Fernhurst
The first signs of a village taking shape at Fernhurst come with the building of the Church dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch – a crusader’s favourite saint.
There are several houses with 14th and 15th century remnants in Fernhurst and several more that are more substantially from the 17th century, when the area started to become quite rich from the burgeoning iron industry. This wealth didn’t last forever and the industrial revolution meant that Sussex ironworks could not compete with the great factories of the north of England when they started to use coal power.
In 1749 a turnpike or toll road made Fernhurst better connected to the rest of the world and many travellers from Chichester up towards Farnham and Guildford found it easier to pass through the village.
110 years later the railway from the the small town of Haslemere on the Surrey border made Fernhurst more accessible still and this gave a great push to the size of the village which now continues to have a sizeable chunk of commuters among its population.
The great looming hillside of Blackdown sits high above the village. On a clear day you can see from Blackdown all the way across the Weald to the Devils Dyke above Brighton and even as far as Lewes in East Sussex.
FERNHURST INFORMATION
The Fernhurst Centre
Fernhurst's Community Centre has an internet cafe, runs a business club, and is the base for many groups in Fernhurst including Walking for Health, the Fernhurst Reading Circle and the Fernhurst Art Group
Fernhurst Society
The Fernhurst Society aims to enhance the life and environment of the village of Fernhurst - and the Society has had some success in this, with Fernhurst winning several best kept village awards over the last 20 years.The Fernhurst Society runs an oral history group to capture Fernhurst's living history and has published some transcripts of these accounts of the village's past in a book called Voices of Fernhurst.
Fernhurst Football Club
Fernhurst F.C. now train at the Grange Centre in Midhurst on Tuesdays. Fernhurst F.C. run three adult teams including a Veterans XI and youth football.
Fernhurst School
Fernhurst Primary School, Haslemere Road, Fernhurst, near Haslemere.
St Margaret's Church
The more secular among you may be interested in the excellent section of Fernhurst Church's website which deals with the history of the church - pointing out which bits of the surviving architecture are Norman and which bits are later additions.You can also make a donation to help the church in its aim of building a new community room if you would like to.
Fernhurst Über Cool Car Klub
Enjoy cool cars but not the various traffic calming schemes around Fernhurst.
Fernhurst.net
Fine village website with details of many of the main community groups in the village. Activities and groups covered by the site include the Fernhurst Choral Society, Fernhurst Films, Fernhurst Good Companions, Fernhurst Luncheon Club, Fernhurst Revels, where Fernhurst turns out in force to welcome the May Queen, Fernhurst Horticultural Society, Fernhurst Village Hall, Fernhurst Youth Club, Fernhurst Bowls Club and Fernhurst Cricket Club.
Fernhurst TVR
The beautiful TVRs of the Fernhust TVR motor showroom.
PLACES NEAR FERNHURST
Graffham | Liphook | Lodsworth | Lurgashall | Midhurst | Northchapel | Petworth | Rake | Rogate | South Harting |Map of the area
- Graffham
- Lickfold
- Linchmere
- Lodsworth
- Lurgashall
- Midhurst
- Milland
- Northchapel
- Petworth
- Rake
- Rogate
- South Harting
- Arundel
- Bognor Regis
- Burgess Hill
- Chichester
- Crawley
- East Grinstead
- Haywards Heath
- Horsham
- Littlehampton
- Midhurst
- Petworth
- Shoreham-by-Sea
- Steyning
- Worthing