Crofton is a suburb of

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 ...

in southeast

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, located 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 ...

. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It is about 13.6 miles (21.9 km) southeast of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. It lies south of

Petts Wood Petts Wood is a town in south-east London, England, previously located in the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Chislehurst, west of St Paul's Cray and Poverest, north of Orpington and Crofton, and east of Southborough and Bromley ...

, west of Orpington and Broom Hill, north of Green Street Green and Farnborough, north-east of

Locksbottom Locksbottom is a suburb of south-east London within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Bromley Common, west of Crofton, north-west of Farnborough, and ...

and east of

Bromley Common Bromley Common is an unincorporated village in Greater London, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It is south of Bromley town centre and Bickley, west of Southborough and Petts Woo ...

History

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlement existed here from circa 140 ADs-400, with the ruins of a Roman villa forming a small museum just next to Orpington train station. The name Crofton comes from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and means 'farm on a rounded hill'. Little is known of its subsequent history, though it remained a rural locality until well into the 19th century. Some small-scale development occurred from 1868 following the opening of Orpington train station, and St Paul's Church, Crofton Road was built in 1887 (later rebuilt in 1958). The inter-war years saw extensive development and the area is now effectively a suburban extension of Orpington.

Amenities

The area contains two small shopping parades on Crofton Lane and Kelvin Parade. To the north-west lies Crofton Wood, which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Governance

Crofton falls within the

and is in the

Parliament constituency. For local council elections it forms a part of the Farnborough and Crofton ward along with Farnborough.

Demography

Demographic data is produced by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

for the Farnborough and Crofton ward. In the 2011 census, the population for the Farnborough and Crofton ward was 14,632. The most common ethnic group was White British in the Farnborough and Crofton ward, measured at 90.5%, followed by Asian or British Asian (5.5%) and mixed-race (1.9%). The remaining percentage was made up of Black or Black British and other unspecified ethnic groups.

Transport

Crofton has no railway station of its own, but east of Crofton is

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 ...

which runs on the

South Eastern Main Line The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the ...

. There is good bus infrastructure in Crofton, having six daytime routes, one nighttime route and one school bus route. Buses in Crofton include bus routes 61, 208, 353, N199, R2, R3, R7 and school route 654 with connections to many towns, villages and suburbs such as

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 ...

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

town centre,

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 (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

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 counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

town centre,

St Mary Cray St Mary Cray is an area of South London, South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Historically it was a market town in the county of Kent. It is located north of Orpington, and south-east of Charing Cross. History ...

and several other areas.

Gallery

File:Crofton_Lane_shops.jpg, Shops on Crofton Lane File:Kelvin_Parade.jpg, Oregon Square Open Space, with the Kelvin Parade shops at the far end File:St_Paul's_Church,_Crofton.jpg, St Paul's Church, built in 1958 by AB Knapp-Fisher File:Sign at Crofton - geograph.org.uk - 666791.jpg, Crofton village sign File:Crofton_War_Memorial.jpg, Crofton War Memorial at St Paul's Church File:Crofton Roman Villa - geograph.org.uk - 612839.jpg, Crofton Roman Villa Museum

References

{{LB Bromley Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Bromley Orpington