Tilgate Park is a large recreational park situated south of
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 ...
, South-East
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 ...
. It is the largest and most popular park in the area.
![Tilgate lake,Tilgate park,Crawley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Tilgate_lake%2CTilgate_park%2CCrawley._-_geograph.org.uk_-_76498.jpg)
Originally a part of the ancient
Worth Forest, the park and adjacent areas (including the modern-day
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 Maidenb ...
,
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 ...
, part of
Southgate
Southgate or South Gate may refer to:
Places Australia
*Southgate, Sylvania
*Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria
Canada
*Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County
* Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario
Ed ...
and Tilgate Forest) were part of the larger Tilgate
Estate.
Although visitor activity is mostly focused on the area surrounding
Tilgate Lake
Tilgate Lake is the biggest of three lakes at Tilgate Park, and remains a popular water activity centre and tourist attraction in Crawley, West Sussex.Tilgate Lake has a wide variety of outdoor activities open to the general public, such as arch ...
and on the adjacent gardens of a former country mansion, a large area of the park is former
silvicultural
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production.
The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...
forest. This is now being managed as a
Local Nature Reserve called
Tilgate Forest
Tilgate Forest is a Local Nature Reserve in Crawley in West Sussex. It is owned and managed by Crawley Borough Council and is part of Tilgate Park.
This site has woods, tall herb and fern, and heathland. The most common trees in areas of natural ...
. The park also contains the
Tilgate Nature Centre
Tilgate Nature Centre is a small BIAZA-accredited zoo located within Tilgate Park in Tilgate Forest, South-East Crawley, West Sussex, England. The nature centre holds 144 different animal species (in 2021), and are actively involved in breeding p ...
featuring captive breeding of some vulnerable and endangered animal species and varieties.
History
Prehistory
Worked flint tools of the
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
"Horsham Culture" have been found in numbers in the park, including so-called "Horsham Point" arrowheads of the 8th millennium BCE. The major find-spot is now on the Golf Course, at TQ28593458.
Geologically the park is on the
Hastings Beds
The Wealden Group, occasionally also referred to as the Wealden Supergroup, is a group (a sequence of rock strata) in the lithostratigraphy of southern England. The Wealden group consists of paralic to continental (freshwater) facies sedimentary ...
, dominated by sandstone with pockets of clay and iron ore. This produces poor, acidic and nutritionally deficient soils which, paradoxically, supported a varied natural plant cover. After the end of the Ice Age, especially after the extinction of the herbivorous
megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, the megafauna (from Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and New Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") comprises the large or giant animals of an area, habitat, or geological period, extinct and/or extant. The most common threshold ...
, tree cover began to dominate the landscape from about 8500 BCE which marks the beginning of the
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
Age. However, the vegetation of the High
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
, of which the park is a part, was more vulnerable owing to the poverty of the soils and so supported open woodland shading into grassland and heathland on high areas, with thick woodland confined to the narrow valleys. This landscape was very attractive to
hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
groups, who might have encouraged grassland and discouraged tree growth by summer burning of the former.
The only evidence of activity by
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
(c4500 to c2500 BCE) farmers around the park have been two finds. The Mesolithic site on the Golf Course, mentioned above, also produced a polished flint axe. Also a polished arrowhead and broken polished axe were found in a field to the south of the park -the recorder thought that this evidence had ritual significance.
In the following
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(c2500 to 800 BCE) a
round barrow
A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...
cemetery was established west of
Pease Pottage on the ancient ridgeway running along the watershed above the park (now the set of roads from
Horsham
Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
to Pease Pottage,
Handcross
Handcross is a village in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A23 road south of Crawley. At the 2011 Census the population fell within the civil parish of Slaugham.
Nymans Garden, of parklands r ...
and
Turners Hill
Turners Hill is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The civil parish covers an area of , and has a population of 1,849 (2001 census) increasing to 1,919 at the 2011 Census.
The village is located three ...
).
Iron age and Romans
There is now evidence of
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
activity in the region, after a recent re-excavation of a major Roman ironworking site at
Broadfield, just west of the park. Beginning of activity here, and in Southgate West just north, is considered to be of late Iron Age origin.
