Two hundred years ago Crowborough was a little more than a scatter of cottages, an inn or two, and a little church and school on the slopes of the Beacon, at nearly 800 feet the second highest point in East Sussex.

A century later the rapidly expanding village was being promoted as a health resort because of its bracing air and magnificent views over three counties. Crowborough was described, without too much regard to geographical accuracy, as Scotland in Sussex, thanks to the proximity of Ashdown forest with its heather and pines, and also as the Harrogate of the South. Houses proliferated, and a number of hotels were built. The largest of all was the 100 bedroomed Beacon, dominating the summit of the hill. The golf course was another major attraction.

Since then Crowborough has developed even further, but not as a health resort, although its situation is magnificently unchanged. With a population of 20,000 it is now the largest inland town in East Sussex. Nearly all the hotels have gone, but the little chapel and school, a legacy of the village's great benefactor, Sir Henry Fermor, remains, enlarged beyond their founder's wildest dreams. The secondary modern school which was built near the Fermor School in the 1950's became the first and largest comprehensive school in the county, and now spreads over two sites as Beacon Community College. The golf club in more popular than at any time in its century-old history, other sports clubs are thriving, and a big leisure and camping and caravan site with its superb view northwards into Kent adds to the attraction of the town.

For 25 years Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, lived at Windlesham, a large house on the southern slopes of the Beacon. Some of the stories featuring the great detective were written there, and the nearby golf course is mentioned in Sir Arthur's novel The Poison Belt. When the 1914-1918 war broke out he organised a local defence force, a forerunner of Dad's Army. Another author, but of a very different kind, who lived at Crowborough for a time was the naturalist Richard Jefferies, commemorated by a plaque on a house in London Road.

Since 1966 Crowborough has been twinned with the French town of Montargis, a link which resulted from a wartime friendship between Resistance leader, Jean Laurent, and the late Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, who lived near Crowborough. Frequent exchange visits are made between the two towns, and the relationship is fostered by the Friends of Montargis in Crowborough and by Les Amis de Crowborough on the other side of the Channel. Crowborough's other twinning partner is the town of Horwich in Lancashire, and their Carnival Queen, together with Montargis's, take part every year in Crowborough Bonfire Society's annual carnival which regularly raises large sums for charity.

The town has had a long association with the British Army. Warren Camp, established in the 1914-1918 war, was in use throughout the second world war, and is still a training base. Another camp was set up on St John's Common during the 1939-45 war, and was used for many years afterwards. The site is now occupied by the Horder Centre for Arthritis, often visited by the patron, Princess Margaret. During the second world war a Canadian Army camp on the edge of the golf course was hit by a flying bomb. A memorial to the soldiers who were killed stands on the site, and a service of remembrance is held annually, organised by Crowborough branch of the Royal British Legion and the Canadian Veterans Association of the United Kingdom. In 1989 the Freedom of Crowborough was bestowed on the Queen's Regiment, and three years later, when the Queens' amalgamated with the Royal Hampshires to form the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, the honour was transferred to the new regiment.

Since 1905 Crowborough, once part of the ancient parish of Rotherfield, has been a separate civil parish. The former parish council is now a Town Council, with a Town Mayor and a Town Hall, the former branch of the East Sussex County library. Among the council's other responsibilities, it maintains six local recreation grounds and playing fields, and organises a summer fair and a firework display on November 5.

Frank Sellens    15/11/2000