Crawley is the town of Gatwick Airport, in West Sussex, halfway between London and Brighton. It has about 118,000 inhabitants and is one of the new towns created after the Second World War to house families leaving bomb-damaged London. Behind the modern neighbourhoods, however, lies an old coaching town on the Brighton road, with a medieval High Street, inns where stagecoaches stopped and, nearby, one of the oldest Anglo-Saxon churches in England. All around stretch the forests and gardens of the High Weald, among the finest in the south of the country.
Trains from London Victoria take about 45 minutes and from Brighton about 25. Gatwick Airport, the second busiest in the United Kingdom, lies within the borough, a few minutes from the centre.
From coaching town to new town
Crawley grew up in the Middle Ages as a market village on the road through the forests of the Weald, where iron was worked. In the 18th and 19th centuries, with the fashion for sea bathing at Brighton launched by the future King George IV, it became an essential stop for coaches between London and the coast: the inns of the High Street housed travellers, horses and boxers, because bare-knuckle fights were organised in the nearby fields. In 1947 the government chose it as a new town: within a few years residential neighbourhoods appeared, each with its own parade of shops, church and school, along with a large industrial area. The growth of Gatwick from the 1950s did the rest.
- 11th centuryThe Anglo-Saxon church of St Nicholas is built at Worth
- 1202Crawley is granted the right to hold a market
- 18th centuryThe High Street becomes a coaching stop on the Brighton road
- 1947Crawley is designated a new town
- 1958Gatwick Airport reopens after a major rebuilding
- 2019The town museum moves into The Tree, one of its oldest houses
What to see in Crawley
The High Street
The High Street is the historic heart, with timber-framed buildings and Georgian fronts. Here stands the George Hotel, an old coaching inn, with its sign supported on a beam that spans the street, one of the few left in England. Nearby, The Tree, a medieval house from the 13th or 14th century and one of the oldest in the town, now houses the Crawley Museum, which tells the story of the old town, the new town and the airport. The Memorial Gardens and Queens Square link the historic centre with the modern one.
Tilgate Park
Tilgate Park is the town's green lung: more than 200 hectares of woods, lakes and gardens, with the Tilgate Nature Centre, a small zoo with rare and endangered animals such as lemurs and red pandas, a treetop adventure course and paths for walking and running. It is the locals' favourite place at weekends.
Worth and its church
In the Worth area stands the church of St Nicholas, one of the best-preserved Anglo-Saxon churches in England, with a cross-shaped plan and large arches from the period before the Norman Conquest. Just outside the town, Worth Abbey is a Benedictine monastery with a modern circular church, known also for a television series about the monks and contemplative life.
Gatwick
Gatwick Airport is a constant presence in the life of the town: it employs thousands of people and links Crawley with hundreds of destinations. From the viewing areas near the runway enthusiasts watch take-offs and landings. For flights and services see the Gatwick Airport page and the one on London's airports.
Music: the town of The Cure
Crawley has a special place in the history of rock: Robert Smith grew up here, and here, in the mid-1970s, The Cure were formed, one of the most influential bands of new wave and gothic rock, who rehearsed in a church hall and schools in the town.
Around Crawley
- Wakehurst, the country botanic garden of Kew Gardens, with woods, lakes and the Millennium Seed Bank, the great seed bank that holds billions of seeds from plants all over the world.
- Nymans, with the romantic ruins of a house and a garden famous for its roses, and Standen, an Arts and Crafts house with William Morris interiors, both owned by the National Trust.
- The Bluebell Railway, a historic steam railway crossing the Sussex countryside.
- Horsham and St Leonard's Forest, and the sea at Brighton, half an hour away.
Eating and drinking
The High Street and the centre offer historic pubs, restaurants and eateries serving cuisines from all over the world, reflecting the town's multicultural population, with large communities of Indian, Pakistani and Goan origin, the last often holding Portuguese passports. In the villages of the Weald there are country pubs with exposed beams and fireplaces, perfect after a walk in the woods.
Sport
Crawley Town football club plays at the Broadfield Stadium and reached the Football League for the first time in 2011. K2 Crawley is one of the largest sports centres in the region, with an Olympic-size pool and an athletics track.
Living in Crawley
Crawley is a young town with plenty of job opportunities, thanks to the airport, the logistics, technology and service companies of the Manor Royal business district and good links with London and Brighton. Homes cost less than in the nearby towns and villages of Sussex and Surrey, and the new town's neighbourhoods, planned around parks and schools, are convenient for families. For more, see the cost of living in the United Kingdom.
Getting there
- By train: from London Victoria in about 45 minutes, and from London Bridge on Thameslink trains; from Brighton in about 25 minutes. Gatwick has its own station with Gatwick Express trains.
- By air: Gatwick Airport is a few minutes from the centre by bus or taxi.
- By car: the town is on the M23 motorway, which links London with the coast.
For travel around the rest of the country see trains and transport, and for other cities British cities.
Tips for your visit
- How long: half a day for the centre and Tilgate Park; an extra day for Wakehurst and Nymans.
- When to go: in spring, when the Weald woods fill with bluebells, and in summer for the gardens.
- A tip: Crawley is a convenient and affordable base if you have an early flight from Gatwick or want to visit London and Brighton.