Bibliography - Billingshurst, Horsham District, West Sussex
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Parish of Billingdhurst, by Thomas Walker Horsfield, published 1835 in The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex (vol. II, rape of Arundel, pp.165-166) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2397][Lib 3212] & The Keep [LIB/507380][Lib/500088] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Billingshurst, by Mark Antony Lower, M.A., published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. I, pp.51-52, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3314] & The Keep [LIB/500159]   View Online

Ordnance Survey Book of Reference to the plan of the Parish of Billingshurst, published 1876 (article, London: H.M.S.O. & printed at George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode)   View Online

Historic Houses of Sussex - Drungewick Manor House, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1929 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. III no. 4, article, pp.210-214) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2307] & The Keep [LIB/500139]

Along the Roman Road. 3 - Bignor to Oakwood Hill, by F. J. Bulstrode, published 1929 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. III no. 9, article, pp.653-659) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2307] & The Keep [LIB/500140]

Roman Coin at Billingshurst, by S. E. Winbolt, published November 1933 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. IV no. 8, note, pp.245-246) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2203][Lib 8222][Lib 8861] & The Keep [LIB/500206] & S.A.S. library

Stane Street at Billingshurst, by S. E. Winbolt, published 1938 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XII no. 10, article, pp.685-686) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2317] & The Keep [LIB/500183]

Free Christian Church, Billingshurst, 200th Anniversary of the Building of the Chapel, 18th July..., by John J. Evershed, published 1954 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6637]

The Billingshurst Guide, published c.1979 (pamphlet, Billingshurst Parish Council) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7829]

West Sussex Settlement Certificates: 1. Billingshurst, by Michael J. Burchall, published December 1980 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 2 no. 3, article, pp.118-124) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8671] & The Keep [LIB/501188] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.

A Bout-Coupe Handaxe from Billingshurst, Sussex, by J. A. Tyldesley, published 1983 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 121, archaeological note, pp.183-184) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8902] & The Keep [LIB/500308] & S.A.S. library

A Short History of St Gabriel's Church, Billingshurst, by Rev. G. J. Candy, published 1985 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9963]

The Parish Church of St Mary, Billingshurst, published 1986 (pamphlet, Billingshurst PCC) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12967]

Billingshurst St Mary: Roof Bosses, by John Hurd, published 1986 (booklet, published by the author) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9490] & West Sussex Libraries

Six Pence and a Rose: Summers Place and Sussex History, by Graham Tite, published 1986 (booklet, 23 pp., Sotheby's) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9556] & West Sussex Libraries

An introduction to the exhibition at Sothebys in Sussex. Billingshurst May 1986.The exhibition had two purposes: to trace the history of Summers Place back to its origins in medieval England and to give a visual demonstration of some of the sources and material available in Sussex and elsewhere for researchers into local history

The Free Christian (Unitarian) Church Billingshurst, by P. B. Evershed, published December 1986 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 7 no. 3, article, pp.83-84) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10461] & The Keep [LIB/501259] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

Roof Bosses at St. Mary's Church, Billingshurst, by John Hurd, published 1987 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 125, historical note, pp.254-255) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9994] & The Keep [LIB/500304] & S.A.S. library

Saint Mary's, Billingshurst: Roof Bosses, by John Hurd, published 1989 (booklet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10562]

Life at Streel Farm near Billingshurst in 1832, by Sarah Smith (1818-1907), published June 1989 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 8 no. 6, article, pp.243-245) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10736] & The Keep [LIB/501260] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

When I kept house for Grandpapa, as a girl, he and I were very happy together. He had retained a great many ideas of his Saxon forefathers . . .
Copied in 1971 from a manuscript in the possession of Mrs. Smiths' grandson Evershed Heron (1892-1983)

Religious Survey 1851 - Petworth district, edited by John A. Vickers, published August 1990 in The Religious Census of Sussex 1851 (Sussex Record Society, vol. 75, pp.125-128, ISBN-10: 085445036X & ISBN-13: 9780854450367) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10578][Lib 13824] & The Keep [LIB/500452][LIB/507827] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Petworth district incl. Billingshurst & Wisborough Green

Billingshurst General Baptist Meeting House, by Peter Evershed, published April 1992 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 49, article, p.31) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/49] & The Keep [LIB/500483]

The Bosses in Billingshurst Parish Church, by John Hurd, published October 1994 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 54, article, p.25) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/54] & The Keep [LIB/500483]

The Billingshurst American Letters 1781-1840, by Leonard J. Maquire, published 1995 accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12846]

A Brief Collection in Billingshurst, 1655, by Jane Le Cluse, published April 1995 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 55, article, p.29) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/55] & The Keep [LIB/500483]

Billingshurst (archive photographs), by Wendy Lines, published 1 September 1995 (128 pp., NPI Media Group, ISBN-10: 075240301X & ISBN-13: 9780752403014) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Billingshurst - 18c. Schools, edited by John Caffyn, published 1998 in Sussex Schools in the 18th Century (Sussex Record Society, vol. 81, pp.46-49, ISBN-10: 0854450424 & ISBN-13: 9780854450428) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13825][Lib 13828] & The Keep [LIB/500458][Lib/507864] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Who Told The Lie?, published March 1998 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 13 no. 1, article, pp.17-20) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14880] & The Keep [LIB/508816] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

The author challenges the Billingshurst descendants of the published Hilton family tree of Sir William Hilton of Hilton Castle, Durham and presents the correct family tree of Rev. Anthony Hilton (1559-1638) who was vicar at Billingshurst from 1585 to 1622.

