Worth

WORTH is an extensive and exceedingly pleasant parish, situate on the road from Croydon to Cuckfield, 8 miles north from the latter, and about 7 south-west from East Grinstead, and adjoining the Three Bridges station on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway: there is now a branch line to East Grinstead from the Three Bridges station, on which there are two other Stations in this parish, viz., at Rowfant, and Grange Road, Crawley Down: it is in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Buttinghill, union and county court district of East Grinstead, Lewes rape, archdeaconry and rural deanery, and diocese of Chichester. The church, which is very remarkable, and an object of great attraction, from thesingularity of its appearance, is an ancient Saxon edifice, with small spire and 6 bells: it contains several monuments, and a fine toned organ has recently been added. The register dates from the middle of the sixteenth century. The living is a rectory, with the curacy of Crawley Down, yearly value £608 per annum, with residence, in the gift of G. Banks Esq., and held by the Rev. George Wilson Banks, M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. All Saints is a chapel of ease at CrawleyDown, of which the Rev. Henry Richard Gray, M.A., of Worcester College, Oxford, is the resident curate. Near the mother church is Worth Church school, a handsome stone building: another very capacious school, with house for master attached, has been built on Crawley Down. Here are two places of worship in connection with the Countess of Huntingdon's sect, situated at Turner's Hill and Copthorne. There is a Literary and Scientific Institution at Pound Hill. This parish is noted for the number of highly picturesque seats it contains. Among those which attract the attention and are the theme of general admiration are Tilgate House and Tilgate Manor, the seat of John Nix, Esq., jun., which, from their contiguity to the forest, the elegance of the Mansions, extent of well and carefully arranged grounds, aided by a noble and expansive lake, present a scene of almost unsurpassing beauty. Crabbet Park, the seat of G. Smith, Esq., with its magnificent and extensive sheet of water, and its admirably wooded grounds, is a truly delightful and picturesque spot. Rowfant, the seat of C. M. Lampson, Esq., is a beautiful mansion after the Elizabethan style of architecture. The Hall, the seat of John Nix, Esq., is a stately structure, lately reconstructed, and erected on a slight eminence, commanding a splendid prospect of the country around. Huntsland, the residence of J. R. Reeves, Esq.; the Grange, the residence of G. Lilley, Esq., and the Grove, the residence Edwin Martin, Esq. (the latter a splendid white stone mansion, presenting a noble and commanding frontage), are also seats here. Worth Park, the seat of Joseph M. Montefiore, Esq., recently erected, is a handsome building of red brick. The Rectory is beautifully situated on the gentle slope of a hill, and commands some very extensive and beautiful views. The Earl of Abergavenny and the executors of the late F. S. Blunt, Esq., are lords of the manor. The area comprises 13,400 acres, in 1861 the population was 2,988.
TILGATE FOREST and Old House Warren are in this parish. Copthorne, Turner's Hill, Furnace, Blackwater, Malthouse, Miswell, Pound Hill, Three Bridges, Fen Place, and Munks are other places. [Kelly's Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867.]