Crawley

Crawley
Town and non-metropolitan borough
Borough of Crawley
The High Street, Queen's Square, Goff's Park House and the Memorial Gardens with the centre in the background
Coat of Arms of the Borough Council
Motto(s):  "I Grow and I Rejoice"
Location of Crawley within West Sussex
Coordinates: 51°6′33″N 0°11′14″W / 51.10917°N 0.18722°W / 51.10917; -0.18722
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Ceremonial county	West Sussex
Historic county	Sussex (Town centre and outlying areas) Surrey (Gatwick Airport)
Admin HQ	Crawley Town Hall
Founded	5th century
Borough status	1974
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Crawley Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader and cabinet
• Council Leader	Cllr Michael Jones (L)
• Mayor	Cllr Sharmila Sivarajah (L)
• MPs	Peter Lamb (L)
Area
• Borough	17.36 sq mi (44.96 km2)
Population  (2022)
• Borough	119,509 (ranked 200th)
• Density	5,750/sq mi (2,221/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 73.4% White 15.4% Asian 4.5% Black 4.1% Mixed 2.7% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 42.6% Christianity 35.1% no religion 9.7% Islam 5.7% not stated 5.1% Hinduism 0.7% Sikhism 0.5% other 0.4% Buddhism 0.1% Judaism
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
Postcode	RH6 and RH10–11
Area code	01293
ISO 3166-2	GB-WSX (West Sussex)
ONS code	45UE (ONS) E07000226 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ268360
NUTS 3	UKJ24
Website	crawley.gov.uk

Crawley (^ⓘ) is a town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is 28 miles (45 km) south of London, 18 miles (29 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 32 miles (51 km) north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of 17.36 square miles (44.96 km²) and had a population of 118,493 at the time of the 2021 Census.

The area has been inhabited since the Stone Age,^[2] and was a centre of ironworking in Roman times. Crawley developed slowly as a market town from the 13th century, serving the surrounding villages in the Weald. Its location on the main road from London to Brighton brought passing trade, which encouraged the development of coaching inns. A rail link to London opened in 1841.

Gatwick Airport, one of Britain's busiest international airports, opened for commercial flights on the edge of the town in 1933, encouraging commercial and industrial growth. 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. The New Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68) designated Crawley as the site of one of these.^[3] A master plan was developed for the establishment of new residential, commercial, industrial and civic areas, and rapid development greatly increased the size and population of the town over a few decades.

The town contains 14 residential neighbourhoods radiating out from the core of the old market town, and separated by main roads and railway lines. The nearby communities of Ifield, Pound Hill and Three Bridges were absorbed into the new town at various stages in its development. In 2009, expansion was being planned in the west and north-west of the town, in cooperation with Horsham District Council, which has now become a new neighbourhood named Kilnwood Vale, but it is not in Crawley.^[4] Economically, the town has developed into the main centre of industry and employment between London and the south coast. Its large industrial area supports manufacturing and service companies, many of them connected with the airport. The commercial and retail sectors continue to expand.^[3]