East Grinstead

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East Grinstead
East Grinstead (West Sussex)
East Grinstead

East Grinstead shown within West Sussex
Population 29,000
OS grid reference TQ395385
Parish East Grinstead
District Mid Sussex
Shire county West Sussex
Region South East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town EAST GRINSTEAD
Postcode district RH19
Dialling code 01342
Police Sussex
Fire West Sussex
Ambulance South East Coast
European Parliament South East England
UK Parliament Mid Sussex
List of places: UK • England • West Sussex

Coordinates: 51°07′44″N 0°00′25″W / 51.129, -0.007

East Grinstead (archaically spelt Grimstead[1]) is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. In fact until 1974 East Grinstead was in the county of East Sussex but was moved, along with Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill during a boundary re-organisation. The large civil parish covers an area of 2443.45ha and had a population of 23,942 persons (2001 census).

It is located on the Greenwich Meridian. The Weald and Ashdown Forest lie to the south of the town.

Contents

[edit] Places of Interest

East Grinstead High Street
East Grinstead High Street

The High Street contains the longest continuous run of 14th-century timber-framed buildings in England. Other notable buildings in the town include Sackville College, the sandstone almshouse built in 1609 where the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas" was written by John Mason Neale. On the A264 to Tunbridge Wells, there is a historic house called Hammerwood Park. On the outskirts of the town is Standen, a country house containing one of the best collections of arts and crafts movement furnishings and fabrics. East Grinstead House is the headquarters of the (UK and Ireland) Caravan Club.

Local attractions include Ashdown Forest (where the Winnie-the-Pooh stories are set) and the Bluebell Railway, a preserved heritage line with steam locomotives. The town is also the site of Queen Victoria Hospital, where famed plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe treated burns victims of World War II and formed the Guinea Pig Club.

During the Second World War, the town was a secondary target for German bombers who failed to make their primary target in London. During the evening of July 9, 1943, a Luftwaffe bomber became separated from his squadron, and made an attack on the town. One of his bombs fell on the Whitehall Cinema in the High Street. 108 people were killed, including many children who were watching the matinee. This was the largest loss of life of any single air raid in Sussex.

In 2006, the East Grinstead Town Museum was moved to new custom built premises located in the historic centre of the town, and successfully re-opened to the public. Chequer Mead Arts Centre includes a modern 349-seat purpose-built theatre, which stages professional and amateur plays and music (local rock groups to chamber music orchestras), opera, ballet, folk music, tribute bands, and talks. The centre has a large art gallery for temporary exhibitions.

[edit] Religious Institutions

A number of important religious sites are located in East Grinstead.

The strange co-incidence of such a number of religious organisations being headquartered in the town prompted a documentary in 1994, Why East Grinstead?, which was produced for Channel 4 by Zed Productions and directed by Ian Sellar. The documentary didn't come to any definite conclusions: the explanations ranging from the fact that East Grinstead sat on the convergence of ley lines to the more prosaic idea that the various religious inquirers had settled there because they liked the views.

One of the most impressive buildings in the town is St. Swithun's Church which has been on its present site since the 11th century. Near the entrance to the church, three stones mark the supposed ashes of Anne Tree, Thomas Dunngate and John Forman who were burned as martyrs on the 18th of July 1556 because they would not renounce the Protestant faith.

There are also three other Anglican churches (St. Barnabas, St. Luke and St. Mary); West Street Baptist Chapel; Our Lady and St. Peter Roman Catholic Church; Trinity Methodist Church; New Life Church (a New Frontiers evangelical charismatic church) and a United Reformed Church in the town.

[edit] Redevelopment

The longest row of 14th century timber framed buildings in England located on East Grinstead High Street.
The longest row of 14th century timber framed buildings in England located on East Grinstead High Street.

The East Grinstead Town Centre Master Plan was adopted on 10 July 2006 as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).[2] The scheme arranges regeneration of the town centre in association with Thornfield Properties PLC. As of September 2007 Thornfield Properties has submitted plans to the council for the start of an ambitious development of the Queens Walk and West Street area. It is expected that other redevelopment companies will fulfil targets outlined in the SPD over the next 20 years. Landowners and developers are being encouraged to put forward plans achieve the vision set out in the SDP. The Master Plan is part of a larger scheme which will also see the redevelopment of the Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill town centres.[3]

A legacy of 1970s buildings followed by decades of low investment and short term planning have left the town with outdated retail spaces. The plan envisions a complete reconstruction of large parts of the town centre with a new town square as its focal point, a mix of commercial retail space, increased active shop frontage, and over 600 residential properties. The clear priority as stated by Mid Sussex District Council is the regeneration of the town centre, Queensway car park, Queens Walk and West Street.

