Worth, West Sussex

Worth
Worth  Worth shown within West Sussex
Area	19.95 km2 (7.70 sq mi)
Population	9,888  2001 Census
– density	496/km2 (1,280/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ298364
– London	27 miles (43 km) N
Civil parish	Worth
District	Mid Sussex
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CRAWLEY
Postcode district	RH10
Dialling code	01293
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Crawley
Website	http://www.worthparishcouncil.co.uk/
List of places UK England West Sussex

Worth is a civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, a county in southeast England. It includes the villages of Copthorne and Crawley Down, and covers an area of 1,995 hectares (4,930 acres). The population at the time of the 2001 census was 9,888. The ecclesiastical parish was one of the larger West Sussex parishes, encompassing the entire area along the West Sussex/Surrey border between the town of Crawley, east of its High Street, and East Grinstead. The creation of Turners Hill civil parish meant that Worth parish is now only one-third of its original size.

Worth Park House, a large country house, once stood on the Milton Mount housing estate, now part of Pound Hill, Crawley. The house was home to Sir Joseph Montefiore and his family. The gardens have recently been restored.

Worth Abbey, an English Benedictine monastery, and Worth School are both located in the parish.

Worth village

File:St Nicholas Church, Worth, Crawley.JPG

St Nicholas' Church, the ancient parish church of Worth, has Saxon origins.

Worth village is now an area within the neighbourhood of Pound Hill in the borough of Crawley. It was formerly a separate village, and its name is still used for the civil parish in which it was originally situated.

Worth village has Saxon origins: Worth Church still retains its Saxon floor plan. The Wealden iron industry flourished here in the 17th and 18th centuries. The coming of the railway in 1855 brought more employment to the area, but the line closed in 1967.

The place appears under Surrey in the Domesday book, with the old spelling "Orðe" (pronounced with a silent initial 'w' as in 'one', and including the Saxon letter 'ð' which sounds a soft 'th'. The Domesday book's entries for Sussex, by comparison, list Worthing as "Ordinges" and Petworth as "Peteorde").

With the creation of Crawley New Town, Worth village became part of it, in the Pound Hill ward; the title of the ward was changed in 2004 to Pound Hill South and Worth. It is common for signposts to be altered to use the Worth name instead of Pound Hill by local residents.

The ecclesiastical parish, part of the Diocese of Chichester, maintains the distinction, and is formally entitled "The Parish of Worth, Maidenbower and Pound Hill."

External links

• Crawley Down website