The Village of Sharpthorne

The village of Sharpthorne adjoins West Hoathly and is often overshadowed by historic West Hoathly. The village owes its development to brick-making and the building of the railway from East Grinstead to Lewes in the 1880's. Subsequently, there was considerable development in the period from the 1960s to the 1980s and now Sharpthorne is the largest of the three communities in West Hoathly Parish.

Hudson's Brickworks - now Ibstocks - has been in production since the 18th century. It uses the Wealden Clay to make the famous West Hoathly Stock bricks.. It is still the largest employer in the Parish. Also located in the village is Comber & Sons, a well-known family building company that celebrated its centenary in 2006.

The railway line was the relief line for trains to and from the coast but it was closed in the Beeching era. Part of the line was preserved by the Bluebell Railway and an extension northwards from Horsted Keynes first to Sharpthorne and then to Kingscote was built. The line currently extends for nearly 12 miles from Kingscote to Sheffield Park and vintage passenger trains run every day in the summer and at weekends through the winter. A massive fundraising campaign will soon start to extend the line northwards to East Grinstead and in the future the line will be extended from Horsted Keynes to Haywards Heath. For more information on The Bluebell Railway, please click:

www.bluebell-railway.co.uk