Berry's Green a small hamlet in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, UK, situated outside of London's contiguous built-up area. It is a fairly wooded rural area with a scattering of farmland. Housing consists mainly of detached properties, mostly bungalows, with a row of local authority cottages and a static

mobile home A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabrication, prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or ...

site. It is part of the largest ward in Greater London,

Darwin (ward) Darwin is an electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley. The ward has existed since the creation of the borough on 1 April 1965 and was first used in the 1964 elections. It returns one councillor to Bromley London Borough Council. To date, ...

. When the Ward was first constituted in 1965, Berry's Green, was joined with

Downe Downe, formerly Down (), is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, which formed part of the historical county of Kent until 1965, and is beyond London's contiguous urban area. Charles Darwin lived ...

Cudham Cudham is an area in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley and beyond London's urban sprawl. It is located on the Greater London border with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. Cudham lies south of Orpington ...

Leaves Green Leaves Green is a village in Greater London within the London Borough of Bromley. The village lies on the Bromley to Westerham road ( A233), adjacent to the north-western perimeter of Biggin Hill Airport. It is some south of Bromley and north ...

Single Street Single Street is a hamlet in the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London, located between Luxted and Berry's Green,Willey, Russ. ''Chambers London Gazetter'', p 443. and centred around a street of the same name. The first record of a settle ...

Luxted Luxted is a hamlet in the London Borough of Bromley, located to the south of Downe, at grid reference TQ434602. The area is rural, noted for its abundance of woods and grasslands.Willey, Russ. ''Chambers London Gazetteer'', p 307-308. It is a pa ...

, and

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parishes in England, 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. I ...

Hill. The current elected political party's website (2022), states the present named other areas as Downe, Cudham, Leaves Green, Leavesden Estate, Westerham Hill, Beechwood, and Pratts Bottom

Partial History

Lord Simon de

Manning Manning (a.k.a. Mannion, Manning) is a family name. Origin and meaning Manning is from an old Norse word — manningi — meaning a brave or valiant man; and one of the first forms of the name was Mannin; another cartography was Mannyg ...

, a former Lord of the Manor for Kevington, London and holder of the land which became Berry's Green, was a Grandson of Rudolph de Manning,

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

, (who married Elgida, aunt to King

Harold I Harold Harefoot or Harold I (died 17 March 1040) was regent of England from 1035 to 1037 and King of the English from 1037 to 1040. Harold's nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth century in the history ...

of England), (Harold Harefoot); he was the royal

Standard Bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a Standard (flag), standard or Military colours, standards and guidons, military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible ...

to King

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

, and carried the royal Standard to Jerusalem in 1190, during the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

. In England, the forms Earl

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

and Palatine Earldom are preferred. On early maps, the area and Berry's Green Farm are each spelt as "Bury's Green". On the junction of Jail Lane and Berry's Hill is a small wood, with a large

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

bomb crater. This may have been caused by a

V-2 The V2 (), with the technical name '' Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a " ven ...

rocket as it is almost the same distance from Germany as the last known V-2, which was dropped in Kynaston Rd, Orpington. Many of the V-2s fell short of London towards the end of the war. There are also a number of smaller bomb craters scattered around the surrounding woodlands, due to its proximity to Biggin Hill airfield. Berry's Green is home to The Old Jail, Biggin Hill, and Cherry Lodge Golf Course, which opened in 1968. The land there is approximately 600 ft. above sea level. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a sub-post office on the corner of Single Street and Jail Lane which sold provisions, such as bread, milk, sweets, and crisps. Mains sewerage was installed around 1973.

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, about south-southeast of Charing Cross. It is separated from London's built-up area by the Metropolitan green belt and is located adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Kent and ...

, nearby

and Berry's Green are the only places in Greater London to be part of the

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

postcode area (TN16).

Transport

Buses

*R8 to

Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater 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 Cray, sou ...

. Operated by Go Ahead London for

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 s ...

Rail

The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

station is Chelsfield located 4.5 miles away.

Orpington railway station Orpington railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line, serving the town of Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley, south-east London. It is down the line from Charing Cross railway station, London Charing Cross and is situated between ...

is approximately 5.1 miles away. {{LB Bromley Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Bromley Hamlets in the London Borough of Bromley