However, a recent (2011) archaeological survey of Tilgate Forest found no positive evidence of Roman ironworking activity there. The only possibly Roman feature was a single "mine-pit" found south of the Tilgate Forest Recreation Centre, west of Titmus Lake at TQ269343 and so near the Roman ironworks. "Mine" is Sussex dialect for iron ore, and the feature was a
bell pit
A bell pit is a primitive method of mining coal, iron ore, or other minerals lying near the surface.
Operation
A shaft is sunk to reach the mineral which is excavated by miners, transported to the surface by a winch, and removed by means of a b ...
which might have been dug much later.
It is now accepted that the Romans were managing the entire High Weald as a strategic asset of military significance for the sake of its iron, and so were discouraging civilian settlement. The chain of command involved the
Classis Britannica
The ''Classis Britannica'' (literally, ''British fleet'', in the sense of 'the fleet in British waters' or 'the fleet of the province of Britannia', rather than 'the fleet of the state of Britain') was a provincial naval fleet of the navy of anc ...
.
Saxons
The Saxons were certainly interested in using the thick woodland fringing the High Weald for
pannage
Pannage (also referred to as ''Eichelmast'' or ''Eckerich'' in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia) is the practice of releasing livestock-domestic pig, pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on falle ...
or transhumance involving feeding pigs on acorns. Local place names ending in -ley or -den indicate woodland clearings, mutating into farmsteads as transient swineherds became sedentary farmers and were joined by other immigrants. Crawley was one of these, and the dense woodland belt north of the sandstone of the Park would have been settled in this way.
Middle ages
Public information about the park mentions the possibility that there was mediaeval ironworking here. However, no evidence has been found. The method of the period involved digging up an iron ore outcrop and
reducing it in a "bloomery" or clay pot-furnace using charcoal and muscle-powered bellows. This exiguous procedure would leave very little archaeological evidence, especially if the slag was scavenged for road making. Crawley was formally founded in 1202 when it received its market charter,
and evidence has been found of ironworking on its first
burgage tenements. Iron ore outcropped in the clay around Crawley as well as in the sandstone of the park, and there would have been less work to dig it out of the clay. The latter would have also provided the material for making the bloomeries.
The first possible reference to Tilgate as a place is in 1296, when a tax return mentions one William Yllegate. This is analysed as "Illan Geat" or "entrance into the forest belonging to Illan".
Deer park?
Speed's map of Sussex, published 1610, shows Worth Forest with two enclosed
deer parks -Paddockhurst (now
Worth Abbey) and Tilgate. Paddockhurst Park still features on modern maps, but there is no discernible traces of a deer park in the modern Tilgate Park. If any deer park was here, it might have been on the site of the present Tilgate Playing Fields, where a random scatter of large, spreading oak trees was recorded on the 1875 large-scale Ordnance Survey map (a few survive).
Tilgate Furnace
Blast furnaces and forges
The landscape of the Park area changed drastically when the
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
was introduced into English ironworking in the late Middle Ages. The first was erected in 1490, and it transformed the
Wealden iron industry.
Unlike a clay pot bloomery, in which the iron didn't quite melt, a blast furnace provided a continuous supply of liquid iron. It was a hollow brick tower, with iron ore and charcoal put into the top and molten iron tapped out of the bottom. A strong blast of air was provided by a pair of huge water-powered bellows (a pair so that the air flow did not pulse). The very important point about the furnace was, it had to operate continuously throughout its lifespan. A shortage of any one of its three ingredients (ore, charcoal, air) would destroy the furnace. The ironmasters had to plan very carefully to ensure a continuous supply of the three.
The first local blast furnaces were two at "Worth Furnace", erected by one Willam Leavitt in 1547. This was on the Stamford Brook in the present Worth Forest, just to the north of the eastern end of the railway bridge on the Parish Lane from Pease Pottage (the bridle path here crosses the site of the old millpond, south of the dam and slag heaps). "Tilgate Furnace" first appears in 1606, when a lease was renewed so it had already been in production by then. The two furnaces, Worth and Tilgate, were associated with forges downstream at Blackwater (now in
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 ...
) and at
Tinsley.
Charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
for firing the furnace was too fragile to carry far, so must have been sourced locally. The 2011 archaeological survey found two charcoal oven platforms in the Forest. A steady supply of charcoal was so important that Wealden ironmasters were entering into
coppice wood
futures
Futures may mean:
Finance
*Futures contract, a tradable financial derivatives contract
*Futures exchange, a financial market where futures contracts are traded
* ''Futures'' (magazine), an American finance magazine
Music
* ''Futures'' (album), a ...
, buying supplies before they had grown. The myth is that the iron industry destroyed woodland. This is completely false, but rather the government in the 16th and 17th centuries was opposed to the conversion of timber woodland to coppice woodland for strategic reasons (building ships needed good timber) and what it called "wasted woods" were those lacking timber trees.
End of ironworking
The last reference to the working furnace dates to 1664, when the furnace was demolished and rebuilt. There is a reference to a road to the furnace in 1685. However, in 1690 "Tilgate Farm" was operated as a tenancy and the tenant farmer was responsible for keeping the lake dams in repair. They had become fish-ponds, so the furnace was gone.
From that time, Tilgate began its evolution into a
landed working estate.
Landed estate
Rabbits
After the closure of the Furnace, the Forest was converted to commercial
rabbit warrens. This involved creating so-called "pillow mounds" for the rabbits to burrow into, which can be found in the present Worth and Highbeeches Forests. None has been found in the present Tilgate Forest, however, but later improvement works may have removed them.
Tilgate Lake had a corn-mill in the 18th century, first mentioned in 1702. This was still in operation in 1827 later a house called "Lakeside" (not to be confused with the later restaurant).
The use of the Forest for rabbits suppressed coppice woodland in favour of short grassland with pollard beeches and oaks, some heathland and also woodland surviving in the narrow valleys. The Yeakell and Gardner 1783 map shows the Forest as heath, also the two Park lakes and the surviving Furnace lake next to "Furnace Farm". The lane to the latter from Three Bridges was to become the main drive to the Mansion.
Manor?
The mediaeval farm had probably been rebuilt by 1647, which is the year of the first reference to " Tilgate Manor Estate". A huge
Sweet chestnut near "Lower Tilgate" is a relic.
The alleged
manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
passed with that of Slaugham down the Covert family line, before passing to another family, the Sergisons, in 1702. However, the London Gazette of 1827 referred to it as a "reputed manor" because the estate has never been part of the English manorial system.
Improvements
Later that century, the Sergisons embarked on a massive set of improvements to the Forest. These included drainage ditches, still to be found in the wooded area. If the 2011 archaeological survey is correct in surmising these ditches to date from that time, then the Sergisons intended to clear the present Forest for farmland. They did clear the central tier along Parish Lane and turned it into four farms -Hardriding (formerly Belle Vue), New Buildings, Starvemouse and Mount Pleasant.
The first farm listed was very odd. It included a set of circular fields surrounded by woodland. These still existed in 1841, as the Worth tithe map of that year shows them, but the woodland took over the northern ones later.
Also, the family moved Tilgate Manor. The first Ordnance Survey map, 1813, shows "Tilgate Farm" (Lower Tilgate) and "Tilgate Lodge" next to the later Mansion.
To the south of the Lodge was a formal garden, and beyond this to the west and south were small fields cleared from the Forest to create a "Home Farm".
In 1827, as well as the Forest the Estate included four farms: Tilgate, Furnace, Maidenbower and "Highwood's" (Malthouse?). Maidenbower Farm was only part of the present
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 ...
estate, which also covers the former Frogshole and Forest Farms.
Crawley's Lost Route to Balcombe
The 1813 map shows the lane from Crawley continuing on top of the lake dam to Worth Furnace, then through Greentrees Farm and down what is now Crawley Lane to Balcombe. 19th-century improvements suppressed the portions from Crawley to Tilgate and in Worth Forest (the latter has been recently reinstated as a bridle path).
Mansion and gardens
The Sergisons sold out in 1814. After a succession of owners in the early 19th century, the estate was inherited in 1862 by a wealthy businessman from India, George Ashburner. Back then, as well as the Forest the Estate included all the farmland south of the road between Crawley and Three Bridges. It had acquired Hogs Hill Farm (now Southgate West estate), also the present Hardriding Farm next to Pease Pottage.
