is a
Town and
Civil Parish in the
Mid Sussex District of
West Sussex ,
England . It is located 10 miles (16km) north of
Brighton . The civil parish had a population of 28,803 (2001 census) and occupies an area of 946.79ha. Burgess Hill is twinned with
Schmallenburg in
Germany and
Abbeville in
France .
Although a
Roman Road was built connecting London to the South coast and passing through what is now Burgess Hill, there is no evidence that they 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" part of the name is a reference to one of the central features of Burgess Hill during its early growth - the train station is built upon a large hill.
Until the nineteenth century much of what is now the town centre was . The last such sheep and lamb fair was held in 1913.
By the early seventeenth century small scale
Brick 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 still operates with the Keymer Brick and Tile company (Now Keymer Tiles) - 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.
''Road'': In 1770 the road from
Cuckfield to
Brighton across St John's Common was
Turnpiked .
''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 to
London and
Brighton .
''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'' (now known as Old Timbers) 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.
Burgess Hill Town Football Club plays football (
Soccer ) in
Division One of the
Isthmian League , the eighth tier of English football. The club plays its home games at Leylands Park.
The
UK headquarters of
Telecommunications giant
Ericsson was located in Burgess Hill on Victoria Industrial Estate, until relocating to
Guildford in
2003 .
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.
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 Grinstead town centres.
