Fernhill, Surrey
Fernhill is a hamlet close to Gatwick Airport in Surrey. Fernhill lies to the north of Crawley and is bounded on three sides by motorways and the airport.
Location
Fernhill is in the far south of Surrey. To the west, Balcombe Road (part of the B2036 Horley–Burgess Hill road) separates Fernhill from Gatwick Airport. Antlands Lane (part of the B2037 to East Grinstead) leads from Tinsley Green to Shipley Bridge and Burstow, forming the southern boundary. Peeks Brook Lane runs south–north through the area, and Fernhill Road (formerly Fernhill Lane) runs west–east and connects it to Balcombe Road. Gatwick Airport is a mile and a half to the west,[1] and the town of Horley is the same distance north.[2]
The Baptist chapel in Fernhill was recorded in 1911 as one of two in the parish of Burstow.[3]
Transport
The nearest railway stations are Gatwick Airport and Horley. Metrobus routes 526 and 527 run hourly in each direction on weekdays and every 90 minutes on Saturdays, providing a service to Tinsley Green, Three Bridges, Crawley town centre, Crawley Hospital, Ifield, Charlwood, Horley, Smallfield and Burstow.[4]
Heritage
There are four listed buildings in Fernhill, and a further six have been given locally listed status by Crawley Borough Council. Just west of the Balcombe Road, and now within the boundary of Gatwick Airport, are two surviving mediæval buildings: Edgeworth House and Wing House. They are attached to each other at right-angles but are of different dates: Edgeworth House (a four-bay timber-framed hall house) is 15th- or early 16th-century,[5][6] while Wing House dates from the mid-16th century. It has Charlwood and Horsham stonework, brick, timber framing and a tiled roof.[7] On Donkey Lane, which leads north from Fernhill Road and becomes a footpath, Lilac Cottage and Old Cottage are listed. Lilac Cottage is partly tile-hung and retains its original (18th-century) chimneys, inglenook fireplace and timber framing.[8] Old Cottage is a similar but older (17th- or early-18th-century) house: it has brickwork, timber framing and exterior tiles on the upper storey.[9]
Of the locally listed buildings, Burstow Hall is a mid-19th-century mansion of stone and brick (including some multicoloured glazed brickwork);[10] Gatwick House is a large block of serviced offices which was built in 1876 as a country house and which combines the Gothic Revival and Neo-Georgian styles;[10] Poplars is a slightly altered three-bay house of the mid-19th century;[11] Number 1 Pullcotts Farm Cottages has ground-floor brickwork in various colours, tile-hanging above and old sash windows;[12] Royal Oak House is a large stuccoed villa of the 1880s;[11] and Touchwood Chapel is the hamlet's former Baptist chapel, built in 1885 and now in residential use.[10]
1969 air crash
On 5 January 1969, a Boeing 727 airliner operated by Ariana Afghan Airlines crashed in Fernhill, killing 50 people. It came down in heavy, freezing fog on its approach to Gatwick Airport on a flight from Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. There were 48 fatalities on the aircraft,[13] and two Fernhill residents were killed when it crashed into and destroyed their house, Longfield, on the south side of Fernhill Road. A baby also in the house at the time survived.[2][14]
References
Notes
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- ↑ Bird, Philip; Moore, Joe; Mulcock, John (6 January 1969). "How horror came from the sky at 2.35 am". Evening Argus (incorporating Sussex Daily News) (Brighton) (Special Extra Edition): p. 12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Surrey Constabulary – Part 3: Policing Change 1951–1975. Airliner crashes on approach to Gatwick Airport 1969". The Open University International Centre for the History of Crime, Policing and Justice. Open University and Robert Bartlett. 2013. http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/history-from-police-archives/RB1/Pt3/pt3GatwickCrash69.html.
- ↑ Malden, H. E., ed (1911). "A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Parishes: Burstow". Victoria County History of Surrey. British History Online. pp. 176–182. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/Surrey/vol3/pp176-182.
- ↑ "Route 526 and 527 Timetable". Metrobus Ltd. 1 September 2012. http://www.metrobus.co.uk/download/11629.8/route-526-and-527-timetable-010912/?disposition=inline.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1187072: Edgeworth House, Balcombe Road, Crawley (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Planning Application CR/2006/0717/FUL". Planning application CR/2006/0717/FUL (Edgeworth Site, Buckingham Gate, Gatwick Airport, Crawley). Crawley Borough Council. 22 January 2007. http://www.crawley.gov.uk/pw/Planning_and_Development/Planning_Permission___Applications/Planning_Applications_Search/index.htm?pAppNo=CR/2006/0717/FUL&pRecordID=28397&pAppDocName=PLA_&pageCSS=&pAppNo=CR/2006/0717/FUL&pDayFrom=&pMonthFrom=&pYearFrom=&pDayTo=&pMonthTo=&pYearTo=&pWard=&pLocation=&pPostcode=&pDateType=&pProposal=. "Erection of new hotel, including meeting & catering facilities, 218 bedrooms and 148 parking spaces"
- ↑ National Heritage List 1187073: Wing House, Balcombe Road, Crawley (Grade II listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1298874: Lilac Cottage, Donkey Lane, Fernhill, Crawley (Grade II listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1187082: Old Cottage, Donkey Lane, Fernhill, Crawley (Grade II listing)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Crawley Borough Council 2010, p. 12.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Crawley Borough Council 2010, p. 11.
- ↑ Crawley Borough Council 2010, p. 10.
- ↑ Kelly 1969, §1.1.
- ↑ "Couple die in house wiped out in Gatwick air disaster: 50 dead". Crawley & District Observer (Crawley) (4552): p. 14. 10 January 1969.
Outside links
- Location map: 51°9’18"N, 0°8’20"W
Bibliography
- Crawley Borough Council (November 2010). "Crawley Local Building List". Crawley Borough Council. http://www.crawley.gov.uk/pw/web/int175663.
- Kelly, G.M. (7 January 1969). "Civil Aircraft Accident Report No. EW/C/303: Report on the Accident to Boeing 727-112C YA-FAR 1.5 miles east of London (Gatwick) Airport on 5th January 1969". Her Majesty's Stationery Office. http://www.gatwickaviationsociety.org.uk/YA-FAR.asp.