There is a town in England called East Grinstead. It is a quiet, unassuming town, with a beautiful church and a row of timber framed Tudor houses on the high street. It is everything you'd expect from a quaint, middle-class town. And yet, it is the town that didn't stare; the home of alternative religion in the UK. From the Scientologists to Opus Dei, druids to Mormons, East Grinstead has it all. But why?
Praise for The Town That Didn't Stare:
"Arch and funny, but... deeply serious in trying to understand the peculiar history of the town" – Financial Times
"Facinating... mysterious, it really hooks you in" – BBC
"Brilliantly arch" – Sunday Times
"Hilton is an engaging narrator, tip-toeing the lines between nostalgia, comedy and truth-telling" – The Big Issue
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
East Grinstead, the home of Scientologists, Mormons, Rosicrucians and more; a nexus for ley lines, a perfect Prime Meridian settlement and Britain's most haunted town. But why?
Why is East Grinstead, …
In 1556, three martyrs are burned at the stake. In 1812, the Prime Minister is gunned down in the House of Commons. And in 1996 a businessman is shot returning to his mansion.
This is the story of Eas…
What is the Guinea Pig Club?
At the height of the Second World War, the sleepy Sussex town of East Grinstead played host to one of the most remarkable and revolutionary medical facilities of the 20th …
There is something that makes East Grinstead special, and has drawn extraordinary people to what looks, on the surface, like a very ordinary town. Amongst those who read the land like a book – like a…
In 1959, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, one of the world's most controversial religions, bought a manor house in the sleepy Sussex town of East Grinstead. In doing so, he changed everyth…
From the early humans of the Middle Pleistocene era through to the Norman conquest, the history of Sussex is a tale for the ages. East Grinstead, the town that didn't stare, is nestled in this landsc…