Bromleag The newsletter of Borough Local History Society September 2009

In this issue ’s special remembrance Bromley preparing for war Roman and

Uncovering the treasures of Scadbury Bromleag The newsletter of the Bromley Borough Local History Society

Society officers Chairman and Membership Secretary Tony Allnutt Woodside, Old Perry Street, , BR7 6PP 0208 467 3842 [email protected] Secretary Patricia Knowlden 62 Harvest Bank Road, , BR4 9DJ 0208 462 5002

Treasurer Brian Reynolds 2 The Limes, Oakley Road, Bromley, BR2 8HH 0208 462 9526 [email protected].,uk

Programme co-ordinator Peter Leigh 29 Woodland Way West Wickham, BR4 9LR 0208 777 9244 [email protected] Publicity and website Max Batten 5 South View, Bromley, BR13DR 0208 460 1284 [email protected] Publications John Barnes 38 Sandilands Cres, Hayes, BR2 7DR 0208 462 2603 [email protected]

BBLHS website http://bblhs.website.orange.co.uk/

Bromleag is published four times a year. The editor welcomes articles along with illustrations and photographs. These can be in paper copy, disk or e-mailed. Items remain the copyright of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Society views. Each contributor is responsible for the content of their article. Articles may be edited to meet the constraints of the newsletter. Articles are not always used immediately as we try to maintain a balance between research, reminiscences and news and features about different subjects and parts of the borough. Editor — Christine Hellicar 150 Worlds End Lane, , BR6 6AS 01689 857214 [email protected]

Next newsletter deadline — 15 October 2009

2 Bromleag September 2009 News Walking ’s history Contents Whenever I find myself in a new town, with time to spare, I head for the local tourist office to see if there is a leaflet for News P3 — 4 a self-guided walk around the town. It is a marvellous way to get to know a place Book Review P6 and discover hidden architectural gems Letters P20 — 21 along the way. So, I was delighted that BBLHS meetings Bromley has decided to Shoreham aircraft update and re- museum P7 issue a series of Discovering Seal P8 walks leaflets around the towns Roman Bromley and villages that P9 — 11 make up the London Borough of Bromley. Features The first one to Scadbury P12 — 18 be published is Benefits in West A walk around Penge. Wickham P19 Local Studies librarian Simon Finch has written the text for the 16-page leaflet, which Mottingham War includes a route map for the two-hour walk. Memorial P22 — 24 The area covered is “historic Penge” only WWII, the Home Front leaving the original hamlet to visit places P25 — 31 associated strongly with it. Starting at Penge East Station it takes in well-known buildings such as The Royal Watermens’ and Lightermens’ Almshouses but also some suburban buildings that you might normally pass by, but which definitely deserve more careful scrutiny. A bargain at 50p, the leaflet is available at Bromley libraries. Leaflets on other areas are now in the pipeline.

3 Bromleag September 2009 News English Heritage says Bromley buildings still at risk

The Old Town Hall in Tweedy Road, Bromley has been added to the Heritage At Risk register, published by English Heritage. The building has been given a priority E — fair condition — rating. The register lists 22 sites across the borough, several in Crystal Palace including the park's terraces, national sports centre, pedestrian subway and low level train station. According to English Heritage’s grading system, there has been no improvement in the condition of any of the other 15 Bromley buildings that made last year’s register. Privately-owned Court Manor in Downe and the ice house in Sundridge Park are still graded A — “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration”. The Studio in Road, Beckenham, which is owned by the council, is also grade C but since the survey plans to lease the Studio to Citygate Christian Outreach Centre have been agreed A number of monuments were also deemed to be in need of restoration and repair including an iron age settlement and at Warbank in . The camp on and the High Elms ice house are also said to be in a “declining” condition due to visitor erosion and overgrown vegetation. Two Romano-British sites in Wickham Court Farm in West Wickham and Fordcroft in Orpington were deemed to be at risk from arable ploughing and vandalism.

