Hospitals and Medical Centres

Allen, W. G. - Dentist – 37-39 High Street
Burn, Alfred - Doctor - 13 Brighton Road

Colyer, Dr. P.U. - Doctor - 17 Brighton Road

Crawley and Ifield Cottage Hospital, 5 Post Office Road

Crawley and Ifield Cottage Hospital was established in 1896 in Post Office Road (later Robinson Road), in a building formally used as a training school for servants. The trustees of the servant's home were the Robinson family, and it was to Mrs. Sarah Robinson that Dr. T.H. Martin (who became the hospitals first chairman) suggested opening a cottage hospital, and Mrs. Robinson set about raising funds.

The hospital opened with two wards, one for men and the other for women, each with two beds. In 1907 subscriptions were sought to improve the facilities, including the addition of an operating theatre. In July 1908 a fete was held at The Elms, which was attended by Princess Alexander of Tech, raising £555 towards the improvements. A wing was added in 1933 which included an X-ray room and staff rooms.

The hospital was moved to Ifield Lodge, on the site of the present hospital, in 1938-9.

Sources & Further Reading
Wayfarer Denman's Crawley Revisited. Nadine Hygate (Nadine Hygate, 1993)
Crawley Observer, 17th May 1984; 6th August 1986


Clout, Dr. I. - Doctors Sugery – Leacroft, Ifield Road

Colyer, Dr. P.U. - Doctor - 17 Brighton Road

Crawley and District Hospital

Guided by Dr. Sidney Ronald Matthews Crawley and Ifield Cottage Hospital moved to Ifield Lodge in West Green in 1939 with it's entrance in Ifield Road opposite Princess Road, The first phase of the current hospital was started in 1959, with a new entrance in West Green Drive. Ifield Lodge was demolished in 1968 to make way for expansion of the hospital, which was opened by The Duchess of Norfolk in 1971. Hospital Radio Crawley began broadcasting to the patients and staff of Crawley Hospital in 1971. The hospital was extended again in 1981.

Crawley and Horsham Trust joined with East Surrey Healthcare NHS Trust in 1998, creating Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. In 2001 the Maternity Wards were transferred to East Surry Hospital, followed by the Accident & Emergency department in August 2004 and Paediatric surgery in 2008. Crawley hospital now has a walk-in centre for the treatment of minor injuries. From 1st October 2006, Crawley Hospital moved to the management of the West Sussex Primary Care Trust.


Dungate, John - Elm Tree Cottage

John Dungate, the son of Charles Dungate also a doctor, became the resident doctor in Crawley during the late 18th-century. He died in 1798. In that year his assistant, Robert Smith, moved to The Tree and set up his own practice.

Sources & Further Reading
Wayfarer Denman's Crawley Revisited, Nadine Hygate (1993), p. 25

Gibb & Raw - Physician & Surgeon - Hazelwick Close

Hanreck, Samuel - Dentist - 4 The Square

Holloway, Florence - District Nurse - 22 Victoria Road

Jones, Sarah M. - Midwife - 37 Three Bridges High Street

Knight, Ronald H. - Physician & Surgeon - 15 Brighton Road

Laughlin, Dr. J. - Doctor – Southmeads, Goffs Park Road

Matthews & Burn - Physicians & Surgeons – 25 Brighton Road
Martin, Matthews & Burn - Physicians & Surgeons – 13, 25 & 26 Brighton Road

Matthews, Matthews & Nankivell - Physician & Surgeon – Blandford; Ravendene, Brighton Road

Matthews, Nankievelle, Laughlin & Vance - Doctors Surgery - 21 Brighton Road

Moller, Dr. S. - Doctor – Trewaren, Ifield Road

Philpott, K.B., Sewell, D.R. - District Nurses - 22 Victoria Road

Preston, Dorcas Mary - Midwife - 257 Ifield Road

Ravendene Surgery

Robert Smith started a practice in 1785, and on his death in 1828 was succeeded by his son, Dr. Tom Smith. He had an assistant, Dr Timothy Martin, and an apprentice, John Leech. In the middle of the nineteenth century the practice became established in Ravendene House, Brighton Road. By 1992 the building was inadequate and the practice moved to Ravendene Court.

Sources & Further Reading
Wayfarer Denman's Crawley Revisited, Nadine Hygate (1993), p. 25

Rolls, Marion - District Nurse - 9 Post Office Road

Rothwell, Thomas - Dental Surgeon - 4 The Square

St. Catherine's Hospice - Malthouse Road, Southgate

In 1978 a committee was set up to establish a community hospice for Crawley. The foundation stone for St. Catherine's Hospice was laid by the Queen Mother in 1982, and the hospice opened in October 1983. In 1984 a second ward was added and the hospice was officially opened by HRH The Duchess of Kent. Diana, Princess of Wales, paid a visit in 1988. In 1991 the “Mynthurst” Hospice building was opened by Mrs. Ernest Kleinwort and the Day Care Centre opened by HRH The Duchess of Kent, followed by the Education and Training Centre in 2002, opened by His Grace The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, and the 21st anniversary garden in 2006.


Sutton and Bufton - Dentists - 16 High Street

Tait, Knight & Martyn - Physicians and Surgeons - 15 Brighton Road

Three Bridges Surgery

In the 1950s Dr, Nankivell originally used the Ravendene Surgery, Brighton Road, but then he took on another partner and opened a surgery in his kitchen in Three Bridges Road. A purpose-built surgery was opened in the early 1960s in Three Bridges Road, which was replaced by a new building in Wassand Close in 1990.


Wood, Percival - Physician & Surgeon - The Grange, 15 Brighton Road

Wright, Edith - District Nurse - 22 Victoria Road