Living in East Grinstead: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

East Grinstead in West Sussex has a good choice of period cottages and houses, as well as modern apartments, while the high street is part of a delightful tangle of medieval streets and independent shops.
12 February 2016

East Grinstead and the surrounding small towns and villages such as Lingfield, West Hoathly, Hartfield, Smallfield, Forest Row, Crawley Down, Colemans Hatch, Chelwood Gate, and Birchgrove have a wide range of properties. There is everything from period cottages and medieval houses, to Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses, to more modern flats and houses.

Renting

East Grinstead is a popular option for families who are thinking of moving to the area. There is also strong demand for house shares from workers – both ground staff and cabin crews - from nearby Gatwick airport.

Postcodes

RH19 is the Redhill postcode which covers East Grinstead; it also includes Ashurst Wood, Dormans Park, Felbridge, Felcourt, Sharpthorne and West Hoathly. Forest Row is in the RH18 postcode; Lingfield and Dormansland is in RH7.

Dormans Park, a private gated estate, counts Tom Cruise among its owners.
Graham Hussey

Best roads

In East Grinstead itself the best roads are Coombe Hill Road — a long private street of Thirties and more modern houses — and West Lane which has a similar mix. Both are south-west of the town centre. Portland Road lies to the south of the High Street and offers large Victorian houses.

Dormans Park, north-east of the town, is a large, private estate of Twenties and Thirties houses, many of which are being demolished and rebuilt. Tom Cruise was rumoured to have bought there when still married to fellow actor Katie Holmes.

What's new

New homes Barratt has two new developments in the town: Millbrook Place in Dunnings Road and Bluebell Gate in Holtye Road. Only a few three- and four-bedroom houses remain at Millbrook Place (0844811 4343), a development of 32 homes of which most are houses and 10 are for sale on an affordable basis. Prices range from £319,995 for a three-bedroom semi-detached house to £349,995 for a four-bedroom semi-detached house.

Bluebell Gate (01342 322718) is a development of 163 (35 affordable) two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom flats and houses; prices range from £415,995 for a four-bedroom semi-detached house to £624,995 for a five-bedroom detached house.

The Oaks (01277 693265) in Imberhorne Lane is a Crest Nicolson development of 90 (20 affordable) three-bedroom cottages and four- and five-bedroom houses which will be launched in summer 2013; prices will range from around £310,000 for a three-bedroom cottage and rise to £700,000 for one of the larger houses.

Kings Acre (01342 349930) is in Grange Road, in the popular village of Crawley Down, and is a Redrow development of three- and four-bedroom houses; prices range from £324,995 for a three-bedroom semi-detached house to £629,995 for a four-bedroom detached house.

Franklins Gardens (01403 210 060) in nearby Lingfield is a development of 11 three- and four-bedroom barn and cottage-style houses from developer Thakeham Homes; prices range from £490,000 for a three-bedroom semi-detached house to £685,000 for a four-bedroom detached house.

The area attracts

East Grinstead has a strong local market, but families from London are attracted by affordable house prices and the surrounding countryside, which south of the town is surprisingly rural and remote. The Rudolph Steiner schools in nearby Forest Row attract families seeking an alternative education.

Staying power

The wide range of properties offers plenty of scope to move up and down the ladder, so once in the area, people do tend to stay.

Up-and-coming areas

East Grinstead’s Sixties and Seventies houses offer value for money and often have spacious and adaptable interiors.

As a result, the average price of a three-bedroom house in East Grinstead is lower than the average price of a two-bedroom house which is more likely to be older or period, and thus more popular.

Travel

Trains from East Grinstead go to Victoria and London Bridge and take about 58 minutes. An annual season ticket costs £2,360.

Pictures by Graham Hussey

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

Market town East Grinstead offers a wide range of independent retailers and hight street chains. A farmers' market is held every Thursday in the Market Square

Open spaces

The West Sussex town is surrounded by country parks, nature trails and wildlife centres.

Three things you may not know about East Grinstead
Why is East Grinstead known as “the town that never stares”?
This is where pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe rebuilt the faces of injured airmen, known as the guinea pigs. Sir Archie, as he was known, encouraged them to go out and about in the town and taught the townspeople to never stare.

Where and why did Gills Lap become Galleon’s Leap?
A A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh is set in the Ashdown Forest and many famous landmarks are renamed with Gills Lap becoming Galleon’s Leap and the North Pole and the Gloomy Place to be found in Wren’s Warren Valley. There is a memorial plaque to A A Milne and his illustrator E H Shepard at Gills Lap. Pooh Sticks Bridge lies outside the forest on the northern edge of Posingford Wood just off the B2026 Maresfield to Hartfield Road.

 

What does East Grinstead have in common with the south London suburb of Bexleyheath?
Both have houses designed by the leading arts and crafts architect Philip Webb. Standen in West Hoathly just outside East Grinstead was built for a wealthy London solicitor; the Red House in Bexleyheath for the writer and designer, William Morris. Both houses feature Morris & Co interiors and both are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public.

Schools

Primary school

Most of East Grinstead’s state primary schools are judged “good” by the government’s education watchdog Ofsted.

Comprehensive

There are two comprehensive schools, both have sixth forms: Imberhorne in Imberhorne Lane and Sackville in Lewes Road; Imberhorne gets the better results at GCSE and is judged “outstanding”, Sackville is judged “good”.

Private

Michael Hall (co-ed ages three to 18) in Kidbrooke Park, Forest Row is the country’s leading Steiner school and the reason many families come to live in East Grinstead.

Greenfields School (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Priory Road, Forest Row is a day and boarding school which follows the educational ideas of Ron L Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

There are three prep schools: Brambletye (co-ed, day and boarding, ages three to 13) in Lewes Road; Ashdown House (co-ed, day and boarding, ages seven to 13) in Forest Row and Copthorne Prep (co-ed, ages two to 13) in Effingham Lane, Copthorne.

There are two private Catholic schools: Lingfield Notre Dame (co-ed, ages two to 18) in Racecourse Road in Lingfield and Worth School (co-ed, day and boarding, ages 11 to 18) in Turner’s Hill which is linked with the Benedictine Worth Abbey. Ardingly College (co-ed, day and boarding, ages three to 18) is a private school in the village of the same name.

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