Bewbush

Bewbush

Beaubush, to the north of St. Leonard's Forest, dates back to the middle ages.  A park was recorded at Bewbush as early as 1295. It was granted by Henry VII to Lord de la Warr in 1486, passing on to Lord Berkeley and then Sir Thomas Seymour, who had his lands confiscated by the crown.  It was a manor which later became known as the Holmbush Estate. The manor house was first mentioned in the early 14th century, although this no longer remains. A building with some 17th-century elements remains, although it was clad in brick in the 19th century and belonged for most of the twentieth century to the Clifton Brown family. The estate was broken up, and mansions at Holmbush and Buchan Hill were built on the former estate.  In 1973, some 300 acres (1.2 km2) were purchased by Crawley Borough Council.  During this time, the manor house was converted into flats by Crawley Borough Council and now stands amid modern developments in the neighbourhood.  Bewbush Manor House is grade II listed, as is the barn, just over the road, which has been restored and used as a church since 1999.

The borough council began development of the new neighbourhood of Bewbush in 1974, with a leisure centre opening in 1984, and a shopping parade the following year. Additional land was brought into the borough of Crawley from Lower Beeding in 1983 to see the extension of the neighbourhood to reach its capacity population of 9000.  Development of the neighbourhood continued into the 1990s and beyond.



Bewbush official recorded population:

2001: 9081
2011: 8865