Ashburner's daughter Sarah married John Hennings
Nix
Nix or NIX may refer to:
Places
* Nix, Alabama, an unincorporated community, United States
* Nix, Texas, a ghost town in southwestern Lampasas County, Texas, United States
* Nix (moon), a moon of Pluto
People
* Nix (surname), listing people with ...
, in 1865 at
St Nicholas' Church, Worth
St Nicholas Church is a Church of England parish church in Worth, a village in Crawley, England, which at one time had the largest geographical parish in England.
History
St Nicholas Church is one of the oldest churches in the country and ...
. The groom was partners with his brother Edward Winkelmann Nix in the London bank
Fuller, Banbury, Nix & Co (since absorbed by
NatWest
National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...
). The couple took over the estate from her father when he died in 1869.
It was Nix who built a large
French-style mansion to replace the Lodge in the later 1860s. The architect was Thomas Henry Wyatt.
![Tilgate House, Crawley interior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Tilgate_House%2C_Crawley_interior.jpg)
The present gardens were laid out between 1875 and 1900 over the previous formal garden and Home Farm fields, with many rare specimen trees and shrubs. The top end of Tilgate Lake was extended to Silt Lake, two islands formed and a Cascade created. Also, the Walled Garden was built with a "Head Gardener's Cottage" on its access drive (now a private house).
Confusingly, a deer park was established north of the Mansion, occupying the area of the present neighbourhood south of Shackleton Road and west of Worcester Road. This had
Fallow deer. A new farmstead called "Stone Barn" was built at what is now the south end of the latter road.
In the late 19th century, the Park and Forest became nationally known for several botanical rarities (apparently mostly now extinct here) including the Tunbridge Filmy Fern (
Hymenophyllum tunbrigense
''Hymenophyllum tunbrigense'', the Tunbridge filmy fern or Tunbridge filmy-fern, is a small, fragile perennial leptosporangiate fern which forms large dense colonies of overlapping leaves from creeping rhizomes. The common name derives from the ...
).
On Sarah's death in 1904, the estate went to her son
John Ashburner Nix, who died in 1927, and then to his brother
Charles George Ashburner Nix; the Nix family is included in ''
Burke's Landed Gentry'' under the title "Nix of Tilgate."
The latter's grandson was the banker Paul David Ashburner Nix, the father of
Alexander Nix, the CEO of
Cambridge Analytica. Together the brothers were great horticulturalists and members of the Royal Horticultural Society. They planted the Pinetum in 1906, and began conifer plantations in the Forest. A sawmill was built on the A23, at the beginning of a forest ride running east to where the pylons are now. This was called The Avenue.
Dinosaurs?
Fossilised
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
remains have been recovered from a
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...
geologic
formation
Formation may refer to:
Linguistics
* Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes
* Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes
Mathematics and science
* Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
named after Tilgate Forest. The find-spot was a quarry at
Whitemans Green
Whiteman's Green is a place in the north of the large village and civil parish of Cuckfield in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the southern slopes of the Weald, two miles (3.2 km) west of Haywards Heath a ...
near
Cuckfield
Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeas ...
, but the name given to the stratum led to the erroneous idea that the Forest was the find-spot. This mistake has influenced scholarly works. The finder was
Gideon Mantell, who was collecting in the quarry by 1813 and named the "Tilgate Forest Stratum". The dinosaur concerned was the
Iguanodon.
Rare orchid
A very rare orchid was collected at Tilgate from the late 19th century into the Thirties -
Small white orchid
''Pseudorchis'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. The sole species is the small white orchid (''Pseudorchis albida''). It is found across much of Europe and northern Asia from Spain and Iceland to Kamcha ...
(Pseudorchis alba). The nearest colonies are now in mid Wales.
Decline
Charles was in difficulties by 1932, when he leased the Walled Garden and its greenhouses to FW Burke & Co as a Horticultural research Station. This would have marked the end of intensive gardening at Tilgate, and the loss of flower beds.
Before the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1939, Charles put the Estate up for auction. No bidder was found, so the auctioneers split the property into separate lots which were sold off individually.
