Neha Patil (Editor)

Copthorne, West Sussex

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Population
  
Approx. 5,000

Civil parish
  
Worth

Country
  
England

Shire county
  
West Sussex

Dialling code
  
01342

OS grid reference
  
TQ317394

Region
  
South East

Sovereign state
  
United Kingdom

Local time
  
Monday 5:10 AM

District
  
Mid Sussex

Copthorne, West Sussex

Weather
  
5°C, Wind SW at 6 km/h, 85% Humidity

Copthorne is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies close to Gatwick Airport, 25.5 miles (41 km) south of London, 21.5 miles (35 km) north of Brighton, and 36 miles (58 km) northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the southwest and East Grinstead to the east. It is the most northerly ecclesiastical parish in the Diocese of Chichester in the Church of England, and together with Crawley Down makes up the civil parish of Worth.

Contents

Map of Copthorne, UK

Etymology

The name Copthorne probably comes from copped or coppiced thorn, meaning a cut thorn tree.

History

Lying on the borders between the counties West Sussex and Surrey, has contributed to Copthorne's history. There are stories of smugglers from the south coast stashing their goods in the woods around the village, conscious that it was easy to step across the county boundary, and escape any pursuing constabulary.

Similarly, a number of significant boxing prize fights took place in Copthorne Common in the early 19th century. A significant one was the English championship in 1810, between Tom Cribb of Bristol and Tom Molineaux from Virginia, United States.

A Copthorner is traditionally known as a Yellowbelly, and there are a number of stories told as to why this might be. Some talk of villagers wearing their gold strapped around their bellies, but the most likely reason is probably tied to the traditional local trade of charcoal burning, where some of those working stripped to the waist found their skin turned yellow with the smoke. Another possibility has it that the smugglers had to crawl through the mud to avoid detection and thus acquiring muddy yellow bellies.

As part of a village Millennium project, a history of the village Copthorne – The Story So Far was published by the community in 1999/2000.

St. John the Evangelist church

This church is located next to the Copthorne Church of England School in the west of the village.

References

Copthorne, West Sussex Wikipedia


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