Worth is either a civil parish in the

Mid Sussex District Mid Sussex is a non-metropolitan district, local government district in West Sussex, England. The largest town is Haywards Heath, where the council is based. The district also contains the towns of Burgess Hill and East Grinstead plus surroundin ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, or a distinct but historically related village in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, 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 populat ...

Civil parish

Worth is a civil parish in the

, a county in southeast England. It includes the villages of Copthorne and

Crawley Down Crawley Down is a village in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. There is one church, one school, and a number of social groups. It lies east of Crawley and east of London Gatwick Airport, Gatwick Airport. Cr ...

, and covers an area of . The population at the time of the 2001 census was 9,888. In the 2011 census it had increased to 10,378. The parish of Worth was one of the larger West Sussex parishes, encompassing the entire area along the West Sussex/

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

border between the town of Crawley, east of its High Street, and

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

. The creation of Turners Hill civil parish brought Worth to a third of its original size. Despite their names, neither Worth Abbey, an English Benedictine monastery, nor Worth School are located in the modern Worth civil parish. They are in what is now Turners Hill civil parish.

Village

Worth village is now an area within the neighbourhood of Pound Hill in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

. It was formerly a separate village, and its name is still used for the civil parish in which it was originally situated. Worth village has Saxon origins: Worth Church still retains its Saxon floor plan. The

Wealden iron industry The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the wrought iron, bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until abou ...

flourished here in the 17th and 18th centuries. The coming of the railway in 1855 brought more employment to the area, but the line closed in 1967. The place appears under Surrey in the Domesday book, with the old spelling "Orðe" (pronounced with a silent initial 'w' as in 'one', and including the Saxon letter ' ð' which sounds a soft 'th'. The Domesday book's entries for Sussex, by comparison, list Worthing as "Ordinges" and Petworth as "Peteorde"). With the creation of Crawley New Town, Worth village became part of it, in the Pound Hill ward; the title of the ward was changed in 2004 to ''Pound Hill South and Worth''. It is common for signposts to be altered to use the Worth name instead of Pound Hill by local residents. The ecclesiastical parish, part of the Diocese of Chichester, maintains the distinction, and is formally entitled "The Parish of Worth, Maidenbower and Pound Hill." Worth Park House, a large country house, once stood on the Milton Mount housing estate, now part of Pound Hill, Crawley. The house was home to Sir Joseph Montefiore and his family. The gardens have recently been restored.

Notable Parish Register

The 1654-1751 parish register for WorthWorth Parish Register 1654-1751; Par 516/1/1/2; West Sussex Archives is notable for recording the burials of unbaptized infants. This gives a much fuller picture of the rate of new born deaths than is usually visible in records of the time.

References

External links

Crawley Down website
{{authority control Areas of Crawley Mid Sussex District