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Forest Row

Coordinates: 51°5′53.5″N 0°2′0.3″E / 51.098194°N 0.033417°E / 51.098194; 0.033417
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Forest Row
The centre of Forest Row
Area32.5 km2 (12.5 sq mi) [1]
Population5,054 (2007)[1]
• Density402/sq mi (155/km2)
OS grid referenceTQ427348
• London29 miles (47 km) NNW
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townFOREST ROW
Postcode districtRH18
Dialling code01342
PoliceSussex
FireEast Sussex
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
Websitehttp://forestrow.gov.uk/
List of places
UK
England
East Sussex

51°5′53.5″N 0°2′0.3″E / 51.098194°N 0.033417°E / 51.098194; 0.033417 Forest Row is a village and relatively large civil parish[2] in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-east of East Grinstead. 

came to Forest Row in June 1963 during his visit to the UK,[3] attending a service at the Our Lady of the Forest church. At the time he was engaged in a series of discussions with the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan at his home in nearby Birch Grove.[3] There is a plaque commemorating the visit on Freshfield Hall. This has added poignancy as it was placed there in 1964.

Forest Row became a Transition Village in 2007 with the official unleashing in March 2008 at the Village Hall.

Geography

The civil parish of Forest Row is in the north-west corner of East Sussex, and borders West Sussex, Kent and Surrey. Ashdown Forest surrounds the village on three sides, and the upper reaches of the River Medway flow through the parish. The centre of the village lies at the intersection of the A22 road, the erstwhile turnpike, and the B2110 to Hartfield and Tunbridge Wells and there is a wide range of shops and businesses to serve the surrounding area.

Weir Wood Reservoir is a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the parish. It is also one of the largest areas of open water in the county and hosts a wide variety of resident and migrating birds.[4]

The hotels in the village are The Brambletye Hotel, The Chequers and The Foresters Arms. In the 2006 radiation scare surrounding KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko the Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club were closed for 6 hours and the nearby Roebuck hotel was used as an evacuation point for arriving guests.[5] Italian security expert Mario Scaramella may have stayed there but tests showed no evidence of "radiation toxicity".

The village architecture is a mixture of traditional and modern. As well as many older cottages in the classic Sussex style there is a variety of more modern development, which generally blends in well. Gage Ridge and Michael Fields, with their copper-roofed houses are examples of the latter.

In addition to the businesses in the village centre, there is also an industrial estate.

Religion

Main article: List of current places of worship in Wealden

The Church of England eccesiastical parish combines two churches: Holy Trinity, Forest Row, and St Dunstan's Ashurst Wood.[6] There are also other denominational churches: The Christian Community Forest Row;[7] Our Lady of the Forest (Roman Catholic); a Baptist chapel; Providence church; and the cemetery chapel.

Education

State education is provided at Forest Row CE Primary School.[8] Greenfields School, which caters for children of all ages, is an independent school in the village which gives its students the opportunity to follow the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, amongst other things.[9] Institutions associated with the Anthroposophical movement of Rudolf Steiner are located in or near the village, notably Michael Hall - A Steiner Waldorf School offering education to children from kindergarten up to age18[10] and Emerson College.[11]

Leisure and culture

  • The village hall, at the centre of the village, is quite distinctive in its style. It has an almost Germanic and British look to it. The hall was a gift for the people of Forest Row by the Alpine mountaineer Douglas Freshfield and his mother in memory of his son Henry Douglas Freshfield who died aged fourteen in 1891. The first Freshfield Hall was very short-lived, for it was burnt down on 14 February 1895, the day after the funeral of Henry Freshfield. Douglas Freshfield and his mother wasted no time in having it rebuilt and it reopened on 17 November 1895. At the reopening Freshfield expressed the wishes of his mother and himself when he hoped the hall would be used by all classes of parishioners, and that it would keep alive the memory of its original founder.[12]
  • The Forest Way, on the trackbed of the disused railway line, passes through the village from East Grinstead and continues eastwards as far as Groombridge, a total distance of 10 miles (14.5 km). Either side of the village the footpath is fairly level and is used primarily by pedestrians. Cyclists and horse riders can use the track, but must give pedestrians priority.[13]
  • Forest Row provides many opportunities for leisure activities. In the performing arts there are: Forest Players, an amateur dramatic society;[14] Ashdown Pantomimers;[15] the Forest Row Film Society; The Binkell-Bing Magic Club; and the Jupiter Chamber Orchestra.[16] In sport there are football clubs;[17] the Cricket Club; Anderida Golfers; Weir Wood Sailing Club; and the One Planker Club ;[18] which organises Snowboarding and Monoskiing trips to the Alps each winter. Two other groups are the Ashdown Forest Conservators and the Forest Row Modelling Club.
  • The Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club was established in 1889: there are two courses.
  • The Scapegoat Society is a psychologically-based group.[19] The village also has practising alternative therapists and two bio-dynamic organic farms. Yoga classes are available in the village.

Literary connections

  • The Brambletye Inn was frequented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and features in the Adventure of Black Peter in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson stay at the hotel in Forest Row whilst they investigate the murder of a retired sea captain.
  • The film adaptation of John Fowles's novel The Collector directed by William Wyler in 1965, contains locations (at the close of the film) shot in Forest Row.

Notable people

There have been a few notable residents of Forest Row in the past and present. These include Ben Elton, the comedian and novelist, David Gilmour from the band Pink Floyd, Violet Needham, author, Richard Jones, bass player and background singer in the Feeling, Jonael Schickler, a Swiss Philosopher and Sean Yates, professional cyclist. The singer Engelbert Humperdinck had a holiday cottage in the village during the 1980s. Ed Sanders, who played the part of Toby in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is from Forest Row.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "East Sussex in Figures". East Sussex County Council. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  2. ^ Forest Row Parish Council website
  3. ^ a b Scott, Brad. "The JFK Memoral". Forest Row Village Hall. p. 1. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Natural England - SSSI". English Nature. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  5. ^ BBC News Hotel in radiation alert reopens
  6. ^ Forest Row and Ashurst Wood parish churches
  7. ^ The Christian Community Forest Row
  8. ^ Forest Row CE Primary School
  9. ^ Greenfields School
  10. ^ Michael Hall
  11. ^ Emerson College
  12. ^ Forest Row Village Hall History
  13. ^ "Forest Way Country Park". East Sussex County Council. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
  14. ^ Forest Players
  15. ^ Ashdown Pantomimers
  16. ^ Jupiter Chamber Orchestra
  17. ^ Forest Row Junior Football Club
  18. ^ Forest Row One Planker Club
  19. ^ The Scapegoat Society
  20. ^ Thompson, Jessica (24 January 2008). "Big Screen Start Back At School". East Grinstead Courier. Retrieved 31 January 2008. [dead link]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forest Row.
  • Forest Row Parish Council - Contact details of councillors, meetings calendar (DOC Format) surgery dates and newsletters. Includes community centre information.
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