CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF NEW TOWN

Architect Sir Thomas Bennett, who was the Chairman of the NORTHGATE Development Corporation, appointed Anthony Minoprio SMALLS MEAD ork started in Northgate in 1949. The area name is evelopment work started at Three Bridges in 1951 and _ a leading town planner of taken from the fact that there was a turnpike, or was completed by 1955. The main London to Brighton the day _ to draw up a Master Wpayment place, located here at the boundary of the Drailway provided considerable local employment and a Plan for Crawley, and his work old town on the London Road. Payments, or tolls, were collected fast route to London for those building Crawley. The name formed the basis of the town at these turnpikes from people using that section of road, and ‘Three Bridges’ dates back to when three small streams were we see today. the money collected paid for the upkeep of the highway. crossed by separate bridges. With the coming of the railway in Northgate was completed by 1955. the 1840s, the three bridges were combined into one larger one. Later in his career, Minoprio went on to work on projects overseas _ planning parts of INDUSTRIAL Kuwait City and Baghdad _ and closer to home, Croydon’s he 260 acres of land to the north of Crawley was to be the ‘Industry Area’. Without places of employment, nobody Whitgift Centre. SIR ANTHONY MINOPRIO Twould be attracted to live in the New Town, so building started immediately. As the site, formerly ‘Manor Farm’, was to be opened in January 1950 by the then Princess Elizabeth (now CONSTRUCTION our Queen), the name of Manor ‘Royal’ was decided upon. onstruction work for Crawley New Town started in West he construction of the New Town needed large numbers Green during 1949. Smalls Mead was the first street of workers, and huge amounts of materials such as bricks, Ccompleted as part of the new development. timber, concrete and glass. Many of the workforce T The housing styles for the new neighbourhoods in Crawley were QUEEN’S VISIT, 1958 travelled down from the London area, worked in Crawley all varied, with more than 50 different types of home constructed. week, and then returned home again each weekend. Everything Very few of these were flats, as high-rise buildings were not The designated sports area for the New Town was on Haslett had to be built from scratch on greenfield sites, and the roads THE ‘NEW TOWN’ CONCEPT permitted by the planners. Whilst all the new houses and Avenue in Three Bridges. The Crawley Leisure Centre and houses had to be supplied with water, drainage, gas and factories were being built, large employers who were to move pool building was constructed by local firm Longley’s, and electricity supplies. This all took time and homes could not be to Crawley arranged special coach trips at weekends to allow opened in 1964, but it was just part of a much bigger complex hortly after the end of World War Two, in 1945, the occupied until all the basics for daily life were in place. their staff to see their new homes and workplaces being built. It which included an athletics track and an all-weather football and Government drew up plans to create a number of towns Pavements were the last features to be built, so early residents which were to be built roughly 30 miles from the centre of was a very exciting time for everyone making a fresh start after hockey pitch. A new Sports Hall was opened by Prime Minister S had to take their footwear off outside for fear of treading Harold Wilson in November 1974. This was also an London. These ‘New Towns’ would attract people and the six years of conflict during World War Two. cinders, grit and mud through their new homes! entertainment venue, and many pop stars such as Midge Ure, businesses to relocate away from war-damaged and run-down and The Human League, performed at the leisure centre in the parts of the capital. They would be a clean and modern 1980s. An edition of the popular BBC TV game show ‘It’s a environment for workers and their families rebuilding their lives Knockout’ was also filmed there. K2 Crawley Leisure Centre, with after the war. A local Development Corporation was created its state-of-the-art facilities, climbing wall, and Olympic-sized for Crawley which controlled all the planning and building work. _ Businesses expanding and moving to Manor Royal for more swimming pool, opened in in 2005 replacing the original It was based in Broadfield House in Broadfield Park from 1948 leisure centre. until it was disbanded in 1964. space were certainly diverse. Some of the first included Youngman who made wooden ladders, Sun D’Or Limited who made sweets and chocolates, and A.P.V. who engineered high The Crawley New Town neighbourhoods were designed to be _ _ largely self-contained communities. Each would have houses to quality machinery for among many others the dairy and rent, its own primary school, a nearby secondary school serving nuclear industry. three of the neighbourhoods, a church, a public house, a The local building firm Longley’s, whose headquarters were on community centre and a parade of shops. Manor Royal, constructed many of the industrial units, as well as several of Crawley’s schools, part of the college, the first stage The town centre of Crawley was to be open and spacious, and it of the hospital, the swimming pool, and much of Gatwick would feature all the usual large retail shops and public Railway Station and . The new airport opened in buildings such as a Town Hall, library and college. All of these June 1958, replacing the private airfield which had been based IFIELD ROAD around the Beehive, near City Place. were to be located around a central ring-road. IFIELD AVENUE CRAWLEY SPORTS CENTRE

