Sept 13th, 2014
We headed to the village after breakfast for one more look around. When we got back, Lin had a video of the history of Billingshurst. Of course she has lived here all of her life, so she could pick out a few errors in the more modern history. It was interesting hearing about the village, built on the Roman Road of Stane Street. The oldest building is St. Mary’s Church where my ancestors worshiped, early documentary evidence begins in the 1100s!
St Mary’s Church
There are many timber framed buildings throughout the village dating from the Middle Ages to the 1700s. There is a wonderful old pub there called “The Six Bells”, which I think I’ve visited on each of my holidays here.
The Six Bells-Billingshurst
It really is a fun and interesting village to check out. It’s close to Horsham which is also worth the visit. After a very nice home cooked lunch and visit with Lin’s daughter and grandson, Claire and Warren, we had to walk down to the station and say our goodbyes.
Saying goodbye at the Billingshurst Station
The Billingshurst Train station is a great building in it’s own right. Many of my predecessors worked for the railroad in Billingshurst so I’m very interested in the history. The last time I visited, 2 years ago, the signal box was here. The Grade II listed structure is thought to be one of the country’s oldest working signal boxes dating back to 1876. The signal box was moved to Amberley Museum and can be seen as you come into the second station.
Billingshurst Signal Box
It’s time to get it all together and head north to London. It’s been a great visit and I know when I’m home thinking about all of the things that we did and saw, the laughter, the hugs, I’ll again start longing to return. This is always when my next plan starts to form. Right now though, I’m anxious to get to London, as I love it as well. London is the world in one place and I just like to be there.
It takes about an hour to get to the station where our friend Tim will pick us up. This night we’ll be having dinner and catching up with our good friends and then planning our time here in London.
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