Washington, West Sussex

Washington is a village situated five miles west of Steyning and three miles east of Storrington at the foot of the South Downs in the county of West Sussex in the south of England.

Fourteen miles to the north lies the old market town of Horsham which is the centre of local government and 10 miles to the south is the coastal town of Worthing. The village covers an area of 2,848 acres(12 km²).

History

The earliest settlement dates back to the late Saxon Period and Wassingtune is specifically named in a charter of 947 AD and during the Norman occupation, the manor of Washington formed part of the large holding of the Lords of Bramber. By the time of the Doomsday Inquest of 1086, the Parish extended to fifty-nine hides, the modern equivalent being about five thousand acres. In the past both the civil and ecclesiastical Parish included a large part of Ashington but the ecclesiastical concerns were separated in 1876 and the civil aspects were divided in 1960. Even though the physical size has thus been reduced, through housing development the actual population has remained fairly constant in recent times. At the time of the last village appraisal which was carried out in the late 1980s, this stood at 1,350 spread over four main areas, the Village proper, Heath Common to the north west and the two housing estates of Montpelier Gardens and Spring Gardens to the north.