Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,33 ...

. It is south-east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Bromley became a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

, chartered in 1158. Its location on a coaching route and the opening of a railway station in 1858 were key to its development and the shift from an agrarian village to an urban town. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Bromley significantly increased in population and was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1903 and became part of the

in 1965. Bromley today forms a major retail and commercial centre. It is identified in the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pub ...

as one of the 13 metropolitan centres of Greater London.

History

Bromley is first recorded in an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

charter of 862 as ''Bromleag'' and means 'woodland clearing where

broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. ...

grows'. It shares this Old English etymology with

Great Bromley Great Bromley is a village and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It lies south of Manningtree and east of Colchester and includes the hamlets of Balls Green, Hare Green and Bromley Cross. The A120 trunk road (with the ...

in eastern Essex, but not with the

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

of London. The history of Bromley is closely connected with the See of Rochester. In AD 862 Ethelbert, the King of Kent, granted land to form the Manor of Bromley. In 1185

Bromley Palace Bromley Palace (also known as the Bishop's Palace) is a manor house in Bromley, London Borough of Bromley; and was the residence of the Bishops of Rochester from the 12th century to 1845. The building, which is now part of Bromley Civic centre, is ...

was built by

Gilbert Glanvill Gilbert Glanvill or Gilbert de Glanville was a medieval Bishop of Rochester. Life Glanvill was a clerk of Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury and the archdeacon of the Lisieux.Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was fou ...

. Pilgrims came to the town to visit St. Blaise's Well. The Palace was held by the Bishops until 1845, when Coles Child, a wealthy local merchant and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, purchased

(now the hub of the Bromley Civic Centre) and became lord of the manor. The town was an important coaching stop on the way to Hastings from London, and the now defunct Royal Bell Hotel (just off Market Square) is referred to in Jane Austen's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

''. It was a quiet rural village until the arrival of the railway in 1858 in

Shortlands Shortlands is a suburb of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It has been part of Greater London since 1965, and was previously part of the historic county of Kent. It is located between Beckenham and Bromley, to t ...

, which led to rapid growth, and outlying suburban districts such as

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead, London, Elmstead to the north, Chis ...

(which later overflowed into

Bromley Common Bromley Common is the area of south-east London, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Bromley town centre and Bickley, west of Southborough and Petts W ...

) were developed to accommodate those wishing to live so conveniently close to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Bromley, also known as ''Bromley St Peter and St Paul'', formed an ancient parish in the Bromley and Beckenham hundred and the

Sutton-at-Hone Sutton-at-Hone is a village in the civil parish of Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 3.5 miles south of Dartford & 3.6 miles north east of Swanley. History The place-name 'Sutton-at-Hone' i ...

lathe of Kent. In 1840 it became part of the expanded

Metropolitan Police District The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the police area which is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London. It currently consists of the Greater London region, excluding the City of London. The Metropolitan Police District was crea ...

. The parish adopted the

Local Government Act 1858 Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

and a local board was formed in 1867. The board was reconstituted as Bromley Urban District Council in 1894 and the parish became Bromley Urban District. It formed part of the

London Traffic Area The London Traffic Area was established by the London Traffic Act 1924 to regulate the increasing amount of motor traffic in the London area. The LTA was abolished in 1965 on the establishment of the Greater London Council. The traffic area ex ...

from 1924 and the

London Passenger Transport Area The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

from 1933. In 1934, as part of a

county review order The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boa ...

, the borough was expanded by taking in from the disbanded

Bromley Rural District Bromley was a rural district in north-west Kent, England from 1894 to 1934. Its area now forms part of the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London. It did not include the main settlement of the same name, which constituted the Municipal Bor ...

; an area including parts of the parishes of Farnborough, Hayes,

Keston Keston is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was withing the historic county of Kent. It is part suburban, part rural in nature and lies on the edge of Hayes C ...

and

West Wickham West Wickham is an area of South East London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Bromley with some parts lying in the London Borough of Croydon. It lies south of Park Langley and Eden Park, west of Hayes and Coney Hall, north o ...

. Bromley became part of the newly created

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

in 1965, in the new

Governance

The Old Palace, Bromley (geograph 3761333)

Bromley forms part of the Bromley and Chislehurst Parliament constituency. The current MP is

Bob Neill Sir Robert James MacGillivray Neill (born 24 June 1952) is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromley and Chislehurst since a by-election on 29 June 2006, following the ...

