page_title: West Hoathly
section_title: Buildings
hierarchical_section_title: West Hoathly / Buildings
caption_attribution_description: Priest House at West Hoathly
context_page_description: West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located 3.5 miles south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 2011 Census the population increased to 2,181. The parish, which has a land area of 2,139 hectares, includes the hamlets of Highbrook, Selsfield Common and Sharpthorne. The mostly rural parish is centred on West Hoathly village, an ancient hilltop settlement in the High Weald between the North and South Downs.
context_section_description: The parish has many medieval houses and farms.  The oldest is Tickeridge, near Selsfield Common and the preserved Kingscote railway station.  Its modernised exterior hides a 14th-century timber-framed Wealden hall house of "high antiquarian interest".  The gabled solar wing dates from the 16th century.  Gravetye Manor, built in 1598, has an Elizabethan façade and was built for a local ironmaster: northern Sussex was an important ironmaking area for several centuries.  Later abandoned to smugglers, the building and its grounds were rejuvenated in 1884 when "the greatest English gardener" William Robinson bought it.  He also designed the 30-acre (12 ha) gardens.  Upon his death in 1935 the manor, set in a large area of woodland, passed to the Forestry Commission for use as a base for their work.  It was converted into a high-class restaurant (now with a Michelin star) in 1958.  Chiddinglye, which may have been a separate manor at one time, is a Gothic house of 1866.  Next to it is Chiddinglye Farm, an open hall house with 15th- and 16th-century parts.  Selsfield House has a Georgian façade.
  The Priest House West Hoathly  in the centre of the village opposite St Margaret's Church, was turned into a museum by the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1935.  The 15th-century open hall-house, with a five-bay façade and a solar wing, retains some original windows and its king post and trussed roof.  Items relating to local and domestic history are on display, and there are formal gardens.  Also near the church is Manor House—not named in relation to any historic manor, but built in 1627 as a dower house and associated with the owners of Gravetye Manor. A note in the museum says that it was built for Katherine Infield, widow of Richard Infield of Gravetye Manor. The building materials, the composition and the ornaments of the main facade are identical to the ones of Gavetye Manor. It is approximately H-shaped, built of ashlar, and has prominent mullioned windows and a gabled roof laid with Horsham stone slabs.  Old panelling remains in some rooms.
  The village pub is the Cat Inn, housed in an early 16th-century timber-framed building with a tile and brick exterior.  Original beams are still visible inside on both storeys.
  West Hoathly Church of England School, which maintains links with St Margaret's Church, is the primary school in the parish.
  There is also a Steiner (also known as Waldorf education) boarding school called Philpots Manor School that is situated around half a mile from the village.
caption: Priest House
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