Southgate is one of the 14 residential neighbourhoods in Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. Crawley was planned and laid out as a New Town after the Second World War, based on the principle of self-contained neighbourhoods surrounding a town centre of civic and commercial buildings. Southgate was one of the four in the "inner ring" closest to the town centre, and was intended to be the largest of the nine designed in the original master plan. It was built in two stages between the 1950s and the 1970s, but retains some older buildings from before the New Town era and has "significant areas of pre-New Town character".
The area was settled by pre-Roman people, and industrial and other artefacts from that era were found during construction of the neighbourhood. In the 19th century, after Crawley was connected to the national railway network, housing developed south of the line around the Brighton Road, which divides the modern neighbourhood in two. New Town-era expansion produced a large residential area with a high proportion of terraced houses and a range of schools, places of worship and community facilities; but some historic buildings and areas of open space remain, including an award-winning park. The population at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011 was 8,533.
History
In the century before the Romans arrived in Britain, the area now covered by West Sussex was ruled by the Atrebates, a Belgic tribe led by Commius. They were found to have been present in the area now covered by Southgate when building work took place in 1969. The Southgate West development was underway on land covered by Hogs Hill Farm, which occupied a ridge of land between the Horsham and Brighton Roads. Land clearance revealed two ditches filled with debris such as bones and pieces of pottery. The next year, a large house on Horsham Road was demolished to make way for a new road of houses; the builders discovered similar pits, and the remains were identified as pre-Roman using carbon dating techniques. The remains of crucibles, slag and other ironworking materials were also discovered; these were confirmed as being from the same era, the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. It was later confirmed that the Hogs Hill Farm remains dated from the Roman era, meaning that the ironmaking and pottery-producing activities of the Atrebates were continued by their conquerors.
left|thumb|Goffs Park - December 2025
These discoveries confirmed for the first time the existence of Iron Age, pre-Roman ironmaking and industrial development in the area of northern Sussex now occupied by Crawley. did not want building work to be delayed, and tried to prevent archaeologists, other professionals, enthusiasts and the general public alike visiting the Hogs Hill Farm site and searching for remains. The parish had an unusual shape: very narrow, long from north to south, and gradually widening to the north until it met the county boundary with Surrey. This directed development northwards along the High Street, part of the ancient London to Brighton road which had provided the impetus for development to begin. The road was partly turnpiked after an Act of Parliament in 1696, and became fully turnpiked in 1770. By this time the distinction between the name "London Road" (the section north of the church) and "Brighton Road" (southwards) had been made; and tollgates were built north and south of the town: these became known as the North Gate and South Gate. It crossed the High Street at a level crossing at the south end of the built-up area. Richard Cook set up a building firm next to the railway line soon after its completion; in the early 1870s he built some streets of mainly terraced houses west of Brighton Road. Confusingly in the context of Crawley's later history, this area was called "New Town", a name which persisted for many years; it had no connection with the later establishment of the New Town of Crawley under the New Towns Act 1946, the name being merely a coincidence. Based around Springfield Road and West Street, at the junction of which was Cook's yard, the "New Town" area had 43 houses in 1875. In the early 1880s, James Longley established his building company nearby, which by 1909 had built an estate of houses east of the Brighton Road. The roads East Park and Malthouse Road had a mixture of terraced cottages, semi-detached houses, detached houses and large villas, all built from red brick. Large houses were also built down both sides of the Brighton Road. Goffs Park Road, between the Brighton and Horsham Roads, began to be built up in 1895, and saw more residential development in the interwar period. Crawley's first permanent cinema, the Imperial, was established nearby in 1911, replacing a temporary structure; it burnt down in 1928 but was rebuilt, only to be superseded by a larger building in the town centre in the 1930s. It has been a car dealership since the 1940s. Further down the Brighton Road, near the Hogs Hill Farm where Iron Age remains were later found, the Half Moon Inn and Hotel was built in the late 19th century, and rebuilt in 1890. To the west, Goffs Park was established as a parkland and recreational area by the early 20th century.
