Editing Tilgate (section)

==History==
Tilgate was first mentioned in 13th- and 14th-century tax returns with the inclusion of land owned by William Yllegate (or de illegate).

Within the Tilgate forest in the 17th century was a [[Metallurgical furnace|furnace]] (''Tilgate Furnace'').

In the 1860s a large house (''Tilgate Mansion'') and estate was created of 2,185 acres (which included {{convert|800|acre|km2}} of woodland). The entrance and Tilgate Forest Lodge is near [[Three Bridges railway station]]. The supply ponds for the furnace survived and became ''Tilgate Lake'' within the estate.

The estate was associated with the Joliffe family (and later the Nix family of bankers).

The estate was sold by auction on 7 September 1939; this included the park and mansion and properties in [[Three Bridges, West Sussex|Three Bridges]]. The mansion was converted into flats, used by the [[Canadian Army]] during the [[Second World War]] but later demolished. The lodge house is now a bank in Three Bridges. The estate became ''[[Tilgate Park, Crawley|Tilgate Park]]''.