Southwater

Southwater
Sussex
Church of the Holy Innocents, Southwater
Location
Grid reference:	TQ156262
Location:	51°1’26"N, 0°21’9"W
Data
Population:	10,025  (2001)
Post town:	Horsham
Postcode:	RH13
Dialling code:	01403
Local Government
Council:	Horsham
Parliamentary constituency:	Horsham
Website:	www.southwater-village.co.uk/

Southwater is a large village in Sussex, in the north of the county. It is a sizable village, with a population of roughly 10,000.

History

One of the oldest buildings in the parish is Great House Farmhouse, a listed building at Grade II* built up from a late mediæval structure in the Tudor period just west of the town. Whilst mixed agriculture provided a lucrative industry for centuries, much of the population of Southwater originated from the workforce of the brick industry which thrived in the clay-pits until the 1980s. Following the closure of the brickworks, there was a project implemented to transform the area into a country park, which is now a major family attraction in the district.

Community

In 2006 the centre of Southwater Village was renewed at a cost of £25 million.

Southwater has three public houses: the Hen and Chicken; the Cock Inn; and the Lintot which opened soon after the building of Lintot Square – the name is a reference to Barnaby Bernard Lintot (1675–1736), a publisher born in Southwater.

Southwater Country Park is a 70-acre site with three lakes and numerous access paths located close to the centre of the village. The Park contains a visitor centre with information displays, and also a café, a skate park, and a children's adventure playground, and Southwater Water Sports Centre with facilities for sailing and canoeing. The Country Park and the Southwater Area Community Centre both have direct access to the Downs Link footpath/cycleway.

Church

The parish church is the Church of the Holy Innocents, a rare name for an Anglican church. It dates from 1848-49 and is Grade II listed. The Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Chichester on 7 June 1850, and the parish was formed from part of Horsham Parish in the north and part of Shipley Parish in the south.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Southwater)

• Southwater Parish Council