The Suicide of David Comper of Billingshurst, 1589, by John Hurd, published April 1998 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 61, article, p.9) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/61] & The Keep [LIB/500485]

A Parish Hedge Surveying Project: Billingshurst, by Jane Le Cluse, published October 1999 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 64, article, p.26) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/64] & The Keep [LIB/500488]

Lime-burning in West Sussex, and the Newbridge Wharf Limekilns, Billingshurst, by Jim Williams, published 2004 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 142, article, pp.115-125) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15489] & The Keep [LIB/500360] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Documentary research and excavations have indicated that a block of four limekilns which operated alongside the Arun Navigation at Newbridge Wharf, Billingshurst, from before 1823 until about 1890, were of the intermittent or flare type. During the spring and summer 1998, excavations took place at Newbridge Wharf, Billingshurst, at the site of a set of limekilns, by the side of the Arun Navigation, to ascertain the extent to which evidence of the kilns and their construction still remained, buried beneath the surface. The remains of three kilns were found. They are typical of the type of kilns that were designed to produce lime for dressing agricultural land in that part of the Weald at that time, and were served by the canal which had opened as far as Newbridge Wharf in 1787 and went out of use in 1888.

Billinghurst & Wisborough Green (Images of England), by Charles Lines, published 1 January 2005 (128 pp., The History Press, ISBN-10: 0752424823 & ISBN-13: 9780752424828) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Billingshurst and Wisborough Green, by Wendy Lines, published 1 January 2005 (128 pp., Tempus, ISBN-10: 0752424823 & ISBN-13: 9780752424828) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14793] & West Sussex Libraries

Electricity substation, Billingshurst bypass (NGR: TQ08292631) - watching brief report, by Jo Pine, published February 2006 (Reading: Thames Valley Archaeological Services)   View Online

Summers Place, Stane Street, Billingshurst (NGR: TQ09502720) - evaluation report, by Simon Cass, published March 2007 (Reading: Thames Valley Archaeological Services)   View Online

Archaeological investigations at the former site of Parbrook Bungalow, Stane Street, Billingshurst, West Sussex, by Simon Stevens, published 2009 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 147, short article, pp.217-220) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 17254] & The Keep [LIB/500365] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Billingshurst's Heritage: A Short History of a West Sussex Village, compiled by Geoffrey Lawes, published 7 December 2012 (176 pp., Peacock Press, ISBN-10: 1908904259 & ISBN-13: 9781908904256) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Searching for the Woods!, by Peter Wood, published December 2012 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 20 no. 4, article, pp.164-165) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/508975] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

It was my good fortune to inherit a history of the WOOD family written by my great uncle David WOOD in the1890s or early 1900s. In this "pedigree", as he called it, he states that he did not know the names of his great grandparents, who lived at Emmetts Farm in the parish of Billingshurst on the borders of Shipley. They have now been identified as Richard and Sarah WOOD, but did they live at Emmetts Farm?

Billingshurst - The History of a West Sussex Village, by Charles Chatwin, published 2013 (DVD/Blu-Ray, Billingshurst Local History Society)

As a committed bibliophile I looked rather askance at the slim 'volume' that is the Billingshurst DVD! However my misgivings were misplaced and it is a most informative source on the community's history.
The production is excellent, with sound and picture quality of the highest standard and the commentary by Charles Chatwin, measured and clearly presented. The DVD charts the changes over time that have given rise to the present day community since the creation of the Stane Street. With the assistance of some simple but informative maps the development of the landscape features is presented, in particular the Green Lanes influence on field and road patterns; the built environment of the village was presented on large scale maps with individual buildings noted, their constructional features and subsequent development outlined, through a video technique of 'fading' an old image into a 21st century view. The church has a lengthy portion, with a later revelatory section showing how it was located on the former village green, using the outline of tracks and boundaries to recreate the extent of the green, now only a fragment of its former area. It was pointed out that this village green 'theory' was open to debate. The Wealden location of the village ensured that Non-Conformity was an important factor in the social history and the Unitarian chapel dating to 1754 was featured. Communication by the 19th century saw the Wey & Arun Navigation and then the railway. Railway buffs will enjoy this part which shows the final days of the British rail system's oldest working signal box, now destined for a heritage railway. There is much footage on the extensive number of industries that developed, wood products in particular, but also the light engineering that still features in the village, and the wide range of retail services.
There are some points to make here about omissions; very little on the geology of the village, apart from a shot of some trees and some mud! Although the church 'hill' is mentioned, nothing about the village centre being where it is (on a sandstone ridge). No mention of those classics of local history research, the Tithe survey or census returns. As a geographer I was pleased to see profuse use of maps, but the OS sections are not "about the 1930s", they will all have a definite date.
This DVD is not going to replace books! But is a very enjoyable and informative creation nevertheless.

Billingshurst's Heritage No. 2: An Historical Miscellany of a West Sussex Village, compiled by Geoffrey Lawes, published 8 November 2013 (232 pp., Peacock Press, ISBN-10: 190890450X & ISBN-13: 9781908904508) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Memories of Old Billingshurst, by Billingshurst Local History Society, published 2016 (Billingshurst Local History Society)

An Oral History of the Village

The Parish Church of St Mary, Billingshurst, by R. Evan Hopkins, published (no date) (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7463]

The Parish Church of St Mary, Billingshurst, by M. C. Langton, published (no date) (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4846]

Billingshurst Parish Register, published (no date) by the Sussex Family History Group and Parish Register Transcription Society (Ref: SXW47, CD-ROM)

Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1558-1886, Banns 1653-1875 with gaps. Indexed Transcription. Includes 15 external church photos. Vol.47.