Hellingly

The entirely rural and suburban village is centred exactly 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the small town of Hailsham. The dependent village of Lower Dicker is within its boundaries.

The village, like many others on the Weald, was involved in the Wealden iron industry. The watermill connected with the industry is no longer in operation. Horselunges Manor is a moated Tudor manor house, restored by Walter Godfrey in the 1930s.

Hellingly Hospital once dominated the area east of the village and was the principal mental hospital for East Sussex. Opened in 1903 it remained in use until 1994. The buildings were derelict for some time until being demolished and replaced with a housing estate, named by the developer as Roebuck Park.

The main sports clubs in the village are Hellingly Rugby Club and Hellingly cricket club, which are both at Horsebridge recreation ground.

There are fourteen parish councillors on Hellingly Parish Council.[3] The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 5,940.[4]

Hellingly contains the confluence of the River Cuckmere and one of its tributaries, the Bull River, close to the centre of the historic village. The village stands on the lower southern slopes of the gentle uplands forming the Weald and surrounds a circular mound on which the church stands.

The tower of the parish church

Hellingly Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul

The 14th-century parish church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.[5] The chancel dates from about 1200, and the shafts with annulets round the windows and the band of palmettes under them are substantially original. There is stained glass in the east lancet windows by Morris & Co. Zoar Strict Baptist Chapel was founded in 1837 at Lower Dicker.[6]

This settlement had a railway station on the Polegate to Eridge line which closed on the growth of motorised transport in the rural parts of county in 1968. The village is now served by buses run by Stagecoach.[7]

Horselunges Manor, Hellingly

• Margaret Fairchild (1911-1989) aka Miss Shepherd, the subject of the 2015 film The Lady in the Van, was born here
• Peter Grant (1935–1995), actor and music executive, is buried in the civil cemetery here, following a funeral in the parish church. Grant lived in Hellingly at Horselunges Manor, which was featured in the opening scene in Led Zeppelin's film, The Song Remains the Same.

Media related to Hellingly at Wikimedia Commons