CRAWLEY DOWN

Aspects of the History of a Sussex Village

Crawley Down lies between East Grinstead and Crawley in northern Sussex, and is a village with its roots in the mid- to late-Nineteenth Century. Its growth was the result of several contributory factors: the erection of a chapel; the enclosure of an ancient common; the establishment of a brick yard; the opening of a school; and the building of a station on the railway line from Three Bridges to East Grinstead. All occurred within the space of 16 years from 1844 to 1860.

From this website you can find out about those significant events as well as about the area prior to the village’s development and other aspects of Crawley Down’s past.

The following posts are available to read:

• MR WILSON AND THE RAILWAY
  On 5th April 1848, at the Red Lion, Turners Hill, an auction took place which was to be significant in the growth and development of the village of Crawley Down. That afternoon, at two o’clock, twelve parcels of land went … Continue reading “MR WILSON AND THE RAILWAY”
• PRIZE FIGHTING
  In the early 1970s, for about ten years, the Royal Oak public house in Crawley Down was renamed ‘The Prizefighters’. For that short time there was a tangible reminder in the village of the brief period in the first quarter … Continue reading “PRIZE FIGHTING”
• IRON MAKING
  The Weald of Sussex, Kent and Surrey has long been associated with iron making. From the pre Roman Iron Age to the early 19th century, the iron ore in the Wealden clays, the abundant woodland, and latterly the many small … Continue reading “IRON MAKING”
• BRICK MAKING
  For nearly a hundred years bricks were made at Crawley Down, and provided an important but limited source of local employment. The legacy of brick making in the village lies in the names of Kiln Road and Kiln Close, Bricklands … Continue reading “BRICK MAKING”
• THE HOUSE BEFORE BANKTON
  Bankton is a large house, now divided into two parts, set back from the corner of Grange Road and the Turners Hill Road. It was built in 1863 as a result of a dramatic set of circumstances. An earlier house … Continue reading “THE HOUSE BEFORE BANKTON”
• SOME EARLY OCCUPANTS OF THE GRANGE
  It is not known exactly when The Grange was built. Up to 1738 it is referred to in the records as two properties: the Chequer, formerly known as Shadburns, which sounds as though it might have been an inn (indeed … Continue reading “SOME EARLY OCCUPANTS OF THE GRANGE”
• SOME EARLY MEMORIES OF CRAWLEY DOWN
  In 1974 a short series of articles appeared in the All Saints’ church parish magazine. They were the recollections of an old lady who, as a girl, had grown up in Crawley Down. Her name was Annie Smith and she … Continue reading “SOME EARLY MEMORIES OF CRAWLEY DOWN”
• LOST BUILDINGS OF CRAWLEY DOWN
  As the village grew, it was inevitable that some buildings will have been demolished and their sites redeveloped. Sometimes the later developments were given names that recalled what had been there before, such as Hawarden Cottage, which had formerly been … Continue reading “LOST BUILDINGS OF CRAWLEY DOWN”
• CRAWLEY DOWN’S OLDEST BUILDINGS (revised)
  Although Crawley Down did not begin to develop as a village until the mid-19th century, there were several long-established farms in the area with farmhouses that, in some cases, date back to the Middle Ages. The oldest is Sandhill, which … Continue reading “CRAWLEY DOWN’S OLDEST BUILDINGS (revised)”
• THOMAS MACLAREN – ARCHITECT
  The name of Thomas MacLaren will probably be unfamiliar to most, if not all, of the readers of this short article, but if you are an inhabitant of Colorado Springs in the USA he will be much better known to … Continue reading “THOMAS MACLAREN – ARCHITECT”
• ROUGH MUSIC
  In The Folklore of Sussex by Jacqueline Simpson (Batsford, 1973) an instance is recounted of Rough Music in Copthorne in the early 1950s. If you look up Charivari in Wikipedia you will see the same instance referred to, as well … Continue reading “ROUGH MUSIC”
• A TOWER FOR THE CHURCH
  Back in 1993 All Saints’ Church celebrated its 150th anniversary, and an interesting little booklet, edited by Pamela Petrie, was published at the time which included articles about the history of the church, the village and the school, as well … Continue reading “A TOWER FOR THE CHURCH”
• CRAWLEY DOWN IN 1829
  In the East Sussex Record Office at Brighton there is a large map of the properties held by the Manor of South Malling-Lindfield, a very ancient manor that dated back to Saxon times. The map, which was drawn by a … Continue reading “CRAWLEY DOWN IN 1829”
• CRAWLEY DOWN’S POST OFFICES
  When I first worked in Crawley Down the village was in East Sussex and the local people used to grumble that the postal town, which we were supposed to include in our addresses, was Crawley, in West Sussex. It still … Continue reading “CRAWLEY DOWN’S POST OFFICES”
• CRAWLEY DOWN SINCE THE CORONATION OF 1953
  In the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and with the end of the Second World War just eight years in the past, Crawley Down, then in East Sussex, had changed little since the modest building boom that … Continue reading “CRAWLEY DOWN SINCE THE CORONATION OF 1953”
• THE DYNAMIC MISS MILLIER
  In 1930 Miss Dorothy Gladys Millier, Lit. Dip., joined the staff of Crawley Down School, I suspect as a temporary Head Teacher. Born in 1896 at Bromley by Bow, she continued to teach after she left Crawley Down, and died … Continue reading “THE DYNAMIC MISS MILLIER”
• THE VILLAGE HALL – R.I.P.
  Reading of the sad demise of the Crawley Down Village Hall, and the vicissitudes that have befallen its intended replacement, has called to mind a few documents that I have come across relating to the hall’s beginnings at the end … Continue reading “THE VILLAGE HALL – R.I.P.”
• A ROBIN IN THE CLASSROOM
  I was browsing the Internet Archive on my computer for references to Crawley Down (there are over 4,000) when I came across a book written by a Sussex author, Edward John Bedford. It was entitled Nature Photography for Beginners and … Continue reading “A ROBIN IN THE CLASSROOM”