During the War, as part of the build-up for
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
Canadian army troops were billeted at a camp in woodland west of Titmus Lake, featuring
Nissen huts. After the War, in 1947, the site was acquired by the
Crawley Development Corporation and the huts began to be rented out to leisure clubs and societies seeking premises. In this the "Tilgate Forest Recreation Centre" grew up (it was never a public amenity).
In 1950, the
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...
bought the Forest and began to plant conifers over most of it, with areas of beech and American oak.
The biggest lake in the Park, Tilgate Lake, is most famous for its association with
Malcolm Campbell
Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...
, who carried out flotation trials for his boat "Bluebird" but not water speed trials there. It was called Campbell's Lake for some time afterwards, although it was sold to one Mr Baker in 1952. He ran a fishing club.
The Mansion was sold to BT Estates Ltd in 1940, which used it as offices and let the gardens go derelict.
Rhododendron ponticum thickets took over large areas, including the lakesides.
In 1950, the Walled Garden became "Tilgate Park Nurseries" which had another site in the Forest south of the sawmill at "Old Stone Cottage Farm". The firm supplied sapling trees for the New Town.
Tilgate neighbourhood was built between 1958 and 1960. The Park project was delayed, however, leading to conflict between the private landowners and trespassers, especially children.
Development of the public park
Early days
Crawley Urban District Council (Borough Council from 1974) purchased the Walled Garden in 1962, and the lakes and Mansion in 1964. It demolished the latter in 1965, and replaced it with the striking modern "Lakeside Restaurant".
In this period, roe deer returned to the Forest.
The Nissen huts were extensively damaged during the storms of 1987 and the council planned to clear the area, but a campaign led by local teacher and prominent table tennis figure, Frank Terry, succeeded in getting the huts replaced with more modern versions.
The lake has a "Watersports Centre". In contrast, "Go Ape" is a new arboreal adventure course.
In 2017, a "Garden of Remembrance" was opened, with a sculpture entitled "Passage".
Access
Car
Tilgate Park is accessible through two vehicle entrances, converging on the main car park. The main one runs from the south end of Titmus Drive in
Tilgate neighbourhood, where a road also runs west to the Lakeside car park and the Golf Centre. Unlike the main car park, Lakeside is free for most of the morning (until 11:00).
The other entrance is at the
A23 K2 traffic lights, and runs through the Recreation Centre.
Bus
There are buses from Crawley Bus Station, on route 2 run by
. This terminates at the main car park on weekends only. On weekdays, it terminates at K2 and the best access is walking from the stop at Tilgate shops which is ten minutes for a young adult.
The journey time from Bus Station to Park is 40 minutes, since the route is circuitous.
Horses and bikes
Owing to a conflict of interests, the park is not a place for horses or bikes. Riders use the Forest. There is a dedicated bridleway from Rosamund Road across the Golf Course to a motorway bridge into the Forest, and a permissive path from the east side of the Golf Centre bridge at Lakeside through the LNR to the same Forest access.
Foot
A path to Titmus Lake runs from Gloucester Road, and a footpath runs from Weald Drive along the brook to Lakeside.
Tilgate Drive
The original main entrance to the old estate was at Tilgate Lodge – now a bank – near
Three Bridges railway station
Three Bridges railway station is located in and named after the village of Three Bridges, which is now a district of Crawley, West Sussex, England. It is at the point where the Arun Valley Line diverges from the Brighton Main Line and Thamesli ...
. This was the beginning of a long driveway, which is now an amenity footpath and cycle track. Unfortunately, the path is broken in Furnace Green by Furnace Farm Road which has to be followed.
Park layout
A view-marker is at the north side of the car park. The south side has a small reception block with toilets.
To the south of this is the massive podium of the demolished Mansion, on which stands the Smith & Western restaurant. Next to this to the west is the old Stables, now a set of private residences called "Tilgate Mansions" (not to be confused with the demolished Mansion).
Due west of the car park is the A23 driveway to the Recreation Centre. South-westwards runs a road to the Walled Garden. Before the latter is the Heather Garden to the right, with a steep path down to Titmus Lake. Next on the right is the Nature Centre, which abuts the Walled Garden on its west side. Next to the Walled Garden to the east is the Azalea Wood and the Garden of Remembrance.
