Written by Martin Dixon on 01 October 2020.
A short distance south of Haywards Heath Station (and visible from there) is a short (250 yards) railway tunnel known as Folly Hill Tunnel. Completed in 1841, the tunnel is single bore, double track and lies on the London to Brighton line. It is unusual (for its length) in having two ‘air shafts’ although these are in reality most likely construction shafts.
One mystery is the name of the tunnel, Folly Hill. The ground under which it was driven is called Muster Green, not Folly Hill. Perhaps the tunnel name derives from geological problems encountered by the contractors making the cuttings and tunnel?
Written by Mike Anton on 29 March 2024.
Where does the term ‘Folly Hill Tunnel’ comes from? It’s not mentioned in the London & Brighton Railway Co files held at the National Archive nor does the name appear in contemporary newspaper reports.
On the southern side the line bisects the two farms known as Great and Little Haywards, that are noted on a 1638 estate map and later 1818 maps make no mention of a Folly farm. In fact this tunnel passes through the lowest point of a W – E ridge!
There is a Folly farm over a mile to the south, which is beyond the great sandstone cutting that has a tall bridge that carries the old Rookery or Rocky lane.
The Haywards Heath Tunnel is the only one in this section. The centre of the Northern Portal is at TQ 3291 2404.
Network Rail identify it as VTB3 – 149 and Railwaydata have mileage details.
‘Folly Hill Tunnel’ was only a temporary affair. J T Howard Turner, Vol 1 (1977, p121) does mention Haywards Heath Tunnel was sometimes incorrectly called Folly Hill but this seems to have been misread and turned into a statement of fact.
Folly Hill Tunnel was a temporary cutting to get through the sandstone ridge that was later opened out and ‘High Bridge’ (VTB3 151) built over it to carry Rookery / Rocky lane. This bridge, located at TQ 3257 2240, is now closed to motor traffic as a new one was built to the south.
The site was the scene of a fatal accident on Friday 1st Jan 1841 when the chimney of a works loco wasn’t lowered in time and struck a temporary support in the heading, causing a fall. Three men died in this incident.
Contemporary newspapers such as the Sussex Advertiser carried reports of the inquest on 11th Jan 1841. In the London & Brighton Railway Co minute book for the ‘Friday Committee’ (TNA RAIL386/26) a report from 10th May 1841 states “The Cutting of Folly Hill where the temporary tunnel has been made is now open to the bottom…”
