IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hawkins Road, HAYWARDS HEATH, RH17 7BY

Former farmhouse that dates back to the 17th century. The original family called Hurst set up the farm in the medieval period and had become successful brickmakers by the 16th century building this house with the both their technical expertise and money they had made from that trade. Known as Hursthouse Farm until the 1860s when land to the north was sold to facilitate the construction of the Sussex County Lunatic Asylum. The farm was renamed Asylum Farm when acquired by it in order to provide provisions and employment for the patients in keeping with the Victorian ideal of self sufficiency. When the asylum became a mental hospital in 1919 the farm also changed its name to Hospital Farm and continued being part of the hospital until a new law was passed in 1970 forbidding patients from any employment within the hospital. The farmhouse and outbuildings were sold off in 1978 with the latter becoming a business park, Image, with the farmhouse eventually reverting to its original name having become a private residence. Viewed from the access road to Hurstwood Grange.

The name of the field according to Wivelsfield's 1843 tithe map whose days are numbered as the Haywards Heath relief road is due to built in the next few years. Its projected route will run from the right of Hospital Farm in the dip below and head straight through the point where I am standing joining the A272 at the current junction with Hurstwood Lane.

The name of the field according to Wivelsfield's 1843 tithe map viewed from Southdowns Park. The buildings below belong to Hospital Farm whilst the South Downs are just visible through the haze on the horizon. This field is earmarked for development and will have housing built upon as the Haywards Heath relief road is constructed to the south.

This is Hurstwood Lane, a bit of a 'rat run' and also used as overspill parking from the Princess Royal Hospital around the corner.

Small recently built estate constructed next to the Princess Royal Hospital. The long gap between Hurstwood Lane and the beginning of houses suggests it was built in the late 1990s as the plans for the Haywards Heath relief road, which will travel through that gap, were being formulated. Although originally part of Wivelsfield parish the land here was transferred in 1934 and is now part of Haywards Heath.

A small business park that occupies the former buildings of Hospital Farm, once owned by St Francis Hospital to provide provisions and employment for patients. This ended when a change in law in 1970 forbade the use of patients in employment and the farm was sold off in 1978. The former hospital, now converted to residential use, can be seen further up the hill. The gap between will eventually be filled by the course of the Haywards Heath relief road currently being constructed and due to be completed in 2015.

The hospital was constructed on land once farmed by Hurst Farm and in time the former came to own the latter in order to provide both provisions and work for the patients, all part of the Victorian drive for self sufficiency. This remained the case until 1970 when the law was changed forbidding hospitals using patients for employment and the farm was eventually sold in 1978. The track is private and no longer seems well used.

The team play in the Sussex County League.