Crawley’s Town Hall was opened in 1964, the site having been Haslett Avenue which leads towards Three Bridges is named SOUTHGATE bought from the Development Council in 1958 by Crawley TILGATE after Dame Caroline Haslett. This lady was a member of the Urban District Council. Crawley’s coat of arms was carved above Development Corporation which managed the building of onstruction of the Pound Hill neighbourhood started in uilding in Southgate started in 1956. The east side of the the building’s entrance. It features a Royal lion brandishing a the New Town, and she was also the first woman to be 1952 and building work surrounded the Victorian main road was completed by 1957, however building of hammer, symbolising the industrial nature of Manor Royal. mansion and gardens of the Worth Park Estate. The the western side was only took place between 1968- trained as an electrical engineer in the early 20th century. C B _ This was at a time when such opportunities for women were mansion was later demolished but the grand, former stable 1972. Roads named by John Goepel have a countryside theme much more limited than today, so she was a very notable block, Ridley’s Court, remains as a public Visitor Centre. The Park the eastern side featuring names of rural occupations Crawley became a Borough in 1974 and in 1976 the coat of person and pioneering in this respect. itself has been extensively restored by Crawley Borough Council. and trades, and the west featuring names of hills on the upper arms was redesigned with additional sheild supporters _ a side, and dales on the lower side. winged lion, and an eagle. The motto: ‘I Grow and I Rejoice’ Thomas Bennett Community College, named after the is a translation of a phrase from the philosopher Seneca’s Chairman of the Crawley Development Council, was opened in ‘Epistulae Morales’ or ‘Moral Letters’, and refers to the LANGLEY GREEN 1959, and at the time it was one of the largest comprehensive building of a happy, expanding community. schools in Europe. onstruction of Langley Green started in 1951. John Goepel who was the man chosen to name all the new CRAWLEY TOWN CENTRE roads and streets in Crawley, based this neighbourhood’s C _ TILGATE PARADE on birds, animals, trees but not fishes, as he ‘did not want the tenants even subconsciously feeling that their houses were damp!’ Other roads were named after martyrs, and ‘Rushetts’ he construction of Tilgate Parade started in 1955 and it and ‘Stagelands’ _ two very old local names _ were retained. wasn’t long before local residents had all they needed for WORTH PARK Ttheir daily life, including a hairdressers, dry cleaners, butchers, grocers, bakers, chemists, post office, a hardware Wakehams Green was created in the late 1970s. Crabbett Park store and a general store. Back then a loaf cost the equivalent of came later still with work starting in 1984. The M23 now cuts 2p and a dozen eggs were around 10p. Milk was not available in through what was the original Crabbet Park Estate, famous for the shops, as it was delivered to each door by a milkman, and its Arabian Horse stud and stables. The house itself still stands to the only takeaway was a fish and chip shop. the east of the motorway. IFIELD CONSTRUCTION

ork started on the development of Ifield in 1953. HIGH STREET Weir Wood Reservoir, created by damming the River Medway, Completed by 1957, this neighbourhood’s road took around 4 years to build, and opened in 1955 to supply names featured Sussex villages to reflect its rural W he construction of water to the New Town. It still supplies part of Crawley, but the origins. The level crossing over the railway next to the station TOWN HALL, THE BOULEVARD western end is now a Nature Reserve. was removed and replaced by a bridge to allow the growing Crawley Town Centre began in 1955. The amounts of traffic to pass more easily over the railway line. T T h e n a m e ‘ C r a w l ey ’ i s central area of the New Town LANGLEY PARADE apparently derived from a was laid out to be an attractive phrase used in the countryside and spacious hub for all the m e a n i n g ‘ A c l e a r i n g surrounding neighbourhoods. frequented by crows’. During the development of the The old historic High Street New Town most of the mature trees was incorporated into the new However, the birds featured and hedgerows were kept in place. Building layout, as were The Memorial on the town’s coat of arms work had to take place around them, which did cause some Gardens _ bought for the are ‘martlets’ _ stylised difficulties at times, but this enlightened approach to community by local people in birds used in heraldry that planning meant that the established greenery took away the 1920s to remember all some of the harshness of the new roads and houses. are based on small house those from Ifield and Crawley martins, swifts or swallows. IFIELD PARADE who died in World War One. MEMORIAL GARDENS

