House Clearance in Burstow

The church is 7 miles south-east of Reigate, and about 2 miles south-south-east of Horley Junction. It is bounded on the north and east by Blechingley, on the east by Horne, on the south by the county of Sussex, on the west by Horley, a detached part of Horne, and Nutfield. It measures about 6 miles from north to south, and is about 1 mile broad at the north and 2 miles at the southern part. It contains 4,750 acres.

The soil is the Wealden Clay over most of the parish, but in the south-east where the ground rises to Copthorne Common it is Hastings Sand. Across the northern part of the parish a ridge of higher land runs from east to west, formed by a bed of Paludina Limestone. It yields stone, usually called Sussex marble, which is susceptible of polish; but, as is generally the case in the Surrey examples of this stone, it is too friable for architectural work. The parish as a whole is a typical Wealden parish, formerly thickly wooded with oak, which furnished the massive framework and rafters of the farms; in the absence of building stone the houses were probably all oak-framed. The upper waters of the Mole drain Burstow, but on the eastern side the streams and ditches communicate with the upper Medway.

No main road or railway is actually in the parish, for the main Brighton line and road pass to the west of it, the South Eastern line to the north of it. It is purely agricultural, with a few brickfields. Copthorne Common is now inclosed in Burstow, though part of the common across the Sussex border in Worth parish is still open. Part of it is called Effingham Park, from an Effingham on the county border, but this has no connexion with the village of Effingham in Surrey. There is some open ground at Outwood Common. The village is not at all compact; there are a few houses near the church, others are about Copthorne or Smallfield, or are scattered farms.

The parish was formerly one of the seats of the iron industry in the Weald, which flourished about Copthorne, though no forge or furnace of importance in the 16th-century lists can be located exactly in Burstow parish. The name Blacksmith’s Farm probably refers to a forge, and ornamental iron fire-dogs, fire-backs, &c., were till recently common in the farms and cottages.