Unexceptional, but pretty early 18th century cottage tucked away in the far North Eastern corner of the borough under the flight path.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
Monday 18 December 2017
FIVE PICTURES: Old Cottage
This 17th or early 18th century cottage is in an isolated area known as Fernhill, at the northeast corner of the borough. The structural pattern is similar to many of Crawley's houses of that era, though: timber-framing hidden by ground-floor brickwork and first-floor tiles, and a tiled roof. A chimney rises at the west end from a foundation of local stone, quarried in Charlwood. The building is currently undergoing renovation.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
ONE PICTURE: Teizers Farm
Tucked up against the western side of the M23 on the original Antlands Lane at Shipley Bridge this farmhouse was built in the 17th century and added to in the 18th and 19th centuries. A timber-framed structure is supported by brown and red brickwork below a tile-hung upper floor.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
FOUR PICTURES: Oldlands Farmhouse
William Bowyer, the owner of Tinsley Forge - Tinsley Green's ironworking facility (and one of Sussex's last working forges), built this three-bay timber-framed house for himself in the early 17th century. The two-storey building is mostly tiled on the exterior, but some plasterwork remains.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
TWO PICTURES: Cherry Tree Cottage
This large 17th-century house in Tinsley Green retains some external timber-framing and local stonework on a base of local Sussex sandstone.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
ONE PICTURE: Brookside
This three bay house framed house in the old hamlet of Tinsley Green was built in the mid-17th-century. The ground floor has exposed timber framing and plaster infill while the first floor is tile hung.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
THREE PICTURES: Radford Farmhouse
Few thatched roofs have survived in the Crawley area, but this mid 16th-century chocolate box two-storey cottage has one. Situated next to Brookside in the old hamlet of Tinsley Green, it may have functioned as that farm's barn before being converted into a house in its own right, despite being a century older. There is plenty of exposed timber-framing and white-painted brickwork.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
THREE PICTURES: Tinsley Farmhouse
This early 18th century cottage has timber-framing to the upper floor only; the ground floor is brick-built.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
Sunday 10 December 2017
THREE PICTURES: Toovies Farm House
This former farmhouse controlled land between the Balcombe Road and the M23 motorway. The L-shaped building, dating from the 17th century, is dominated by an enormous chimney-stack on the west corner.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
FIVE PICTURES: Ridleys
This small cottage sits on the east side of the Balcombe Road. It has one full storey with attic space above, and is mostly 17th-century, although it may have been extended in the following century and was further added to in the 20th century.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
TWELVE PICTURES: Ridleys Court
This Classical-style brick and stone structure of 1882 was the stable-block of the former Worth Park mansion.
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
TWELVE PICTURES: Three ornamental Victorian features at Worth Park
Worth Park was originally a medieval deer park and formed part of the Forest of Worth stretching from Slaugham in the South to Worth in the North.
Abraham Montefiore bought Worth-park farm in the 1810s. By 1839/40, his son Joseph Mayer Montefiore owned numerous plots of land in the area and at this point a “Worth Park House and Garden” was in existence. After a fire in 1847, Worth-Park House was rebuilt completely by 1856. The now most visible re-design of the grounds took place from 1884-1887. The company of James Pulham and Son, who also designed features for the gardens of Buckingham Palace and Sandringham House, built many elements for Worth Park which survive until today and three of these surviving ornamental features are listed structures.
The gardens were laid out over four levels to utilise the elevated position of the site. The first level was a formal garden consisting of three circular areas known as Fountain, Dutch and Sundial. The second level consisted of formal terraces with a staircase, a formal pond surrounded by ball shaped yews. The third area was open parkland and the final area a lake complete with Pulhamite rock features.
From 1920 to 1960, the house and large parts of the grounds were the home of Milton Mount College, a boarding school for girls. Crawley Borough Council bought the school property in 1963 and demolished it in favour of the 9 story block of flats that can be seen on the site today.
At the west side of Milton Mount flats, an 1880s feature of the former Worth Park mansion's landscaped gardens can be found. A rockery, provided by James Pulham and Son using their own Pulhamite artificial rock, which is nearly 50 feet long and about 5 feet tall. There is space inside for plants. The foundations are of scrap bricks!
The fountain and pond basin stand in the grounds of the former Worth Park mansion, demolished in the 1960's, and were built as garden ornaments in 1884–87. It is the largest 1880s garden ornament constructed out of moulded terracotta by the firm of James Pulham
The Pulhamite Rock Islet in the lake at Milton Mount Gardens is a 10-foot wide artificial island built in the mid 1880s as a decorative feature for the lake and also sits on a base of old bricks!
All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com
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