Twineham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located eight kilometres to the west of Burgess Hill. The civil parish covers an area of In the 2001 census 271 people lived in 100 households, of whom 139 were economically active. The 2011 Census population was 306. The village centre has no pub, post office or shop. There is only the church and the school. The hamlet of [|Hickstead] lies at the eastern end of the parish, on the A23 road, west of Burgess Hill.
History
Place name
Recorded as Tuineam, Tuynhe, Twyne ; Twynym. The name is Old English in origin, meaning ‘ between the streams’, from the OE ‘betwēonan’: between, amongst, and ‘ēa’ : river, stream.
Early history
In Anglo-Saxon times it was a royal manor.
Later history
In 1856, Twineham had many more services than today: a post office, general shop, butchers, dairy, shoe menders, blacksmith and wheelwright. None of these services are now there. In 1911, the village started to get its piped water supply from the Burgess Hill Water Company. In 1928, the roads were surfaced, and electricity came to the village in 1936. The village of Twineham has never had its own pub, though there are two pubs in the parish of Twineham.
Governance
Civil Parish
Twineham Parish Council has five parish councillors. The Parish Council holds six planned meetings a year; additional meetings may be called to discuss planning applications. Meetings are held at Twineham School. The Localism Act 2011 gives town or parish councils the ability to produce their own neighbourhood plan. The Twineham Neighbourhood Plan was made on 24 March 2016. The plan informs development decisions, and helps influence the type, quality and location of that development.
Non-metropolitan district
Twineham civil parish is in Bolney Ward of the non-metropolitan district of Mid Sussex; the ward returns one councillor to Mid Sussex District Council. The responsibilities of district councils include local planning, housing, local highways, building, environmental health, and refuse collection.
Non-metropolitan county
Twineham civil parish is in the Hurstpierpoint and Bolney electoral division of the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The division returns one councillor to West Sussex County Council. The functions of county councils including education, transport, strategic planning, fire services, consumer protection, refuse disposal, social services and libraries.
The eastern River Adur meets Herrings Stream at Twineham. The river then continues to the west of Henfield, where it meets the western Adur to reach the sea at Shoreham-by-Sea.
Twineham civil parish contains 21 listed buildings. Of these, one is Grade I, two are Grade II* and the remaining 18 buildings are Grade II. The Grade I listed building is:
Slipe, a former farmhouse, originally a 15th-century timber-framed open hall with a solar wing, modified in the 16th century and restored in the 1920s and late 1940s.
Hickstead Place, a timber-framed house of different periods, altered from the 18th century onwards; the oldest portions are 15th century.
Part of the All England Jumping Course at Hickstead is located within the parish; however, the International Arena itself, and public access to the course from the A23, are outside the parish, to the south, in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common.
War Memorial
Twineham's War Memorial is a grade II listed building. The National Heritage List for England describes it as 'an elegant and well-proportioned example of a Celtic cross memorial displaying good quality materials and fine craftsmanship'.
Education
Twineham Church of England Primary School is a voluntary controlled school catering for Reception to Year 6 pupils. There are no nursery classes. The school has capacity for 105 pupils. The school's Ofsted rating is ‘Good’. It was last inspection on 17 January 2017. Good schools are inspected around once every four years; the next Ofsted inspection is therefore due in 2021. The school is located in Church Lane, Twineham, adjacent to St Peter's Church. It was opened in 1864, with provision for 80 children. Originally a tithe barn, the building has various additions, the latest in 2009.
is early Tudor, built with mellow red brick and a Horsham stone roof. There are covered pews, a gallery under the tower, which has a peal of five bells, and a Jacobean pulpit. The church is a Grade I listed building for the rarity of small early C16 churches. The churchyard contains a Quaker burial ground marked by four stone corner posts.
Sport
Twineham & Wineham Cricket Club, founded in 1893, still play at the village's recreation ground. The club plays friendly Sunday matches both at home and away against local village teams between the end of April and the end of September. The club was revived in the early 1980s after some years in the wilderness, and has since gone from strength to strength. In the late 1980s, its membership was boosted by the arrival of players from the recently defunct Warninglid team and the influx of a number of players from Brighton. The club has its own pavilion, though with no toilet. There have been tours to Yorkshire, Devon, Suffolk and Ibiza. The club runs just one team, and has occasionally struggled with numbers, but in 2009 membership is healthier than for many years, due in large part to the feeding through of the next generation. The club now boasts no fewer than six father-son combinations among its members.
Notable residents
, showjumping entrepreneur and businessman, lived in the parish, near Hickstead. He was godfather to model Jodie Kidd, who married entrepreneur Aidan Butler at St Peter's Church, Twineham on 10 September 2005.
