Removals in Hickstead, West Sussex

A Hamlet on the A23, Known the World Over for its Jumping Course

From the scattered farmhouses of Twineham parish to the country homes near the All England showground, we move households across this quiet corner of the Low Weald with the same care we would give our own.

Our comprehensive range of services includes:

• Full house removals from the period cottages and farmhouses along the Twineham lanes, doorways, tight stairs and all.
• Moves into and out of the larger country properties near the All England showground, including homes with a lifetime’s contents.
• Careful packing for homes with awkward access off the A23 junctions and the B2118.
• Shuttle-vehicle transfers where a full-size removals lorry cannot reach a narrow Low Weald lane.
• Single-item and part-load moves within Twineham parish and out to Burgess Hill and the neighbouring villages.
• Specialist handling of antiques, clocks and inherited furniture from period country homes.

About Hickstead

Hickstead is a small hamlet at the eastern end of Twineham civil parish, in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex. It sits directly on the A23 London-to-Brighton road, with Crawley and Gatwick to the north and Brighton to the south, and about 2.7 miles west of Burgess Hill. For all its modest size, the name is known worldwide: this is the home of the All England Jumping Course — the Hickstead showground — the first permanent showground for equestrian sport in Britain, established in 1960 by Douglas Bunn and still run by the Bunn family. The Hickstead Derby, with its steep Derby Bank and the famous Devil’s Dyke, and the Royal International Horse Show each July draw tens of thousands of spectators to what is otherwise a deeply rural spot.

The resident settlement is genuinely tiny. Twineham parish, which contains Hickstead, recorded just 306 residents at the 2011 Census, and there is no pub, shop or post office in the village itself. The parish church is St Peter’s at Twineham, a Grade I listed brick church built around 1516 and said to be the first brick-built church in mid Sussex. The parish counts 21 listed buildings in all, among them the Grade II* timber-framed Hickstead Place, whose origins reach back to the 15th century. The housing here is sparse and rural rather than estate-based — scattered farmhouses, period cottages and larger country properties strung along the lanes, with the everyday housing stock found over in Bolney, Sayers Common and Burgess Hill.

Local knowledge still counts here more than most places. The modern A23 dual carriageway bypasses the old Hickstead crossroads, so the hamlet and the showground are reached through grade-separated junctions and along the B2118, with its fly-over, and the B2117 towards Hurstpierpoint — there is no simple turn off the main road. Beyond those B-roads the surrounding country is served by narrow Low Weald lanes, such as Bolney Chapel Road, Job’s Lane and the Twineham lanes, which are tight for a full-size removals lorry and short on turning space. Before moving day we check the approach to your door, agree where the lorry can safely stand, and where a lane is too narrow we bring a smaller shuttle vehicle to ferry loads out to the main road.

What a Hickstead House Move Costs

We price a Hickstead move on a proper survey, not a fixed rate card, because so much here comes down to access. Two houses of the same size can cost quite differently once you factor in whether the lorry can reach the door, how far we shuttle across a narrow lane, and how much packing the fragile and inherited pieces need. The drive from our Ashington base is a genuinely easy same-county run, roughly 12 to 14 miles and 25 to 35 minutes, so travel is not the big cost here — the access and the careful handling are. Use our removals calculator for a first idea, then we will visit, look at the lane and the property, and give you a clear, honest quote.

Farmhouses, Cottages and Country Homes

Hickstead throws up two kinds of move. The first is the period cottage or farmhouse — low doorways, tight stairs, sometimes a lane a lorry cannot fully reach — where the challenge is getting bulky furniture out cleanly and safely. The second is the larger country property, often full of a lifetime’s worth of possessions, including inherited furniture, paintings and clocks that need proper protection. For those genuinely valuable items we offer experienced antiques handling, so a longcase clock or a piece of period furniture travels wrapped, braced and treated as it should be.

Moving to Hickstead

Living in Hickstead means living rurally. This is Low Weald farming country of scattered farmhouses, period cottages and larger homes, wrapped around Twineham parish with its Grade I brick church and its handful of listed buildings. There is no village centre in the usual sense — no pub or shop in the hamlet itself — and everyday amenities are found in the neighbouring villages of Bolney and Sayers Common or the town of Burgess Hill. What you get in return is quiet, space and a world-famous showground on the doorstep.

Getting around is dominated by the A23, which runs straight past and links you south to Brighton, about 8 miles off, and north to Gatwick, roughly 15 miles away. There is no railway station in Hickstead itself; the nearest are Burgess Hill and Hassocks on the Brighton main line, with Haywards Heath a little further, and Burgess Hill is the closest sizeable town at around 3 miles east. Beyond the main road, expect the narrow rural lanes typical of the area.

Preparing for Your Hickstead Move

The single most useful thing you can do before moving day is tell us exactly how a large vehicle reaches your property. Let us know if you are down one of the narrow Twineham lanes, whether there is a passing place or a farm entrance where a lorry can turn, and how tight the final approach is. With that in hand we decide in advance whether we can bring the full-size lorry to the door or whether a smaller shuttle vehicle should handle the last stretch — which saves a lot of time and stress on the day itself.

It is also worth checking the showground calendar. The Hickstead Derby and the Royal International Horse Show each July bring big crowds and heavy traffic onto the A23 and the local roads, so if your dates are flexible it pays to avoid a major event day. Beyond that, box up and clearly label the everyday items yourself if you would like to keep costs down, and set aside anything fragile or inherited so our crew can pack and protect those pieces to the right standard before they travel.