From the busy commuter towns of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, to the picturesque villages of Lindfield and Hurstpierpoint, Mid Sussex has much to offer as a place to live.

With easy access to the seaside, South Downs National Park, Brighton and Gatwick, and good rail links to the coast and London, it has the best of everything on its doorstep. It also ranks among the best places to live for a long and healthy life, and has some of the lowest recorded crime figures in the UK.

Burgess Hill has long been popular with young families. It has a strong community spirit, good schools and leisure facilities, a modern business park and a busy town centre with a wide range of shops. Since the early 19th century when it was a small town based on the local brick and tile industry it has expanded and is now a thriving community of some 30,000 residents and has the second largest business park in Sussex.

The villages of Mid Sussex are more than just pretty places to live, they are great places to shop too. No shoving and pushing, every shop has a friendly welcome atmosphere and customers are more than just a face in a queue. In Hurstpierpoint the High Street shops offer good old fashioned friendliness and a variety of businesses. The butcher, baker, greengrocer and fashion shops are all there alongside banks, health specialists, plumbers and builders. It is this atmosphere that has helped Hurstpierpoint grow in popularity.

The pattern is repeated in picturesque Lindfield with its traditional High Street, beautiful old houses, quaint shops, churches, pubs and the famous village pond.

Henfield is another of Sussex’s desirable locations. Even though it is a small town, it offers a good mix of shops, pubs and restaurants, library and a village hall containing an excellent museum. The town is flourishing and there are several new housing developments on its fringes making it popular with young families and people looking for a quieter lifestyle.

Among the many historic buildings is Parsonage House, once the home of Henry Bishop, the man who set up the postal service. Bishop owned the property during the 17th century, bought the title of Postmaster General of Great Britain and Ireland in 1660 and was the first to introduce a type of postmark to date the letters when they left London. Nathaneil Woodard, founder of Lancing College, Ardingly College and Hurstpierpoint College among other famous public schools, lived in Martyn Lodge in Church Street until his death in 1891.