Danehill, East Sussex


Danehill is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located on the border with West Sussex, five miles north-east of Haywards Heath, and on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. Other places within the parish include the village of Chelwood Gate and the hamlets of Furner's Green and Twyford.
The Prime Meridian passes through the middle of Danehill.
There are no major industries within the parish. One tourist attraction is the Ashdown Forest Llama Park which is located within the parish. Cats Protection has its head office, The National Cat Centre, in the parish.
The 2007 estimated population for the parish is 1,927, increasing to 1,957 at the 2011 census.

Governance

Danehill is part of the electoral ward called Danehill/Fletching/Nutley. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 5,346.

Religious sites

There are two Anglican churches in the parish: that at Danehill and at Chelwood Gate.

Education

Education is provided at Danehill CE Primary School and Cumnor House Sussex.

Culture and community

The public houses are Coach and Horses and the Red Lion at Chelwood Gate. The Crocodile public house once stood in the centre of the village and was frequented by the Bee Gees for a number of years. 'Bee Gee' Maurice Gibb lived in the village for some time.
The Ashdown Weekend is a village event, begun in 1973 and serving to make money for different organisations in the village. It includes five-a-side football, a fete, vintage car show, barbecue, art exhibition, children's party, senior citizens' party, and an "auction of promises".
The now defunct Danehill football club enjoyed some success in the early 1970s winning the second division of the Sussex League and the League Cup in 1973. In the 2007 / 2008 season Danehill F C won promotion and were runners up in one of the cups. The club folded in 2015.
The actor Peter Butterworth, best known for his many appearances in the Carry On Films and his wife Janet Brown are buried in Danehill churchyard.

History

The first written evidence of the village comes from 1265 and the first permanent houses from 1400. By 1660 the Red Round Inn became a stopping point for travellers between London and Lewes. After travellers continued to use Danehill's roads, the village decided to improve the roads which led to wealthy families moving into the area, such as John Baker Holroyd who moved into Sheffield Park in 1769 and was later to become the First Lord Sheffield.

Governance

The lowest tier of government for Danehill is the Parish Council. The council has nine seats, for which eleven candidates stood in May 2007 with an elector turnout of 39.92%. A November 2007 single seat by-election was uncontested.
Wealden District Council is the next tier of government, for which Danehill is part of the Danehill/Fletching/Nutley ward. The ward returns two councillors. The ward was uncontested in the May 2007 election and two Conservative councillors were returned.
Danehill is represented at the East Sussex County Council as part of the Buxted Maresfield Ward. The May 2005 election returned the Conservative Councillor Anthony Reid.
The parliamentary constituency for Danehill is Wealden. The Conservative MP Charles Hendry was elected at the general election in May 2005.
At European level, Danehill is represented by the South-East region, which holds ten seats in the European Parliament. The June 2004 election returned 4 Conservatives, 2 Liberal Democrats, 2 UK Independence, 1 Labour and 1 Green, none of whom live in East Sussex.

Notable people