To the east of the car park is a wooded area, containing a children's play area and "Go Ape". Downslope from this is the Main Lawn, running down to Tilgate Lake and the Watersports Centre. A path runs across the dam and down the east side of the lake to Silt Lake.
Round the other side of the restaurant and heading south is the Promenade, with the Winter Garden to the right (west) and the World Garden to the left. Both contain rare trees and shrubs. The Promenade meets a path from the Walled Garden, turns left (east) and runs to the Silt Lake. Before the lake, the Peace Garden is to the right, beyond which is the Pinetum and the Park's motorway bridge to the Forest. The Promenade continues over the Cascade to "Tilgate Forest LNR", a nature reserve. Here a path takes you to the Golf Course's motorway bridge.
Amenities
Parking
The main car park has a fee, while the "Lakeside" overflow car park is free before 11:00, but has no facilities.
Gardens
The gardens are free.
The Rhododendrons are spectacular in spring along the Promenade, and in the World Garden and Winter Garden. The Heather Garden with its collection of
Ericaceae is attractive in late summer, but also contains mature rhododendrons and azaleas. The
Winter Garden has no indoor areas or greenhouses, but is designed to be interesting in winter (hence the name).
An old colony of wind daffodils is to the west of the Promenade heading south from the restaurant, and an area of bluebells was planted around the new wildlife pond east of the main lake in 2015.
Tree trail
Owen Johnson pointed out the importance of the Park's tree collection in 1998, in his "Sussex Tree Book". In response, the Council has produced a guided tree trail leaflet, has labelled the more important specimens and invited sponsorship.
The following are the trees selected for the Tree Trail, including those listed by Johnson as Champions. Unless otherwise indicated, they were planted by the Nix family:
*1) Formosan Cypress (
Chamaecyparis formosensis). Winter Garden. Three Champions in a clump. Rare.
*2) Roblé Beech. (
Nothofagus obliqua). Winter Garden. Champion.
*3) Paperbark Maple (
Acer griseum
''Acer griseum'', the paperbark maple or blood-bark maple, is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to central China.Flora of China (draft)''Acer griseum''/ref> ''Acer griseum'' is found in the Chinese provinces of Gansu ...
) Winter Garden. Council planted.
*4) Sessile Oak (
Quercus petraea). World Garden. Original Forest tree?
*5) Cork Oak (
Quercus suber). World Garden. Council planted.
*6) Chinese Dogwood (
Cornus kousa). World Garden. Champion.
*7) Handkerchief Tree (
Davidia involucrata
''Davidia involucrata'', the dove-tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or ghost tree, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It is the only living species in the genus ''Davidia''. It was previously included wi ...
). World Garden. Formerly a large tree blown over in 1987, but the stump was left and it sprouted.
*8) Chusan Palm. (
Trachycarpus fortunei
''Trachycarpus fortunei'', the Chinese windmill palm, windmill palm or Chusan palm, is a species of hardy evergreen palm tree in the family Arecaceae, native to parts of China, Japan, Myanmar and India.
Description
Growing to tall, ''Trachyca ...
). World Garden. Two.
*9) Yellow Birch (
Betula alleghaniensis
''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the pa ...
). World Garden. Champion.
*10) Yellow-wood (
Cladrastis kentukea
''Cladrastis kentukea'', the Kentucky yellowwood or American yellowwood (syn. ''C. lutea'', ''C. tinctoria''), is a species of ''Cladrastis'' native to the Southeastern United States, with a restricted range from western North Carolina west to e ...
) World Garden. Champion.
*11) Keyaki (
Zelkova serrata). World Garden. Champion.
*12) Dieck's Maple (Acer x dieckii). World Garden. Champion. This is an old example of a garden hybrid between Norway Maple (
Acer platanoides
''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...
) and Lobel's Maple (
Acer lobelii).
*13) Scheidecker's Crab-apple (Malus x scheideckeri). World Garden. Champion. Another garden hybrid, between Japanese Crab-apple (
Malus floribunda
''Malus floribunda'', common name Japanese flowering crabapple, Japanese crab, purple chokeberry, or showy crabapple, originates from Japan and East Asia. It may be a hybrid (biology)#In plants, hybrid of ''M. toringo'' with ''M. baccata'', in w ...