TILGATE PARK QUEENS SQUARE GATWICK AIRPORT

CELEBRATING evelopment of Gossops Green began in 1956. Originally 70 YEARS OF the spelling of the area was ‘Gossip’s Green’. Completed Din 1961, the names chosen by John Goepel for the roads were farmhouses for the upper area, with the lower area being CRAWLEY named after rivers. He had a good sense of humour, and probably tongue-in-cheek he submitted the name ‘Stumbleholme’ to the NEW TOWN committee for a road near the pub! Needless to say, it wasn’t approved. The road name ‘Craigans’ is taken from an old house of that name which once stood near Ifield Station. TRANSPORT

he annual London-Brighton veteran car run passes FOUNTAIN, QUEENS SQUARE GATWICK SOUTH TERMINAL through the Crawley area on the first Sunday in November, and traditionally, drivers and passengers take a half-way T pened by the Queen in June 1958, Queens Square was a fter redevelopment into a commercial airport, Gatwick break in the High Street to make running repairs and to have a hot n the New Town Plan, areas of public parkland were to be drink! The cars taking part must all have been built before 1905. focal point for Crawley New Town, with shops on all sides Airport was officially opened by the Queen in 1958. The provided for leisure activities and recreation. Goffs Park was Osuch as W.H.Smith & Son, Timothy Whites, Boots the airport handled around 186,000 passengers in its first Decades later, in the 1950s, many of the new residents of Crawley Chemist, Sainsbury’s, and a Woolworth’s which back then was A already established and could be accessed from Gossops year. By 2016 that figure had risen to 43.1 million annual I would have still considered a car to be a luxury. Drivers with the the largest self-service store in the UK. Dominating the east side Green, West Green and Southgate. The new residents of Tilgate _ passengers! In the 1980s, the famous supersonic aircraft to the south of the town centre had the advantage of being same make of car would beep their horns and wave when passing of the square was the popular Queensway Stores an ‘Concorde’ was a regular visitor. nearest to . This was once part of the large Tilgate on the road - a tradition which lasted well into the 1970s. Back in independent department store which eventually became a Tesco Estate, owned by the Nix family, who lived in Tilgate Park 1955 a gallon of petrol cost the equivalent of 22½p. in 1968. Features also included the Bandstand which originally Mansion. It was they who made the lakes, once used as stood at Gatwick Racecourse, and a fountain with ‘The Boy and Gatwick once had its own racecourse. The former site of it is reservoirs for the Tilgate Furnace, into larger, ornamental lakes. the Dolphin’ centrepiece sculpture, which was later moved to the now under part of Gatwick Airport. The course, which had When the New Town was built, the council-owned Tilgate Park Town Hall. New trees were planted and flower tubs installed. For opened in 1891 was famous for hosting The Grand National with its tranquil lake, quiet forest and beautiful gardens was those with lots of shopping to do, there were car parking spaces, steeplechase in 1916, 1917, and in 1918 during World War already very popular. A restaurant now stands on the site of the and bicycle racks were provided for residents who cycled into One. The Bandstand that stood until recently in Queens mansion which was demolished in 1965. town to enjoy the clean, tidy, open space. Square, was originally from Gatwick Racecourse. The current redevelopment of Queens Square will see the Bandstand relocated to the Memorial Gardens.

