This village was (established last in the point of time) the position of a tollgate, and here some kind person provided dishes of pottage to sustain prisoners as they passed along the road. These men may have been captives taken in the French wars, but in 1761 there was a depot at Seaford for victims of the press-gang. Another class of distressed travelers was the 11,000-12,000 refugees from France during "The Terror," and a record of 1792 at Lewes says that of the above, landing in Sussex, almost all went to London. In 1802 the registers speak of Pease Pottage Gates. North towards Crawley lies the remains of the Saxon Forests of Andreadswald, Tilgate, St. Leonards and Balcombe were part of this great forest stretching from Horsham to Battle. Black Swan Public House  The village now has the unenviable notoriety, of being at the southern end of the M23 London to Brighton Road. The places and types of activity in this village are quite varied. There is a residents association, Church Ladies Fellowship, Finches Sports Field, Pease Pottage Golf Course and Range, Cottismore Country Club and Golf Course, Cottismore School, Meteorological Base, Granada Service Area, and Woodhurst Hospital.