Lack of funding could force cuts at TNA Genealogist Nick Barratt is heading a campaign against proposed cuts at the National Archives, which include closing the reading rooms on Mondays, introducing car-parking charges and staff cuts. Cuts will be necessary if the current level of funding remains unchanged in the foreseeable future, as it has for the past three years. TNA says that unless action is taken it will soon reach the stage where the funding is not sufficient to meet operating costs. The Monday closing is expected to save £0.5M. There are currently about 30 vacancies which will not be filled and a further 35 jobs are expected to go. More information can be found at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/changes.

4 Bromleag September 2009 What’s On Meetings and events September — December 2009 Meetings are held at 7.45 pm on the first Tuesday of the month, from September to July, in the Methodist Church Hall, North Street, Bromley. The hall has free off-street parking, good public transport links and facilities for the disabled. Non-members are welcome at the society’s meetings for a nominal charge of £1. Meetings 6 October The story of the picture postcard — John Gent 3 November A visit to the Local Studies Section, Bromley Library 1 December Beckenham and Beyond — Footprint Productions There will be eight short films from two new DVDs Beckenham compilation Opening Beckenham Town Hall in 1932 Coronation Procession and Celebrations in 1937 Mayor's Battleship Appeal Crystal Palace Tower comes down Claude Hulbert Appeal John Mantle Films made in the early 1930s You Can't Build Without Bricks (Beckenham Hospital appeal) Safer Beckenham (driving standards have not improved in 70 years) Know Your Kent Mike Shaw will also give a progress report on Footprints film about the young Enid Blyton. Events 12/13 September Scadbury open afternoons for more information see article P 12 19/20 September London Open House Weekend A programme is available from mid-August from http://www. openhouse.org.uk or can be consulted in libraries.

5 Bromleag September 2009 Review Watermills in the Cray valley

Alan Stoyel has a passion for watermills. Hooked at the age of 14, when his father took him to Longford Mill, near Dunton Green, he began to visit, record and collect material on Kentish mills, many already in their final years, others derelict, overgrown or with just remnants remaining. Work was to take him to Canada and on his return he found many of the sites obliterated with no sign of mill and factory. Now, in Memories of Kentish Watermills – the rivers Cray & Darent Alan takes a journey down the two rivers and their vanished watermills. Along the first two miles of the River Cray from Orpington to the Sidcup boundary there were five mills - two flour and three paper. The thing that struck me reading Alan Stoyel’s accounts of each of these mills is the force that the river once had. Water abstraction for London had depleted the river by the early 20th century changing the rivers and the landscape. The first two mills on the river, Orpington Mill and Snellings Mill, both flour mills, had gone before Alan ‘discovered’ them in the 50s. But, he gained valuable knowledge and pictures, including internal shots, about Orpington and Snellings from Phillip Street. He also recorded the remains of Snellings. The next three mills were for paper - the Upper Paper Mill, which ceased as early as 1834, Joynson’s, which took its place slightly down steam, and Nash’s paper mill. In the 1950s the second two were working ‘modern’ mills – no trace remains of either today – but as a lad Alan was lucky to meet 94-year-old Mr Nicholls who remembered Joynson’s mill from his youth. There were eight more mills on the Cray and 40 on the longer Darent. All have their place in this book, which includes nearly 100 photographs. Most have vanished totally but all have been lovingly recorded for posterity in this very personal account of a traditional world now completely vanished. Published by Landmark Publishing priced £9.99 Windmills article In the May edition of ODAS’s magazine Archives there is a very comprehensive and interesting article on the windmills in the parish of Keston. The magazine is available in the local studies library at Bromley.