) and Plum Leaved Crab-apple (
Malus prunifolia).
*14) Chinese Stewartia (
Stewartia sinensis
''Stewartia sinensis'', the Chinese stewartia, is a species of flowering plant in the camellia family (biology), family Theaceae, native plant, native to central and eastern China. It is typically a small deciduous tree, growing to about tall. I ...
). World Garden. National Champion.
*15) Swamp Cypress (
Taxodium distichum). World Garden, on island in pond. Council planted.
*16) Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir (
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca). Pinetum. Champion. Planted 1896, a decade before the Pinetum. Struck by lightning.
*17) Monkey Puzzle (
Araucaria araucana). Pinetum.
*18) Eastern Hemlock (
Tsuga canadensis). Pinetum. Champion. Also planted 1895.
*19) Japanese Red Cedar (
Cryptomeria japonica). Pinetum.
*20) Dawn Redwood (
Metasequoia glyptostroboides). By main lake, at site of demolished second boathouse. Council planted.
*21) Sweet Chestnut (
Castanea sativa). South of restaurant. 18th century. Large.
*22) Horse Chestnut (
Aesculus hippocastanum
''Aesculus hippocastanum'', the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. It is also called horse-chestnut, Europ ...
). South of restaurant.
*23) Giant Sequoia (
Sequoiadendron giganteum). South of restaurant. Champion.
*24) Apollo Fir (
Abies cephalonica var. apollinis). South of restaurant. National champion.
*25) Redwood (
Sequoia sempervirens). South of restaurant. Council planted 1963, thriving.
*26) Blue Atlas Cedar (
Cedrus atlantica var. glauca). South of restaurant. Champion.
*27) Tulip Tree (
Liriodendron tulipifera
''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ''Liriodendron'' (the other ...
). South of restaurant. 18th century. Champion.
*28) Ginkgo (
Ginkgo biloba
''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils ...
). North of restaurant. Council planted, 1970 in commemoration of the
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...
.
*29) Monterey Pine (
Pinus radiata
''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the fa ...
). Walled Garden drive.
*30) English Oak (
Quercus robur). Original Forest tree. Walled Garden drive.
Johnson lists the following Champions which are not on the Trail:
*Caucasian Fir (
Abies nordmanniana). West shore of main lake.
*Redvein Maple (
Acer rufinerve). Winter Garden, near Walled Garden. Dying in 1998.
*Hupeh Rowan (
Sorbus hupehensis
''Sorbus hupehensis'' (Hupeh rowan or Hubei rowan; ) is a species of rowan native to central and western China (between Qinghai and Gansu in the west, Yunnan in the south, Jiangxi in the southeast, and Shandong in the east).
It is a small decid ...
). Winter Garden, near Walled Garden.
*Deodar (
Cedrus deodara var. robusta). East of Walled Garden. Rare variety.
*White Ash (
Fraxinus americana). Near Nature Centre entrance.
* Sweet Bay (
Magnolia virginiana
''Magnolia virginiana'', most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay (also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, white bay, or beaver tree), is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be ...
). World Garden. Rare.
* Black Oak (
Quercus velutina var. rubrifolia). World Garden.
* Japanese Umbrella Pine (
Sciadopitys
''Sciadopitys verticillata'', the or Japanese umbrella-pine, is a unique conifer endemic to Japan. It is the sole member of the family Sciadopityaceae and genus ''Sciadopitys'', a living fossil with no close relatives. The oldest fossils of ''S ...
verticillata). Pinetum, next to Douglas Fir mentioned above.
*Japanese White Pine (
Pinus parviflora
''Pinus parviflora'', also known as five-needle pine, Ulleungdo white pine, or Japanese white pine, is a pine in the white pine group, ''Pinus'' subgenus ''Strobus'', native to Korea and Japan.
It is a coniferous evergreen tree, growing to 15– ...
). Peace Garden.
*Golden Thuja (
Thuja plicata var. zebrina). Pinetum.
The following trees are also of note:
*Cedar of Lebanon (
Cedrus libani). Two on way to Golf Course.
*Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). The Park's second one is hidden in an overgrown area below the main lake dam.
*Yew (
Taxus baccata
''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...