FURNACE GREEN

LONDON TO BRIGHTON VETERAN CAR RUN ork started on in 1960. The neighbourhood took its name from the old iron In 1958, Southdown Motor Services opened a new bus garage in Wworkings and furnaces which were once to be found the New Town. London Country buses took over services from in this area, and the ‘Charcoal Burner’ public house was Southdown and London Transport in 1971. appropriately named after the countryside practice of slow- _ After Arriva buses sold out in 2001, Metrobus took over their burning wood to produce charcoal. There was a farm Furnace _ services and started serving Crawley. The company has been Farm on the site long before the New Town development crawley.gov.uk metrobus.co.uk INN ON THE PARK proud to have been ‘keeping Crawley moving’ since then. began, and this had a road named after it. QUEENS SQUARE

fter Crawley Development Corporation was disbanded in 1964, when the original plans of Anthony Minoprio’s Enjoy travelling on the Crawley 70 bus that has been specially New Town had been made reality, the Urban District branded by Metrobus to celebrate landmarks and locations in A aidenbower is a much later development east of the CELEBRATING Council, and then the Borough Council, continued to expand the Crawley past and present. growing town with the addition of several new neighbourhoods. main railway line and is another neighbourhood that Mexpanded beyond the original town plan. Houses, 70 YEARS OF designed mainly by private developers, began to be built in this BROADFIELD area in around 1986. The name ‘Maidenbower’ is taken from CRAWLEY Maiden Bower Farm which was present before the ork began on the neighbourhood at Broadfield in development. NEW TOWN 1969. The shopping parade was constructed Wbetween 1976-1980 and was named Broadfield ‘Barton’ rather than ‘Parade’. A ‘barton’ was the countryside word for a barley store, which later came to mean a market place. n 1946, just before all the new THE MUSEUM OF CRAWLEY (Artist’s impression) building work started, the Crawley Development Corporation had its own coat-of-arms population of the old town of with the motto ‘BY DESIGN AND ENDEAVOUR’. I Crawley was around 7,500 people. Three Bridges was a HISTORY A shield, featuring three prominent crows and fringed with settlement already located around the railway station, and _ smaller birds, was supported by a coachman in a top hat totalled around 1,200 people mainly railway workers and a rawley Museum Society, with a whip, and a cloth-capped woodman with small number of wealthy London commuters. Ifield was a much in partnership with a long-handled axe. ‘Coachmans Drive’ and smaller community of around 800. It was expected that Crawley C r a w l e y B o r o u g h ‘Woodmans Hill’ in Broadfield were named after New Town would eventually have a population of around C Council, are close to the these figures. On top, a fist held a mortaring trowel 60,000 people, which could possibly increase to around 80,000 completion of a new museum emerging from a crown of pencils! if Crawley became popular and successful. This is exactly what at The Tree, a 13th Century has happened. Today’s population has grown to around Medieval house facing both the Crawley Town Football Club moved to their current 100,000. High Street and The Boulevard. Broadfield Check-a-Trade stadium in 1997 from the Much of Crawley’s success has to be put down to its superb The building is named after an old Town Meadow ground in West Green. transport links, its excellent residential, retail and business ancient elm which stood areas, and the continuing legacy of Minoprio’s Town Plan. nearby that was so big and hollow that local people made a room inside it with a wooden ELM TREE, CRAWLEY he development of Bewbush began during door! 1974 and the building plan continued well into The new museum, at 103 High orge Wood is the latest of Crawley’s 14 neighbourhoods. the early 1980s, with the original shopping Street, will tell the history of T The first residents moved in during 2015, and there were parade being built during 1985. The area has seen Crawley, from the modern post- over 250 households by May 2017. The development will major enhancements since then, including the F Second World War ‘New Town’, continue in four building phases spread over several years. rebuilding of the Neighbourhood Centre. to the town’s less well known ‘Forge Wood’ takes its name from the area of ancient woodland nearby. Victorian and Medieval past. On display will be highlights of the museum’s collections, including a veteran 1903 Rex The current logo of Crawley Borough Council reflects the Forecar, and a THE TREE, c. 1865 growth of the town as a tree with leaves coloured to sword recovered from the represent each neighbourhood. Each neighbourhood in Polesfleet Stream during the Crawley has its own colour identity, and this is used on road Find out more construction of Langley Green name signs to distinguish each area. Forge Wood is the most in 1952. The museum is due to about Crawley at recent addition to the tree. BEWBUSH open in late 2017. crawley.gov.uk crawley.gov.uk metrobus.co.uk