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RH11 (Crawley) area guide
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Postcode District:
RH11
Postcode District Name:
Crawley
Location:
The RH11 postcode district lies within or includes part of the following towns, counties, localities, electoral wards and stations: Ardingly and Balcombe, Bewbush, Broadfield, Broadfield North, Broadfield South, Crawley, Gossops Green, Ifield, Langley Green, Lowfield Heath, Northgate, Pease Pottage, Rusper and Colgate, Southgate, Tilgate, West Green, West Sussex.
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History:
This area is believed to have been settled during the Mesolithic period because of the manufactured flints found in the south-western part of the town. It was originally named Crow’s Leah (meaning crow’s wood) by the Saxons. The present spelling emerged in the fourteenth century. It was a small settlement until the construction of the London and Brighton turnpike boosted its importance in the eighteenth century.
The first railway to run through the Crawley area was the Brighton Main Line. The station was opened at Three Bridges in 1841. This created a huge influx of travellers and the population began to rise. A major house-building expansion occurred in the late nineteenth century in the area now know as West Green. The housing expansion continued and the New Towns Act of 1946 created the western villages of Ifield and Three Bridges, along with other part of Crawley.
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Present Day:
The parts of Crawley which are located in RH11 are: Langley Green, West Green, Ifield, Broadfield, Bewbush, Gossops Green, Lowfield Heath, Northgate, Southgate and Tilgate. In the 2001 census the population was 99,744. The median age is 34 with over half of the population below the age of 45 and over fifteen per cent of the people in the area are of an ethnic background other than White British.
Some of the most expensive streets in RH11 are Ifield Wood and Charlwood Road. Ifield Wood in Ifield has a current average value of £555,000. There are thirty-four properties on this street which are mainly small to large detached family homes with spacious gardens. There is some agricultural employment, but because of its location many of the people who live in this area are wealthy commuters who work in London. The local schools are Mill Primary School on Ifield Drive and Ifield Community College on Crawley Avenue. Charlwood Road is close to Gatwick airport and its properties are only fifty-six-per cent residential. This is because half of the street runs alongside the airport and therefore no residential homes have been built on that side. It has an average transaction value of £500,000 and comprises twenty-eight properties. Most of these residential properties are detached and large semi-detached homes. Ifield College is also the local secondary school here, while the nearest primary school is The Willow Tree Montessori School on Charlwood House. There is a supermarket on Crawley Avenue that provides easy access to food shopping.
At the other end of the property scale, some of the most affordable properties can be found on Holyrood Place and Pegler Way. Holyrood Place currently has an average property transaction value of £65,800. This street is one hundred percent residential and all of the forty-two properties are flats. The people in this neighbourhood are mainly singles and couples in their late 20s and 30s. There is a supermarket just a stone’s throw away on Downland Drive. Pegler Way has seventeen homes on the street, sixteen of which are flats. In contrast to the previous street, this neighbourhood has an older population. There are two supermarkets just a short walk on away on Queensway and Crawley Avenue. There are petrol filling stations near both of these streets.
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Amenities:
The original manor house of Crawley is Tree House located on The Boulevard. It was built in the fifteenth century. The name commemorates the ancient elm tree that stood nearby for hundreds of years and was a famous Crawley landmark.
Crawley has numerous restaurants, cafes and pubs to enjoy. Cube Restaurant serves excellent modern English dishes in an informal and relaxed setting and Shimla Indian Restaurant at the Apple Tree offers homemade Indian Cuisine for a good price. Crawley Fish and Chips is an excellent place for a proper English meal. Some local pubs are Brannigans, Apple Tree and Samuel Johnson.
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