The problems the town faces have directly affected the volume of trade and the town's economic well-being. Residents do most of their non food shopping out of town, which has resulted in retailers in the town centre closing down and commercial premises being left vacant as they cannot compete with the more attractive shopping centre in Crawley with its better transport infrastructure and larger shop areas.[4] No public money is being spent, with the SPD being a guide for private developers and landowners to pursue the ideas. The SPD helps this in that it in essence shows locations in town that have been given an arbitrary planning permission for projects as long as they fulfil the guidelines set out in the SPD.

A new bypass is planned to ease congestion. A projected increase in population from new housing developments and an increase in tourism from the proposed linking of the town with the heritage Bluebell Railway will service the plans to regenerate the town centre. These plans have been welcomed by many although various public consultations made it clear that any development must retain the town's character. The railway station will also be redeveloped as its simple concrete construction is seen as unattractive and a bad gateway into the town, along with the dilapidated state of the Railway Approach road that leads into town. The current station was built to replace a grand wooden Victorian-era railway station that was sold and moved to the USA. Public transport has also come under criticism for being badly linked and of poor quality, resulting in many residents using private cars to move around, further increasing congestion, with limited public car parking space in town.

Other parts of the plan require new car parks, a larger supermarket and a new public library among other improvements to the town.[citation needed]

[edit] Crime

Crime rates in East Grinstead are lower than the national average.[5]

Crime Rates in East Grinstead (per 1000 population)
Offence Locally Nationally
Robbery 0.32 1.85
Theft of a motor vehicle 1.79 4.04
Theft from a motor vehicle 5.34 9.59
Sexual offences 0.62 1.17
Violence against a person 11.28 19.97
Burglary 2.58 5.67

[edit] Transport

A map of East Grinstead from 1946
A map of East Grinstead from 1946

[edit] Rail

East Grinstead has been a railway terminus since the 1960s, after the lines to Lewes, Three Bridges, and Royal Tunbridge Wells were closed under the Beeching Axe, a reorganisation of British Railways based on a report by Richard Beeching. In the late 1970s the town's inner relief road was built on the line of one of the closed railways and named "Beeching Way". It is rumoured that this road, which runs through a cutting, was intended to be called "Beeching Cut", but that the name was altered at the last minute in the interests of formality.[citation needed]

[edit] Bluebell Railway connection

 This article or section contains information about planned or expected future infrastructure.
It may contain speculative information and may change upon or during construction.

A part of the Lewes line may be reinstated by the Bluebell Railway,[6]a nearby preserved standard gauge railway. Work has now actively started on the final push to the north towards East Grinstead where the line will once again join to the national railway network. A new railway station is to be built just south of the main-line station.

[edit] Road

The town is within commuting distance of London by road; the A22 and A264 roads pass through it.

[edit] Twin towns

The town is twinned with the towns of:

The village of West Grinstead is located some 25 km to the southwest.

[edit] Famous Residents Past and Present

Houses and shops in East Grinstead
Houses and shops in East Grinstead

[edit] East Grinstead in Literature

East Grinstead is the destination of the adulterous lovers Norman and Annie in Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy of plays entitled The Norman Conquests. It was chosen because Norman, after some effort, couldn't get in at Hastings. In the 1978 BBC-TV version of the trilogy, Norman and Annie were portrayed by Tom Conti and Penelope Wilton.

East Grinstead also features in Christopher Fowler's novel, Psychoville (1996), in which the town features as harbouring the fictional Invicta Cross, as well as the eventual New Invicta. The town of New Invicta was later used by Jo Amey in Heist as a safehouse

East Grinstead is mentioned in the lyrics to British musician Robyn Hitchcock's song, Listening To The Higsons. ("The Higsons come from Norwich, but I prefer East Grinstead.")

East Grinstead is the home of Harry Witherspoon, one of the lead characters in a musical comedy by Flaherty and Ahrens called "Lucky Stiff".

[edit] Sports and Social Clubs

East Grinstead is well served by local sports clubs and has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V. The clubs include the:

[edit] References

  1. ^ House of Commons Journal Volume 9 (html). British History Online. University of London & History of Parliament Trust (1679-04-07). Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
  2. ^ Mid Sussex District Council (2006-07-04). "Revised Masterplan to safeguard unique character of town" (html) (in English). Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  3. ^ Local Development Scheme (pdf) (English). Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
  4. ^ East Grinstead Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (pdf) (English). Mid Sussex District Council. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  5. ^ East Grinstead crime statistics (html) (English). FindaProperty.com (2005-06).
  6. ^ Bluebell Railway extension

[edit] External links


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Towns, villages and hamlets in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England
Mid Sussex District