Retirement Properties Spotlight in Crawley

Crawley lies about three miles south-east of Gatwick just off the M23 on the edge of the High Weald. It is first recorded in the 13th century with the issue of a licence to hold a weekly market and possibly derives its name from 'glade frequented by crows'. Crawley developed slowly as a market town in the Middle Ages though the area had long been settled with evidence of iron-making in Roman times.

The town was once an important staging post on the London to Brighton route and it still has good communications with two stations on the Horsham and Brighton lines. After the 2nd World War Crawley was designated a New Town and growth was rapid with expanding commercial and retail sectors making it the largest centre between London and the South Coast. However the forests of Worth and St Leonards to the south still remain and are all that is left of the once vast Anderida Forest which covered the country in Roman times.