. Peter Fortune is the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to rejec ...

member for the

Bexley and Bromley Bexley and Bromley is a constituency represented in the London Assembly. It consists of the combined areas of the London Borough of Bexley and the London Borough of Bromley. The constituency is represented by Peter Fortune, a Conservative first ...

constituency, in which the town is located. Bromley's most prominent MP was the former Conservative prime minister,

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as " Supermac", ...

Climate

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

subtype for this climate is " Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate/

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

Economy

The Glades Shopping Centre, Bromley, Kent - geograph

Bromley is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the

. Bromley had one of the highest gross disposable household incomes (GDHI) in the UK, at £27,169 in 2018. Bromley was ranked fourth in Greater London by Retail Footprint in 2005, behind the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

and

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable a ...

. Bromley competes with both Croydon and the Bluewater centre in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock ...

as a shopping destination.

Bromley High Street

The town has a large retail area, including a

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

High Street and '' The Glades'' centre, the main shopping mall, which has a catchment of 1.3 million people. The shopping area includes retailers such as Gap, Oasis, Russell & Bromley and Waterstone's, whilst the restaurants includes a branch of the small chain of Belgian-themed

Belgo Belgo was a chain of London restaurants specializing in simple Belgian cooking and Belgian beer. There were five Belgo restaurants: Belgo Centraal (Covent Garden), Belgo Holborn, Belgo Kings Cross, Belgo Nottingham and Belgo Bromley ; following ...

restaurants. Development at the nearby St. Mark's Square has seen further restaurants and a cinema established. Bromley High Street is also the location for the Bromley Charter Market, which runs on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. King John granted a charter for the Market to be held every Tuesday in 1205, with Henry VI revising this charter to every Thursday in 1447. The Market sells food and confectionery items, clothing and other goods like jewellery.

Transport

Rail

The town's main station is

Bromley South station Bromley South railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town centre and high street of Bromley, south-east London. It is down the line from and is situated between and . The station and most trains that serve the st ...

, served by

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions— north, east, south, and west—eac ...

services to London Victoria (non stop express services, semi fast services via

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 which nor ...

and stopping services via

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the London b ...

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

via

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includin ...

and

London Blackfriars Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford and ...

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary ...

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the tradition ...

via

Swanley Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226. Histor ...

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populatio ...

via Chatham, Dover Priory via Chatham & Canterbury East and Canterbury West via

Maidstone East Maidstone East railway station is one of three stations in the central area of Maidstone, Kent, England, but currently the only one with a regular direct service to London. The station is on the Maidstone line, from , and is served by trains o ...

& Ashford International. Bromley North station also connects the town with Southeastern shuttle services to Grove Park, where connections can be made for services to

London Charing Cross Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...

London Cannon Street Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is on ...

via

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one o ...

Buses

Bromley is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus ...

routes 61, 119, 126, 138, 146, 162, 208, 227, 246, 261, 269, 314, 320, 336, 352, 354, 358, 367, N3 & N199. These connect it with areas including

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and ...

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one ...

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a settlement on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Kent, prior to 1965 it was also in the administrative county of Kent. ...

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greate ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The thre ...

, Grove Park,

Mottingham Mottingham is a district of south-east London, England, which straddles the border of both the London Borough of Bromley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located south of Eltham, southeast of Charing Cross. It is within the historic ...

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. History Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Penc ...

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the ...

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early a ...

Culture

Festivals

Since May 1929 Bromley has had an annual festival of "dance, drama and comedy" in around the towns venues The large open spaces have lent them themselves to outdoor concerts, festivals and outdoor screenings as well in the venues such as Norman park, Hayes farm, Beckenham Place Park and Croydon Road recreation ground.

Theatres

Bromley has a number of theatres in the borough, in the town centre there are three, a professional, the

Churchill Theatre The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, southeast London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department. The Churchill is an example of a repertory theatre built in the style of European opera houses, w ...

