Did You Know?

Crawley's history can be traced as far back as the Stone (Neolithic) Age, from flint tools and burial mounds and later a Bronze Age sword found in the area. Iron-Age forts were established to extract ore in the areas now covered by Broadfield, Bewbush and Southgate and an Iron Age camp was once on the site of Goffs Park.

Crawley's name is derived from the Anglo Saxon crawe leah - a 'crow infested clearing'. The spelling changed during the Middle Ages - Crauleia (c1203), Crawele (c1250) and Croule (1279) - with the more familiar spelling Crawley appearing around 1316.

From 1279 there was also an annual fair on 28 August. In the Middle Ages fairs were similar to markets but they were held only once a year. The Crawley fair attracted buyers and sellers from a wide area. However the fair, which had been held each year since the 13th century, was discontinued because it interfered with traffic. The last one was held in 1924.

Crawley continued to grow steadily over the next 400 years, helped by the continuing success of the iron industry. The discovery of Brighton by the Prince Regent made it an ideal place to rest on the journey from London, and the town rapidly developed to cope with the demand.

It continued to prosper during Victorian times, and did not suffer too badly in either World War. The sale of many former estates made land available for more building, and around 900 new houses were built between the wars.

However the railway reached Crawley in 1848. Railways meant the end of stagecoaches, of course, but it continued to grow in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Crawley's oldest church is St John the Baptist's, between the High Street and the Broadway. It is said to have 13th-century origins, but there has been much rebuilding (especially in the 19th century) and the oldest part remaining is the south wall of the nave, which is believed to be 14th century.

Gatwick Airport, nowadays one of Britain's busiest international airports, opened on the edge of the town in the 1940s, encouraging commercial and industrial growth. After the Second World War, the British Government planned to move large numbers of people and jobs out of London and into new towns around South East England. The New Towns Act 1946 designated it as the site of one of these.

The Grand Nationals of 1916, 1917 and 1918 were held at Gatwick as Aintree was requisitioned by the War Office.Money made from the races in 1916 and 1917 was donated to a home for soldiers who had lost their sight.