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Abbey Estate
Abbey School. The largest and best known of the boys'
schools which was built on a site of an old gravel pit between Copers
Cope and Park Roads. The land had been part of Copers Cope Farm, and the school
was built in 1868 by the first headmaster Rev Thomas Lloyd Phillips and was designed to give the impression of a
venerable antique Abbey building. The school flourished but in 1940, to avoid the bombing, it
moved to East Grinstead and never returned after the war. It finally closed in
1969. the Abbey Estate
of flats and houses has been built on the site. The Worsley Bridge Primary
School was built on the Abbey playing fields.
Beckenham
Bromley’s little
sister. Name from Beohha a saxon farmer.. ‘Beohha hammesgemxru’ 973 in an Anglo-Saxon
charter, ‘Bacheham’ 1086 in the Domesday Book, ‘Becheham’ 1179, ‘Bekenham’
1240, that is 'homestead or enclosure of a man called *Beohha', from an
Old English personal name genitive case
‘-n’ and Old English ‘ham’ or ‘hamm’. The first spelling from a description of
the Anglo-Saxon bounds of Bromley
contains the Old English word ‘gemxre’ 'boundary'. An even earlier reference in
another Bromley charter dated 862 is the phrase’Biohhahema mearcx’ 'boundary of
the people of Beckenham', from Old
English ‘hxme’ 'dwellers' and mearc 'mark, boundary'.
the coming of suburban railways to
Beckenham in the 1860s led to a spectacular growth of population. In 1861 the
population of the village was 2,391; in 1871 it was 6,090, in 1881 13,011 and
by 1891 29,707. A soaring population meant expanding spiritual requirements,
and this was in turn reflected by a
mushrooming of places to worship.
Beckenham Hill Road
Red House. Good early c20
neo-Georgian.
Lodges - one
heightened later by a Jacobean gable
Historically, the land on either side of the drive was open
parkland. Drive was the main Beckenham
Road and it was cut off by Cator
Beckenham Place Park
The only large mansion in ample
grounds to remain in the area. The
grounds, now a public park and golf course is mostly in Lewisham. The house actually lies just over the
boundary, in Bromley. The estate was
bought by John Cator, the developer of Blackheath Park in 1773 from the
trustees of the second Earl of Bolingbroke. Cator became Lord of the Manor in
1773; the
park belonged to his descendents throughout the c19. It was opened to the
public two years after the LCC acquired it from the family in 1927. Records of the estate can be traced to the reign of Edward I
1272-1307. It has been held by a number of families of local and national
significance, notably the St.John family: Henry St.John, Viscount Bolingbroke
was leader of the Tory Party in the 18th century. In 1773, the estate was sold
to John Cator, a prominent member of a family which had an immense influence on
the form and character of the contemporary town. Cator built the current
Beckenham Place and sold Beckenham's Old Manor shortly thereafter. By 1840 Beckenham
Place was occupied by William Peters, followed in 1858 by H.L. Holland of Langley Farm. Subsequently the mansion
was a Boys' School, then a Sanatorium and now the
Golf House of the G.L.C. Golf Course after the L.C.C. bought it in 1928. The Cator family, no longer holds the
manor but maintain their interest in Beckenham. The debts of the estate
built up during the lifetime of John Cator's son, John Barwell Cator
(1781-1858). Parliament sanctioned the sale of entailed land bound to a family
by a longstanding trust in 1825. The timely administration of the estate and
the drawing up of a development plan 1864 by Peter Cator, an ex Indian Civil
Servant, enabled Albemarle Cator, Barwell's son, to inherit a reduced area,
saved from ruin by income from new property rents and sales. Both before and
after the drafting of Peter Cator's development plan, many new houses were
constructed on the formerly rural estate as a means of raising income, a
process that continued until the 1890's, by which time Beckenham was firmly
attached to London and a complete network of new residential roads had been
built.
Walled Gardens planted by
Linneus. Dr.Johnson advised on the
trees. Now many birds. Cator was a timber merchant. Planting in the
park was reputedly carried out by (amongst others) the noted botanist Linnaeus many species belong to him. Cator's
father-in-law, Peter Collinson, was also an early botanist and landscape
architect. He introduced exotic trees and shrubs into the grounds.
Park. park with formal decorative
plantings and a large golf course, now close. The golf course included acid grassland and a pond. Elsewhere, the
grounds are dominated by grasses like rye but the presence of bent
grass and sheep sorrel help to indicate underlying acid conditions. Around the
edges hawthorn and willow grow. .
The main block of woodland is to the North of the pavilion and South of the Ash
Plantation. The oak-dominated ancient woodland has been modified by some
planting of exotics such as sweet chestnut and cherry laurel. Hornbeam and ash
add to the canopy and the understorey consists of natives like wild service,
blackthorn, hazel, holly and hawthorn. The ground flora includes bluebells and
dog's mercury. Alder with remote sedge, which shows a damp
environment. The park
slopes towards the Ravensbourne. The river has been canalised to prevent
flooding but in some places looks natural where the bank is covered with water
edge plants like reed-canary grass or bistort. Such a range of habitats
attracts many birds. Some 45 species have been recorded although this marks a
decline on numbers taken 25 years ago when 65 species were noted. Nature Conservation Centre.