6 Bromleag September 2009 Society visit Museum dedicated to the pilots of WWII

On our recent visit to the Shoreham Aircraft Museum members were able to enjoy a most interesting private tour with our guide, the curator of the museum, Geoff Nutkins an aviation artist and aviation archaeologist. The museum is situated in the delightful village of Shoreham, little changed since WWII. With its charming tearoom and attractive garden area it serves as a lasting tribute to the airmen who flew in the skies above during the Battle of Britain. The exhibits relate mainly, of course, to the summer period of 1940, and range from complete aircraft engines - both British and German and many in remarkable condition considering that they have been excavated from considerable depths – through to all types of equipment and uniforms. All are well displayed with excellent information panels. A giant bomb, called the Herman, is outside the museum door and there is a small 2 kg incendiary in its bucket of sand. All help to emphasise the continuing night air attacks of ’40 and ’41 on this country. Various displays reminded us of the vital importance of the RAF pilots who flew in that summer — many of whom lost their lives — now known throughout the world as “The Few”. During the war a public house in Brasted, The White Hart, was much frequented by the pilots from . A blackout board which once used to cover a window in the pub is now on display at the museum. Uniquely it has many of the signatures of Battle of Britain pilots, made at the time, in chalk. A one-off historical record of “The Few”. Our thanks to Geoff Nutkins and his team of volunteers who run the museum, those members who came had a remarkably interesting afternoon. We most certainly highly recommend it. The museum is open every Sunday and Bank Holidays from Easter to October

Len Smith

7 Bromleag September 2009 Society meeting Discovering the hidden treasures of Seal

Driving along the A25 from Riverhead to Seal the thought uppermost in the mind is negotiating the traffic on a relatively narrow highway that has been a main thoroughfare for many centuries. The only building of interest that springs instantly to mind is the Indian restaurant in a Tudor building in Seal village. But all is not as it seems as Monty Parkin revealed in his talk The A25 is Interesting. Originally the main medieval wagon road ran further up Oldbury Hill where there is evidence of ice age settlement. It was in 1760 that the “A25”, then a turnpike road, came into its own and the major development along the road dates from that time. The other major influence on the road and the village was the great house at Wilderness – now Dorton House school for the blind – which was so grand it had a mile long gravel drive with a man employed just to keep it in tip top shape. Wilderness and the land it owned provided much of the employment in the area in the 19th century. Monty Parkin has researched the history of the house and how it was visited by George III and the Duke of Wellington and later became the home of a typical Victorian ‘banking squire’ Lord Hillingdon. His wealth provided many of the village assets and his influence even extended to getting a villager off a murder charge. But Monty’s talk took in not just the lives of the gentry but the whole spectrum of society from the tramps and gypsies on Seal Chart to the lives of the villagers of Seal. There are also many buildings of interest in the village and along that stretch of the A25. Arts and Crafts buildings can still be spotted and buildings which once were home to enterprises such as Swift’s Edge Tools, Seal Herb Farm and Greatness Silk Mill can be seen in new guises today. There is certainly more of interest along the A25 than first meets the eye, including the ‘Tudor’ restaurant. That is not what it seems - fake cladding from the 1950s put up over what is more than likely an original, but not so picturesque, Tudor building. Yes the A25 is interesting. Christine Hellicar

8 Bromleag September 2009 Society meeting Bromley’s Roman legacy

We took the long view of history at our June meeting when the curator of Bromley Museum, Marie Louise Kerr, revealed Bromley’s ancient past in her talk Roman sites in Bromley. Kent was in the frontline of the Roman invasions of 55 BC by Julius Caesar and 43AD by Claudius, but there is no evidence of fighting in Bromley and it is peaceful rural settlement that personifies Roman Bromley. Communication routes – roads and rivers - are the key to Roman settlement. Marie Louise said that in West Wickham there is evidence of a village flanking a main road and at St Mary Cary a village at the crossing of the river [now Station Road]. Other small farmsteads were mainly concentrated in the upper Cray and Ravensbourne valleys. But the rest of Bromley was probably not settled because of poor soil. Illustrating her enthusiastic and entertaining talk with slides Marie Louise outlined the discovery of the three main Roman sites, all at the southern end of the borough - Keston, Crofton Roman Villa, Orpington and the bathhouse in Road in St Mary Cray. The Keston site was excavated in 1828 to reveal a circular building, rectangular tomb and stone coffin. Antiquarians at the time thought – or hoped – that the circular building was a temple and part of the lost city of Noviomagnus (new market). Keston Mausoleum A theory now discounted, Bromley Museum Service picture Twenty-five years later excavation in lower warbank field unearthed a large masonry building. Then in 1951-3 Mrs Percy Fox excavated the site and still declared it to be a town with public buildings. But in the 1960s the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit [KARU] excavated and concluded that the circular temple was actually the remains of a tomb and the‘public buildings part of large villa estate.

9 Bromleag September 2009 Society meeting

“Though the remains are sparse Keston is significant as it shows us a full villa estate, at Lullingstone there is only one building,” said Marie Louise. She added that the eight ritual shafts – defined as ritual because they have no obvious function - were a major discovery. They contained animal skeletons placed in a pattern, pottery, glass and other finds. “In the tomb was a wonderful Crofton Roman Villa in 1989, lead casket containing a Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit number of cremated bones. They were of an adult but there were also pig and bird bones indicating that pre roman traditions had survived the conquest.” The second site is Crofton Roman Villa near Orpington station, which was discovered and then nearly wiped out. It was the main house of a major farming estate, and the remains of decorated walls and tessellated floors mean it was probably a wealthy farmstead. It was discovered in 1926 when council workmen were making two driveways and part of site was deliberately destroyed to provide hard core. But luckily a year later archaeological enthusiast Elliston Arwood obtained funds for excavation. Then local press coverage caused the site to be ‘invaded’ over the weekend and practically everything was destroyed. Even as late as 1988 it was threatened Poverest Road Romano-British Bath with destruction to make way for a car House in 1970s, park. Excavation by KARU showed more Orpington and District Archaeological had survived than was realised and it Society 10 Bromleag September 2009 Society meeting lobbied for the preservation of the building. They still undertake the preservation and management of the building. The third site is the most extensive – Poverest Road bathhouse and Saxon burial site. Marie Louise told us: “In 1946 Andrew Eldridge, a drain inspector, recovered Roman pottery in Bellefield road, which led to the suggestion of a Roman site nearby. However, Victorian houses covered most of the site so excavation was only carried out when they were demolished in 1965. This revealed an Anglo-Saxon cemetery but also a large amount of Roman pottery. A second excavation in 1971-80 by Susan Palmer discovered the bathhouse. This was excavated by local volunteers who later became Orpington and District Archaeological Society [ODAS]. The Roman bathhouse has three rooms made from flint and mortar and two rooms with under floor heating (hot room caldarium and warm room tepidarium). Many items have been found in Poverest Road and along the Cray valley over many years indicating there was a lot of Roman activity at this point of the river – all destroyed by building and industry.

Visit Bromley’s Roman sites Many of the finds from the sites can be seen at Bromley Museum: http:// www.bromley.gov.uk/leisure/museums/BromMuseum/ The Mausoleum at Keston is on private property but is open to the public on open house weekends every other year. The next opening will be in 2010.. Crofton Roman Villa, just five minutes walk from Orpington Station, is open Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from April to October. http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/villa.htm There is no scheduled opening of Poverest at present but details will be given in future editions of Bromleag.

The building of the Crystal Palace

Bill Tonkin gave us a fascinating talk on the Crystal Palace earlier this year and has written an in-depth article on the subject which, because of lack of space, I am unable to run in this edition. It will be appearing in two parts in our December 2009 and March 2010 newsletters.