, an amateur, the Bromley Little Theatre (close to Bromley North railway station) and an outdoor

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

located in "Church House Gardens" behind the Churchill theatre. The Churchill Theatre was opened on 19 July 1977 by the Prince of Wales, and seats 781. It is run on a contract currently held by HQ Theatres Ltd acting as both a receiving and producing house, with productions transferring to the West End or touring nationally. An example being recent tours of ''Club Tropicana The Musical''.

Library

Bromley also has a central library in the same building as the Churchill Theatre with a large book stock, Internet and wifi access, reference library and local studies department. It functions as the central library of the broader

Bromley Borough Libraries Service The Bromley Borough Libraries Service consists the libraries service for the London Borough of Bromley. The service consists of 14 public libraries, currently operated by social non-profit Greenwich Leisure Limited under their trademark Better, ...

Cinema

Bromley Picturehouse was opened in June 2019 in the previous Empire theatre. Vue Cinemas own a nine-screen cinema, which is part of the Bromley South Central scheme at St Mark's Square, opened on 28 November 2018.

Dance

Bromley has its own team of

Morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

rs, ''The Ravensbourne Morris Men'', founded in 1947 as a post war revival team following an inaugural meeting at the then ''Jean's Café'', which was located opposite Bromley South Station.

Civic Society

Bromley Civic Society is a

civic society In the United Kingdom, a civic society is a voluntary body or society which aims to represent the needs of a local community. Some also take the role of an amenity society. A civic society may campaign for high standards of planning of new buildi ...

for the historic centre of Bromley. It is a founder member of

Civic Voice Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement in England. It was set up in 2010 following the demise of the Civic Trust. It is based in Birmingham at the Coffin Works. Its Executive Director and Joint Founder is Ian Harvey. The presi ...

. It seeks to educate the public about the community's history and to preserve historical sites.

Popular culture

Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Bromley (01)

In the famous Monty Python "Spam" sketch Bromley was stated to be the location of the fictional Green Midget Café, where every item on the menu was composed of spam in varying degrees. In another ''Monty Python'' sketch, it was stated that all seven continents are visible from the top of the Kentish Times building in Bromley. The

Bromley Contingent The Bromley Contingent were a group of followers of the Sex Pistols. The name was coined by ''Melody Maker'' journalist Caroline Coon, after the town of Bromley where some of them lived. They helped popularise the fashion of the early UK punk mov ...

was the name given to the entourage that followed the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

and helped popularise the punk movement. It was so called because many of its members were from Bromley, some of whom later became famous as musicians in their own right, like

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

and

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

. The 2018 humorous film, '' The Bromley Boys'' is set in Bromley and surroundings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Based on a real-life memoir by Dave Roberts about following Bromley F.C., it includes many scenes filmed locally, although Crockenhill F.C. was used as a substitute for the Hayes Lane stadium.Bromley Boys Press Kit
Accessed 28 January 2020 Guitarist Billy Jenkins, born in Bromley, released an album titled "Sounds like Bromley" in 1982 and another in 1997 titled "Still Sounds Like Bromley". In a BBC Radio 3 interview he said that "if Kent is the Garden of England then Bromley is one of the compost heaps". He then moved to Lewisham.

Media

Local news is provided by the '' Bromley Times''.

Sport and leisure

The town has four

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

clubs. Two teams play their home games at the Hayes Lane Stadium: Bromley F.C. and

Cray Wanderers F.C. Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cra ...

; the latter is claimed to be the oldest football club in what is today Greater London. The other teams, Holmesdale F.C. and

Greenwich Borough F.C. Greenwich Borough Football Club is a football club based in south-east London, England. They play at the Phoenix Sports Ground in Barnehurst. History The club was established in 1928 as Woolwich Borough Council Athletic Club.

, play at Oakley Road. Bromley F.C. are the only professional team in Bromley and play in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, one level below the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. Four rugby clubs in Bromley are, Old Elthamians a National League 2 side, Parkhouse FC, Bromley RFC and Beckenham RFC. Beccehamians RFC is a club that was founded in 1933 which plays competitive rugby at Sparrows Den at the bottom of Corkscrew Hill in nearby West Wickham.

