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The Chesworth Farm area is of considerable local historical interest. The Farm has its origins no later than the 11th Century. The farm was registered in the 1086 census, the name derived from a Saxon settlement called ‘Ceolred’s (or Ceolric’s) Worth’. In other words Chesworth has been a farm for at least 1000 years and possibly considerably longer!
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, William the Conqueror handed over Chesworth Farm, with a variety of other areas of land, to his old Normandy neighbour, William de Braos. It is thought that this was a thank you for services rendered in the conquest of Britain. Sussex was divided into five strips of land running north to south, most going to William the Conqueror’s family, but with a strip from Horsham down to Arundel going to de Braos. De Braos was also given land in Wales, around Abergaveny, to stop him getting too attached and settled in Sussex.
During the Middle Ages the area was popular for hunting; Chesworth, along with Nepp Castle and Chennelsbrook, being the three royal hunting lodges in the area. Over 100 deer were on the site in 1549, as well as farmed oxen.
The Farm passed through the ownership of the wealthiest families of the Middle Ages. It was owned by the influential Howard family and Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, lived at Chesworth House.
A farm inventory of oxen, yokes, ploughs and harrows from the end of the 16th Century shows that arable farming was taking place on a fair scale at that time.
In 1650 Chesworth was 312 acres of meadow, arable, pasture and some woodland and had a malt house, barn, stable, cowhouse, orchard and ponds. In the 1740s wheat, barley and oats were being farmed.
In the late 19th Century the Farm was bought by the Francis family of Horsham, in whose ownership it stayed for 100 years. A new house (Niron House) was built in the 1920s as a wedding present by the Mr Francis of the time for his new wife, who refused to live in the old Chesworth House. Chesworth House and its grounds were sold off in the 1950s, so the Farm was split.
The Farm was purchased by HDC in 1991 and has since been managed as a countryside site for wildlife conservation and informal public recreation.
The Farm is open every day of the year from 8 am to dusk. The closest car park is in Denne Road, about a 10 minute walk. There is a network of paths around the Farm, including part of the Horsham Riverside Walk, bridleways and the Horsham to Southwater Peddlar’s Way. The Farm is grazed by a herd of friendly Angus and Simmontail cows from May – September each year. Some areas may be inaccessible in the interest of insuring the cows don’t escape.
Please respect the Farm by taking your litter home and keeping dogs under control especially when livestock are around. Thankyou.
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