our History

Fernhurst is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England.  The parish includes the settlements of Henley Common, Kingsley Green and Bell Vale, lies within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park and is surrounded by hills.  The area of the parish is approximately 5,772 acres (2,336 hectares)

Fernhurst Village, on the Weald, originally developed around crossroads (The Prayer Cross) and the extant village green.  Ancient Stone Age and Roman remains have been found here denoting the history and importance of this settlement.

During the 17th & 18th centuries, the village was a centre for iron working, supported by a turnpike which ran through the village.  

The Anglican church, dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch, was consecrated in approximately 1,100 AD.  The church, the Red Lion public house and several older houses still remain in this picturesque and quintessentially English village.

With the arrival of the railway at Haslemere, the village developed around, and beyond The Cross, and has continued to expanded westwards since the 1960s.