By Michael Bailey
For many years it might have been thought that Sayers Common sat in the shadow of Hurstpierpoint. Both villages are old, as is apparent from some of the buildings in them, and both for example, record the numbers of residents called for service in WW 1 (in Sayers Common over 50 gave service and 6 never returned). But the main difference between the two until the 1990s was that the road through Sayers Common happened to be the main road between Brighton and London, the A23.
Motorists up to the 1990s will recall driving the single carriage road from Pycombe past the Muddleswood Crossroads (then an accident black spot) then continuing the single line of traffic through Sayers Common to the Bolney Crossroads (also then another black spot!) . With the increasing number of cars and other transport in the 1950s to 1980s the road was very busy and not the ideal place to encourage new residents.
Then, with the construction of the then new road, now the A23, all changed. The road through the village, London Road, is just for local traffic and that almost immediately resulted in the village becoming an ideal location for residential development to satisfy the ongoing demand for new homes.
Berrylands Farm was the first big development and followed by smaller ones until more recently Linden Homes started and continue to build homes on the western side of the village. More are coming off Reeds Lane and according to the Mid Sussex Development plans even more may be contemplated.
In tandem with new housing the recent past has seen the establishing of a special school by LVS, the creation of a thriving Community Shop and one of the largest suppliers of aircraft parts sits on the village outskirts. Many residents will also have benefited from SpaMedica which carries out NHS eye surgery from the Kings Centre.
All this helps Sayers Common to be a pleasant and convenient place in which to live and it emerged from the shadows many years ago. It is now a substantial and growing community in its own right but is the only “Downlands Village” without its own parish council despite having petitioned for one in 2019.
The Village Society (free to all residents) plays a leading role in conserving and enhancing the characteristics of the village and village life and in encouraging community activities while the welfare of the wildlife in the area is fostered by a Flora and Fauna Society.