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Wivelsfield is a Wealden parish located on a ridge that divides the watersheds of the Rivers Adur and Ouse. It lies to the south of Haywards Heath part of which was built in the northern part of the parish, and to the east of Burgess Hill whose eastwards movement is gradually encroaching on former fields. Both these towns are newcomers settlement wise owing their existence to the coming of the railway in the 1840s whereas Wivelsfield's first mention is in an 8th century charter whilst Bronze Age and Roman finds indicate even earlier origins of settlement in the area. Wivelsfield grew during the late Saxon and early Norman period initially as extended pastures for pannage by a number of manors to the south. One of these based at Stanmer eventually owned the eastern portion of the parish until the 14th century. However, settlement tended to be of small farms often grouped together rather than a central village and with the growth of a number of commons dwellings would often be found round the fringes a legacy that is still marked by the two distinct areas called Wivelsfield and Wivelsfield Green, as well as smaller hamlets lying on the border of the old Haywards Heath to the north, Valebridge Common to the west and Ditchling Common to the south.

A wooden church was built in the current location next to a thousand year old yew which may suggest earlier use as a pagan worship place and replaced by a stone building around 1050 though at this point the area was regarded as an outlier of Ditchling and did not become a parish in its own right until around the 12th century. As the area prospered during the middle ages the church was extended.

As a settlement originally based on the principle of droving a number of ancient routes cross the parish. The current B2112 is an old drove road as a portion of the A272 which crosses the northern edge of the parish whilst the minor route to Plumpton is a medieval highway. A number of lanes and footpaths are also of some antiquity. The B2112 also became part of an 18th century London-Brighton turnpike which is still used as the route for the modern day bike ride between the two. The eastern branch of the River Adur runs through the western side of the parish from its source on Ditchling Common whilst a tributary of the River Ouse, Pellingford Brook rises near Cleavewater Farm before heading east. Wivelsfield does have a station on the London-Brighton line but it lies outside the parish in modern day Burgess Hill.

The parish still retains its agricultural air though the growth of Haywards Heath during the late 19th century meant some urbanisation to the north on the old Wivelsfield portion of Haywards Heath common, this part along with the former St Francis Hospital built as a lunatic asylum in 1859 were transferred out of the parish in 1934. The growth of settlement within the parish has centred around Wivelsfield Green which straggles along the road to Chailey's North Common. The area around the church, which was never very big, remains some distance away.

FURTHER READING
BOOKS
P.Brandon - The Kent & Sussex Weald (Phillimore, 2003)
P.Brandon - The Sussex Landscape (Hodder & Stoughton, 1974)
H.Warne (ed) - Wivelsfield; The History of a Wealden Parish (Pier Point, 1994)

WEBSITES
Victoria County History Link
Wivelsfield Parish Link
Wivelsfield Parish Church Link

OTHER MAPS
Tithe Survey 1843 (East Sussex Record Office TD/E 23)
Ordnance Survey 6 1875-1992 Link
Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 (1974)
Ordnance Survey One Inch Map 1813-19 (Cassini Timeline Maps)
Haywards Heath, Cuckfield and Burgess Hill District Map (Barnett's, c.1972)
East Sussex Street Map (A to Z)

Created: Mon, 11 Apr 2011, Updated: Tue, 12 Apr 2011