Welcome :: History of East Grinstead

Welcome to the History of East Grinstead. We are a historical organisation backed by the Royal Historical Society and the The Historical Association to document and collect historial facts, artifcats and information regarding East Grinstead.

East Grinstead has an unusually diverse range of religious and spiritual organisations for a town of its size. A broad range of mainstream Christian denominations have places of worship in the town, and several others used to be represented; Protestant Nonconformism has featured especially prominently for the last two centuries, in common with other parts of northern Sussex. Several other religious groups have connections with the town, from merely owning property to having national headquarters there. For more information visit Connecting Dots.

In 1994, a documentary entitled Why East Grinstead? was produced for Channel 4's Witness strand of documentaries. It sought to examine and explain the convergence of such a wide variety of religious organisations in the East Grinstead area. The documentary, produced by Zed Productions and directed by Ian Sellar, reached no definite conclusion: explanations ranged from the local presence of ley lines to the more prosaic idea that religious leaders had settled there because they liked the views. For more information contact Sussex History directly.