| Crowborough |
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| In the spring of this year (1903) the walls and fences of Crowborough were covered with the placards of a firm of estate agents describing the neighbourhood as 'Scotland in Sussex'. The simile may be true of the Ashdown Forest side of the Beacon, but 'Hampstead in Sussex' would be a more accurate decription of Crowborough proper. Never was a fine remote hill so be-villa'd. The east slope is all scaffold poles and heaps of bricks, new churches and chapels are sprouting, and many hoardings announce that Follies, Pierrots, or conjurers are continually imminent. Crowborough itself has shops that would not disgrace Croydon, and a hotel where a Lord Mayor might feel at home. Houses in their own grounds are commoner than cottages, and near the summit the pegs of surveyors and the name-boards of avenues yet to be built testify to the charms which our Saxon Caledonia has already exerted. extract from Highways and Byways in Sussex by E.V. Lucas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crowborough is a town on the Forest Ridge, and was formed into an ecclesiatical parish on 19th September 1880 and into a civil parish on 1st April 1905 from the parish of Rotherfield. Crowborough also includes Crowborough Town (also known as Withyham St John's) - an ecclesiastical parish formed on December 1871 out of the parish of Withyham; Jarvis Brook which became part of Crowborough on 1st April 1905 and was formed into an ecclesiastical parish on 22nd March 1934; Boar's Head, Chapel Green; Crowborough Warren; Hurtis Hill; Palesgate; Southview; Steel Cross; Sweethaws and Whitehill. Crowborough is 42 miles south of London
Crowborough is referred to in historical documents as Crohbergh, Crowbergh, Croweborowghe, Crowbarrow and Crowboro. Croh is the Old English 'croh', meaning saffron and denoting an golden-yellow colour and 'bergh' means hill. The high Crowborough Beacon would have been visible for miles around for its yellow gorse flowers and so the origin of the name Crowborough is probably 'a golden coloured hill' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crowborough historical notes has been derived from the same sources to highlight Crowborough's key events in chronological order | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parish & other records | Before 1500 |
1500 to 1550 |
1550 to 1600 |
1600 to 1650 |
1650 to 1700 |
1700 to 1725 |
1725 to 1750 |
1750 to 1775 |
1775 to 1800 |
1800 to 1825 |
1825 to 1850 |
1850 to 1875 |
1875 to 1900 |
1900 to 1925 |
1925 to 1950 |
1950 to 1975 |
1975 to 2000 |
After 2000 |
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| 2327 | Births | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 97 | 290 | 415 | 835 | 669 | 14 | |||||||||
| 257 | Christenings | 1 | 14 | 228 | 12 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 35 | Marriages | 6 | 9 | 12 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| 98 | Deaths | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 29 | 17 | 19 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 44 | Burials | 1 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 13 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Books and other documents | |
| Published | Title, author and references |
| 1766 | The History of Tunbridge Wells by Thomas Benge Burr ⇒ p. 261 |
| 1830 | Guide of Tunbridge Wells ⇒ p. 160; p. 161 |
| 1840 | New Guide for Tunbridge Wells by John Colbran and edited by James Phippen ⇒ p. 381 |
| 1870 | A Compendious History of Sussex - Volume I. by Mark Antony Lower, M.A. ⇒ p. 125 |
| 1883 | Pelton's Illustrated Guide to Tunbridge Wells by J. Radford Thomson, M.A. ⇒ p. 185 |
| 1885 | Observations upon the Topogarphy and Climate of Crowborough Hill, Sussex by Dr Charles Leeson Prince ⇒ p. iv |
| 1886 | Local Blue Book and Directory of East Sussex ⇒ p. 118 |
| 1890 | An Illustrated Guide to Crowborough by Boys Firmin ⇒ Book extract p. i |
| 1902 | Historical Notes of Withyham, Hartfield and Ashdown Forest by C. N. Sutton ⇒ p. 150 |
| 1904 | Highways and Byways in Sussex by E.V. Lucas ⇒ p. 301 |
| 1909 | English Homes and Villages (Kent & Sussex) also published as Tunbridge Wells and its Neighbourhood by Lady Hope ⇒ p. 101 |
| 1927 | The Sussex Highlands ⇒ p. 15 |
| 1933 | The Story of Crowbrough ⇒ Book |
| 1950 | The History of Crowborough War Memorial Hospital by William Henry Hill ⇒ Pamphlet |
| 1985 | Crowborough - The Growth of a Wealden Town by Malcolm Payne ⇒ Book |
| 1985 | The Crowborough Warren Estate by Pamela Combes ⇒ p. 215 |
| 2004 | The Manor of Duddleswell by Colin J Hobbs ⇒ Manor records |
| 2004 | Historical Essays and Illustrations by Malcolm Payne, Dip. L. Hist. ⇒ Essay |
| Pictures | more pictures | ||||||
 Crowborough Chapel and School - 1744 |  South Front of Penns House in the Rocks near Stoneland - 1773 |  The North View of Walshes in the Parish of Rotherfield formerly belonging to Sir Henry Fermor Bt - 1773 |  A South West View of Penns Pocks from the Vale on the Meadow - 1785 |  South View of Penns Rock taken from the side of the Hill on the South with a distant View of Farm Houses - 1785 |  North East View of Penns Rocks taken from the lower part of the Meadow - 1785 |  Distant View of Penns Rocks from the field West of the Hop Ground - 1785 | |
 Crowborough Hill - 1838 |  St Johns Almshouse - c 1850 |  Penns Rocks - c 1850 |  High Street - 1885 |  Crowborough Observatory - c 1885 |  All Saints Church - 1890 |  Mill Pond, The Warren - 1890 | |
| Crowborough Maps | |||||||
 c 1724 |  c 1795 |  c 1825 |  c 1875 |  c 1899 | |||
| Sussex Maps | |||||||
 1610 |  1645 |  1695 |  1st Sept 1787 |  1808 |  1840 |  1864 | |
| Places and properties in Crowborough - a directory of homes, farms, churches, schools, inns, and other places of interest that existed prior to 1900 has been compiled from Post Office directories, Kelly's directories, Trade directories, Census data, Ordnance survey maps and books of the period |
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The Weald is at Database version 14.05 which has ongoing updates to the 395,000 people; 9,000 places; 613 maps; 3,308 pictures, engravings and photographs; and 248 books loaded in the previous version
