Heath End

Heath End
Heath End Road


Gorse on heathland	As the heath looks today

Heath End, as the name suggests,
Was where the heathland came to rest,
And all about there could be found
The yellow gorse upon the ground.
A walk upon the hill top here
Was once a journey fraught with fear,
For highway men upon this 'road'
Would try to lighten any load,
So wary was the traveller
Who had to cross here from afar,
As walking here at close of day
Could lose a man his hard earned pay.

The whole of Flackwell Heath was once heathland and a haunt for highway men. (A highway man is said to have been hanged from a tree near the Crooked Billet). Gradually more and more of the heath was turned into pasture land and fields so that now very little evidence of this early heath remains.

Back to map