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Beckenham
Beckenham (/ˈbɛkənəm/) is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west of Bromley and Shortlands, and 8.4 miles (13.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross. Its population at the 2011 Census was 46,844.
Beckenham was, until the coming of the railway in 1857, a small village, with most of its land being rural and private parkland. John Barwell Cator and his family began the leasing and selling of land for the building of villas which led to a rapid increase in population, between 1850 and 1900, from 2,000 to 26,000. Housing and population growth has continued at a lesser pace since 1900.
Beckenham has areas of commerce and industry, principally around the curved network of streets featuring its high street, and is served in transport by three main railway stations — nine within the post town — plus towards its western periphery two Tramlink stations. In common with the rest of Bromley, the largest borough of London by area, Beckenham has several pockets of recreational land which are a mixture of sports grounds, fishing ponds and parks.
The place-name 'Beckenham' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 862 as Biohhahema mearc. The settlement is referred to as Bacheham in the Domesday Book of 1086, and in the Textus Roffensis as Becceham. The name is thought to derive from Beohha's homestead (Beohha + ham in Old English). The name of the small stream here – the River Beck – is most likely to have been named after the village.
Although early written history tells little of the area we have the entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 and various records in Court Rolls, Feet of Fines and other historical documents. Thomas Philipott recorded it in his Villare Cantianum in 1659 based on the research of his father John Philipott. Hasted wrote about it in 1778 in his History and Topography of Kent based on Philipott's material. Others like Lysons and Ireland continued to record Beckenham Manor, Foxgrove Manor, Kelsey and Langley estates and Kent House Farm. Several other local historians updated the account based on more recent events and developments of Beckenham. Revisiting the history and collating the historical documentary evidence has revealed a more detailed early history showing how the manors and estates changed hands through families such as Rokele, Bruyn, Bardolf, Langley, Style, Kelshulle, Brograve, Raymond, Leigh, Burrell, Cator and various yeoman property owners like Kempsall, King, Batt etc. Archaeological evidence at nearby Holwood Park, where Stone Age and Bronze Age artefacts have been found, reveals some evidence of early settlers. A Roman camp was sited here, and a Roman road, the London to Lewes Way passed through the district.[better source needed]
By the time of the arrival of the Normans, the manor of Beckenham encompassed much of what is modern Beckenham, with other areas covered by the estates of Foxgrove Manor, Kelsey and Langley. Although William the Conqueror's half brother, Bishop Odo, was overlord of all of Kent the manor of Beckenham was held or enfeoffed to Anschil of Rochester. The manor became divided but eventually rejoined under the St. John family until Frederick St. John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke sold most of the manor to John Cator the younger in 1773. The manor house and its grounds had been exchanged with Peter Burrell, Lord Gwydir in 1757.[citation needed]
Beckenham remained a small village until well into the 19th century. The beginning of its growth began after 1825 when the estates of John Barwell Cator and Lord Gwydir began to be developed. if In 1760 John Cator the younger built Beckenham Place and became lord of the manor in 1773 after purchasing the manor of Beckenham from Frederick St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke. After Cator died in 1806, his heirs under his nephew John Barwell Cator became aware that an area in such relative close proximity to London was ripe for development, especially once the railway had arrived in 1857, and large villas began to be built around the new station. Wide roads and large gardens epitomised these properties, often built by developers who acquired land from the Cators. Lord Gwydir died in 1820 and his estates were split up, sold and developed.[citation needed]
The manor of Foxgrove was owned by the Leigh family for some generations but purchased into the ownership of Lancelot Tolson circa 1716, his heirs divided it and it was acquired in part by John Cator and Jones Raymond. Raymond's part passed on to the Burrells and a land exchange in 1793 made the northern parts of the manor John Cator's and the southern parts absorbed into the Burrells Langley and Kelsey estates.[citation needed] What is now Beckenham Place Park is almost entirely parts of Foxgrove manor. Now it is part of the London Borough of Lewisham after boundary changes in the 1990s.[citation needed]
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Beckenham
Beckenham (/ˈbɛkənəm/) is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west of Bromley and Shortlands, and 8.4 miles (13.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross. Its population at the 2011 Census was 46,844.