11 Bromleag September 2009 Feature Aspects of the History and Archaeology of Scadbury Park, Chislehurst by Alan Hart

t is always surprising how few Bromley people seem to have heard of Scadbury, the ruined mediaeval moated mansion just east of Chislehurst, I still less walked through its ancient parkland. I am sure this does not apply to many, or indeed any, of the members of BBLHS. In this article, I shall mention some of the ongoing excavation work and other research by the members of ODAS (Orpington & District Archaeological Society) which has continued since we first came to Scadbury in 1982. There are also many still unresolved questions about the history of Scadbury, and some will be touched on here. For those wishing a fuller account than space allows here, the booklet Scadbury Manor and its History and Archaeology and a series of Scadbury excavation reports are available from ODAS. The origins of Scadbury have always been a subject of interest but also uncertainty. The name suggests, and some older literature firmly states, that the settlement is of Saxon origin. However, there is in fact no documentary or archaeological evidence at all for that. The earliest documents refer to land transactions around 1257, but recent evaluation of pottery finds from an early drainage channel on the island pushes the period of occupation back into the late 12th century. If there were Saxon origins, some traces, pottery or other, should have appeared by now in the widely-spread excavations. It is thus more likely that Scathebury (as the name first appears) was the descriptive name of this wooded peninsular hill, rather than a settlement name. However, the point cannot be regarded as proven. It is likely that the manor of Scadbury was carved out of the manor of Kemnal. Thus, in 1630, holders of Scadbury still paid a rent of twenty shillings a year to Kemnal manor and it was described as “held of the manor of Kynall” (Kemnal) (see R. Hopper, 2004). A fascinating view of mediaeval Scadbury as a working estate under the de Scathebury family is provided by the Lay Subsidy assessment of 1301, reprinted in Webb’s The History of Chislehurst of 1899. In that year, tax assessors were sent out to value the possessions of all landholders in order to levy a Lay Subsidy (a tax of, in this case, one fifteenth part of people's goods). The record of the visitation to Chislehurst is quite detailed and gives a valuable insight into the condition of the Scadbury estate then. Webb gives his own translation of the Latin original, from which the table right has been adapted. There are some uncertain factors which might affect these data: the time of year; presumably the grain quantities were annual total yields, not what was

12 Bromleag September 2009 Feature present at the time; were they honest estimates or value £ s d not; and presumably the animals were the total each present and not just an 2 carthorses 1 0 0 annual cull? 4 horses 6s 0d 1 4 0 The list shows mixed 8 oxen 10s 0d 4 0 0 farming but with a bias 2 cows 12 0 towards arable (£9-12s-0d 2 steers 10 0 annual worth). Sheep 4 heifers 8 0 seem more important than 8 pigs 16 0 cattle, if we exclude the 8 porkers 8 0 eight oxen which would 60 sheep 10d 2 10 0 seem to be longer-lived 20 lambs 5d 8 4 plough animals. A very approximate 30 qrs wheat 4s 6d 6 15 0 calculation can be made of 10 qrs barley 3s 0d 1 10 0 the size of the demesne. 4 qrs straw 20d 6 8 The Battle Abbey estate at 1 qr vetch 20d 1 8 Alceston in the late 14th 10 qrs oats 20d 16 8 century yielded 17 in hay 2 0 bushels/acre of wheat, 26 1 lead vessel 4 0 of barley and 22 of oats; brass vessels 4 0 this was a well run estate In the chamber 6 8 on goodish soil. If we take as low as half those yields Total sum £22 3s 0d (1/15 = £1 9s 6d) for Scadbury owing to its [1s = 2.5p, 5d = 1p] moderate soil and allow 1/3 acreage for fallow, we get a total arable of only about 65 acres. Even with a generous allowance for the pasture of sheep and cattle, we are still probably short of 100 acres. The area of additional woodland is unknown; this would at that period have supported the pigs, which are present in the archaeological record (pigs were not kept in sties until later). The estate in 1301 thus seems to be smaller than it was to become later. One family of four might need one quarter measure of mixed grains for basic subsistence per year. Of course, a dozen or more workers and their families, not merely the de Scatheburys, would need feeding. As 50 quarters were produced, even if we set aside some for seed, cattle feed, taxes, etc., there would seem to be a surplus if no crops were sold for cash. Probably, then, some of the Scadbury crops did supply the London market.

