Washington, West Sussex

Washington is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located 5 miles (8 kilometres) west of Steyning and 3 miles (5 kilometres) east of Storrington on the A24 between Horsham and Worthing. The parish covers an area of 1,276 hectares (3,150 acres). In the 2001 census 1,930 people lived in 703 households, of whom 820 were economically active. At the 2011 Census the population of the civil parish was 1,867.^[1]

The village lies at the foot of the South Downs escarpment. The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Mary. There is one pub, the Frankland Arms, a primary school and a village hall with an adjoining sports field. The hamlet named Rock lies to the north of the A283 road.

Landmarks

Chanctonbury Ring, a hill fort based ring of trees atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, lies on the border of the parish and the neighbouring parish of Wiston. Chanctonbury Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as an uncommon woodland type on a chalk escarpment, providing habitat for many species including the protected Great Crested Newt.^[2]

Notable people

• The composer John Ireland lived in a converted windmill in Washington for the final years of his life and died there.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
2. ^ "SSSI Citation — Chanctonbury Hill". Natural England. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
3. ^ Randel, Don Michael (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. p. 407. ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3.

External links

• includes photograph of church
• Official Website of the Washington Parish Council