district of

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, England. The village is in the

High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is in south-east England. Covering an area of , it takes up parts of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, and West Sussex. It is the fourth largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England ...

about south of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and east-north-east of the county town of

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

. The parish covers an area of . The 2011 Census recorded a population of 1,936 an increase from 1,833 in 2001.

Heritage

There is mention of a place ''Ertlyngeleghe'', in 1396, which may refer to Ardingly. St Peter's parish church, towards the western end of the village, dates from the 14th century.

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

's wild botanic garden, Wakehurst (previously known as Wakehurst Place) is about north of the village.

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 ...

is about west of the village. The Big-Upon-Little rock formation is close to a footpath between Ardingly and

West Hoathly West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 201 ...

Events

In June the

South of England Show The South of England Show is a county show held annually at its own showground in Ardingly, Sussex during June. The show was founded in 1967 and is organised by the South of England Agricultural Society, which is patronised by Queen Elizabeth ...

early in the month and the London to Brighton cycle event (usually held on

Father's Day Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the Unite ...

) attract visitors from a wide area. The South of England Showground hosts regular antiques fairs, some of which have featured on the BBC Television game show ''

Bargain Hunt ''Bargain Hunt'' is a British television programme in which two pairs of contestants are challenged to buy antiques from shops or a fair and then sell them in an auction for a profit. It has aired on BBC One since 13 March 2000 in a daytim ...

''. Every four years an international Scout camp is held on the showground, attended by about 3,000 Scouts and

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

from West Sussex and other areas at home and abroad. The most recent event, WS 2017, was held on 5–12 August 2017. The nex
WS event
2021 is being planned for 7–14 August 2021.

Schools

At the southern edge of the village is Ardingly College, an independent school. The village also has a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

primary school, St. Peters CE Primary, with about 120 pupils. Most of the children of secondary-school age attend Oathall Community College in Haywards Heath.

Public transport

Ardingly has a low-frequency bus service to the nearby towns of Haywards Heath and Crawley.

Ardingly railway station Ardingly was a railway station which served the West Sussex village of Ardingly in England. It was opened on 3 September 1883 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) closed eighty years later and is currently used as an aggrega ...

was opened 1 October 1864 by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

.Ardingly railway station
on Disused-Stations.org.uk - Nick Catford - Accessed 9 September 2007 The Southern Railway

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

the line in the 1930s but British Railways closed the line and station to passenger trains in 1963. The goods yard and connection to the main line remain open as an ARC Aggregates terminal. The nearby

Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...

owns the former trackbed between Ardingly and and has a long-term aspiration to re-open the line.

Notable people

* Frances Garnet Wolseley, 2nd Viscountess Wolseley, a celebrated horticulturist and gardening author, moved to Culpepers, Ardingly, in 1920 and died there in 1936.Jane Brown, "Wolseley, Frances Garnet, Viscountess Wolseley (1872–1936)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004)
Retrieved 27 December 2016. Pay-walled.
/ref> * Jon Snow, journalist and television presenter, was born in Ardingly in 1947.

References

External links

Ardingly Village Website
{{authority control Villages in West Sussex Civil parishes in West Sussex