Maidenbower is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of

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 ...

. Maidenbower is located in the south east corner of the town, bordering the

M23 motorway The M23 is a motorway in the United Kingdom, running from the south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what ...

. It is bordered by

Pound Hill Pound Hill is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. Pound Hill is located on the east of Crawley. It is bordered by Three Bridges and Manor Royal to the west and Maidenbower to the south. It is the largest ...

to the north and

Furnace Green Furnace Green is one of 14 neighbourhoods in Crawley in West Sussex, England, and a local government ward. Furnace Green is located to the east of the town centre. It is bordered by Tilgate to the south west, Three Bridges to the north and Maide ...

to the west across the railway line. In 1986 Crawley Borough Council declared the farmland between the M23 and the London-Brighton railway line to be the 13th neighbourhood, named Maidenbower after one of the farms in the area. A consortium of builders was formed to develop the site which was to include community facilities and a new junction giving access to the M23. By 2000 development was almost complete, although small areas of infill development continue. The original 16th-century Frogshole farm building, unlike the adjoining Maidenbower farm that gave the area its name, remains as the

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 ...

for the neighbourhood. It was refurbished and opened in 1994. On 8 February 2007 it suffered a major fire. Frogshole Farm Pub re-opened in July 2008 after a major refurbishment. A secondary school, the

Oriel High School Oriel High School is a maintained community secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18. It opened in September 2004 as part of a reorganisation of secondary education in Crawley, catering for just 370 pupils in years 7 and 8. It was expected t ...

, has been built at Maidenbower under the

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

: a private company designed and built the school and is planned to provide facilities management for the next 25 years. West Sussex County Council provides all the educational services and staff. Maidenbower also has two infants schools and a large junior school. There is a parade of shops and a community centre that provides daycare facilities for elderly people and people with disabilities. The

Gatwick Stream The Gatwick Stream is a tributary of the River Mole in southern England. The Gatwick Stream rises in Worth Forest below Clays lake in West Sussex, flows northwards through Tilgate Forest, alongside Tilgate golf course, through Maidenbower, ...

runs through Maidenbower (formerly through Frogshole farm), past the back of the parade of shops and on to Three Bridges. Maidenbower sign - geograph

In September 2006, close to one of the entrance roads to Maidenbower leading from the

Balcombe Balcombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east north east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the north west and H ...

Road, a large piece of public art was installed. A community project, it was created in five pieces by the four schools in the neighbourhood and one piece by the community. The pieces fit together like a giant

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In th ...

to form an outline representing a map of the neighbourhood. The streams that run through it create the joins between each of the pieces. The overall theme of the piece is the history and development of Maidenbower.

References

External links

Neighbourhood WebsiteOriel High SchoolBrook School
Neighbourhoods in Crawley {{WestSussex-geo-stub