Rusper is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

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 Horsham 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. It lies north of the town of Horsham and west of Crawley. Rusper is the centre of Rusper Parish which covers most of the northern area between Horsham and

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

. Rusper is governed by the Horsham District Council based in Horsham. The parish population at the 2001 census was 1,389 people. It has a range of local services (mainly located on the High Street) such as a village shop and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, a residential care home, a park, a church, a recreational sports area consisting of a Football pitch and two Tennis courts (one with basketball hoops), a hotel, two pubs ''The Plough'' and ''The Star'', a village hall, and Rusper Primary School, built in 1872. Rusper is close to London Gatwick Airport, which is only five miles away and lies under the flight path. It is on the watershed between the

River Arun The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small strea ...

to the west and the

River Mole The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows northwest through Surrey for to the Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives its name to the Surrey distri ...

to the east, with predominantly weald clay soils.

Rusper Priory Rusper Priory was a priory of Benedictine nuns in West Sussex, England. History William de Braose was the patron when the foundation was confirmed c.1200 by Seffrid II, Bishop of Chichester. The priory was probably for twelve nuns under a pri ...

, a priory of

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nuns, was established in the parish c.1200. The Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene is a

Grade I listed 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 ...

building with a good medieval tower. Rusper is the eponymous village in ''Five Years Hell in a Country Parish'' by Reverend Edward Fitzgerald Synnott, Rector of the place, published in 1920. Plagued by endless gossip-mongering, anonymous and begging letters and outrage from the wealthier of his flock at his assertion that all men are equal in the sight of God, he was subject to a serious spiteful campaign and eventually sent for trial for misconduct. He was found not guilty on a charge of immorality by the Chichester

Consistory Court A consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England where they were originally established pursuant to a charter of King William the Conqueror, and still exist today, although since about the middle of th ...

in January 1920. He stayed there another thirteen years.

Ridge Farm Studio Ridge Farm Studio was one of the earliest residential recording studios in the United Kingdom. The studio operated for over twenty-five years and had artists, musicians, and producers from all over the world record and produce music there. The ...

was a residential recording studio, from 1975 to 2003.

References

External links

Rusper Primary SchoolBritish History Online; Rusper
Villages in West Sussex {{WestSussex-geo-stub