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Local Government

East Grinstead is part of the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex. It has a Town Council presided over by a Town Mayor.

Town Council

Offices: East Court, College Lane; open Mon.-Fri., 9.30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tel: 323636.
Council: 18 members, elected every 4 years, 3 wards.
Meetings: Usually first Monday of even months, 7.45 p.m., East Court, open to press and public, as are those of committees (planning: alternate Mondays; others: Thursdays; all 7.45 p.m.) Responsibilities include allotments, cemeteries, footway lighting, East Court, the Meridian Hall, the Parish Halls, local charities, bus shelters, the public clock, war memorials, observations on planning applications and guardianship of local traditions and rights. Some work is undertaken for nearby parish councils. Grant aid is awarded annually, according to need, to a variety of community groups and organisations. The bi-annual Civic News, delivered free to every house, keeps the public informed. The council won the local council website of the year award in 2004 and was national runner-up local council of the year in 2006.
Web site: http://www.eastgrinstead.gov.uk E.mail: towncouncil@eastgrinstead.gov.uk Fax: 01342 327823
Latest population estimate 24,000

Mid Sussex District Council

Offices: Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath. Tel: 01444 458166.
Local representation: 10 members in 3 wards, elected every 4 years.
Responsibilities: Local planning and development control, environmental health, off-street parking, community charge, rent rebates, refuse collection, parks, open spaces, playing fields and swimming pools.
Official guide-book available.

West Sussex County Council

Offices: County Hall, Chichester.
Tel: Chichester 777100.
Local representation: 3 members in 3 wards, elected every 4 years.
Responsibilities: Education, fire service, libraries, police, personal social services, highways, street lighting and certain planning matters.

All three councils have a joint information point at the Public Library. Tel: 300780 (see p.9)

Member of Parliament

Hon. N. Soames, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Tel: 0171-930 6240

Town Arms

In 1572 Thomas Cure, one of East Grinstead’s M.P.s, obtained for the borough a seal of arms: five blue ostrich feathers with gold tips, his initials and those of the Duchy of Lancaster, of which the town was part. The town first acquired a coat of arms in 1954, to mark the jubilee of the Urban District Council, the fanciful coat illustrated here. The feathers are repeated, with three red roses of the house of Lancaster. The hammer is to recall the local iron industry, the sword the Assizes. The ash represents Ashdown Forest, with a crown because it was royal property. The white line represents the meridian of Greenwich running through the town, the rising sun ‘East’, the green the first syllable of ‘Grinstead’. The motto (not part of the arms) is to be taken as ‘Amid green meadows I proudly stand’. On the re-organisation of local government the coat was transferred to the successor Town Council. In the past the red rose of Lancaster surmounted by a crown has also been attributed to the town.

Town Museum

East Grinstead Town Museum was founded in 1976 by the East Grinstead Society at the request of the Town Council, which accommodated it at East Court. It is a registered charity administered by a trust and has received full registration. In September 2006 it re-opened in purpose-built town-centre premises in Cantelupe Road, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Mid Sussex District Council, notably the Town Council, grants and donations from other bodies and fund-raising activities. Under a salaried professionally qualified curator the work is done freely by volunteers. Expenses are met from donations, sales in the Museum shop and the Friends of the Museum. It is fully accessible, open Wednesday - Saturdays 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Sundays 2-5 p.m., admission free. (Tel: 302233).

The East Grinstead Society

The Society, founded in 1968 to protect and improve the amenities of East Grinstead and its environs, encourages civic pride by its meetings, walks, publications and exhibitions. A panel of appropriately qualified members monitors and, where appropriate, comments on all local planning applications. It has provided two historical guide-maps in the High Street and undertaken tree planting and renovation projects and surveys of listed buildings, public seats, playground equipment and trees. It also undertook the foundation of the Town Museum (now independent), where its publications and up-to-date details of membership and activities may be obtained. Its town trails supplement and extend the information in this guide.

The East Grinstead Town Twinning Association

The Association, founded in 1962, was responsible for East Grinstead’s formal twinning with Bourg-de-Péage, a holiday centre on the Isère between Grenoble and Valence, within reach of the Alps, Massif Central and Mediterranean, and with Mindelheim in Bavaria. It has also established friendship links with Sant Feliu de Guixols in Spain, Verbania in Italy and Schwaz in Austria and there have been numerous visits and exchanges. It has won a European Commission gold star for outstanding achievement in European integration.

Events

In addition to the events and activities arranged for their members by the numerous cultural, social, sporting and special interest groups (details from Library, p.9), a number of special occasions occurs each year. Among them are the Music and Arts Festival, the Vintage Bus Day (April), the May Fair (when the High Street is closed for the bank holiday and people wear period costume), a local history fair (October), fêtes at East Court at other times and the pre-Christmas shopping event with associated entertainments.

