Woodmancote Area Guide

Woodmancote is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex. The village is 1 mile southeast of Henfield on the A281 and forms a scattered community with no village centre. The parish includes the hamlet of Blackstone.

Woodmancote is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Odemancote". Two of the Lewes martyrs, burnt at the stake in the Marian Persecutions of 1556, Thomas Harland and John Oswald, came from Woodmancote.

In early medieval times this was a lonely countryside of commons, marshes and woods. The Saxons commonly noted thorn bushes as boundary marks between estates and many of the boundary mark names survive here such as Eaton Thom, (a half-timbered 'gingerbread' house), which may be a corruption of 'Heathen Thorn'), Wodesmansthorne (the old alternative name for Woodmancote) and Paythorne (Paga's thorn). It is now largely farmland with three notable woods and some big houses.

Woodmancote is dedicated to St Peter hence the Anglican parish church, St Peter's, which stands alone beside the A281 road. The church dates to the thirteenth century, and was largely rebuilt in 1868. In about 1228 the church was given to the Knights Templar and in 1312 it passed to the Knights of St John. Very little remains from the earlier periods of the church history now. The bowl, drum and pillars of the font are Norman and the remainder dates back to the 14th century. It has some fossil winklestone in its south wall.

Close to the church is Woodmancote Place estate, a large Tudor Manor house Grade II listed and used as a country club. Its surrounding outbuildings, are of many periods dating right back to Chaucerian times. It was owned by Countess Guda at the times of the Domesday Book and then the notorious Sir Edward Seymour otherwise known as Edward the Protector.

There are two notable streams in the parish, which flow through to link to the River Adur. The Cutler's Brook runs through the parish to its north and the Pokerlee Stream runs through the south of parish.

There is also a parish hall in the village, which is currently closed for refurbishment.

Property

There are some notable large estates in the village including Grade II listed and sizeable detached family homes together with converted barns, new builds and semi detached and terraced houses. Apartments are also available.

Education

The schools in nearby Henfield are some of the best in Sussex including St Peters C of E Primary School, Independents Hurstpierpoint College, Lancing College, Burgess Hill Girls School, St Paul’s Catholic College, Warden Park Secondary Academy in Cuckfield and Steyning Grammar.

There are also excellent nurseries and pre-school facilities including Dove Nursery in Henfield, the Warren playgroup and Good start Nursery.

Shopping

Woodmancote has limited services consisting of a Parish Church, a Parish Hall and a public house/restaurant. Swains Farm Shop is a great place to buy fresh vegetables and fruits as well as meat. A number of businesses are located in the Parish, however many of these are not retailers but are service providers or associated with manufacturing.

The nearby village of Henfield has a wider range of facilities that include local stores, post office, pubs, bakers and butchers. There is also a leisure centre and both doctor and dentists surgeries so this would be the main location for amenities.

Entertainment

Woodmancote has a sports ground whose facilities include cricket, football, stoolball and a pavilion open to all. There is also a children’s playground. These facilities are freely open to all residents and are excellent facilities for the community.

The Ginger Fox, one of the jewels in Henfield's considerable culinary crown, is a short drive away and Wickwood’s Country Club with its tennis courts, spa and gym is a short drive away together with the Singing Hills and Horton Golf Clubs.

The success of wildlife in the Parish is the Chess Stream and Cutlers Brook that spans the width of the Parish; entering to the east of Blackstone Lane and exiting at Park Farm. This is a feature of the Parish that hosts varied flora and fauna and wildlife habitats and flood plains.

Nearby Henfield offers much in the way of some of the best countryside in the southeast. Whether a morning hike to see the sunrise, a long walk with the dogs, or a family day out embracing nature, it can all be done a mere stone's throw from the village. The Downs Link cycle route runs along the edge of Henfield and it provides a useful base for the South Downs and Woods Mill Nature Reserve making it a great place to stop for walkers, cyclists, families and local history enthusiasts. There are also arts and crafts venues/festivals, restaurants and pubs, ideal for those who want things to do on tap but would rather live in a rural village.

Travel

A single main A-road, the A281, runs east-to-west through the southern third of the parish area of Woodmancote, connecting the parish to Henfield which provides retail and other services, and also links to Horsham. The A281 also runs eastwards towards the A23 where it meets Pyecombe then links down to Brighton (11 miles south) and the south coast.

The B2116 road runs along the north of Woodmancote Parish linking to the village of Albourne to the east, and further eastwards to Hurstpierpoint, Hassocks and onward to Lewes.

There is no railway station in the Parish, the nearest is located 6 miles to the east at Hassocks, with the larger station of Burgess Hill located 8 miles to the north east. Both of these stations provide access to the main rail service, which connects Brighton to London and Gatwick Airport (22 miles away). This line provides regular services to destinations in the north and the south.

Its viable location offers easy accessibility to all of the surrounding Sussex villages via road either by car or on public transport and bus services are regular and efficient.