A gated estate of Paddockhall Road that was built in the grounds of a Victorian house called Winnals which itself was built in a former field called Front Meadow according to Cuckfield's 1843 tithe map. There are six blocks in total all named after noted exponents of English literature.

For many years after it was built in the early 1960s, the private estate of Winnals Park was managed by third party landlords whose interest in tenant, property and estate, was very limited.

The Purchase of the Freehold Interest

A combination of years of neglect of proper maintenance of the properties, and an out-of-date lease, fast becoming unsaleable, led the then Residents’ Committee to decide in 1989 to seek to buy out the landlord, and move to a position of ownership of the freehold involving direct management of the estate.

In 1990 a Company Limited by Guarantee was formed with each lessee becoming a member/shareholder. The rules regulating the Company required that only lessees are members of the Company; membership transfers with the title of the individual property.

The Funding of the Freehold Purchase

The capital for the freehold purchase was raised by the Company, mainly from amongst the leaseholders of Winnals Park, who agreed to accept a new 125 year model lease of their flats and garages in exchange for their financial contribution; the balance was funded by a loan from Barclays Bank. Negotiations to buy the freehold took place over a period of approximately 12 months and resulted in the freehold becoming the property of the lessees on November 5th 1992. New leases were granted to the 64 original contributors. Since then further flats have joined the numbers owning new leases.

[From an undated brochure compiled by then Company Secretary M. Brailsford, and supplied by Julia Brown]

 

“Arrival of the railway - 1841.”

In 1825 a meeting of the great and good in Cuckfield rejected the proposed route of a railway through the small town and supported the route of another to the east midway between that village and Lindfield across a barren heath called Haywards Heath. For centuries the land had been open common with the only event of note a small skirmish in 1642 during the English Civil War when the Parliamentarians stopped a small force of Royalists marching from Chichester to take Lewes resulting in the latter losing 200 men. The arrival of the railway in 1841 would turn this barren heathland into a popular 20th century commuter town.

— Simon C

“Expansion of the town.”

The bulk of modern Haywards Heath was once part of the parish of Cuckfield with parts to the east and south originally part of Lindfield, Wivelsfield and Keymer, and its growth from 1841 would eventually eclipse that of its much older neighbour. Initially a few buildings including a hotel were built in what is now Market Place and growth remained slow until the 1850s when St Francis Hospital at the southern edge of the town was opened the following year. The town became an ecclesiastical parish in 1865, gained a purpose built cattle market in 1883, the law court arrived from neighbouring Cuckfield in 1888 whilst the town began expanding around South Road, Sussex Road, Perrymount Road, Paddockhall Road and Boltro Road, all highways that existed across the old heath prior to the construction of the town. - Simon Carey

 

“Growth of the suburbs.”

During the 20th century the suburbs expanded outwards those around Queens Road, Ashernground road, Lucastes Road and Western Road appeared before the First World War; the triangle between Franklynns Road and Sussex road appeared between the wars along with a new estate at Franklands Village and housing spread north towards Lindfield. After the Second World War the expansion continued southwards towards Rocky Lane, westwards with the construction of the Harlands Estate and eastwards along America Lane. Franklands Village was expanded in the 1980s and since the beginning of the 21st century the area west of the railway and south of Bolnore has been developed on areas of former woodland.

— S.C

“Roads ancient and modern”

The main road through the town is the A272 which for many decades caused all kinds of congestion during rush hours and has now finally been routed around the south of the town, the bypass opening in 2014. The B2112 runs north west through the town and is an old route predating the town's existence, one of a number of former London-Brighton turnpikes from the 18th century with this one once part of the road over Ditchling Beacon, through Ditchling, Lindfield and Ardingly northwards to the Surrey border. A minor but busy C road heads north from Commercial Square to Balcombe whilst Rocky Lane, once a minor route to Burgess Hill has now become part of the A272 bypass. To the south west is Isaacs Lane, the A273, which is the main connecting route to Burgess Hill.

— S.Carey.