Furnace Green is one of 14

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and a local government ward. Furnace Green is located to the east of the town centre. It is bordered by

Tilgate Tilgate is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. The area contains a mixture of privately developed housing, self-build groups and ex-council housing. It is bordered by the districts of Furnace Green to the ...

to the south west,

Three Bridges Three Bridges may refer to: England *Three Bridges, West Sussex, a neighbourhood within the town of Crawley **Three Bridges F.C., an association football team **Three Bridges railway station **Three Bridges depot, a rail depot * Three Bridges, Linc ...

to the north and

Maidenbower Maidenbower is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. Maidenbower is located in the south east corner of the town, bordering the M23 motorway. It is bordered by Pound Hill to the north and Furnace Green to th ...

to the east (on the other side of the London-Brighton railway line). The name Furnace Green is a reference to the

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

smelting which is reputed to have taken place in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times - the local

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

is the Charcoal Burner. Like much of Crawley, the street naming is themed i.e. different areas are linked by associated names. There are racecourses - Newmarket, Fontwell etc., forests - Arden, Savernake, Epping etc., references to the Norfolk Broads - Waveney, Oulton, Norwich, Yarmouth etc. There are also references to the iron industry - Coltash Road, Weald Drive, and the name Feroners Close also recalls the iron smelting.

Crawley New Town

With the creation of Crawley New Town in 1947 the Tilgate East area was reserved for housing. It was proposed to use this area for around 1000 houses because of the expansion of Crawley. The area was renamed ''Furnace Green'' after a farm in the area. Work started in 1960 and carried on into the 1980s. Furnace Green had a population of 6737 in 1981.

Features

There is a Nature Reserve and flood plain named Waterlea Meadow lying between Norwich Road and Waterlea. It is split by a meandering stream and has several ponds and footpaths. The stream is largely fed from the lake at

Tilgate Park Tilgate Park is a large recreational park situated south of Tilgate, South-East Crawley. It is the largest and most popular park in the area. Originally a part of the ancient Worth Forest, the park and adjacent areas (including the modern-day ...

and in times of heavy rain often overflows onto the paths.

National Cycle Route 20 National Cycle Route 20 is part of the United Kingdom's National Cycle Network and follows the Wandle Trail in London. It is the London - Brighton cycle route which starts alongside the river Thames at Wandsworth heading south along a mixture ...

passes through Furnace Green, entering via Tilgate Drive from

, to the north, at the point where it passes over the Horsham railway line and continuing south into Tilgate Forest en route for

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. Part of it also forms a section of the

Avenue Verte The Avenue Verte/Greenway is a joint Anglo-French initiative assisted by Europe, to develop a largely traffic-free route between Paris and London (via the Dieppe – Newhaven ferry) for cyclists, walkers and horse riders. A route was put in place ...

(Greenway) long-distance cycling route from London to Paris which branches off towards

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

via the

Worth Way The Worth Way is a footpath and bridleway linking the West Sussex towns of Crawley and East Grinstead via the village of Crawley Down. Mostly following the trackbed of a disused railway the path is an important wildlife corridor. It is part of ...

as part of

NCR 21 National Cycle Route 21 (or NCR 21) is part of the United Kingdom's National Cycle Network. It runs from Greenwich in South-East London south to Crawley, then east to Groombridge and south to Eastbourne, with a short final loop northwards again ...

. Crawley's only full scale theatre is located on the northern edge of Furnace Green.

The Hawth The Hawth Theatre is an arts and entertainment complex located in of woodland about from the town centre of the English town of Crawley. It is wholly owned by Crawley Borough Council and is currently operated by Parkwood Theatres. History The ...

takes its name from the large area of woodland to its rear.

Health

Primary Care in Furnace Green is served by the GP practice in The Glade.

References

* Elrington, C.R (editor) (1987) ''The Victoria History of the County of Sussex'' (Vol IV, Part 3) Oxford University Press. * Gwynne, Peter. (1990) ''A History of Crawley'' (2nd Edition) Philmore. Neighbourhoods in Crawley {{WestSussex-geo-stub