Southwater

Southwater is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, with a population of roughly 10,000. It is administered within Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council.

Southwater

Church of the Holy Innocents, Southwater
Southwater
Location within West Sussex
Area14.00 km2 (5.41 sq mi) [1]
Population10,025 [1] 2001 Census
10,730 (2011 Census)[2]
• Density716/km2 (1,850/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTQ156262
• London34 miles (55 km) NNE
Civil parish
  • Southwater
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHORSHAM
Postcode districtRH13
Dialling code01403
PoliceSussex
FireWest Sussex
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
Websitewww.southwater-village.co.uk/

History

One of the oldest buildings in the parish is Great House Farmhouse, a listed building at Grade II* built up from a late medieval structure in the Tudor period just west of the town.[3] 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.[4]

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 Tipsy Fox; and the Lintot which opened soon after the building of Lintot Square – the name is a reference to Barnaby Bernard Lintot (1675–1736), an English 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.[5] 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
Main article: Holy Innocents Church, Southwater

Holy Innocents Anglican parish church dates from 1848–49 and is Grade II listed.[6] The Church was consecrated by Ashurst Turner Gilbert, Bishop of Chichester, on 7 June 1850, and the ecclesiastical parish was formed from part of Horsham Parish in the north and part of Shipley Parish in the south.

References
  1. "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  2. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  3. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1286023)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  4. "Southwater Country Park". www.horsham.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  5. "Horsham district council Southwater Country Park". Southwater Country Park. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  6. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1259780)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 August 2012. Grade II Listing details of Holy Innocents Church.
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