Copthorne Village website

Copthorne was mentioned in the first Domesday Book of 1086, as 'Copedorne' , translated into modern English as the pollarded, or cropped, or coppiced thorn tree.

Straddling, as it does, the boundaries of Surrey & Sussex there are also links with a number of clandestine activities. For much of its early history, with the trees of the Ashdown forest for cover, it was a suitable place for smugglers (or Free Traders, or Owlers, as they were also called) to use as a stop-over between the Sussex coast and London. Being on the county boundary made it hard for the local constabularies to make pursuit.

And then there were the Prize-fightings throughout the early 19 century, often billed as World Championships - Tom Cribb against Tom Molineaux in December 1810, for example.

The old villagers are known as the Copthorne Yellow-bellies - the derivation is a little unclear, but may be connected with another trade of past years, that of charcoal burning. Stripped to the waist, the skin of the workers turned yellow from the smoke.

At the end of the 1800s the population was little over 2,000 people - which has grown over the next hundred years to nearer 8,000. There are over 200 local firms based in the village, mainly employing small numbers of people.

The Copthorne Village Millennium History Book 

As part of the village's preparations and celebrations for the Millennium, an eclectic history of Copthorne has been written by a group of villagers. The book - Copthorne - The Story So Far - was published in May 1999. Copies are available from a number of shops in the village, and the Post Office, and also from a number of the individuals who helped compile it. The cost is £10 sterling, and copies may be ordered via email. 

The Copthorne Village

Millennium Doomsday book

Having been mentioned in the first Domesday Book, there was a fitting historicity in the idea of creating a new Domesday Book of the village for the Millennium. Each household was being given an A3 sheet to fill with information about themselves. The collated sheets were bound together to make a new historical document for the future.