Balcombe
| Balcombe | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 Balcombe village centre | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ306302 |
| Location: | 51°3’24"N, 0°8’14"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,765 (2011) |
| Post town: | Haywards Heath |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | RH17 |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Horsham |
| Website: | Balcombe Village |
Balcombe is a village in northern Sussex, 16 miles north of Brighton, to which Balcombe owes its growth and prosperity, through the building of the London to Brighton railway line. Nearby towns include Crawley to the north west and Haywards Heath to the south.
History
South of Balcombe on the London to Brighton railway line is the Ouse Valley Viaduct, also known as the 'Balcombe Viaduct'. Designed and engineered by John Urpeth Rastrick (1780–1856) in consultation with the renowned architect David Mocatta, it was completed in 1842.[1] It is 100 feet high and 500 yards long, has 37 arches and was built with 11 million imported Dutch bricks.[2]
The village has a series of murals about the First World War I in its Victory Hall, commissioned by Lady Gertrude Denman and painted by Neville Lytton.[3] The murals are frescoes thirty-four feet long by ten feet high frescoes.
Balcombe was the birthplace of Colour Sergeant (later Lieutenant Colonel) Frank Bourne DCM, who fought at the battle of Rorke's Drift in the Zulu War: in the 1964 film Zulu, Bourne was played by Nigel Green. He was the last British survivor of the battle when he died in Dorking in 1945.[4]
The River Ouse was once navigable from the south coast to Balcombe, for the delivery of Dutch bricks to the viaduct.
Rail transport
The village has a railway station which lies just north of Haywards Heath on the Brighton Main Line. Balcombe railway station helped expand a predominantly farming community into one of the popular London commuter villages. The station offers direct services to London and Brighton. To the north of the village is Balcombe Tunnel.
Oil exploration
Test drilling for petroleum[5] deposits was proposed in 2012. A protest group was formed and a picnic was held. There was considerable opposition in the local population to exploration plans. Cuadrilla Resources, the company that proposes to drill the well, engaged in public relations efforts attempting to convince villagers that the project was both useful and safe. Previous exploration by Conoco in the same area in 1986 was abandoned.[6] In July 2013 a licence to drill the well was granted and Cuadrilla began transporting equipment and supplies to the test site. The well would be 3,000 feet deep with a possible 2,500-foot horizontal leg.
In March 2014, a group of residents set up a renewable energy co-operative called REPOWERBalcombe, with a view to healing the rifts that emerged during the protests.[7] REPOWERBalcombe aims to match the village's domestic electricity demand with community owned solar power.[8]
Villages
Hamlets within the parish include Balcombe Lane.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Balcombe) |
References
- ↑ Hollingsworth, J. P. (2009). Old Balcombe. Catrine, East Ayrshire: Stenlake Publishing. pp. 1–3. ISBN 9781840334661. http://www.stenlake.co.uk/books/view_book.php?ref=586.
- ↑ Snow, Jon (September 2008). Brave New World. 61.
- ↑ Huxley, Gervas (1961). Lady Denman, GBE 1884–1954. London: Chatto& Windus Ltd. p. 132.
- ↑ Rorke's Drift, Adrian Greaves, Cassell, 2003, See also 1861 Census for Balcombe.
- ↑ Stanley Reed (7 August 2013). "Goals Collide in Drilling Protests". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/business/energy-environment/08iht-green08.html. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
- ↑ Stanley Reed (24 May 2013). "British Villagers, Fearing Fracking, Protest Plan for Drilling". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/business/global/british-village-protests-plan-for-shale-gas-drilling.html. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
- ↑ Lonsdale, Sarah (2 July 2014). "Balcombe: divided by oil, saved by solar power". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/greenproperty/10935448/Balcombe-a-village-divided-by-oil-saved-by-solar-power.html. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ↑ "Balcombe: 'now everyone's working towards the same goal'". Channel 4 News. http://www.channel4.com/news/balcombe-fracking-solar-now-everyones-working-towards-the-same-goal. Retrieved 7 December 2014.