Ardingly

Ardingly is a village and civil parish in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about 3.5 mi north of Haywards Heath in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is about 33 mi south of London, 6 mi south-south-west of East Grinstead, 6.5 mi southeast of Crawley, 14 mi north of Brighton and 33 mi east northeast of the county town of Chichester.

The village is on the B2028 road. The parish covers an area of 3974 acres. The 2001 Census recorded 1,833 people in 627 households of whom 830 were economically active.

Places of interest
St Peter's parish church, towards the western end of the village, dates from the 14th century.

Wakehurst Place and its grounds, "Kew in the Country", are about 1.5 mi north of the village. Ardingly Reservoir is about 1 mi west of the village. The Big-Upon-Little rock formation is close to a footpath between Ardingly and Horsted Keynes.

Events
In June the South of England Agricultural Show early in the month and the London to Brighton cycle event (usually held on Father's Day) attract visitors from across the country. The South of England Showground hosts regular antiques fairs, which are often featured on the BBC Television game show Bargain Hunt. Every four years an international scout camp is held on the showground, attended by about 3,000 scouts from West Sussex and around the world. The most recent event called WS2008 (West Sussex 2008) was held in August 2008.

Schools
At the southern edge of the village is Ardingly College, an independent school. The village also has a Church of England primary school, St. Peters CE Primary, which has about 120 pupils; most of the children of secondary school age attend Oathall Community College in Haywards Heath.

Public transport
Ardingly has a low-frequency bus service to the nearby towns of Haywards Heath and Crawley.

Ardingly railway station was opened 1 October 1864 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The Southern Railway electrified the line in the 1930s but British Railways closed the line and station to passenger trains in 1963. The goods yard and connection to the main line remain open as an ARC Aggregates terminal. The nearby Bluebell Railway owns the former trackbed between Ardingly and Horsted Keynes and has a long-term aspiration to re-open the line.

Notable people
Jon Snow, the television newscaster, was born in Ardingly.