The Queen Victoria Hospital

In 1863 East Grinstead became the fifth place in England to have a Cottage Hospital, started by a local doctor with six beds. It was re-founded in 1887 and moved to its present site, 1m. N.N.W. of town centre, in 1936 (original building by F. G. Troup & L. H. Parsons). In 1939 Mr (later Sir) Archibald McIndoe arrived to use it for maxillo-facial work, pioneering plastic surgery on seriously burnt servicemen. Their world-famous Guinea Pig Club still holds its re-unions here and gave its name to the Hospital’s now closed ‘local’. This work required new buildings, some financed from South Africa, Canada, the U.S.A., Australia and New Zealand. Post-war developments include corneal grafting, with the aid of an eye bank, which needed a special Act to change the law, research laboratories for tissue transplants and new buildings to extend and improve the earlier work on jaw injuries and burns. It is still a general hospital for the area, including a modern children’s ward with schoolroom and a busy minor injuries unit. The Queen Victoria Hospital N.H.S. Foundation Trust is now the regional centre for plastic and burns surgery, maxillofacial and ophthalmic surgery and corneoplastic surgery. A self-contained purpose-built burns unit, the McIndoe Burn Centre, was opened in 1994, the year in which the hospital acquired trust status. A day surgery unit, named in memory of Tom Gleave, Chief Guinea Pig, was opened in April 1996 and provides a friendly, comfortable environment to meet an increasing need. In 1997 the maxillo-facial laboratory and prosthetics clinic was declared the best in Europe. Twenty-one five-star ratings were achieved in the July 1997 performance tables. In 2002, 2003 and 2004 it was the only hospital in Sussex to get the maximum three stars. In 2007 readers of Nursing Times voted it the best hospital to work in in the whole country. An active League of Friends raises money for comforts and amenities. Tel: 410210.

Weir Wood Reservoir

The town’s S. boundary follows the bank of this reservoir, formed in 1951 by damming the valley 1m. above Forest Row. Area: 280 acres. Capacity: 1,237 million gallons. Maximum depth: 35 feet. On average 3.08 million gallons are extracted daily, 2.08 million supplying Crawley, the rest supplementing the Mid Sussex and Wealden Districts’ supplies. One million gallons are returned to the Medway in compensation.
The reservoir is a popular coarse fishing area, open from 16 June to 15 March. Day and season tickets available for either bank fishing or boat fishing. Sailing facilities all year round and bird watching. Owing to its ornithological importance it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The western end is a bird sanctuary and nature reserve.
Fishing regulations, permits and licences and details of sailing clubs are all available from the Recreation Officer (Tel: 822731) at the reservoir.

Natural History

In addition to the reservoir the main local site for naturalists is Ashdown Forest, 3m S.E. of the town but outside its bounds. Details of its wildlife, including many rarities, can be found in Barbara Willard’s The Forest (1989). But the whole district abounds in such a variety of habitats (woodlands, wet and dry heathlands, rivers and ponds, fields and hedgerows, parklands and gardens) even within the town’s boundaries with its open spaces and disused railway tracks, that the nature lover should find plenty of interest. The town has a lively Natural History Society.

Leisure

In addition to the amenities and facilities already mentioned, East Grinstead has a wide range of cultural, educational, games and sports activities and organisations, details of which may be obtained from the Public Library (p.9) or Town Council (p.24). Probably the most notable are the hockey club, which for some years now has provided several members of the England team, and the triathlon club, which has produced several junior internationals.

Chequer Mead Arts Centre

The Arts Centre, designed for the Town Council by Tim Ronalds Architects of London in 1994-95 and built by local contractors Martin Smith and Foster, was officially opened on 17 November 1996. The total cost was £2.41 million including site acquisition and fees. Funding came from the Town Council (£1.23 million), Mid Sussex District Council (£500,000) and the Arts Council’s national lottery fund (£680,000). Facilities include a 320-seat fully equipped theatre, rehearsal and meeting rooms, craft studio, exhibition area and bistro café. It gained an R.I.B.A. award in 2000. It is a sole custodian charity administered by East Grinstead Town Council. Tel: 325577 (Administration), 302000 (Box Office).

Hammerwood Park

This private house, built in 1792 on a Greek Revival pattern by the young Benjamin Henry Latrobe, later famous for his buildings in America, is being sympathetically restored at the expense of its current owner after years of neglect, is listed grade 1 and is open to the public on certain afternoons in summer. Off A264, 3 m. E.N.E. of town centre. Enquiries 850594.

The Bluebell Railway

This preserved stretch of the former East Grinstead - Lewes line runs from Sheffield Park to Kingscote and will ultimately reach East Grinstead again, if possible with national lottery funding. Cars are not allowed at Kingscote but special buses connect it with the town at an inclusive fare. The Bluebell Railway is the country’s oldest preserved standard gauge passenger steam line, established in 1959. Enquiries, Sheffield Park Station (01825 720800).

Shopping

East Grinstead has two large supermarkets, branches of most of the best-known multiples and a number of other shops including several old-established family businesses, making it a good shopping centre for ordinary needs. A leaflet giving details is available from the Public Library (p.9) or Town Council (p.24). There are fortnightly farmers’ markets and a French market during the pre-Christmas shopping day.