). The Park's largest yew tree was at the east end of the main dam. When the dam was heightened after 2011, efforts were made to keep it but it took offence and died.
*Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa). Huge old tree near "Lower Tilgate".
*Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica var. laxus). A weird weeping Cedar in the Pinetum. Planted by the Council, not happy but growing very slowly.
The Forest lacks specimen trees, but there is a Brewer's Weeping Spruce (
Picea breweriana
''Picea breweriana'', known as Brewer spruce, Brewer's weeping spruce, or weeping spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America, where it is one of the rarest on the continent. The specific epithet ''breweriana'' is in honor of ...
) at the ruins of Keeper's Cottage. The Park lost its specimen in 1987.
Restaurant
The "Smith & Western" is part of a restaurant chain with a Western American theme. In 2018 it was open from 11:00 to 23:00, except on Sundays when it was 12:00 to 10:00. No refund of any parking fee is advertised.
Go Ape
"Go Ape" is a rather small arboreal off-ground adventure course. There are two routes, one for adults and one for children. A winter closure occurs in December.
Watersports
A variety of water sports are offered on the main lake by a private company called "Tilgate Water Sports", which runs the "Tilgate Park Watersports Center", and (according to the Council) has management responsibility for fishing on the lakes. The following are available:
*
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
rowing
*
Canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...
*
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
*
Dinghy sailing
*
Paddleboarding
*Raft building
Because Tilgate Forest lacks reception facilities, this firm also offers the following which mostly take place there:
*
Orienteering
Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...
*
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...
(there are bikes for hire)
*
Team building
There are also special events.
Angling
Fishing on the Tilgate and Silt Lakes is under the aegis of two clubs, the "Crawley Angling Society" and the "Tilgate Park Fisheries". There are big carp in the main lake. Day tickets are available.
Golf
The Golf Centre has an 18-hole course, a driving range, a shop, a resident pro and a bar open to the public. It has its own car parking.
Tilgate Nature Centre
Tilgate Nature Centre
Tilgate Nature Centre is a small BIAZA-accredited zoo located within Tilgate Park in Tilgate Forest, South-East Crawley, West Sussex, England. The nature centre holds 144 different animal species (in 2021), and are actively involved in breeding p ...
is a local
Nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
financed by the local council and features over 100 different species of animals including endangered wild
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s and threatened domestic (farm)
mammals. Education programs are offered for children, families and schools. There is a small charge.
Walled Garden
The Walled Garden contains a hedge maze, a café and several craft emporia. Shire horses have been kept here.
Garden of Remembrance
Ashes can be deposited or scattered at the new Garden of Remembrance, around a dedicated sculpture. There is a charge.
Recreation Centre
As well as premises of clubs and societies, the "Recreation Centre" has a commercial gym.
Biking
The Forest has four named bike trails, with some portions rather casually laid out. They are: "Tilgate Slalom", "Toasty", "The Deer Hunter" and"Noon Ride". There are no reception facilities in the Forest itself.
Bibliography
Butler, Chris et al.: "A Lidar-enhanced Archaeological Survey of Tilgate Forest" 2011. Available online:
Sussex Gardens Trust: "Report On The History Of Crawley Parks" 2013. Chapter on Tilgate Park available as a download:
Cleere, Henry: "The Iron Industry of Roman Britain" 1981. Available online:
Straker, E: "Wealden Iron" David & Charles 1931.
Cleere, H.et al.: "The Iron Industry of the Weald" Merton Priory Press 1995. Available online:
Hodgkinson, J: The Wealden Iron Industry" History Press 2008.
Johnson, O: "Sussex Tree Book" Pomegranate Press 1998.
de Crespigny, E. Champion: A New London Flora 1877.
References
External links
Crawley Borough Council article on Tilgate ParkCrawley Borough Council website on the Tilgate EstateBritish History website on the Tilgate EstateWater Sports websiteRestaurant websiteGo Ape websiteCrawley Angling Society websiteTilgate Forest bike trailsBus route information
{{Coord, 51, 5, 39.3, N, 0, 10, 40.85, W, scale:100000_region:GB, display=title
Environment of West Sussex
Parks and open spaces in West Sussex
Crawley
1647 establishments in England