Crowborough
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Crowborough is the largest inland town in East Sussex, United Kingdom. No one is quite sure of the origins of the name. The most prosaic interpretation is that it was frequented by crows. However crows are not by nature flocking birds unlike rooks which are also numerous in the area. Crowborough's early industry was iron smelting and it was suggested in the Story of Crowborough published by the Courier in 1933 that Crowborough derived its name from the Irish for Iron or Croe. Malcolm Payne who wrote Crowborough - The Growth of a Wealden Town in 1985 wrote that it was possible that its name was based upon its visual aesthetics. Croh is a Saxon word for saffron or saffron coloured. The common town name ending "borough" is usually a corruption of the old English "burh" meaning a hill fort or fortified place (barrow). It is possible that people looking at the hill in spring or early summer would have seen a hill covered in yellowish-golden gorse and would have referred to it as "croh-burh" (meaning ochre-coloured barrow) which later became "Crowborough."
Crowborough was generally thought to be an uncivilised place until Henry Fermor bequeathed money for a Church and Charity School in his will in 1734 for the benefit of the 'very ignorant and heathenish people' that lived there. The Church and School (primary) still survive today.
In Victorian times it was promoted as a health resort based on its high elevation, the rolling hills and surrounding forest. Some went as far as to call it 'Scotland in Sussex'.
It is the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories, whose unique statue stands in the town centre and Richard Jefferies. It is also home of the English Grand Lodge for Europe and Africa of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC.
Actor David Jason lived in the Town during the 1980's.
Crowborough shares the headquarters of Wealden District Council with nearby Hailsham. It is twinned with the French town Montargis and the Greater Manchester town Horwich.
The town is on the summit of one of the highest points in East Sussex. The relative height of the highest point of the town is 159 m, meaning Crowborough qualifies as one of England's Marilyns. The actual summit is not marked in any way on the ground, however.
Nowadays, Crowborough is not so rural as it once was, mostly referred to as a suburban town. Being only about 55 km (30 miles) from Central London, many of the larger chains have taken over this small town, and it is now far more similar to the larger town of Tunbridge Wells, located approximately 7 miles away, and although shopping in Crowborough is still more limited than in larger areas nearby such as Tunbridge Wells, the number of shops is steadily increasing - there are now several large supermarkets in the town. It is also about 7 miles from Uckfield.
The town is also home to the Horder Centre. The Centre was founded in 1954 as the charity "The Horder Centre for Arthritics" by Cecilia Bochenek. Today the Centre provides orthopaedic diagnosis, treatment and surgery for hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, hands and spinal - as well as rheumathology, specialist assessment of arthritis or other musculo-skeletal conditions.
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[edit] Local Traditions
A torch lit street Carnival, (and in previous years a bonfire on Chapel Green) are held annually by The Crowborough Bonfire & Carnival Society[1], on the second week in September.
Image:Sept (82).JPG
[edit] Sport & Leisure
Crowborough has several recreation grounds, perhaps most notably Goldsmiths, which is the site of the local Leisure Centre. The Goldsmiths Recreation Ground was given to the parish by private owners in 1937. The Town Council has since purchased additional land and has developed the ground into a much needed recreation centre for the whole community. The ground now houses a sports centre including a swimming pool, a boating lake, the Locomotive Society, the Camping and Caravan and Petanque clubs.[2]
Crowborough Athletic F.C. are the Towns main football club, and currently play in Sussex County League Division One.
[edit] External links
- Crowborough at the Open Directory Project
- Crowborough Official Guide
- Local information page ("The Official Town Website") from The Crowborough Partnership
- Crowborough on VillageNet
- Diary of events in Crowborough
- The Horder Centre
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.fireworks.co.uk/abt/bonfiresocieties.html
- ^ http://www.localauthoritypublishing.co.uk/councils/crowborough/index.html
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