Ravensbourne through the park, ancient wood, pond and swamp
Pond to the west of the
mansion,. It is fenced off but this has more to do with the mud than for protecting
the habitat.
Homestead
with small pond in the rear gardene4
Beckenham Place.
The main house is a Palladian block, stone, with a curved feature on the garden side, the only ornament here an iron
balcony and rusticated basement quoins. an addtion was built from materials
brought from Wricklemarsh House at Blackheath Park, the Palladian mansion by
John James of 1721, which Cator demolished in 1787. was the house
already in existence in 1773? In the pediment are
the Cator arms and palm fronds of Coade stone.
a bare central roof-lit hall, with balconies on
four sides. it has
become clubhouse, tearoom. In the 19th a boys school and sanatorium. Leased to golf club in 1910. Then taken over by London County Council
1927. During
the period of John Cator's ownership, the mansion was regularly visited by Dr
Samuel Johnson who assisted Cator in the establishment of a library. Fanny
Burney, authoress of the novel "Evelina" was also a regular guest.
Stables
plain
late c 18 brick. Symmetrical, with clock
turret. Clock from clock house at Bellevue Place. Another former Cator residence that was located near the current
Clock House Station.
Brackley Road
Edward VIII Pillar box Carron ironworks very rare.
St.Paul's Church.
By Smith & Williams,
1872 Decorated. Ragstone. Font of White marble in the form of a shell
held by a life-size kneeling angel with a Date 1912, With the development of the Cator Estate, it had been proposed to
build houses and shops in the New Beckenham area, on both sides of the railway, but the church, a daughter church of St
George's, was built in 1864, consisting of the Nave and North Porch. In 1872 a
separate Parish was created when the main church was consecrated. No houses anywhere near when it was
built it was in open country.
Foxgrove
Manor Of
Foxgrove In the reign of Edward
III, about 1350, this Manor belonged to John de Foxgrove,
then to Bartholomew de Burghersh and after that to Sir Walter de Paveley. wevntially it descended to
Sir Francis Leigh, and after his death in
1711 the Manor was sold for £6,000 to John Tolson whose descendants conveyed it in 1765 to Jones Raymond, of
Langley and then to the Burrell family.
Early in the 19th century the farm was occupied by
William Gibbons, and then until his son Henry Gibbons. The original farm building, the old
Manor House of this estate, was demolished
about 1830 and a new farm house was built; and this demolished about 1878.The Volunteer Fire Brigade did much of their practice
at Foxgrove, using water from the
moat around the house for that purpose.. After the Gibbons, the farm land
subsequently passed into the hands of Charles E.
Purvis who was still the occupier in 1910
Cricket field
Foxgrove Road
Preserves the name of the old manor
of Foxgrove, recorded as Foxgrove 1275, Foxgrove 1355, Fox Grove 1805, that is
‘-grove’ or ‘copse frequented by foxes', from Old English ‘fox’ and ‘groffa’.
Foxgrove Manor
and/or Farm stood between Foxgrove
Road and the Avenue, which used to be called Moat Road. The old manor house was demolished about 1830 and a
new farm-house built on the site. This was pulled down about 1878, but the moat
was not drained until some years later.. Towards the end of the last century
the West Kent Drainage Scheme tapped the stream which fed the moat. This had
the effect of drying out the site, eventually leading to its being filled in.
Whilst no visible signs remain, some of the local residents, who were totally
unaware that a moat had existed in the area report that water lies in parts of
their gardens after heavy rain.
Catholic Convent
of Handmaids of the Sacred Heart founded in 1930
Lodges - nice pairs of stone one-storeyed
David Bowie lived here
This is the historic South End Road, leading from
Beckenham to the south end of Catford. Large Italianate houses of c. 1850. This section of Southend Road was formerly Copers Cope farm. Added
to the Cator lands in 1783, the 225 acre farm was amongst the first land to be
developed when the Cator fortunes declined. It has given its name to the
Council ward surrounding it. Shortly after the acquisition of Beckenham Place
by John Cator in 1773, Southend Road was diverted to provide privacy for
Beckenham Place Park.
8-22 Cator developments. A range of tall houses constructed around 1850. Peter Cator's 1864
estate development plan shows that they had already been built, some while before
the wholesale suburbanisation of the Beckenham area commenced. They were not
particularly influenced by the coming of the railways. The semi-detached houses
were large, providing accommodation for both a family
and servants.
Stone wall for the Abbey, now demolished, it
was a private
school - Abbey School. On the site of a
gravel pit.
Beckenham Place lodges First houses in the area. Constructed to flank the old road, now a drive. Both lodges are
statutorily listed.
Stumps Hill Lane:
View of Crystal Palace
Stumps Hill,
Many posh people lived there, view to Crystal Palace.
Stables walk round Beckenham. Clock from Clock House
Westgate Road,
Beckenham Convent. in a school run by nuns of
the Convent of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an order founded in
Spain, but now with schools in many countries. The Beckenham Convent, which
occupies a large corner site in Westgate and Foxgrove Roads, opened in 1930,
for girls of all ages. In 1968 a new Primary School, known as St Mary's, was
built on part of the grounds. This is classified as a Voluntary Aided Primary
School under Bromley Education Committee, and takes boys and girls up to the
age of 11. The Convent School, which is entirely independent, now only takes
girls of secondary school age, of whom about a quarter are boarders.
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