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Cuckfield Connections
A personal journey of discovery





1836: Beef and Bread for local poor
Brighton Patriot - Tuesday 05 January 1836 CUCKFIELD TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRIGHTON PATRIOT SIR - on Thursday last, a distribution of beef...
Aug 18, 20213 min read
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1569: Woman gives birth to cat and 'two wives apiece' in Cuckfield
This could be a headline written by a red top tabloid. But very strange things went on in Tudor times - some have been acted out in the...
Aug 17, 20214 min read
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1971: Too many sighs at a bridge - 50 years on
Speak to any local resident of the time over the age of 60 and they will remember the crisis of the collapse and closure of the A272 road...
Aug 15, 20213 min read
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17th Century: 'Thomas Hurst of Cuckfield' tokens in local circulation
England suffered from a chronic shortage of small change from the mid-17th to the early 19th century. The British government failed to...
Aug 12, 20211 min read
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1935: The road that never was
In a report in the Mid Sussex Times dated 1935, we learn that the County Council had considered a southern bypass to Cuckfield village -...
Aug 10, 20212 min read
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1914: A fatal jump
West Sussex Gazette - Thursday 29 January 1914 A FATAL JUMP. The East Sussex Coroner (Mr. G. Vere Benson) on Saturday evening inquired...
Aug 9, 20212 min read
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1978: The train now standing in Cuckfield High Street
It’s not everyday you meet a locomotive passing through Cuckfield High Street, but that’s what happened in October 1978. If you saw this...
Aug 8, 20214 min read
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1846: Legal action threatened unless Cuckfield road repairs are made within a fortnight
Brighton Gazette - Thursday 30 April 1846 CUCKFIELD. Parish Meeting.—A vestry was held, pursuant to notice, on Thursday last, at the Ship...
Aug 7, 20211 min read
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1854: Why can't we have letter boxes like the ones in Cuckfield?
Brighton Gazette - Thursday 19 October 1854 LINDFIELD. THE POST OFFICE. At Editor of the Brighton Gazette. Sir, —Is there any good reason...
Aug 5, 20211 min read
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1910: Ten mile per hour Cuckfield speed limit proposed
Brighton Gazette - Wednesday 04 May 1910 CUCKFIELD AND MOTORS. A proposal to apply a ten-mile speed limit to Cuckfield was the subject of...
Aug 4, 20211 min read
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1848: "Accidental Death" at Newbury Pond
Brighton Gazette - Thursday 07 September 1848 On Monday, an inquest was held before Inigo Gell, Esq., Deputy-Coroner, at the Talbot Inn,...
Aug 2, 20211 min read
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1923: Cuckfield Park Models lent by Colonel HH Rogers
This article appeared in Museum of Art Bulletin published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1923. It features an exhibition of the...
Aug 1, 20217 min read
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1917: Sergison scandals and hauntings recalled
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 02 January 1917 There is an extraordinary similarity in the records of Sussex county families to the...
Jul 24, 20213 min read
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1874: 'I was sure my head was not shot proof'
Hastings and St Leonards Observer - Saturday 24 October 1874 The Secretary the Nawab of Bengal was out shooting at Cuckfield one day last...
Jul 20, 20212 min read
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1811: Dirty feet in the mix eliminated by Cuckfield invention
A local navy contractor, appropriately named ‘Baker’, had his invention patented which gave a better way of kneading dough and...
Jul 15, 20213 min read
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1918: Two intriguing, humorous letters to the Editor of the Mid Sussex Times from Cuckfield locals
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 23 April 1918 Letters to the Editor UP AND DOWN THE COUNTY. [By WIDEAWAKE] I have received two letters from...
Jul 10, 20212 min read
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1881: In search of pigs in Cuckfield
Mid Sussex Times - Wednesday 07 September 1881 CUCKFIELD PIG CENSUS. To the Editor of The Mid-Sussex Times. Sir, —Notwithstanding I have...
Jul 8, 20214 min read
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1951: Locals argue about road safety in Cuckfield
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 24 January 1951 SCHOOL CHILDREN’S SAFETY: CUCKFIELD To the Editor of the MID SUSSEX TIMES Dear Sir – as a...
Jul 4, 20212 min read
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1923: The Cuckfield 'Pepys' ship model cases
In an earlier article we looked at the collection of ship models at Cuckfield Park now located in the United States Naval Academy...
Jun 29, 20214 min read
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1879: Tragic Hatchgate Farm suicide
West Sussex County Times - Saturday 15 November 1879 SUICIDE OF A CUCKFIELD FARMER Mr. J. E. Fullagar, Deputy Coroner, held inquiry at...
Jun 24, 20213 min read
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