What's In A Street Name 12 - Ashburnham Road

I went on another walk around Crawley this morning and this particular name has a lot behind it.

This road is in the neighbourhood of Furnace Green. Furnace Green was named after a farm on the site and was developed between 1960 and 1975. Development was slow and was intended for what was termed "the lower executive class" By 1962 460 Standard II houses each with a garage had been built for rent and another 42 for sale (One would love to know how much they were being sold for then!!).

So, what is the story behind this road? A clue is in the name of the neighbourhood. Furnace Green and Furnace Farm take their name from Tilgate Furnace that was operating in the 16th and 17th Centuries in the heyday of the Wealden Iron Industry. The large lake in Tilgate Park nearby is a later lake on the site of the original, but nothing survives of the furnace today. Ashburnham Road is named along with a number of others after major sites of the Wealden Iron Industry. Ashburnham is one such site in East Sussex and was the very last ironworks to close - the furnace in 1813 and the forge in 1828. This was a works of great importance and operated from at least the 1550's. Ashburnham lies between Herstmonceux and Battle in East Sussex and is a parish that contains a large house, Ashburnham Place that today is the most well known feature as it is used for Christian retreats. Of greater interest to me is that it also has a church dating from the 17th Century which is a period when few churches were built due to the religious upheavals of the period. Even more unusual is that it is built in the Gothic style at a time when Renaissance and Classical were the architectural styles of choice. There are a number of roads named after ironworks (particularly furnaces) such as Strudgate and Warnham for example. Once again a road name with a considerable amount of history behind it.