Tilgate, Crawley
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Tilgate is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of
Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, 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 populat ...
in
West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
, England. 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 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 social housing. D ...
. It is bordered by the districts of Furnace Green 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 Three Bridges railway station is a railway station located in and named after the village of Three Bridges, West Sussex, Three Bridges, which is now a district of the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. This station is where the Arun Valley ...
. 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 () is the command (military formation), 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 re ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
but later demolished. The lodge house is now a bank in Three Bridges. The estate became '' Tilgate Park''.


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


Tilgate: Crawley

Tilgate is the home of Tilgate Park, 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 respons ...
. 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, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
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 towns in the United Kingdom, New Town of Crawley in accordance with the New Town ...
. There are also two
Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
s within the area, as well as a
parade of shops A shopping parade, also known as a parade of shops, suburban parade, neighbourhood parade, or just a simply a parade is a group of between five and 40 shops in one or more continuous rows, mostly being retail and serving a local customer base; in ...
, 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