Education

Bromley has numerous schools, and is home to Bromley College of Further & Higher Education. There are two specialist Media Arts Schools,

Hayes School Hayes School is a mixed secondary school with academy status located in the suburb of Hayes within the London Borough of Bromley. The school has approximately 1800 students, of whom 500 are in the sixth form.Ravensbourne School. Bishop Justus School is a specialist Music College. It also has the Ravens Wood and

Darrick Wood School Darrick Wood School is a mixed secondary school in Orpington, London Borough of Bromley, United Kingdom with a current roll of 1785 pupils. It was first opened in 1975. Facilities Darrick Wood consists of five separate buildings, named after t ...

s. There are many independent schools within the London Borough of Bromley, including Eltham College (in the nearby area of Mottingham – within the borough of Bromley and near the London Borough of Lewisham) and Bromley High (situated in the nearby area of Bickley - also within the borough of Bromley).

Demography

Bromley town as a whole, including its neighbourhoods and villages, is formed of six wards: Bickley; Bromley Common and Keston; Bromley Town; Hayes and Coney Hall; Plaistow and Sundridge; and Shortlands. Together they had a population of 87,889 in the 2011 UK census, whereas the borough overall had a population 331,096. The life expectancy in Bromley Town ward (which covers the town centre) was 79.3 years for males and 83.7 years for females, during 2009–2013. The highest in the town were in Shortlands: 86.1 years for males and 88.1 years for females. The lowest for both genders was in Plaistow and Sundridge: 77.5 and 82.1 years respectively. In Bromley Town, 18.5% of the population was of minority ethnicity. The highest in the town was 19.3% in Plaistow and Sundridge, and the lowest was 8.3% in Hayes and Coney Hall. The median house price in Bromley Town ward was £327,000 in 2014, compared to £295,444 in Plaistow and Sundridge, and £480,000 in Bickley. 37% of houses in Bickley were detached, more than other wards. In all wards, over 60% of houses were owned by households, peaking at 88.2% in Hayes and Coney Hall. In 2020, the average cost of a house was £519,619

Landmarks

St Peter and St Paul, Church Road, Bromley - geograph

The parish church of St Peter and St Paul stands on Church Road. It was largely destroyed by German bombing on 16 April 1941 and rebuilt in the 1950s incorporating the medieval tower and reusing much of the flint and fragments of the original stone building. The most noteworthy historic building is Bromley College, London Road. The central public open spaces are; Queen's Gardens, Martin's Hill, Church House Gardens, Library Gardens and College Green. St Mark, Westmoreland Road, Bromley - geograph

St Mark, Westmoreland Road, Bromley - geograph

Another parish church in Bromley is St Mark's, which stands on Westmoreland Road. The present church is the third. The first was built as a temporary iron church in 1884 to cope with Bromley's growing population, on land slightly to the east of the present church, donated by a local man called Eley Soames. The road name St Mark's Road preserves the rough location of the former site. The second church was built in brick and stone on the present site, and designed by Evelyn Hellicar, son of the then vicar of St Peter and St Paul's. It was completed in 1898 in the

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four- ...

style and consecrated by William Walsh, Bishop of Dover, on 22 October that year. The tower, though, was not completed until 1904. Like St Peter and St Paul's, St Mark's was heavily damaged in the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

of 1941. Only the tower survived intact. On 3 June 1952, the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent, ...

laid the foundation stone of the present church, which was designed by T W G Grant and built by David Nye. Besides the tower, other parts of the fabric of the original church were used in the rebuilding. Inside there are some interesting monuments: to

Samuel Ajayi Crowther Samuel Ajayi Crowther ( – 31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by slave rai ...

, John Cole Patteson and

Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (17 August 1874 – 1 January 1945) (also transliterated as Vedanayakam Samuel Azariah) was an Indian evangelist and the first Indian bishop in the churches of the Anglican Communion, serving as the first bishop ...

, who were all bishops in the Commonwealth. The East Street drill hall was completed in 1872.

Notable residents

H. G. Wells

Noted author

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

equipment. Wells spent the first 13 years of his life in Bromley. From 1874 to 1879 he attended Tomas Morley's Bromley Academy, at 74 High Street. There was a 'H. G. Wells Centre' in Masons Hill near the southern end of the High Street which housed the Bromley Labour Club (the building was demolished in 2017). In August 2005, the wall honouring Wells in Market Square was repainted; the current wall painting features a rich green background with the same Wells reference and the evolutionary sequence of ''Homo sapiens'' featured in ''

Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, a former resident of nearby

Downe Downe, formerly Down, () is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley but beyond the London urban sprawl. Downe is south west of Orpington and south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies on a hill, an ...

