St Wilfrid's Church, Haywards Heath

St Wilfrid's Church
The church from the northwest
50°59′57″N 0°06′17″W / 50.9992°N 0.1046°W / 50.9992; -0.1046Coordinates: 50°59′57″N 0°06′17″W / 50.9992°N 0.1046°W / 50.9992; -0.1046
Location	Church Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Liberal Catholic
History
Founded	12 October 1863
Founder(s)	Anne and Frances Dealtry
Dedication	Wilfrid
Consecrated	1865
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II* listed
Designated	10 September 1951
Architect(s)	George Frederick Bodley
Style	Decorated Gothic
Groundbreaking	1863
Completed	1865
Construction cost	£6,000 (£517,000 in 2017)
Administration
Parish	Haywards Heath, Saint Wilfrid
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Cuckfield
Archdeaconry	Horsham
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Rector	Revd Ray Smith BD AKC

St Wilfrid's Church is an Anglican church in the town of Haywards Heath in the district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It is Haywards Heath's parish church, and is the mother church to two of the town's four other Anglican churches. Designed in the Decorated Gothic style by George Frederick Bodley, it was built between 1863 and 1865 as the town began to grow rapidly, and stands in a prominent position on the highest ground in the area. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.

Until the mid-19th century, Haywards Heath—now a town of 30,000 people—did not exist as a settlement. In the medieval period, the area was heathland supporting some small farms and crossed by roads to the nearby villages of Cuckfield and Lindfield—both of which had churches by the 12th century. The heath itself was first named in documents in the early 16th century. It was used to muster troops during the Restoration, when King Charles II re-established the English monarchy, and as a venue for the sale of pigs. Most of the land belonged to large estates held by influential local families.

In the early 19th century, railway-building techniques were pioneered. One of the first routes planned in England was a connection between London and the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, about 50 miles (80 km) to the south. Various routes were proposed between 1823 and 1837, when John Urpeth Rastrick's plan for a direct route via Cuckfield was agreed as part of the Act of Parliament which created the London and Brighton Railway Company. However, many residents of both Cuckfield and Lindfield objected to the route: although it was preferred to George Stephenson's suggested route further to the west, which was considered too far away from the villages, it was argued that instead of running through one village or the other, the line should pass through the mostly unoccupied heathland between them. After this was agreed in 1837, construction work proceeded rapidly, and the London and Brighton Railway opened between Norwood (the junction with the London and Croydon Railway to London Bridge) and a temporary terminus at Haywards Heath on 12 July 1841. The extension to Brighton followed on 21 September 1841.