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Showing posts from October, 2019

Haywards Heath V

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Nuns let alone sheep and cows were once a sight from Western Road into the farmland of the Priory of Our Lady of Good Counsel with its school for girls. Lilian Rogers writes ‘The sisters arrived in July 1886… in 1891 the community included six teachers offering instruction in history, piano, arithmetic, geography, French, English and needlecraft. There were also two sisters designated as sacristan and ‘procurating’ (housekeeper), five servants and nine boarding pupils. A Belgian priest was living in the lodge, together with a gardener and another housekeeper.’ The sisters moved to Sayers Common in 1977 releasing their land for building. Picture: Charles Tucker. Can anyone identify the site of the well on America Lane? The country road to Lindfield famous for its strawberries was built up first through philanthropist William Allen’s colony and then from the eastern expansion of Haywards Heath along New England Road. William Allen’s cottages were complemented by buildings on st