Copthorne, West Sussex

For other places with the same name, see Copthorne (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 51°08′21″N 0°07′05″W / 51.1391°N 0.1181°W / 51.1391; -0.1181

Copthorne
Copthorne  Copthorne shown within West Sussex
Population	Approx. 5,000[1]
OS grid reference	TQ317394
Parish	Worth
District	Mid Sussex
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Crawley
Postcode district	RH10
Dialling code	01342
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Horsham
List of places: UK • England • West Sussex

Copthorne is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies close to Gatwick Airport, 25.5 miles (41 km) south of London, 21.5 miles (35 km) north of Brighton, and 36 miles (58 km) northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the southwest and East Grinstead to the east. It is the most northerly ecclesiastical parish in the Diocese of Chichester in the Church of England, and together with Crawley Down makes up the civil parish of Worth.^[2]

Etymology

The name Copthorne probably comes from copped or coppiced thorn, meaning a cut thorn tree.^[3]

History

Lying on the borders between the counties West Sussex and Surrey, has contributed to Copthorne's history. There are stories of smugglers from the south coast stashing their goods in the woods around the village, conscious that it was easy to step across the county boundary, and escape any pursuing constabulary.^[1]

Similarly, a number of significant boxing prize fights took place in Copthorne Common in the early 19th century. A significant one was the English championship in 1810, between Tom Cribb of Bristol^{[citation needed]} and Tom Molineaux from Virginia, USA.^[4]

A Copthorner is traditionally known as a Yellowbelly, and there are a number of stories told as to why this might be.^[5] Some talk of villagers wearing their gold strapped around their bellies, but the most likely reason is probably tied to the traditional local trade of charcoal burning, where some of those working stripped to the waist found their skin turned yellow with the smoke. Another possibility has it that the smugglers had to crawl through the mud to avoid detection and thus acquiring muddy yellow bellies.^[3]

As part of a village Millennium project, a history of the village Copthorne - The Story So Far was published by the community in 1999/2000.^[3]

St. John the Evangalist church

This church is located next to the Copthorne Church of England School in the west of the village.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Mid Sussex District Council article on Copthorne" (Website). Mid Sussex District Council. 2007. http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/page.cfm?pageID=2126. Retrieved 14 October 2007. 
2. ^ "The Diocese of Chichester: St John the Evangelist, Copthorne" (Website). The Diocese of Chichester. http://www.diochi.org.uk/cgi-bin/showparishes3.pl?clergycode=BH0111. Retrieved 14 October 2007. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b c} "History of Copthorne village" (Website). Copthorne village website. 2007. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009231053/http://www.copthorne.org/content/view/21/29/. Retrieved 14 October 2007. 
4. ^ "Tom Molineaux" (Website). Spartacus Schoolnet. 2004. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SLAmolineaux.htm. Retrieved 14 October 2007. 
5. ^ "BBC Southern Counties: Glossary of local terms" (Website). BBC. 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/voices2005/sx_gloss.shtml. Retrieved 14 October 2007. 

External links

• Worth Parish Council