New Jerusalems: Crawley

New Jerusalems: Crawley New Town

In 2021, the Wellcome Trust granted funding for the ‘New Jerusalems: post-war New Town archives in Britain and Ireland‘ project. This collaborative project will make eleven archives from post-war new towns in England, Wales and Ireland accessible for research. 

The new towns included are: Basildon, Bracknell, Crawley, Cwmbran, Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee, Redditch, Runcorn, Shannon, Stevenage and Warrington. The new town archives are held by nine partner organisations which were brought together through the Association of New Towns Archives and Museums.

Here at WSRO, we will be cataloguing the archive of the Crawley Development Corporation which includes minutes, correspondence, maps and plans, photographs, and planning records. This archive, along with those of the other new towns, will provide a substantial increase in the evidence base available for researchers seeking to interrogate the new towns’ legacy.

You can read more about the national project on the New Jerusalems website.

Black and white photograph of Furnace Green in Crawley, showing a view of a newly built street of houses which feature slanted roofs and gardens enclosed with brick walls.
WSRO AM 967/9/50 – New housing in Furnace Green, Crawley, c1960s
Exterior shot of the square building.
WSRO AM 967/9/12 – Queensway Store in Queen’s Square, Crawley, c1960s

Regular updates on the project will be posted on this page.