A selection of photos of the stunningly beautiful Haywards Heath...
A town with transport at its heart, the coming of the railway in 1841 saw Haywards Heath grow into the commuter haven that it is today. Here we look at the town pictured by visitors from other towns in Sussex and one of the residents and see why there is more to it than sometimes meets the eye.
Did you know?
The town is home to schoolboy hero JCT Jennings, immortalised in 25 novels by Anthony Buckeridge from 1950 to 1994.
The founder of the Today newspaper Eddy Shah went to school in the town.
Its population has risen from around 200 in the 1850s to 23,000 as measured in the last census.
Muster Green in the town was the site of an early Civil War conflict in 1642. The local Parliamentarians saw off the Royalists led by the then High Sheriff of Sussex Sir Edward Ford.
Haywards Heath’s current popularity is almost by accident. Originally the line was planned to go through nearby Cuckfield but a campaign against the railway was successful and it came to the town instead. The railway then became the engine of much of the town’s subsequent prosperity.
