My brother, sister and I were the third generation of my family to live at Crabbet Park.We lived in a Sussex style cottage at Caxtons on the estate, where my father was Stallion Man for Lady Wentworth. Caxtons Cottages Our lives were ordered by the changing seasons and the care…
Some Crawley residents may remember Crabbet Park as the home of Lady Wentworth and the Crabbet Arabian Stud. We have kindly been given permission by the Arab Horse News Magazine to reproduce 3 articles written for their publication by Liz Archer. Please click on the links below to download them…
A Crawley Parody PreludeFree time free land free loveEverything was free It was the season for bicyclesAnd we wanted to raceOn a track with lots of featuresTough, very little grace Someone thought to ask DonBecause he had the toolsImplements borrowed fromThe councils unused pools Donald a real skivvyReady within two…
WHERE’S THE QUEEN? When I was young I saw the Queen,Opening a building new and clean.I thought she’d be in royal gown,With jewels and sceptre, wearing crown,Like the queens in all my books;I expected Royal looks.The crowd were cheering; “Hip hooray!Oh, this is a lovely day!”Mum, excited, “There’s she is!”I…
(Written by Graham Crozier, 2020) Photograph of South Side of Crawley High Street, from Crawley Museum’s Collection. Date unknown The Victorian period witnessed the commercial expansion of Crawley and one of the key figures in that process was Frederick Russell, the proprietor of Russell’s Emporium in the High Street. Frederick…
In these strange and unprecedented times, local author Renny Richardson is offering a free of charge electronic version of his first book via Crawley Museum. All the Bright Company of Heaven, first published in 2011, and long out of print tells the story of another dark time in Crawley’s history…
(Written by Graham Crozier, 2019) Painting of the Rent Strike from Crawley Museum’s collection. Painted by J.E. Fuller, 1955, Crawley. 90cm x 78cm. The Rent Strike of October 1955 has all but disappeared from the awareness of people living in Crawley today. However, it can be seen as representing an…
The Old Toll House in Northgate was near the entrance to what is now Ifield Drive, at the junction with the High Street. As well as a photograph of it, we’ve recently been donated a watercolor painting, presumably based on the photo. There is no artist’s name on the painting.…
West Green C of E School 1824-1955 The school was started for the poor of Crawley and Ifield for eighty boys and forty girls by Sarah Robinson but it very soon had more children as time went on. My mother attended this school from 1905 until leaving in 1912 along…
