Cuckfield ( ) is a 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 authority ...
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 ar ...
, England, on the southern slopes of the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
. It lies south of London, north of
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, and east northeast of the county town of
Chichester
Chichester () is a 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. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
. Nearby towns include
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, Crawl ...
to the southeast and
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. It ...
to the south. It is surrounded on the other sides by the parish of
Ansty and Staplefield
Ansty and Staplefield, previously Cuckfield Rural, is a civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, covering an area from the north-west side of Burgess Hill, the whole lying around but mostly to the west of Cuckfield civi ...
formerly known as Cuckfield Rural.
Aumale
Aumale (), formerly known as Albemarle," is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. It lies on the River Bresle.
History
The town's Latin name was ''Alba Marla''. It was raised by William th ...
in Normandy has been a
twin town
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
since 1993
and
Karlstadt in Bavaria since 1998.
Cuckfield is known locally for its idiosyncratic system of mayoral voting; unlimited numbers of votes can be purchased for the price of one penny each, with the winner receiving the most votes. The position is purely honorary and the money raised supports local charities.
History
Before the modern local government system came into operation in the late 19th century it was described as being "in the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of Buttinghill, in the
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
of
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
". 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.
The origin of the name, Cuckfield (earlier spelled Kukefeld, Cucufeld, and Cucufelda), is debated but it is generally associated with the ]cuckoo
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...
which is the village emblem.
The village grew as a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
; and an important coaching
Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
stop between London and Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, since it lay on the turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
. In 1820, 50 coaches a day were passing through; but when the railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
to Brighton was to be constructed in the 1840s, local landowners objected to its projected route: it was therefore built through neighbouring 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, Crawl ...
instead. The village lost its importance as a result. Today the A272 road also bypasses the village centre.
It became an urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
, and was greatly enlarged in 1934 under a County Review Order
The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales.
The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...
by adding part of Chailey
Chailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located 7 miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury. The Prime Meridian passes just to the east of Chailey.
The parish consist ...
Rural District
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...
, Cuckfield Rural District (including the parish of Lindfield) and 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, Crawl ...
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
A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...
. The parish church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, has Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
foundations, although the building itself is 13th century. The lych gate
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...
s are listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
s and several of the stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows as well as the pulpit and the ceiling's painting were designed by Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...
(1837–1907).
In 1822, Mary Ann Mantell
Mary Ann Mantell ('' née'' Woodhouse; 9 April 1795 – 20 October 1869) was a British fossil collector and the wife of the British paleontologist Gideon Mantell. She is credited – although this is disputed – with the discovery of the first fo ...
, wife of Gideon Mantell
Gideon Algernon Mantell MRCS FRS (3 February 1790 – 10 November 1852) was a British obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of ''Iguanodon'' began the scientific study of dinosaurs: in ...
, found the first known iguanodon
''Iguanodon'' ( ; meaning 'iguana-tooth'), named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species have been classified in the genus ''Iguanodon'', dating from the late Jurassic Period to the early Cretaceous Period of Asia, Eu ...
fossils among many others close to Cuckfield at Whitemans Green
Whiteman's Green is a place in the north of the large village and civil parish of Cuckfield in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the southern slopes of the Weald, two miles (3.2 km) west of Haywards Heath a ...
, where a monument to him now stands though the quarry from where he acquired them is long gone.[ The author writes: It is also of note here that there is a great deal of material collected by Mantell recorded in museum catalogues simply as having come from Tilgate Forest. It is highly likely that all of this came from Cuckfield (S.D. Chapman, pers. comm.). The fact that this has not been specifically recorded may reflect the fact that in his publications Mantell was habitually no more specific, perhaps because he did not consider it necessary. By saying that his fossils had come from Tilgate Forest, Mantell was actually being quite specific about the stratigraphic unit and area they had come from. The strata exposed in the quarry at Whiteman’s Green were collectively referred to by Mantell as ‘Strata of Tilgate Forest’.] He also features in the town's museum. Other attractions include the Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
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
Bonfire Night is a name given to various annual celebrations characterised by bonfires and fireworks. The event celebrates different traditions on different dates, depending on the country. Some of the most popular instances include Guy Fawkes ...
celebrations are held here. Another Elizabethan house, Ockenden Manor, is a hotel and restaurant which has had one star from the Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...
in 2001 and again 2004–2016.
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 the Middle Ages or 16th and 17th centuries, a cloth merchant was one who owned or ran a cloth (often wool) manufacturing or wholesale import or export business. A cloth merchant might additionally own a number of draper's shops. Cloth was ext ...
in about 1512 and endowed by his will in 1521 with lands in Westerham
Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey.
It is recorded as early as t ...
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
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
made a scheme reorganising the school like a National School and the existing National School (established in 1812) was discontinued. The teaching of Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and Greek were discontinued and the fees fixed at a maximum of a shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
. The teacher no longer had to be a clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
.