Beckenham was, until the coming of the railway in 1857, a small village, with most of its land being rural and private parkland. John Barwell Cator and his family began the leasing and selling of land for the building of villas which led to a rapid increase in population, between 1850 and 1900, from 2,000 to 26,000. Housing and population growth has continued at a lesser pace since 1900.
Beckenham has areas of commerce and industry, principally around the curved network of streets featuring its high street, and is served in transport by three main railway stations — nine within the post town — plus towards its western periphery two Tramlink stations. In common with the rest of Bromley, the largest borough of London by area, Beckenham has several pockets of recreational land which are a mixture of sports grounds, fishing ponds and parks.
The place-name 'Beckenham' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 862 as Biohhahema mearc. The settlement is referred to as Bacheham in the Domesday Book of 1086, and in the Textus Roffensis as Becceham. The name is thought to derive from Beohha's homestead (Beohha + ham in Old English). The name of the small stream here – the River Beck – is most likely to have been named after the village.
Although early written history tells little of the area we have the entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 and various records in Court Rolls, Feet of Fines and other historical documents. Thomas Philipott recorded it in his Villare Cantianum in 1659 based on the research of his father John Philipott. Hasted wrote about it in 1778 in his History and Topography of Kent based on Philipott's material. Others like Lysons and Ireland continued to record Beckenham Manor, Foxgrove Manor, Kelsey and Langley estates and Kent House Farm. Several other local historians updated the account based on more recent events and developments of Beckenham. Revisiting the history and collating the historical documentary evidence has revealed a more detailed early history showing how the manors and estates changed hands through families such as Rokele, Bruyn, Bardolf, Langley, Style, Kelshulle, Brograve, Raymond, Leigh, Burrell, Cator and various yeoman property owners like Kempsall, King, Batt etc. Archaeological evidence at nearby Holwood Park, where Stone Age and Bronze Age artefacts have been found, reveals some evidence of early settlers. A Roman camp was sited here, and a Roman road, the London to Lewes Way passed through the district.[better source needed]
By the time of the arrival of the Normans, the manor of Beckenham encompassed much of what is modern Beckenham, with other areas covered by the estates of Foxgrove Manor, Kelsey and Langley. Although William the Conqueror's half brother, Bishop Odo, was overlord of all of Kent the manor of Beckenham was held or enfeoffed to Anschil of Rochester. The manor became divided but eventually rejoined under the St. John family until Frederick St. John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke sold most of the manor to John Cator the younger in 1773. The manor house and its grounds had been exchanged with Peter Burrell, Lord Gwydir in 1757.[citation needed]
Beckenham remained a small village until well into the 19th century. The beginning of its growth began after 1825 when the estates of John Barwell Cator and Lord Gwydir began to be developed. if In 1760 John Cator the younger built Beckenham Place and became lord of the manor in 1773 after purchasing the manor of Beckenham from Frederick St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke. After Cator died in 1806, his heirs under his nephew John Barwell Cator became aware that an area in such relative close proximity to London was ripe for development, especially once the railway had arrived in 1857, and large villas began to be built around the new station. Wide roads and large gardens epitomised these properties, often built by developers who acquired land from the Cators. Lord Gwydir died in 1820 and his estates were split up, sold and developed.[citation needed]
The manor of Foxgrove was owned by the Leigh family for some generations but purchased into the ownership of Lancelot Tolson circa 1716, his heirs divided it and it was acquired in part by John Cator and Jones Raymond. Raymond's part passed on to the Burrells and a land exchange in 1793 made the northern parts of the manor John Cator's and the southern parts absorbed into the Burrells Langley and Kelsey estates.[citation needed] What is now Beckenham Place Park is almost entirely parts of Foxgrove manor. Now it is part of the London Borough of Lewisham after boundary changes in the 1990s.[citation needed]