Cuckfield

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Village and parish in West Sussex, England

title: "Cuckfield" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-west-sussex", "market-towns-in-west-sussex", "mid-sussex-district"] description: "Village and parish in West Sussex, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-west-sussex" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckfield" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village and parish in West Sussex, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]

FieldValue
official_nameCuckfield
countryEngland
civil_parishCuckfield
regionSouth East England
static_image_nameHighStreetCuckfield.jpg
static_image_captionCuckfield High Street
area_footnotes
area_total_km24.32
population3,266
population_ref2001 Census
3,500 (2011 Census)
population_density757 /km2
os_grid_referenceTQ305245
coordinates
label_positiontop
post_townHaywards Heath
postcode_areaRH
postcode_districtRH17
dial_code01444
constituency_westminsterMid Sussex
london_distance34 mi N
shire_districtMid Sussex
shire_countyWest Sussex
::

| official_name = Cuckfield | country = England | civil_parish = Cuckfield | region = South East England | static_image_name = HighStreetCuckfield.jpg | static_image_caption = Cuckfield High Street | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 4.32 | population = 3,266 | population_ref = 2001 Census 3,500 (2011 Census) | population_density = 757 /km2 | os_grid_reference = TQ305245 | coordinates = | label_position = top | post_town = Haywards Heath | postcode_area = RH | postcode_district = RH17 | dial_code = 01444 | constituency_westminster = Mid Sussex | london_distance = 34 mi N | shire_district = Mid Sussex | shire_county = West Sussex | website = 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 34 mi south of London, 13 mi north of Brighton, and 31 mi east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the southeast and Burgess Hill to the south. It is surrounded on the other sides by the parish of Ansty and Staplefield formerly known as Cuckfield Rural.

Aumale in Normandy has been a twin town since 1993 and Karlstadt in Bavaria since 1998.

History

The origin of the name, Cuckfield (earlier spelled Kukefeld, Cucufeld, and Cucufelda), is debated but it is generally associated with the cuckoo which is the village emblem.

The village grew as a market town; and an important coaching stop between London and Brighton, since it lay on the turnpike. In 1820, 50 coaches a day were passing through; but when the railway to Brighton was to be constructed in the 1840s, local landowners objected to its projected route: it was therefore built through neighbouring Haywards Heath instead. The village lost its importance as a result. Today the A272 road also bypasses the village centre.

It became an urban district in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, and was greatly enlarged in 1934 under a County Review Order by adding part of Chailey Rural District, Cuckfield Rural District (including the parish of Lindfield) and Haywards Heath Urban District.

The Parish Council, Cuckfield Museum and village library reside within the Queen's Hall, built in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The parish church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, has Norman foundations, although the building itself is 13th century. The lych gates are listed buildings and several of the stained glass windows as well as the pulpit and the ceiling's painting were designed by Charles Eamer Kempe (1837–1907).

In 1822, Mary Ann Mantell, wife of Gideon Mantell, found the first known iguanodon fossils among many others close to Cuckfield at Whitemans Green, where a monument to him now stands though the quarry from where he acquired them is long gone. He also features in the town's museum. Other attractions include the Elizabethan stately home, Cuckfield Park, to the west of the village. Cuckfield Park is reputedly haunted by its former resident Anne Pritchard Sergison, who was known to the locals as 'Wicked Dame Sergison', and who died in 1748. Bonfire Night celebrations are held here. Another Elizabethan house, Ockenden Manor, is a hotel and restaurant which has had one star from the Michelin Guide in 2001 and again 2004–2016.

Geography

Before the modern local government system came into operation in the late 19th century it was described as being in the hundred of Buttinghill, in the Rape of Lewes. The civil parish covers an area of 431.58 ha (1066 acres), and had a population of 3,266 persons in the 2001 census, increasing to 3,500 at the 2011 Census.

Schools

Cuckfield is home to Warden Park Secondary Academy, one of the main secondary schools serving the Haywards Heath area and to Holy Trinity CE (A) Primary School, Cuckfield. The latter is one of the oldest schools in the country; it was founded in the early 1500s as the local grammar school. The founder was Edward Flower, a London merchant tailor in about 1512 and endowed by his will in 1521 with lands in Westerham and £100 to be laid out in other lands. Other endowments were added, but in 1589, the original endowment was leased at a perpetual rent of £20. In consequence in 1819, the schoolmaster had an income of a mere £28.8s.0d. In 1844, as a result of local discontent, the Court of Chancery made a scheme reorganising the school like a National School and the existing National School (established in 1812) was discontinued. The teaching of Latin and Greek were discontinued and the fees fixed at a maximum of a shilling. The teacher no longer had to be a clergyman.

In 1886, the National Society gave £15 and the school formally became a National School. A proposal to rebuild the school between 1935 and 1950, and money collected for this was returned to the donors. The school was reorganised again in 1964 under the Chichester Diocesan Board of Finance. In 1991, the school was rebuilt on a new site. The old school was acquired by the church in 1992 for use as a church hall.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Kingsleys,_Cuckfield.jpg" caption="Kingsleys (formerly Attrees), where the Victorian novelist [[Henry Kingsley]] lived"] ::

Notable people

Main article: People from Cuckfield

References

References

  1. "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish". West Sussex County Council.
  2. "Civil Parish population 2011". Office for National Statistics.
  3. "Aumale".
  4. "Cuckfield European Association".
  5. (May 1998). "A Taphonomic Study of the Wealden Beds of Southern Britain".
  6. (1999). "Gideon Mantell and the Discovery of Dinosaurs". Cambridge University Press.
  7. Lawrence, Ruth. "Ghostly Stories from The Cuckfield : Sussex Living Magazine". Sussex Living Magazine.
  8. (3 October 2016). "Michelin removes stars from 16 restaurants". The Caterer.
  9. (1940). "A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 7, the Rape of Lewes". Victoria County History.
  10. "Holy Trinity CE (A) Primary School".
  11. "CUCKFIELD: Grammar School and National School".
  12. (1940). "A History of the County of Sussex, volume 7, The Rape of Lewes".
  13. "The Old School - Holy Trinity Church Cuckfield".
  14. (1912). "A history of the parish of Cuckfield". C. Clarke.
  15. (13 July 2010). "TV's Hermione Cockburn supports plastic bag free Cuckfield campaign". West Sussex Gazette.
  16. "England | Players | Thomas Cook". ESPN Cricinfo.
  17. Straus, Brian. (November 29, 2013). "Dom Dwyer finds his unexpected home in American soccer". [[Sports Illustrated]].
  18. Interview by Jonathan Sale. (27 March 2008). "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Edward Fox, actor – Profiles – People". The Independent.
  19. "Sally Geeson". Movieweb.com.
  20. AA Phillips, '[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kingsley-henry-3961 Kingsley, Henry (1830–1876)]', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 32–33; Retrieved 19 October 2017
  21. "Vicars of Holy Trinity Church".
  22. "England | Players | James Vince". ESPN Cricinfo.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

villages-in-west-sussexmarket-towns-in-west-sussexmid-sussex-district