During World War II, the Crawley area was hit by about 50 high explosive bombs and 2,000 incendiary bombs. The attack which caused the greatest loss of life happened on 10 July 1944, when Southgate's Victorian streets were hit by two V-1 flying bombs. One landed in Malthouse Road and did not detonate, but another destroyed 15 houses, killed seven people and injured 44 more when it exploded at the junction of Oak Road and West Street.
New Town era
thumb|right|Looking east along Southgate Drive
Crawley was designated as a New Town in January 1947 after the New Towns Act 1946 identified it as a suitable site for one. A Development Corporation was formed, led by the architect Thomas Bennett, and planner Anthony Minoprio provided a master plan for the town's development.
Southgate West suffered even longer delays, partly because of problems with the planned construction processes. A shopping parade was built on Wakehurst Drive in Southgate East in the mid-1950s; the Development Corporation tried to provide some architectural diversity between the neighbourhoods, and as such it was designed as an arcade. St Mary's Church was built opposite the parade in 1958; The Arora International Hotel Gatwick/Crawley also stands nearby.—and the A2004 Southgate Avenue. The A2219 Brighton Road, part of the original turnpike, coaching route and later main road from London to Brighton, runs through the heart of Southgate from north to south. The neighbourhood is roughly pentagonal and covers .
When the New Town was planned, each neighbourhood was allocated a colour, which appears on street name signs together with the neighbourhood's name. Southgate's colour is dark brown.
Governance
thumb|right|The Crawley Borough area, showing the 13 neighbourhoods; Southgate is shown in brown
When Crawley Urban District was formed in May 1956, it was divided into eight wards whose boundaries were identical with those of eight of the extant and planned neighbourhoods. By 1983, nine years after the district became a borough, the town had thirteen wards. This position remained the same until an electoral review in 2002, which created two new wards. Throughout these changes, Southgate's ward boundaries remained the same, and they are still coterminous with those of the neighbourhood. The ward elects three councillors. These proportions are almost identical to the housing tenure mix of Crawley as a whole. The most prevalent housing type in Southgate, in which 52% of residents live, is the terraced house. The proportion is about in Southgate West.
According to the census, 90.6% of Southgate residents were White, 6.3% were Asian or Asian-British, 0.8% were Black or Black-British, 1.5% were mixed-race and 0.7% were from another ethnic background. The proportion of white people was slightly higher, and that of Asian people slightly lower, than in Crawley overall; other proportions were comparable to Crawley as a whole. Southgate's age profile at the census date was older than that of Crawley as a whole, in common with the other inner neighbourhoods: 1,609 residents (19.8%) were under 18 years old, 4,853 (59.9%) were between 18 and 64 years old, and 1,644 (20.3%) were 65 years old or older. The corresponding figures for Crawley were 23,748 (23.8%), 61,338 (61.5%) and 14,658 (14.7%).
Economy
thumb|right|Arora International Hotel
Modern Southgate is primarily residential, and the area was mostly undeveloped before the New Town was created. Nevertheless, some commercial and industrial development existed around the Brighton Road and railway line, and farming provided employment. Two sets of local shops serve the modern neighbourhood, but its proximity to Crawley town centre and main transport routes mean that, as intended in Anthony Minoprio's masterplan, residents travel outside Southgate for most of their employment and shopping requirements.
In common with other areas around Crawley, the land to the south was held by several large farms. Malthouse Farm had its own small-scale brickworks as well; Hilltop Farm was at the highest point in the area, above sea level; stood on a ridge east of the Brighton Road. and was based at the corner of two of the new streets. Cook and Sons' advertisements revealed the range of products manufactured: the works made bricks, tiles, pipes and pottery, and his team of labourers carried out all types of building and contracting work. and one of its largest: in 1898 more than 700 people worked for it. Longley moved his small firm from Turners Hill in 1881 when he bought Malthouse Farm and its brickworks. Longley and Sons, which soon became Longley and Company, quickly became one of southeast England's main building firms; The firm recovered, though, and was able to tender for a wide range of contracts in the New Town era, including Hazelwick School, much of the Manor Royal industrial estate, Crawley fire station, the Queen's Square shopping area and Crawley College's tower block extension. The Arora International Hotel Gatwick/Crawley, which has conference facilities, a large health and fitness suite and restaurant, was built on the site at the end of East Park in 2001. The 4-star hotel has 432 bedrooms.