Village. Wells wrote about Bromley in an early unsigned article in the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

'' in which he expressed satisfaction that he had been born in an earlier, more rural Bromley. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

marks Wells' birthplace in Market Square, on the wall of what is now a

Primark Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not us ...

store. A marble plaque appears above the door of 8 South Street, the location of Mrs Knott's

Dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for young children that emerged in the British Isles and its colonies during the early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children f ...

where "Bertie", as he was called as a child, learned to read and write. H. G. Wells featured Bromley in two of his novels: '' The War in the Air'' (which refers to Bromley as Bunhill) and ''

The New Machiavelli ''The New Machiavelli'' is a 1911 novel by H. G. Wells that was serialised in '' The English Review'' in 1910. Because its plot notoriously derived from Wells's affair with Amber Reeves and satirised Beatrice and Sidney Webb, it was "the lite ...

'' (in which Bromley is referred to as Bromstead). However, H. G. Wells refused the offered freedom of the town, stating: "Bromley has not been particularly gracious to me nor I to Bromley and I don't think I want to add the freedom of Bromley to the freedom of the City of London and the freedom of the City of Brussels – both of which I have." He described Bromley in one of his novels as a "morbid sprawl of population".

Other residents

Owen Chadwick William Owen Chadwick (20 May 1916 – 17 July 2015) was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international,

was born in Bromley in 1916. He was awarded the Order of Merit, was Vice Chancellor of University of Cambridge, Master of Selwyn Cambridge, Regius Professor of Modern History, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Chancellor of University of Anglia, President of the British Academy, and was a Rugby Union International. Other world-famous authors who hail from Bromley include Captain

W.E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Ear ...

(author of the Biggles adventures),

David Nobbs David Gordon Nobbs (13 March 1935 – 8 August 2015"C ...

(author of ''

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series ...

'' and writer for

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early life Les Dawson w ...

and ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

''), and

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...

who wrote influential children's fiction such as the Secret Seven and Famous Five stories. A blue historical plaque can be found on the external wall of her former home on Shortlands Road, Bromley. Other famous people who lived in Bromley include

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Talbot Rothwell Talbot Nelson Conn “Tolly” Rothwell, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: town clerk, polic ...

, screenwriter of twenty Carry On films, Justine Lord, actress, Peter Howitt,

Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''Just William'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. Life Richmal Crompton Lambu ...

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Turn It Up (Pixie Lott album), Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on th ...

, Matt Terry, Christopher Tennant,

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British literature, British writers ...

, Peter Frampton,

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prop ...

, bassist

Steven Severin Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey; 25 September 1955) is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. He took t ...

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q (maga ...

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon' ...

, Tom Allen,

Rob Beckett Robert Anthony Beckett (born 2 January 1986) is an English comedian, narrator, and presenter. He was a co-host on the ITV2 spin-off show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!'' from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team capta ...

Gary Rhodes Gary Rhodes (22 April 1960 – 26 November 2019) was an English restaurateur and television chef, known for his love of English cuisine and ingredients and for his distinctive spiked hair style. He fronted shows such as ''MasterChef'', '' Mas ...

Pete Sears Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock ...

, singer

Poly Styrene Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex. Early life Poly Styrene was born Marianne Joan El ...

, Josh Beech, Ruthie Henshall,

Trevor Goddard Trevor Joseph Goddard (14 October 1962 – 7 June 2003) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Kano in the martial arts film '' Mortal Kombat'', Lieutenant Commander Mic Brumby in the television series '' JAG'' and main villain ...

, actor, Billy Jenkins,

Alex Clare Alexander George Clare (c. 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. His debut album, '' The Lateness of the Hour'', was released in the UK on 11 July 2011 on Island Records and was produced by Mike Spencer and Major Lazer. His biggest hit, " ...

, cricketer

Jill Cruwys Jill Elizabeth Cruwys (5 December 1943 – 30 December 1990) was an English cricketer who played primarily as a batter. She appeared in 5 Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals for England between 1969 and 1976. Cruwys was a member of the su ...

, the anarchist

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activ ...

