Southwater Church
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The Southwater Locality
Location:
Modern day Southwater is situated:- * 60 miles from London via M25/M23 Motorways
* 15 miles from Gatwick Airport (M23 Motorway)
* 15/20 miles from Worthing and Brighton - South Coast road links
Southwater Facts:
* Population as at 2006 9780
* Hectares 1400.1
* Electorate as at 2006 7221
* Council Precept 2007/8 (£) 216,032.86
* Base Band D Property 4,091.91
* Tax Per Property 52.79
* Southwater also has the longest road in Sussex running through its midst.
Origins of Southwater: Southwater can be dated as far back as the Neoliths, 4500 BC. Evidence of this comes from finds at Jackrells Farm, Southwater where two arrow heads and three axes were found south of the river in Horsham.
Dinosaur bones were also found in the old brick yard. Other finds dating back to 500 BC show the beginning of an organised trading society in and around Southwater and the Horsham district.
During the Roman Empire the Weald in which Southwater is situated began to produce iron. When the brick works started there were many archaeological finds in Victorian times. 
The first written references to Southwater date back to the Calendar of Patent Rolls in 1346 when it was known as "Suthwatre" but refers to not a village but an area of scattered farms - south of the water, which remained so until the late 20th Century. The water in this instance probably being the River Arun which runs through Horsham, although the village also has water courses leading to and from the River Adur.
Southwater lies just four miles south of Horsham in West Sussex and within the Parish are the hamlets of Christ Hospital, Newfoundout and Stammerham, all of which are thought to date back to medieval times and on the path of old road systems.
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