Billingshurst is a large 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Horsham District Horsham is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It is named after the town of Horsham, which is its largest settlement and where the council is based. The district also includes the surrounding rural area and contains many villa ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. The village lies on the

A29 road The A29 is a main road in England in Surrey and chiefly in West Sussex that runs for . Route The road starts at the Beare Green roundabout with the A24 in Capel, south of Dorking. It passes minor villages, bypasses Billingshurst and crosses ...

(the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Stane Street) at its crossroads with the A272, south-west of

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

and north-east of Pulborough. The civil parish has a land area of and at the 2001 census had 2,677 households and a population of 6,531 people, which increased to 8,232 at the 2011 census. In the 2021 census, the population grew to 9,127.

Toponymy

The village's name derives from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and means 'a wooded hill of Billa's people', most likely referring to the sandstone

hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007 ...

that St Mary's Church is sited on in the historical centre of the village. 'Bill' is the head of a family, 'ing' means of the people, and 'hurst' means wooded hill. It is most likely that it was a small family settlement, not yet being a large community or a parish, headed by one 'Billa' – someone of unestablished origin, and not by a populous

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

tribe.

History

The history of Billingshurst, the village and civil parish within the county of

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, extends back to C.800AD, with evidence of much earlier settlement in the area.

Community facilities

The village has a secondary school and a sixth form college, known together as The Weald School. Billingshurst Primary Academy School (formerly separate infant and junior schools, amalgamated in 2010, and becoming an Academy in 2023) is situated near The Weald. The Women's Hall and Gardens founded in 1923 was given as a gift to the women of Billingshurst by Ellen and Edith Beck. In April 2016, plans were approved for a new housing development on the eastern side of the village, to include a spine road linking the A29 road north of the village with the A272 road to the east. 550 new homes were approved along with a school, dentists' surgery, play areas and improvements to the railway station.

Transport

Billingshurst is at the junction of the A29 and the A272 which are routes to

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath ( ) is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, ...

, Pulborough and

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), also known as Bognor, is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns include Littleham ...

Billingshurst railway station Billingshurst Railway Station serves the market town of Billingshurst, in West Sussex, England. It is on the Arun Valley Line down the line from via . The station is operated by Southern. The signalbox was believed to be the oldest operat ...

on Station Road is on the line from

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

(

Arun valley line The Arun Valley line, also known as the Mid Sussex line, is part of the Southern- and Thameslink-operated railway services. For the initial part of the route trains follow the Brighton Main Line, and at a junction south of Three Bridges t ...

) between Christ's Hospital railway station and Pulborough railway station. A half hourly southern service in each direction (

to Bognor Regis railway station) Monday to Saturday. Hourly on Sundays. Billingshurst signal box, one of the last surviving, was moved to amberley working museum in 2014. The 100 Bus service (

bus station to

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. ...

church) serves the village with bus stops at natts lane, Station Road and The high street. The southbound

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. ...

service runs via places such as pulborough and

storrington Storrington is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Storrington and Sullington, in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. it had a population of around 6 ...

. The village is to the east of a remaining section of the

Wey and Arun Canal The Wey and Arun Canal is a partially open, canal in the southeast of England. It runs southwards from the River Wey at Gunsmouth in Shalford, Surrey to the River Arun at Wisborough Green, Pallingham, in West Sussex. The canal comprises parts ...

; the canal has not been fully navigable since the 1890s.

Religious sites

Billingshurst has four churches. St Mary's Church (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

) is the oldest, with a mix of service styles, ranging from

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

communion services to informal family worship. Other churches are St Gabriel's Church (

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

), Billingshurst Family Church (

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

; part of the

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

family of churches) and Trinity Church ( United Reformed). Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel, set back behind the High Street, was founded in 1754 and is one of south-east England's oldest Nonconformist places of worship.

Sport

The local football team is Billingshurst FC based at Jubilee Fields on the western junction of the A29 and A272. The club was established in 1891 and is running senior sides and a youth section with teams running from Under 8's through to U16s.

Notable people

* Paul Darrow (1941–2019), actor and author, lived in Billingshurst *

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a Bombshell (slang), blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van ...

(1931–1984), actor, singer, and bombshell, lived in Billingshurst * Edward Enfield (1929–2019), television and radio presenter, newspaper journalist, and educational administrator, lived in Billingshurst *

Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', '' Harry Enfield & Chums'' and '' Harry & Paul'', across which he created ...

(1961–), comedian, lived in Billingshurst * Israel Harding, VC, (1833–1917), gunner in the Royal Navy and recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, died in Billingshurst * Edgar Hubert, (1906–1985), abstract painter, born in Billingshurst * Janet Lees-Price (1943–2012), actress, lived in Billingshurst *

Derrick Somerset Macnutt Derrick Somerset Macnutt (29 March 1902 – 29 June 1971) was a British crossword compiler who provided crosswords for ''The Observer'' newspaper under the pseudonym Ximenes. His main oeuvre was blocked-grid and "specialty" puzzles. Even though ...

(1902–1971), crossword compiler and housemaster, died in Billingshurst * Pom Oliver (1952–), filmmaker and arctic explorer, lived in Billingshurst * Frank Patterson (1871–1952), illustrator, lived in Billingshurst *

Connor Swindells Connor Ryan Swindells (born 19 September 1996) is an English actor and model. He gained prominence through his role as Adam Groff in the Netflix comedy-drama ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023). He has since starred in the BBC One war drama '' SAS: ...

(1996–), actor, lived in Billingshurt * James Tilley (1998–), footballer, born and lived in Billingshurst and went to school in Billingshurst at The Weald School

Film and cultural appearances

* Billingshurst's Dell Lane was the location for the BBC sitcom ''

Ever Decreasing Circles ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' is a British sitcom which ran on BBC1 between 1984 and 1989, consisting of four series and one feature-length special. It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and it reunited them with Richard Briers, who ha ...

'' starring

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in '' Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

. * Michael Lugg (1956) in

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

"Boy's Traction Engine" * Paul Adorian (1965) in British Pathé "Vintage Fire Brigade"

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Billingshurst Parish CouncilFurther information and sources on GENUKI
{{authority control Billingshurst Horsham District Villages in West Sussex