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Horsted Keynes
Horsted KeynesLocation within West Sussex
Area	15.81 km (6.10 sq mi)
Population	1,586 2011 Census
• Density	95/km (250/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ387278
• London	32 miles (51 km) N
Civil parish	Horsted Keynes
District	Mid Sussex
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HAYWARDS HEATH
Postcode district	RH17
Dialling code	01825
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Mid Sussex
Website	http://www.horstedkeynes.com/
List of places UK England West Sussex 51°02′05″N 0°01′36″W / 51.0346°N 0.0267°W / 51.0346; -0.0267

Horsted Keynes /keɪnz/ KAYNZ is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The village is about 5 miles (8 km) north east of Haywards Heath, in the Weald. The civil parish is largely rural, covering 1,581 hectares (3,910 acres). At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,586, increased from 1,507 in 2001. The 0° meridian passes about 1 mile to the east of the village of Horsted Keynes.

Origin and history

Willelmus de Cahaines, a Norman knight who participated in the conquest of England, and lord of what is now Cahagnes (Bessin), was given Middletone (Buckinghamshire) and the Sussex village of Horstede (The Place of Horses in Old English). The latter became Horstede de Cahaignes and in time Horsted Keynes. The place name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village has been formally twinned with the Normandy village of Cahagnes since 1971. The Horsted Cahagnes Society promotes social and cultural links, and organises annual exchange visits between the two places.

On Saturday, 28 August 1624, Horsted Keynes hosted what is believed to be the earliest known organised cricket match in Sussex. Knowledge of it stems from the death thirteen days later of Jasper Vinall, on whom an inquest was held. He had suffered a head injury during the game when accidentally hit by a cricket bat.

Two months before being assassinated, U.S. President John F. Kennedy slept in the parish when he stayed one Saturday night at Birch Grove, the home of the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. The American Secret Service closed the village that night, siting their communication hub in the Lounge Bar of The Crown Inn.

This part of Sussex was known for its iron industry long before the Industrial Revolution and the coming of the railways. Little remains of this now, except for the hammer ponds and other traces of this activity dotted around the surrounding countryside, although iron working is remembered in many local place names.

Amenities

Horsted Keynes is centred on a village green with pubs, Post Office and village store. The Post Office was to be closed down for lack of use but was bought up by a group of villagers who invested in its continued use for the community. It now serves a large rural area.

Like many other English villages Horsted Keynes is losing businesses that have been there for many years. After the closure of the main village store in 1992, and the more recent loss of the butcher, village hairdresser and photographer, the village garage closed down in June 2007. It was only 20 years ago that the village had two garages, but now it has none, leaving the nearest petrol retailer more than 6 miles (10 km) away. Planning permission was granted and the garage site has now been turned into residential accommodation.

Churches

The two principal churches are: the Anglican Parish Church dedicated to St Giles and the Roman Catholic church of St Stephen which is unoccupied and controlled from the nearest town, Haywards Heath.

Railway station

The railway station, three-quarters of a mile from the village, was on the line from East Grinstead to Lewes. It is now owned and operated by the Bluebell Railway, which is largely run by volunteers and operates using vintage steam trains. The station originally also had a connection with Haywards Heath, between 1883 and 1963.

Notable people

• Robert Leighton (prelate) - buried here
• Harold Macmillan, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – buried here, alongside his wife Dorothy Macmillan

See also

• Keynes family (descended from the de Cahaignes)
• Other de Cahaignes possessions
  • Ashton Keynes in Wiltshire
  • Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire (see History of Milton Keynes § Norman conquest and the medieval period)
  • Somerford Keynes in Gloucestershire

References

1. ^ "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
2. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Horsted Keynes (E04009989)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics.
3. "St Giles' Church". Retrieved 7 April 2023. The name of the village has been spelled in many different ways over the years but always pronounced CANES like the sticks you use to tie up plants in your garden.
4. François de Beaurepaire, Les Noms de lieux du Calvados (annoté par Dominique Fournier), Paris, L'Harmattan, 2022, p. 109
5. McCann T (2004) Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, pp.xxxiii–xxxiv. Sussex Record Society.
6. The lowdown on Haywards Heath | Sussex Life
7. The Crown – Horsted Keynes Archived 2011-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
8. Kerrigan, Michael (1998). Who Lies Where - A Guide to Famous Graves. London: Fourth Estate Limited. pp. 163. ISBN 1-85702-258-0.

External links

• HorstedKeynes.com - website for the village
• The Horsted Cahagnes Society

• Mid Sussex District
• Villages in West Sussex