Welcome to Crawley Museum Society

Crawley Museum Society manages two museums for the town of Crawley, West Sussex - Crawley Museum Centre in Goffs Park and the Watermill at Ifield.

Crawley Museum Centre is the town’s repository for artefacts and archives. Based in a park setting in an annexe to Goffs Park House in Southgate, Crawley, this local history Museum has collections that illustrate Crawley's history from the Stone Age to the New Town. It has permanent exhibitions and a rolling programme of temporary exhibitions. It is also the start of a continual learning process for families and children. They bring with them a desire for quality information about local history. The Museum provides a comprehensive overview of the area's past. Crawley Museum can show not copies but ‘real’ objects. We have a collection of thousands of artefacts, ranging from flint tools and arrowheads, Iron-age pottery, Romano-British ware through to Victorian mementoes. Our archival material is continually growing.

Ifield Watermill is a working corn mill. It demonstrates continual land use from the Roman period to the current day. It is unique in Sussex as it is the only working watermill which is directly powered by its original water source - the Ifield Millpond. It has displays covering the local history of Ifield as well as displays on milling and agriculture. The Mill has four floors of exhibitions on milling and the agricultural history of the area. The mill is only open to the general public on the last Sunday in each of the summer months and on National Mills Day. We are proud to say that we have access for the disabled to all four floors. Entrance to the mill is free but donations are appreciated. The mill can also be opened, by arrangement, for societies and groups at times which are mutually convenient. In addition we also offer illustrated talks at your venue or at the mill.

The mill, derelict in 1970, has been lovingly restored over the last 35 years by a dedicated team of volunteers, but over time the waterwheel rotted once more and for the last year the mill was unable to operate normally. However, after a long campaign and help from local oganisations and Crawley Council, the wheel has been rebuilt in iron with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Work has nearly finished and the wheel was up and running on National Mills Day -  May 11th 2008. The next public opening will be on Sunday 27th July from 2:30 - 5:00pm.

  ( Right mouse click on a picture to enlarge it !)

Crawley Hall  -   now at the

Weald & Downland Museum