Broadbridge Heath is a village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is about two miles west of Horsham itself, being just on the other side of the A24 road.

History

The village began life as a scattered group of houses around an unenclosed common before the 19th Century, and by 1844 there were about twelve houses and an inn there. However, despite the enclosure of the heath in the 1850s, there was little development until the late 1880s when land along the main Horsham to Five Oaks Road was offered for sale and large numbers of semi-detached houses were built there over the next 13 years.

After the Second World War, the pace of development increased and many large housing estates were built to the south of the village between then and the 1980s. At about this time, bypasses were built to the south and west of the village, reducing traffic congestion in the village, and a supermarket and leisure centre were built on the land left vacant by the closure of an army camp (formerly the UK Bomb Disposal Unit Headquarters) on Wickhurst Lane.

Famous Residents

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, was born at Field Place, which stands about a mile to the north of the village.

The bestselling novelist Georgette Heyer lived at the Swan Ken, Broadbridge Heath for several months in 1931.

Facilities

Shops & Businesses

• A Post office and convenience store.
• Barber's and Hairdresser's shops.
• A Smithy.
• Dealerships for new and used Vauxhall and Peugeot cars, the latter with its own petrol station.
• A large Tesco supermarket with its own petrol station to the south of the village on the other side of A264.
• A retail park with branches of Halfords, Homebase and Carpet Right, also to the south of the village.
• A public house (The Shelley Arms)
• The Lawson-Hunt industrial estate.
• Newbridge Nurseries, a retail garden centre on the Billinghurst Road.

Leisure and Social

• A large leisure centre with full size running track and football pitches, and the District's Indoor bowls centre.
• A cricket ground.
• A village centre and social club.
• A scout hall, home to several Scouting organisations, but also used for charity and social functions.

Religion

• St John's Church (Anglican)
• The Brethren's Meeting Room.

Education

Shelley County Primary School, located on Wickhurst Lane provides mainstream education for boys and girls aged between 4 and 11 years.

References

1. Hudson, T. P. (Editor), Baggs A. P., Currie, C. R. J., Elrington, C. R., Keeling, S. M. and Rowland, A. M. (1986) A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6. (Part 2 Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) including Horsham.)