Crawley, (West Sussex)

Parish picture

Crawley is situated on the ancient highway from the metropolis to the south coast, causing the small Saxon village to grow into a small market town by the 13th century.

St John the Baptist is the Parish Church.

An Act of Parliament in 1946 designated Crawley as a 'new' town, with construction starting the following year. The area has expanded rapidly ever since, with the neighbouring villages such as Ifield and Three Bridges having been swallowed up. Crawley revolves around the main shopping area of Queen's Square, County Mall and the High Street, with smaller 'village centres' set up around the circumference. These include Pound Hill, Maidenbower, Bewbush, West Green, Gossops Green and Tilgate.

The old districts of Ifield have even been turned into a 'preservation area' and it retains much of its old village atmosphere.

Parish picture

Unlike many other developments of the 1960s, tower blocks are notably absent and instead the buildings are comprised of town houses, terraces and low-rise apartment blocks.

Although the architecture of the New Town is perhaps an acquired taste, Crawley is regarded as one of the better shopping destinations in Sussex.

St Michael and All Angels is situated close to Gatwick Airport.

Other Crawley parishes:

Southgate, Three Bridges.

Places of worship:

Church details, together with baptism, marriage, monumental inscription & burial records can be accessed by clicking on the church name.

Baptist Church, Station Road

Baptist Church, West Green

Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel

LDS (Mormon) Chapel

St Elizabeth, Northgate

St Francis & St Anthony

St John the Baptist

St Michael & All Angels, Lowfield Heath

St Paul, Northgate

St Peter, West Green

Trinity Congregational Church

Census returns:

The OPC Database has no census returns for people residing in this parish yet.

People born in this parish but residing elsewhere:

1 individual in the OPC Database for the 1851 census.

4 individuals in the OPC Database for the 1861 census.

1 individual in the OPC Database for the 1871 census.

Maps:

Grid reference: 527500, 136500 ~ View on: Google Maps, Open Street Map, Streetmap, National Library of Scotland Map or Oldmaps.

Poll Registers:

The OPC database contains 61 poll register entries for people entitled to vote in this parish.

1641 Protestation Returns:

There are no protestation returns for this parish in the OPC database.

Gazettes:

The OPC database contains 105 entries for people associated with this parish mentioned in Gazettes.

Parish histories:

Local Histories by Tim Lambert has a history of Crawley

AllAboutSussex has an interesting article about Crawley

Photographs:

There are 97 images depicting this parish in the OPC database.

Roughwood Postcard Album has images of Hazelwick mill, Three Bridges, near Crawley

Postal directories:

The OPC database contains 19 postal directory entries for this parish, (breakdown below).

19 entries from the 1791 Universal British Directory.

The OPC database contains the following directory sections which cover this parish.

1791 Universal British Directory for Crawley.

1867 Kelly's Directory for Crawley is available on the GENUKI site

1840 Pigot Directory for Crawley

1851 Post Office Directory for Crawley

Publications:

There is 1 book about this parish in the Sussex OPC Bibliography.

There are 11 articles about this parish in the OPC Sussex Archeaological Collections Index.

There are 15 people from this parish in the OPC Sussex Archeaological Society Members Index.

Wills:

The OPC database contains 1 will of someone who lived in this parish.

The OPC database contains no wills that mention this parish.

Interest in this parish:

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