Sheriff Cottage, Highbrook

About this property

Walk to Horsted Keynes station and take a steam train! This delightful rural cottage is in sublime Sussex countryside

Just half a mile from the famous Bluebell Railway, Sheriff Cottage is in a most rural and tranquil setting beside a quiet lane close to the village of Horsted Keynes. Built during the late Victorian period, the cottage is the end of a group of three attached cottages. As you open the front door you enter a light and airy dining hall with high ceilings and room for six people to eat in comfort. The sitting room at the front of the cottage is a peaceful haven for relaxation, with comfortable sofas and an arm chair, furnished to give a period ambience. The kitchen is compact and well equipped for preparing your meals, and with easy access to the garden if a barbecue is the order of the day.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms with king sized double beds, and a third bedroom with a bunk bed. The lower bunk is a 4’ 6” double bed, and the upper one a single, ideal for two children, or for a couple sharing the lower bunk. Also upstairs is the bathroom with a period style free standing bath with wall mounted shower over. In addition there is a WC with high level cistern to maintain the period feel, and a basin. Towels will be kept warm on the chrome towel rail, so creature comforts have been catered for.

The garden at Sheriff Cottage is a real feature. It is a mix of traditional herbaceous English cottage garden planting, and a collection of black bamboo, giving a modern twist. These swish gently in the breeze, and cast interesting shadows across the lawn. The garden room adjacent to the cottage is a spacious extra sitting room, perfect for watching DVDs on the large flat screen TV, or relaxing with a book or a board game. The garage has a full sized table tennis table and plenty of space for even the most energetic tournaments!. Alternatively it would provide secure storage for a car, and there is plenty of space to store bikes securely. as well. The country lanes in mid Sussex are perfect to explore at your own pace, so do bring your bikes.

Half a mile down the lane is Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell Railway. The Bluebell celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010 and runs from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead, where it connects with mainline services. This has taken the line to a total distance of about twelve miles passing through some of the most picturesque Sussex countryside that you will find. The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers and has the largest collection of steam engines in the UK outside of The National Railway Museum in York. Steam trains run at various times of the year, and you will find a link to the Bluebell Railway under the Places to Visit in East Sussex section of the website.

Horsted Keynes and beyond

Horsted Keynes is a small village just under two miles south east of Sheriff Cottage. It has two pubs and a traditional general store selling all the essential every day food items. It has been a grocers shop for many years, and still retains some of the storage bins used for dry goods in the days when everything was weighed and made up into neat packets for the customer in the shop.

Slightly further south, and right beside the station at Sheffield Park, Sheffield Park Garden is a magnificent informal landscape garden laid out in the 18th Century by ‘Capability’ Brown. Four lakes form the centrepiece of the garden. There are dramatic shows of daffodils and bluebells in spring and the rhododendrons and azaleas are spectacular in early summer.

To the west Wakehurst Place is one of the National Trust’s most visited places and country home for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. It is a feast for the senses, Wakehurst features natural woodland and lakes, formal gardens, an Elizabethan house and the 21st-century architecture of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank which contains conserved seeds from ten per cent of the world's plant species. Like Wakehurst Place it is open daily.

Immediately to the south of East Grinstead, Standen is hidden at the end of a quiet Sussex lane with breathtaking views over the High Weald and Weirwood Reservoir. The design of the house is a monument to the combined genius of architect Philip Webb and his friend William Morris. All the big names of the Arts & Crafts period are represented, including ceramics by William De Morgan and metalwork by W. A. S. Benson. The beautiful hillside gardens provide year-round interest.

A little further afield at Handcross, Nymans House and Gardens is another National Trust property and so similar in appeal to both Sheffield Park and Wakehurst Place, while the Ardingly Resevoir which nestles into the wooded hillside near to Balcombe offers many walks and the opportunity to enjoy or simply watch watersports on the 198 acres of water. Do read more about all these properties and attractions under “Places to visit” on our website.

Places to Visit

Bluebell Railway

Wakehurst Place

Sheffield Park

Borde Hill Gardens, Haywards Heath

Standen

What's On

South of England Show, Ardingly — June

Local shop — 1.7 miles Horsted Keynes

Nearest supermarket — 4.2 miles Haywards Heath

Nearest restaurant — 4.5 miles Haywards Heath

Local pub — 1.5 miles Horsted Keynes

Local bus service to Haywards Heath and East Grinstead

Mainline rail service — Haywards Heath (4.2 miles) for services to Gatwick Airport, London Victoria and Brighton

Gatwick Airport — 13.5 miles