Ifield Parish Map
Ifield Golf Course

On the ridge to the west of the Millpond is Ifield Golf Course which opened in 1927 following the purchase of Hyde Farm by Lord of The Manor, Sir John Drughorn, who then employed esteemed golfing architects Frederick G Hawtree and John Henry Taylor to design the course. Among the other credits of both men is the design of Royal Birkdale.

The completed course was sold to members at a discounted price and, if important historic golf courses were listed by Historic England in the same manner as buildings are, then Ifield would undoubtedly feature on the list.

The course itself is littered with evidence of iron ore minepits and limestone quarries - limestone being used as a flux in the blast furnaces of the 16th and 17th centuries. It's also interesting to note that most of the old field patterns of Hyde Farm can still be traced in shaws, hedgerows, ditches and tree lines. See the 1909 OS map and recent Lidar scan of the area at the foot of this page by clicking here

For more details of the heritage assets to be found across the Golf Course please see The Non-Designated Heritage Assets West of Ifield

A map, from 1909, showing the field patterns at Hyde Farm

A recent Lidar scan of Ifield Golf course demonstrating that the vast majority of the old field boundaries still exist, hidden in plain sight.

An 'Ancient Ifield' Exhibition was held at Crawley Museum between 5 June and 5 July 2025. The posters that were on display at this exhibition can be downloaded from here. The video that was shown, including a version with an alternative soundtrack, along with the trailer used to promote it can be viewed here.

Text & photographs © Ian Mulcahy. Contact photos@iansapps.co.uk or visit my 'Use of my photographs' page for licensing queries. Maps reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland