OS grid reference TQ156262 Region South East Sovereign state United Kingdom Shire county West Sussex District Horsham District UK parliament constituency Horsham | Civil parish Southwater Country England Area 14 km² Local time Tuesday 3:37 PM Dialling code 01403 | |
 | ||
Population 10,025 2001 Census
10,730 (2011 Census) Weather 14°C, Wind SW at 21 km/h, 72% Humidity | ||
Southwater is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, with a population of roughly 10,000. Development and certain services are overseen by Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council.
Contents
Map of Southwater, Horsham, UK
History
One of the oldest buildings in the parish is Great House Farmhouse, a listed building at Grade II* built up from a late medieval structure in the Tudor period just west of the town. Whilst mixed agriculture provided a lucrative industry for centuries, much of the population of Southwater originated from the workforce of the brick industry which thrived in the clay-pits until the 1980s. Following the closure of the brickworks, there was a project implemented to transform the area into a country park, which is now a major family attraction in the district.
Community
In 2006 the centre of Southwater Village was renewed at a cost of £25 million.
Southwater has three public houses: the Hen and Chicken; the Cock Inn; and the Lintot which opened soon after the building of Lintot Square – the name is a reference to Barnaby Bernard Lintot (1675–1736), an English publisher born in Southwater.
Southwater Country Park is a 70-acre site with three lakes and numerous access paths located close to the centre of the village. The Park contains a visitor centre with information displays, and also a café, a skate park, and a children's adventure playground, and Southwater Water Sports Centre with facilities for sailing and canoeing. The Country Park and the Southwater Area Community Centre both have direct access to the Downs Link footpath/cycleway.
Church
Holy Innocents Anglican parish church dates from 1848–49 and is Grade II listed. The Church was consecrated by Ashurst Turner Gilbert, Bishop of Chichester, on 7 June 1850, and the ecclesiastical parish was formed from part of Horsham Parish in the north and part of Shipley Parish in the south.