Billingshurst

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Billingshurst
static_

population = 5,770 (town), 7,620 (parish)
civil_parish= Billingshurst
shire_district= Horsham
shire_county = West Sussex
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Horsham
post_town= BILLINGSHURST
postcode_area= RH
postcode_district= RH14
dial_code= 01403
os_grid_reference= TQ087259
latitude= 51.0226
longitude= -0.4508

Billingshurst is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies 13 km (8 miles) south-west of Horsham, and 8 km (5 miles) north-east of Pulborough.

Billingshurst is located on the A29 road (the Roman Stane Street), at a point where the A272 road forms a crossroads with the main road. During the medieval period, the village was a coaching stop on the main road from Bognor to Horsham. Billingshurst railway station is on the main line from London Victoria to Bognor Regis and Chichester (some services continue to Portsmouth Harbour or Southampton). The village lies near the Wey and Arun Canal. The civil parish has a land area of 3,219.31 hectares (7,952 acres). In the 2001 census 6,531 people lived in 2,677 households, of whom 3,451 were economically active.

The village's name probably came from Anglo-Saxon "Billinges hyrst" = "Billa's son's wooded hill".

Today

Billingshurst has four churches. St Mary's Church (Church of England) is the largest, with a mix of service styles, ranging from Book of Common Prayer communion services to informal family worship. Other churches are St Gabriel's Church (Catholic), Billingshurst Family Church (Evangelical; part of the Newfrontiers family of churches) and Trinity Church (United Reformed).

The village has a secondary school and a sixth form college, known together as The Weald School. Billingshurst Infant and Junior Schools are situated near to The Weald.

Local pubs include: The Kings Arms, The Kings Head, The Six Bells, The Lime Burners, The Railway Inn, The Blacksmiths Arms. The village also has two Indian restaurants and a number of Chinese take-aways (including a mobile unit on Thursdays and Fridays).

The Weald School contains a [http://www.horsham.gov.uk/leisure_and_tourism/leisure_375.asp leisure centre] , which is open to the public in the evenings and weekends. A new sports area, Jubilee Fields, contains football pitches, a cricket pitch and pavilion, a fishing lake, and an exercise path. Other facilities include a tennis club and a lawn bowling club. Work is underway on a new indoor swimming pool next to the Weald School site on station road. At the same time the "Solutions" fitness centre will be extended and upgraded.

External links

* [http://www.billingshurst-community.org.uk/index.php Billingshurst Community website]
* [http://www.stmarysbillingshurst.org/ St Mary's Church, Billingshurst]
* [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp;jsessionid=01CFF28EBD462BA5A59ADC61B0D01527?p_id=8247 Billingshurst in 1870]