On Sunday February 21st there was much excitement outside the parish church just as the congregation was leaving the evening service. A cab horse bolted in the lower part of the town, the South Street area. The vehicle was overturned, breaking the shafts.
The horse rushed off scattering people in all directions but fortunately no one was seriously injured. A street lamp in front of Mr Pierce’s butchers shop was damaged as were some of the posts and chains in South Street. The horse was finally stopped near the park gates.
It must be remembered just how narrow the streets were in 1897, the road leaving Cuckfield going south little more than half today’s width. The numbers attending Church would have been considerable, thus the mayhem caused by this accident was very seriously recorded.
From 'A Century Ago', Cuckfield in 1897 Alan Miller