The Crawley Croquet Club plays in the grounds of Worth Park, a beautifully restored Victorian garden in Pound Hill, Crawley – and our lawns have been part of this landscape for well over a century.
The lawn sat at the ornamental heart of the estate, framed by Pulhamite balustrades and stone vases, and forming part of a leisure circuit that still connects the formal pond, the lawns, and the tennis court today.
The estate passed through private and school use before Crawley Borough Council took ownership in 1963, and the lawns have remained in continuous use ever since. A major Heritage Lottery Fund restoration – completed in the 2010s – returned the gardens to something close to their Victorian character, and the croquet area was formally recognised as one of the park’s seven distinct character zones.
The club has since taken a further step in securing the future of the lawns – leasing the land directly from the council and taking on responsibility for their maintenance. Today the club manages two full-size lawns, which can be configured as four half-size courts and a practice lawn, all maintained to a high standard by our members within one of West Sussex’s finest public gardens.