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
Chichester () is a 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. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
Diocesan Board of Finance A Diocesan Board of Finance, often abbreviated to DBF, is an institution of the Church of England which owns land and controls a number of financial matters in each of the Church's dioceses.
Such Boards have existed in every diocese of the Church s ...
. 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.
Notable people
* Daniel Betts
Daniel Alexander Betts (born 10 December 1971) is a British film, television, stage and voiceover actor.
Life
Born in West Sussex,
Betts trained at the Drama Centre London. As well as appearing in films and television programmes, he has been ...
(born 1971 in Cuckfield) – actor
* Ross Chisholm (born 1990 in Cuckfield) – Harlequins rugby player
* Hermione Cockburn
Hermione Anne Phoebe Cockburn (born 1973, Sussex, England) is a British television and radio presenter specialising in scientific and educational programmes. She is currently Scientific Director at Our Dynamic Earth.
Biography
Cockburn grew up ...
(born 1973) – geologist and broadcaster, was brought up in the village
* Tommy Cook (1901–50) – Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
cricketer and Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
and England footballer was born in Cuckfield.
* Kirsten Cooke (born 1952 in Cuckfield) – actress
* Alfred Denning, Baron Denning
Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when ...
(1899–1999), resident from 1935 until 1963.
* Dom Dwyer
Dominic James Dwyer (born July 30, 1990) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward. Born in England, he represented the United States national team.
While in England, Dwyer represented, among other teams, Norwich City as a youth ...
(born 1990 in Cuckfield) – footballer who plays for Orlando City and the United States men's national team
* Tara Fitzgerald
Tara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald (born 18 September 1967) is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage. She won the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1995 as Opheli ...
(born 1967 in Cuckfield) – actress
* The brothers Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
, James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
(both actors) and Robert Fox (a producer) all grew up in the village; their mother died there in 1999
* Sally Geeson (born 1950) – actress, best remembered for her role in the British sitcom '' Bless This House'' with Sid James
Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series.
Born to a mid ...
was born in the village
* Dominic Glynn
Dominic Francis Glynn (born 27 September 1960 in Cuckfield, Sussex) is an English electronic composer.
Glynn is a prolific composer of music for television and film. His work includes the arrangement of the ''Doctor Who'' theme music which ...
(born 1960 in Cuckfield) – composer of ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' between 1986 and 1989
* Mike Hazlewood
Michael Edward Hazlewood (24 December 1941 – 6 May 2001)[Mike Hazelwood – Credits ...](_blank)
(1941–2001) – singer, songwriter and composer, born in Cuckfield
* Henry Kingsley
Henry Kingsley (2 January 1830 – 24 May 1876) was an English novelist, brother of the better-known Charles Kingsley. He was an early exponent of muscular Christianity in an 1859 work, ''The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn''.
Life
Kingsley wa ...
(1830–1876) – novelist, lived in Cuckfield for his last two years
* Nancy Osbaldeston
Nancy Osbaldeston (born 1989) is an English ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
Osbaldeston was born in Cuckfield, England. She started dancing at age 3, and appeared in Birmingham Royal Ballet's ...
(born 1989) – ballet dancer and principal dancer of Royal Ballet of Flanders
The Royal Ballet of Flanders is a dance company based in Antwerp, Belgium, specializing in classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet. In its current incarnation, the company was established in 1969. It tours internationally.
History
The ...
* Charles Sergison
Charles Sergison (11 January 1655 – 26 November 1732) was an English Royal Navy administrator and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1698 to 1702.
Sergison became a clerk in one of the Royal Naval dockyards in 1671 and by 1685 was ...
(1655–1732) – owner of Cuckfield Park
* Katie Stewart
Katharine Elizabeth Allen Stewart (23 July 1934 – 13 January 2013) was a British cookery writer whose columns in ''The Times'' made her a household name in the 1960s and 1970s. After training at the Westminster Hotel School, she worked as nan ...
(1934–2013) – British cookery writer, lived for many decades and died in Cuckfield
* Jamie Theakston
James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and actor. He co-presented the former Saturday morning BBC One children's show ''Live & Kicking'', alongside Zoe Ball between 1996 and 1999. He co-hosted ...
(born 1970 in Cuckfield) – television presenter, producer, and actor.
* Nick Van Eede (born 1958 in Cuckfield) – lead vocalist and co-founder of the British-based band Cutting Crew
Cutting Crew are an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut album ''Broadcast'' and hit single, " (I Just) Died in Your Arms".
History 1985–1986: Formation
While still in his teens, Nick Van Eede (b ...
* Thomas Vicars (1589–1638) – 17th-century theologian, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Cuckfield (1622–1638)
* James Vince
James Michael Vince (born 14 March 1991) is an English cricketer who is the captain for Hampshire County Cricket Club and plays for the England cricket team. Vince was part of the England squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He is a righ ...
(born 1991 in Cuckfield) – Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
and England cricketer
References
External links
Cuckfield Compendium
Cuckfield Connections
Cuckfield Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in West Sussex
Market towns in West Sussex
Mid Sussex District