East Grinstead is a town of some 24,000 souls, halfway between London and the south coast. Two substantial villages - Ashurst Wood and Forest Row - also lie within the boundaries of its vast ancient parish. Yet it still embraces areas of high landscape value and the historic heart of the town remains largely unscathed.
Surprisingly there has been only one previous book on its past: 'The History of East Grinstead' by W.H. Wills, published in 1906. The near-century since then has been marked by enormous growth in local history research and increasingly informative archaeology, so that a modern successor to Hills is certainly due, if not overdue. The acknowledged authority on the history of the area has risen to the challenge with this splendid new account. It breaks new ground by providing a structural narrative and interpretation, as opposed to Hill's thematic approach; and it incorporated much hitherto unpublished research from a wide variety of sources.
The well-illustrated text ranges from geological time to AD 2000, focusing on the town itself, founded in the early 13th century with the status of a borough. Most of the original layout is still discernable today and the oldest buildings date from the mid-14th century. With fourteen hall-houses, more than any other town in England, and an almost unbroken line of timber-framed structures along its southern side, the High Street is deservedly a conservation area in the 'outstanding' category.
The entertaining narrative does no neglect the lives, the work and the pastimes of the people who built the town and ensured its survival and growth throughout the centuries. In the hope that his book will stimulate further research, the author provides guidance on further reading and sources for future study at the end of each chapter. Meanwhile his vivid account of the past of the place will fascinate all who know and care about East Grinstead.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
References and Money
Introduction
1. The Earliest Times
2. The Medieval Countryside and Church
3. The Origins of the Borough
4. The Parish in the Sixteenth Century
5. The Town in the Sixteenth Century
6. The Town in the Seventeenth Century
7. The Parish in the Seventeenth Century
8. The Town in the Eighteenth Century
9. The Parish in the Eighteenth Century
10. The Early Nineteenth Century
11. The Town and the Villages, c.1837-1866
12. The Town, c.1866-1892
13. The Town, c.1892-1914
14. The Rest of the Ancient Parish, 1866-1914
15. The First World War
16. Between the Wars
17. The Second World War
18. The Town, c.1945-1953
19. The Town, c.1954-1974
20. The Town, 1974-2000
21. Post-war Forest Row and Ashurst Wood
Afterword
Index Nominum
Index Locorum and Gazetteer
Review:
It offers the most detailed, comprehensive and authoritative account of East Grinstead's history ever produced ... On top of all that, the book is well illustrated ... and is very attractively produced' — Bulletin of the East Grinstead Society
