All Saints

All Saints was founded in 1843 when the village of Crawley Down was quite small. Over the years it has expanded very rapidly particularly to serve the housing needs of Gatwick Airport.

The parish of Crawley Down is fortunate in having a beautiful Victorian church as a place of worship and we remember with gratitude the act of faith and generosity that led the Lord of the Manor, Henry Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and the Rector of Worth, George Bethune, and the inhabitants of Worth Parish of St Nicholas to give land and money to enable the church to be built in 1843. It was built of locally hewn sandstone, rather than of the more common brick of that era. It is in Early English style, with pointed arches and windows and having an arch braced timber roof structure.

A sad event occurred in October 1987 when, as a result of the great storm, ten mature trees were lost in the churchyard. One oak fell against the eastern nave gable wall, knocking down the stone cross sitting on the gable coping, but merely brushing the altar windows and, miraculously, not a glass or lead was broken. On that same night the roof of the Lady Chapel was damaged and some timbers had to be replaced.

Almost all the soft furnishings in use at the church have been designed and made by parishioners. Joan Field designed the kneelers and these were made in 1975 by a group from the afternoon Women’s Institute and others, each kneeler commemorating a saint.

The wooden chest on the north side of the church, in which the altar frontals are kept, was made by Fred Rood.