Handcross

Handcross is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A23 road 4.2 miles (6.8 kilometres) south of Crawley. At the 2011 Census the population fell within the civil parish of Slaugham.

Handcross
Handcross is located in West Sussex
Handcross
Handcross
Location within West Sussex
OS grid referenceTQ262297
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHAYWARDS HEATH
Postcode districtRH17
Dialling code01444
PoliceSussex
FireWest Sussex
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament

Nymans Garden, 30 acres (12 hectares) of parklands run by the National Trust, is located adjacent to the High Street, as are 20 acres (8 ha) of woodland and water gardens at High Beeches Garden.[1]

Handcross has one public house, The Red Lion[2] (High Street), which was refurbished in 2010 in contemporary style. It formerly had three, the other two being The Fountain (demolished in 2012 and replaced by housing) and The Royal Oak (closed in 2020). This is now due to re-open in 2023, Handcross also has a Social club.

Handcross Primary School,[3] situated at the northern end of the village recently underwent extensive building works to increase capacity. Opposite the primary school is Handcross Park School, an independent prep school.

Handcross Hill

Handcross Hill is a stretch of the A23 road which runs past the village. This part of dual carriageway used to be notorious for accidents due to its being on a steep gradient, being surrounded by trees and containing a number of sharp bends, those being unsuitable for a road of its type.

On 12 July 1906, a bus crashed into a tree following a mechanical failure, killing 10 people and injuring 26 in the worst road crash in Sussex history.[4]

The hill has proved to be dangerous enough to be widened and straightened by the Highways Agency and the cutting of the surrounding trees began overnight in mid-2011. The project was completed in late 2014.[5]

Sharp righthand bend on the original road design

References
  1. High Beeches Garden http://www.highbeeches.com/
  2. The Red Lion, Handcross http://www.redlionhandcross.co.uk/
  3. Handcross Primary School http://www.handcrossprimary.uk/
  4. "MOTOR OMNIBUS ACCIDENT" (PDF). The Times. 13 July 1906. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  5. A23 Handcross to Warninglid http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/a23-handcross-to-warninglid

Media related to Handcross at Wikimedia Commons


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