| Wivelsfield | |
|---|---|
 Woodley House, South Road | |
  Wivelsfield Location within East Sussex | |
| Area | 10.8 km2 (4.2 sq mi) [1] |
| Population | 1,980 (Parish-2011)[2] |
| • Density | 181/sq mi (70/km2) |
| OS grid reference | TQ341204 |
| • London | 37 miles (60 km) north |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HAYWARDS HEATH |
| Postcode district | RH17 |
| Dialling code | 01444 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | East Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Wivelsfield Parish Council |
Wivelsfield (/ˈwɪvəlzˌfiːəld/) village and the larger adjacent village of Wivelsfield Green are the core of the civil parish of Wivelsfield in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The villages are 9.3 miles (15.0 km) north of the city of Brighton and Hove.
Wivelsfield parish is located on a ridge that acts as a watershed between the rivers Adur and Ouse. It lies south of Haywards Heath, and east of Burgess Hill, which are both comparative newcomer settlements, owing their existence to the coming of the railway in the 1840s. Wivelsfield is much older, and was first mentioned in an 8th century charter, whilst Bronze Age and Roman finds indicate even earlier origins of settlement in the area.[3]
The settlements tended to be small farms often grouped together rather than a central village, and that is still marked by the two distinct areas called Wivelsfield and Wivelsfield Green, as well as smaller hamlets lying on the border of the old Haywards Heath to the north, Valebridge Common to the west and Ditchling Common to the south.[4]
Despite Wivelsfield being as biodiverse as the best protected places in the Weald, it lies in a landscape without statutory protection, and county planners are allowing an eastward extension of settlements from Burgess Hill.[5]
- ^ "East Sussex in Figures". East Sussex County Council. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ P.Brandon - The Sussex Landscape (Hodder & Stoughton, 1974)
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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