Haywards Heath, West Sussex

The Priory in Haywards Heath

Haywards Heath is a large town, primarily modern, but with some interesting older buildings. During the medieval period, much of Haywards Heath was owned by the Knights Hospitaller.

The oldest part of Haywards Heath is Muster Green, site of a bloody battle during the English Civil War, when the outnumbered Parliamentarians routed a larger force of Royalists, securing Sussex for the Parliamentarian cause. In Muster Green is the oldest building in Haywards Heath, a 16th-century inn known as the Sergison Arms.

Haywards Heath owes a large part of its prosperity to its position on the main London railway line to the south coast. That prosperity might never have come about if the neighbouring villages of Cuckfield and Lindfield had not refused to allow the railway to pass through them.

One of the most impressive buildings in Haywards Heath is The Priory, built in 1886 as the Priory of Our Lady of Good Hope. It is an outstanding example of late-Victorian architecture.

Just outside the town is Borde Hill Garden, with over 200 acres of superb gardens, composed of garden rooms, each with a distinct theme. In addition, there are woodland and parks, and over 80 champion trees.