Public buildings and facilities
thumb|right|Meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
St Mary's Church is the Anglican parish church of Southgate. The churches in the Broadfield, Furnace Green and Tilgate neighbourhoods are linked to it as daughter churches. Architects Henry Braddock and D.F. Martin-Smith designed it in 1958. The concrete and glass structure has a small flèche on top of a bell tower, and has an adjoining hall which can be opened out to increase the capacity of the church. It is on Wakehurst Drive opposite the main shopping parade. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a meetinghouse on Horsham Road; it was designed by the chief architect of the town, Sir Thomas Bennett, and built in 1964 on land provided by Crawley Development Corporation. ChristChurch (formerly Gateway Church International) on Brewer Road is a non-denominational church associated with the New Covenant Ministries International movement; its barnlike building has a semicircular roof.
thumb|left|[[St Wilfrid's Catholic School, Crawley|St Wilfrid's Catholic School]]
St Wilfrid's Catholic School is a 900-pupil voluntary aided secondary school, which opened in 1952 in the former Oakwood House next to Goffs Park. It was extended several times and became a comprehensive in 1967. Former pupils include Robert Smith of rock band The Cure. A Roman Catholic primary school, St Francis of Assisi School, is located on Southgate Drive. Southgate Primary School was formed in 2004 from a merger between a first school and a middle school on the same site. The school is now a 400 pupil fast-growing school. These had in turn been formed from the original Southgate County Infant and Junior School, opened in 1956. Residential development in Southgate West resulted in the opening of first and middle schools there, in 1969 and 1970 respectively; these closed in 2004 and were replaced by Hilltop Primary School.
St. Catherine's Hospice, a charity which provides hospice care to patients throughout West Sussex and Surrey, is based on Malthouse Road in the 19th-century part of Southgate. Crawley's new skatepark was built on playing fields at Southgate Avenue in 2007.
Heritage
thumb|right|Goffs Manor—a Grade II [[listed building]]
Two of the 100 listed buildings and structures in the Borough of Crawley are in Southgate. Goffs Manor, in Goffs Park, is a Grade II-listed 16th-century farmhouse which is now a restaurant and pub. Before its conversion, actor Peter Vaughan owned and lived in it. The building is timber-framed, as many Crawley houses of the time were, although little of this is now visible. The upper floor is hung with red tiles. The roof is made of slabs of Horsham Stone. An original open fireplace remains inside. The signal box next to the level crossing on Crawley High Street, another Grade II-listed building, is just on the Southgate side of the railway line. It was built in about 1860 and has a hipped roof.
thumb|left|Goffs Park House—a [[Locally listed buildings in Crawley|locally listed building]]
Crawley Borough Council has designated a conservation area around the level crossing on Brighton Road. Part of this falls within Southgate's boundaries. Elsewhere, Goffs Park Road has been given the status of an Area of Special Environmental Quality. Goffs Park House was designed in 1882 by architect William Buck and built by a Horsham-based firm on behalf of banker Edwin Henty. The red-brick, Bath stone and sandstone building combines the Queen Anne Revival and Vernacular styles. Its large grounds have become Goffs Park. Nightingale House on the Brighton Road dates from 1901 and was originally a bank branch. Its "striking corner turret", oriel windows and detailed treatment of the ground-floor elevation make it a local landmark. The four villas at 108–122 Malthouse Road, forming eight semi-detached houses, are of a similar date and retain most of their original features such as carved timber porches and stained glass panelling. The local building firm James Longley & Company built them. Nearby, 49 Brighton Road, a large detached villa, is an example of Richard Cook's late-19th-century housing in the "New Town" area of Southgate. St Mary's Church is also on the local list. The nearest railway station is Crawley, which has a rear entrance on East Park Road in the north of the neighbourhood.
Levels of vehicle ownership, as measured by the 2001 census, are lower than in Crawley as a whole. At the census date, the mean number of vehicles per household was 1.09 (the overall Crawley figure was 1.21), and 25.4% of households had no transport of their own, compared to 20.4% in Crawley overall.