Editing Midhurst (section)

=== Modern period ===
In 1831 there were only 41 eligible voters and Midhurst was considered a [[rotten borough]]. In the [[Great Reform Act]] of 1832 Midhurst was reduced to one Member of Parliament and the constituency was expanded to include most of the surrounding villages.

Cowdray House and estate was owned by the Montagu family until 1843, when it was bought by the [[George Perceval, 6th Earl of Egmont|6th Earl of Egmont]], who sold it in 1910 to Sir Weetman Dickinson Pearson who in 1917 became Viscount Cowdray. The current owner is the 4th Viscount.

There was a gasworks adjacent to The Wharf just south of St. Ann's Hill; The Wharf is the last remnant of a once busy navigation canal, the Rother Navigation,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMt1kS-O1zkC&q=Midhurst+gasworks&pg=PA117 |title=A Midhurst Lad: A Sussex Childhood from the Mid 1920s to the Late 30s - Ronald Boxall - Google Books |isbn=9781904278313 |access-date=2019-02-10 |last1=Boxall |first1=Ronald |year=2003 |publisher=Red'n'Ritten |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123000319/https://books.google.com/books?id=AMt1kS-O1zkC&q=Midhurst+gasworks&pg=PA117 |url-status=live }}</ref> described in the listing for a bridge over the former canal.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1392319 |desc=Bridge on former Rother Navigation |grade=II |access-date=10 April 2025 }}</ref>

In 2002, [[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]] magazine rated Midhurst the second best place to live in Britain, after [[Alnwick]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/guidescounty/article/108422/Best-place-to-live-in-Britain.html#part2 |title=Best place to live in Britain |publisher=Country Life |access-date=15 October 2015 |archive-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622124524/http://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/guidescounty/article/108422/Best-place-to-live-in-Britain.html#part2 |url-status=live }}</ref>