Let us consider the past for a few moments, specifically Crawley’s history, because it is important and should be treated with the appropriate respect.
Crawley has been a ‘new town’ more than once, including with the growth of the railways. Yes, the New Town is a relatively new creation, but it is based on a very solid history and a very rich heritage that we should not forget, much valued by many local residents, some of who can still remember when Crawley was still a village.
There have been people living in the borough a very long time, as I was reminded attending last year’s 1000th anniversary milestone service for St Nicholas’ Church at Worth, making it even older than Chichester Cathedral!
So I was delighted at last week’s full meeting of Crawley Borough Council to be able to announce that, after an extensive period of preparation, the repair and restoration work to the Ancient Priors in the High Street will begin later in April as part of our ongoing commitment to protecting and investing in the town’s heritage assets.
The project is expected to take around five months, using specialist heritage materials. During the works, key historic features of the Grade 2* listed building will be carefully repaired and restored, including the medieval oak timbers, Horsham stone roof, and traditional lath and plaster walls, all of which will be repaired and redecorated using appropriate conservation techniques.
Ancient Priors dates back to the 15th century and is one of Crawley’s most historically significant buildings. This is a very significant undertaking for the council, demonstrating our continued commitment to protecting the character of our historic High Street. I know many of our longer standing residents will be pleased to know its future is being protected for future generations.
This isn’t the first piece of restoration recently undertaken either. Originally built in 1882 as a private residence and one of the town’s most treasured heritage buildings, Goffs Park House has recently undergone repair and refurbishment to the outside of the building, involving the complete repair and redecoration of the external doors and windows including repair and repainting of all timber window frames and doors. In addition, there were repairs to stonework and some internal structural repair work to rectify a damaged ceiling. It was a huge personal pleasure to view the finished work with the Cabinet and see the House restored to its former glory.
Our town’s history over the decades is worth preserving and protecting, which is why I have been supportive of our local Conservation Areas, including being supportive of the creation of the Southgate Neighbourhood, Malthouse Road and the Town Centre Conservation Areas. I also helped oversee the recent work to return the fondly remembered ‘boy with dolphin’ statue back out into public view, now in Tilgate Park within the walled garden.
This Labour administration at the council has also maintained the current funding support we give towards the running of Crawley Museum as well as continuing to lease The Tree building to the Museum, which itself has a historic pedigree to rival Ancient Priors. The council were active recently in uniting the recently discovered millstones at Goffs Park House with the Ifield Water Mill, which is also looked after by the Museum.
But there’s more still to come. I was personally involved in marking the 70th and 75th anniversary of the New Town and hope to help mark the 80th next year. We are also looking at what can be done to preserve and enhance some of our local parades and other parts of the Town Centre which are a product of their time.
Any other thoughts and ideas on our heritage will always be welcomed by any council that I lead so please feel free to make suggestions!
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council