Did this notorious highwayman give Haywards Heath its name? Signpost keeps folklore of West Sussex town alive

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Haywards Heath is one of the busiest towns in Sussex with millions of people coming in for business and pleasure every year.
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But with all of this bustling activity, few stop to think about the name ‘Haywards Heath’ and the possible tale behind its origin.

A sign in Heath Road depicts the silhouette of a notorious highwayman. It reads: “The tale of the Highwayman ‘Jack Hayward’. Haywards Heath folklore legend who famously rode the Heath.”

A sign in Heath Road, Haywards Heath, depicts the silhouette of a notorious highwayman. Photo: Steve RobardsA sign in Heath Road, Haywards Heath, depicts the silhouette of a notorious highwayman. Photo: Steve Robards
A sign in Heath Road, Haywards Heath, depicts the silhouette of a notorious highwayman. Photo: Steve Robards

Middy photographer Steve Robards was in Haywards Heath this week and took some video footage of the signpost that was restored in 2018. Back then The Middy reported that Jack ‘terrorised the community’ as he rode the original Heath, which was connected to Clair Park off Perrymount Road.

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The original sign had been removed in the 1950s but a restoration project was launched by town councillors in the late 2010s to bring the local folklore legend back to life. The restoration work was undertaken by blacksmith RJW Bradshaw.

Councillor Sandy Ellis said at the time: “Whether Jack Hayward is a myth, folklore or legend we must try and preserve our local history for future generations."

Sadly, the true origins of Haywards Heath name may be less romantic than this intriguing tale. An English Place-Name Society’s project provides ‘a county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names’ at epns.nottingham.ac.uk and looks into Haywards Heath.

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A spokesperson on the website said: “It is clear that the original nucleus of this name is a place called Hayworth, a compound of worð and either hege, ‘hedge,’ or heg, ‘hay’. For the former compound cf. Haworth (WRY) from haga and worð. This became by a natural development Hayward or Heward. The place-name clearly gave rise to a pers. name but it is impossible to say whether Hayworths Hethe is ‘the heath which belonged to Hayworth’ or ‘which belonged to a man named Hayworth’. In some of the forms we have the distinctively East Sussex hothe in place of the more usual heath v. Hoathly infra 270.”

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