After the Second World War, the British Government planned to move large numbers of people and jobs out of London and into new towns around South East England.

[6] The area may have been settled during the Mesolithic period: locally manufactured flints of the Horsham Culture type have been found to the southwest of the town.

When this was completed in 1770, travel between the newly fashionable seaside resort of Brighton and London became safer and quicker, and Crawley (located approximately halfway between the two) prospered as a coaching halt.

Two were replaced by Thomas Lester of London in 1742; but in 1880 a new set of eight bells were cast and installed by the Croydon-based firm Gillett, Bland & Company.

[32] In the early 20th century, many of the large country estates in the area, with their mansions and associated grounds and outbuildings, were split up into smaller plots of land, attracting haphazard housing development and small farms.

[33] By the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 Crawley had grown into a small but prosperous town, serving a wide rural area and those passing through on the A23 London–Brighton road.

Members of the working group developing a master Plan included Lawrence Neal, Alwyn Sheppard Fidler, Caroline Haslett, Molly Bolton, Sir Edward Gillett, Eric Walter Pasold and Alderman James Marshall.

Peter Lamb of the Labour Party won the seat at the 2024 general election, replacing Conservative Henry Smith who was MP from 2010 to 2024.

[62] The highest point in the borough is 148 metres (486 ft) above sea level[63] This forms part of the Forest Ridge of the High Weald, which extends eastwards through the north of Sussex into Tunbridge Wells and Cranbrook in Kent.

[64][65] A geological fault running from east to west has left an area of Weald Clay (with a ridge of limestone) jutting into the Hastings Beds around Tilgate.

This area forms part of the Weald to Waves wildlife corridor, providing a key link between Knepp Wildland and Ashdown Forest, which connects further to coast via the Rivers Adur, Arun and Ouse.

In 1822 Gideon Mantell, an amateur fossil collector and palaeontologist, discovered teeth, bones and other remains of what he described as "an animal of the lizard tribe of enormous magnitude", in Tilgate Forest on the edge of Crawley.

[68] Crawley lies within the Sussex Weald, an area of highly variable terrain so that many microclimates of frost hollows, sun traps and windswept hilltops will be encountered over a short distance.

Snowfall is often heavier in the Sussex Weald than in many other low-lying parts of central and southern England due to the proximity of moisture-laden southerly tracking low-pressure systems bringing easterly winds and snow to areas from South London southwards.

[122] Continuous growth and investment have made Crawley one of the most important business and employment centres in the South East England region.

[84][124] Industrial development had to take place relatively soon after the new town was established because part of the corporation's remit was to move people and jobs out of an overcrowded and war-damaged London.

The Manor Royal estate, with its space, proximity to Gatwick Airport and good transport links, attracted airport-related services such as logistics, catering, distribution and warehousing; and the corporation and private companies built offices throughout the town.

[84] Danish company Novo Nordisk, which manufactures much of the world's insulin supply, has its UK headquarters at the Broadfield Business Park,[136] and BDO Global has an office in Crawley.

[172] Gas was piped from Croydon, 20 miles (32 km) away, and a gasworks at Redhill, while the town's water supply came from the Weir Wood reservoir south of East Grinstead and another at Pease Pottage.

The area was joined to the railway network in the mid-19th century; and since the creation of the new town, there have been major road upgrades (including a motorway link), a guided bus transit system and the establishment of an airport which has become one of Britain's largest and busiest.

[184] It provides local services between the neighbourhoods and town centre, and longer-distance routes to Horsham, Redhill, Tunbridge Wells, Worthing and Brighton.

It was agreed that there would be no further expansion at Gatwick unless it became impossible to meet growth targets at London Heathrow Airport within existing pollution limits.

play in the Isthmian League South East Division, the eighth tier of English football, while other lower-league clubs include Oakwood F.C.

The site was extended to include an athletics arena by 1967, and an additional large sports hall was opened by the town mayor, Councillor Ben Clay and Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1974.

[203] Opened to the public on 14 November 2005,[200] and officially by Lord Coe on 24 January 2006, the centre includes the only Olympic-sized swimming pool in South East England.

[16][207] A large Cineworld cinema has since opened in the Crawley Leisure Park, which itself also includes ten-pin bowling, various restaurants and bars and a fitness centre.

The Memorial Gardens, on the eastern side of Queen's Square, feature art displays, children's play areas and lawns, and a plaque commemorating those who died in two Second World War bombing incidents in 1943 and 1944.

[217] The high street becomes an annual focus of motoring heritage in November as one of the official stops on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

This means the town is served by news and television programmes from both London and Tunbridge Wells (where the BBC South East Today studios are situated).

[232] The station, now owned by Global Radio, broadcasts as Heart South from Brighton, with the studios in Kelvin Way in Crawley closed in August 2010.