Queen’s Square, Crawley ‘New Town’, West Sussex, England, UK and its iconic bandstand and clocktower photographed in 1966. The Queensway Store (left) was a department store that opened in 1959. It is now the home to Decathlon, a sports shop. Expanding the main shopping facilities were essential for Crawley’s expansion. After the World War II, in order to relocate those in London’s poor or bombed-out housing, large numbers of people and jobs were moved to new towns around SE England and Crawley was the one of these – a vintage 1960s photograph.
Queen’s Square, Crawley ‘New Town’, West Sussex, England, UK and its iconic bandstand and clocktower photographed in 1966. The Queensway Store (left) was a department store that opened in 1959. It is now the home to Decathlon, a sports shop. Expanding the main shopping facilities were essential for Crawley’s expansion. The first stage to open was The Broadwalk in 1954, following by the opening of the Queen's Square development by Her Majesty The Queen in 1958. Crawley is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England, 28 miles (45 km) south of London. Crawley developed slowly as a market town, its location on the main road from London to Brighton bringing passing trade. Gatwick Airport opened on the edge of the town in the 1940s, encouraging commercial and industrial growth. After the World War II, in order to relocate those in London’s poor or bombed-out housing, the government planned to move large numbers of people and jobs into new towns around south east England. The New Towns Act 1946 designated Crawley as the site of one of these. A master-plan of 1949 was produced for the establishment of new residential, commercial, industrial and civic areas. The earliest progress was in West Green, where new residents moved in during the late 1940s. Expectations of the eventual population of the town were revised upwards several times. By 1960 The Development Corporation had built 10,254 houses, and private builders provided around 1,500 more. Tenants were also permitted to buy their houses. This image is from an old amateur Kodak colour transparency. It will look soft if used at too large a size – a vintage 1960s photograph.
Size: 3543px × 2349px
Location: Queen's Square, Crawley, West Sussex, England, UK
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1950s, 1960s, 1966, 50s, 60s, act, architecture, bandstand, british, building, buildings, car, center, centre, clock, clocktower, corporation, crawley, development, downtown, early, fifties, london, modern, nineteen, nostalgic, outer, overspill, park, parking, post, post-war, queens, queensway, retail, retro, shopping, shops, sixties, square, store, sussex, tower, town, towns, uk, vintage, war, west