, the former Clash drummer

Topper Headon Nicholas Bowen "Topper" Headon (born 30 May 1955) is an English drummer, best known as the drummer of punk rock band the Clash. Known for his instrumental contributions to the drumming world, Headon was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...

, illustrator

Charles Keeping Charles William James Keeping (22 September 1924 – 16 May 1988) was an English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twe ...

, Formula 1 test driver

Gary Paffett Gary Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 championship, afte ...

, IndyCar driver

Mike Conway Mike Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. Biography Conway who was born in Bromley, Lon ...

, children's writer Andrew Murray, tenor Roland Cunningham, actor

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''R ...

who attended Bromley Grammar School for Boys, clarinetist

Chris Craker Chris Craker (born 1959 in Bromley, Kent, England), studied the clarinet at the Royal Northern College of Music from 1977–1981. He had a successful career as a clarinetist, playing with orchestras including the London Symphony, the Royal Philha ...

Don Perrin Don Perrin (born 1 October 1964) is a Canadian writer and former military officer. Early life and education Born in Iserlohn, Germany, Perrin grew up in Kingston, ON, Canada, McMasterville, QC, Canada, Bromley, Kent, England, and Ottawa, ON, Can ...

, Canadian author who attended Burnt Ash School in Bromley, and Sir Thomas James Harper, an officer decorated in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

. The musical conducting brothers

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

and

Nicholas Cleobury Nicholas Cleobury (born 23 June 1950) is an English conductor. Cleobury was organ scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford and held assistant organist posts at Chichester Cathedral and Christ Church, Oxford b ...

were born in Bromley. Actor

Jerome Flynn Jerome Patrick Flynn (born 16 March 1963) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series ''Soldier Soldier'', Bronn in the hit HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', and Benne ...

, who starred in ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

'' as Bronn, was born in Bromley. Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled of the band

Kero Kero Bonito Kero Kero Bonito (KKB) are a British indie pop band formed in South London in 2011. The band consists of vocalist Sarah Midori Perry and producers and multi-instrumentalists Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled. Their musical style consists of indie p ...

grew up in Bromley: their music video for the song 'You Know How It Is' features several local landmarks. Deborah Linsley, the victim of one of Britain's most high-profile unsolved murders in 1988, grew up in Bromley.

Richard Reid Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young ...

, also known as the "Shoe Bomber", was born and lived in Bromley. He is notable as the suspect for the 2001 shoe bomb attempt. In the 20th century, the Parish Church of

St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupati ...

and

St Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

produced, in quick succession, three

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Bishops: Henry David Halsey –

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city o ...

, Philip Goodrich –

Bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

, David Bartleet – Bishop of Tonbridge. Sculptor Nicholas Cornwell and Maisy James the Big Brother 12 housemate. Sometime before 1881 the engineer and industrialist Richard Porter moved to Beckenham where he remained until his death in 1913.

, the writer and filmmaker was born here, and spent a significant part of his youth, here. His first novel '' The Buddha of Suburbia'' was loosely based on his life here and the people he lived and met here. Comedian

Frankie Boyle Francis Martin Patrick Boyle (born 16 August 1972) is a Scottish comedian and writer. He is known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and often controversial sense of humour. A stand-up comedian since 1995, Boyle first gained widespread recogn ...

claims to be a former resident and has described Bromley as a 'lobotomy made out of bricks'. The comedian

Chris Addison Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on ''Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of ...

currently lives in Bromley, as does tennis player

Emma Raducanu Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022, and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the first British ...

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, ...

midfielder

Gary O'Neil Gary Paul O'Neil (born 18 May 1983) is an English former professional football midfielder and the current manager of Premier League club AFC Bournemouth. O'Neil has previously played for Portsmouth (where he was the Player of the Season in 2 ...

, former Millwall F.C. midfielder

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ...

, and former

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

striker Jason Roberts lived in Bromley. English darts player

Les Capewell Leslie Capewell (born 13 February 1948) is an English former professional darts player who competed in the 1980s. Darts career Capewell qualified to compete at the World Professional Darts Championship three times - in 1981, 1982 and 1983 but ...

was born in Bromley. Scottish education secretary Michael Russell MSP was born and spent the early years of his life in Bromley.

References

External links

{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Bromley Market towns in London Metropolitan centres of London Former civil parishes in the London Borough of Bromley