Tilgate 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The area contains a mixture of privately developed housing, self-build groups and ex-

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

. It is bordered by the districts of

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 north east, Southgate to the north west and Broadfield to the south west.

History

Tilgate was first mentioned in 13th- and 14th-century tax returns with the inclusion of land owned by William Yllegate (or de illegate). Within the Tilgate forest in the 17th century was a furnace (''Tilgate Furnace''). In the 1860s a large house (''Tilgate Mansion'') and estate was created of 2,185 acres (which included of woodland). The entrance and Tilgate Forest Lodge is near Three Bridges railway station. The supply ponds for the furnace survived and became ''Tilgate Lake'' within the estate. The estate was associated with the Joliffe family (and later the Nix family of bankers). The estate was sold by auction on 7 September 1939; this included the park and mansion and properties in Three Bridges. The mansion was converted into flats, used by the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

during 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 opposi ...

but later demolished. The lodge house is now a bank in Three Bridges. The estate became ''

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 ...

''.

Tilgate: Crawley New Town

With the creation of Crawley New Town in 1947 the Tilgate area was proposed as a neighbourhood. Construction began in 1955. A reserved area for housing ''Tilgate East'' was developed as

. Tilgate had a population of 7,130 in 1981.

Tilgate: Crawley

Tilgate is the home of

, a large area of forest run by 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 resp ...

. The forest contains Tilgate Nature Reserve and Wild Breeds Centre, three recreational lakes (Campbells Lake, Silt Lake and Titmus Lake), park areas, Tilgate Golf Course, and several small commercial buildings known as 'huts' which are used by small sports and hobby clubs and businesses. The Thomas Bennett School (opened in 1958) was one of the earliest Comprehensive Schools in England, and by 1967 was the largest

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in England. It was named after Sir Thomas Bennett, chairman of

Crawley Development Corporation Crawley Development Corporation was set up in February 1947 by the Government of the United Kingdom to establish, administer and control the development of the New Town of Crawley in accordance with the New Towns Act 1946. The Corporation had t ...

. There are also two

Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s within the area, as well as a parade of shops, churches, medical facilities, "The Hoppers" public house and other amenities. The area is one of the quietest in Crawley, as the population is largely made up of older residents. K2, a new leisure centre for Crawley, was opened in November 2005 on land formerly belonging to Thomas Bennett School.

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.

External links

All About Sussex guide to Tilgate Park

Crawley Borough Council Water Guide

Tilgate Forest Golf Centre
{{Crawley Neighbourhoods in Crawley