The Middy April 8 1999

A Village well worth fighting for

The War memorial at the entrance to Lindfield church was unveiled and dedicated in November 1922 and commemorated 61 men of the village who had fallen in battle.

Later the names of 34 men who died in the Second World War were added. But even the War Memorial was not without controversy – in 1920 a meeting to discuss a fitting tribute had broken up in disarray and without agreement. Suggestions had ranged from a plaque inside the church or a masonry monument on the Common to the provision of public baths.

Between the wars Lindfield Parish Council completed the purchase of the Common from the Lord of the Manor for £25 and when the parish council ceased to exist in 1934 responsibility responsibilities were transferred to the new Cuckfield Urban District Council.

Banner headlines in the mid Sussex times read “Cuckfield Council and amalgamation. Strong objection to being wiped off the Face of the Map.”

A High Street landmark disappeared in 1932 when department store Funnells closed and the property was bought by Miss Maude Savill as part of her self-imposed task of “prettying” the village. She converted it into three cottages.

In 1937 King Edward Hall staged the very first production by Lindfield Dramatic Club - Strife - by John Galsworthy – and Bradley and Vaughan advertised: “Why not live on the Lindfield Common estate” with houses priced up to £775, eight to an acre.

As War broke out, the population of the village swelled with evacuees and troops. Pupils and teachers from the Henry Fawcett LCC school, of Kennington, London were allocated to Lindfield and the numbers integrated into the village school soared by 191, with King Edward Hall commandeered for educational purposes.

Soldiers in their hundreds were posted to Lindfield and soon the grounds around the Welkin were turned into a giant tented town. Another temporary settlement, mainly of Nissan huts, was erected around Paxhill.

Apart from easing pressure on the school, the Hall was put to a variety of uses – a Red Cross canteen one moment, a concert venue the next.

In the lead up to D-Day, King George visited Paxhill to review Canadian troops stationed there and afterwards drove through the village streets lined with flag-waving children; and on Leap Day, February 29, 1944, General Sir Bernard Montgomery carried out an inspection and morale boosting rally on Lindfield Common in front of thousands of troops.

When Monty gave the signal to break ranks, the soldiers packed tightly around him for one of his famous pep talks.

Despite strict security, word has got out and residents came in force to watch– The event remains branded in the memory of those still alive who witnessed the great man in action.

The following year the common hosted two full days of rejoicing to mark the end of hostilities. But peacetime continued to have its own fair share of community conflict as the village struggles with postwar development and changes in the social fabric.

The Wilderness, part of Old Place was sold for private development in 1957: the Welkin was similarly offered for sale in 1960 and raised to the ground the following yeah. A plan to build tower blocks of flats course such a funeral the protest meetings led to the formation of the preservation Society.

In 1961 Masters department store was demolished to make way for a supermarket.

As early as 1951 the police were reported to be concerned about rowdyism after Saturday night drinking bouts.

One incident in 1964 will raise a smile among all those to this day who accuse Lindfield of being too self-important when a row blew up over plans to allow a mobile canteen on the Common.

A member of the Urban District Council said it would the Common in to Hampstead Heath – and the chairman hit back: “Will this council never cease to treat Lindfield Common as a Holy Shrine?”

Lindfield’s first foray into the Best Kept Village competition in 1975 earned them second place to Slinfold but the next two decades were marked with a string of successes – another second in 1979, and then five wins between 1980 and 1994.

The effort was twinned by equal vigour in fighting off more houses, notably the 1986 Wates proposal for 600 homes to the east of Gravelye Lane. After a long and costly battle the plans were thrown out on appeal.

The expertise learned then was put to use again in 1993 when Cala Holmes proposed hundreds of houses to the north east of the village but finally withdrew in the face of the local onslaught.

As the new millennium draws nearer, it is still this site which could dictate the future shape of the village.

Following the Haywards Heath local plan enquiry, a government inspector said the case between Haywards Heath and Lindfield for development was a balanced one – and if West Sussex County Council loses its current battle against thousands of extra homes, Lindfield could once again be forced to show its fighting spirit.

As one veteran campaigner from both the Wates and Cala battles put it: “We'll be ready.”