Geoffrey Lawes
“The spot may have beauty, grandeur, salubrity, convenience, but if it lacks memories it will ultimately pall on him who settles there” (Thomas Hardy). The past always informs the present! This Revised Edition, combining the two earlier volumes of ‘Billingshurst’s Heritage’, seeks to recall to the reader’s mind the strong-flowing stream of life in the history of the village from Paleolithic times to the present day, including details of the very latest archaeological revelations of Iron Age exploitation and Roman farmsteads. It embraces a multitude of parish characters, their memories, the clubs to which they belonged, the buildings both ancient and modern where they lived and worked, traded and worshipped, the fields they tilled and roads they trod. It gives an up-to-date account of the village today, its local management, the richness of its sporting and social life and the many institutions which make Billingshurst such a desirable place to live, to bring up children and to lead a comfortable and fulfilled life where town and country meet.It chronicles the past and describes the present community at work and at play. It touches on future threats and opportunities in a spot which is a commendable place to make a home. It is unlikely that even the best informed villager will not find something new and surprising amid the stories, maps and some250 illustrations.
