Billingshurst, Sussex

Description
Billingshurst, a village and a parish in Sussex. the village stands on the Roman Stane Street, near the Mid-Sussex railway and the Arun and Wye Canal, 7 miles SW of Hor-sham, and has a station on the L.B. & S.C.B., 45 miles from London, and a head post office. It probably got its name from being a settlement of the great Saxon tribe of Billing. The parish is divided into East and West Billingshurst. Acreage, 6862; population, 1658. Gratwicke House is a seat in the neighbourhood, and Somers Place is a fine mansion in the Tudor style. the living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester; net value, £100 with residence. The south side of the church is very Early Norman, the rest chiefly Perpendicular English. There are two dissenting chapels, and some small charities. Adversane and Five Oaks are adjacent hamlets.