Dial Post

History

The origin of the name is uncertain, although a common explanation is that it combines two local features — a sundial that once stood in the garden of Dial Post House (dial) and the practice of posting horses at the coaching inn, The Crown (post). Dial Post house, a large building dated 1712 post-dates the name of settlement as do Dial Post farm and Dial Post fields which were named in the early 18th century. Dial Post farm comprised 300 acres in c. 1710 when it was leased for 21 years. A public house, the Crown, is recorded as having been established as early as the 1600s. The ruins of medieval Knepp Castle lie between Dial Post and Southwater by the A24.

Today

There is one public house, the Crown Inn, along with a café and barbecue at the Knepp Wilding Kitchen, a new development at Blakers Yard offering commercial space and dwellings, and a Garden Centre, but no church in Dial Post. The village centre retains four of the area's listed buildings, all of Grade II:

• New Lodge
• Hazel Cottage
• Alma Cottage
• Dial Post House

A new village hall, built with the help of a £50,000 grant from the Sussex Downs and Low Weald LEADER programme, was completed early in 2010.

The ecclesiastical parish centres on an ancient Grade I listed church, St George in the middle of West Grinstead The parishioners have undertaken to maintain the chancel in exchange for the grant from the glebe estate in 1511 of the church house, see chancel repair liability.

Transport

Dial Post was originally on the main but picturesque A24 road linking London, Epsom, Leatherhead, Horsham and Worthing, between Southwater and Ashington, but a straighter bypass exists to the east.

References

References

1. "neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk 2001 census details".
2. (1986). "A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 2: Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) including Horsham". Institute of Historical Research.
3. T P Hudson (Editor), A P Baggs, C R J Currie, C R Elrington, S M Keeling, A M Rowland. (1986). "West Grinstead: Economic history". Institute of Historical Research.
4. (1878). "Post Office Directory of Sussex". Kelly & Co..
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10. Richard Chalk. "Dial Post Village Hall". Rural Development Programme for England.
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12. T P Hudson (Editor), A P Baggs, C R J Currie, C R Elrington, S M Keeling, A M Rowland. (1986). "West Grinstead: Churches". Institute of Historical Research.
13. Similarly, across that village centre is the listed Catholic Church of our Lady of Consolation and St Francis.{{NHLE