13 Bromleag September 2009 Feature The appearance and the type of construction of the buildings at Scadbury are not known in any detail, as there are no surviving illustrations, and much of the archaeological evidence was destroyed in the 1930s. Their appearance would have changed through the centuries from first settlement around 1200 to demolition and abandonment around 1740. We still have the brick ground plan, but the 1930s restorations have left little higher original brickwork (if such existed). Mediaeval Scadbury would have had a timber hall and other buildings, as there is very little tradition of mediaeval stone dwellings in the area, and even as late as in 1734 just before demolition, the mansion is described as “A large Old Timber Building of no value …”. After brickwork became fashionable in the 15th century, a good deal of rebuilding was done. Excavations by ODAS indicate that there were two phases, the first on the island in the later 15th century. Then in the middle 16th a gatehouse building (later to develop into Scadbury Park Mansion) was erected some 150m to the west, and the walled garden and brick archway were very probably built at about the same time. Considering all the evidence, it is likely that the later island buildings had brick lower storeys with timber construction above. The gatehouse was certainly of this construction,

Singleton, Great Chart : The moated buildings at Singleton, Great Chart, which have many points of resemblance to the postulated appearance of the buildings at Scadbury. Drawing probably ca. 1890 by Howard Gaye. Singleton, lately a conference centre, is currently for sale (to the very wealthy only, see http:// img.findaproperty.com/lanefox/Canterbury/m32522747.pdf

14 Bromleag September 2009 Feature as shown by excavation (brick and flint rear wall) and documentation (timber quarterings). However, on the island the mediaeval timber hall might just possibly have survived the 15th century brick rebuilding, but with the addition of the brick chimney whose base survives (the upper part is ca. 1930). Certainly, in the detailed inventory of 1727, the very large number of pictures listed in the hall perhaps suggests higher walls than a single-storey would afford. All things considered, it is possible that the main moated building might have looked rather like Singleton, Great Chart. Visitors to Scadbury often remark on the small area of Scadbury compared, for example, with Ightham Mote, which Scadbury is often said to have resembled. Actually, this is an illusion born of comparison of a now largely empty area with another crowded with buildings; the island at Scadbury is in fact Undercroft This barrel-roof is the only appreciably larger than Ightham surviving original roof at Scadbury. The Mote. Apart from the considerable brickwork over it is 1930s. use of stone at Ightham, the Scadbury buildings also differ in having been more scattered than at Ightham, where they form an infilled rough square right to the water’s edge. Some light on everyday life at Scadbury has been shed by the excavations. The filled-in drain running from the hall to the moat (which supplied a large cistern on the way) not only contained the 12th century pottery mentioned above, but also other interesting articles. Seeds preserved by charring or anaerobic conditions included wheat, oats, barley, pea, corn marigold, blackberry, and dogwood. Rather appropriately, an iron weeding hook was also present. Also there, though, was a neonatal human skull, whose presence may be explained (e.g. perhaps an unbaptised stillborn) but not excused. An interesting gilded broken probable horse decoration was found nearby at a little later level. Higher still, a 17th century wine bottle seal from the Horne Tavern in London was found, showing where the Bettensons (the owners at that time) obtained some of their liquid nourishment. Arguably the most important, most interesting, and grandest period of Scadbury was in the later years of Queen Elizabeth, when Sir Thomas Walsingham, the fourth of that name, held the manor. Following are a few interesting aspects of this period. The reader is assured that, though colourful, these are generally accepted facts.

15 Bromleag September 2009 Feature During much of the period, Sir , to whom Thomas was first cousin once removed, was Secretary of State, and among his other activities ran a network of government agents, which actually included Thomas. Thomas Walsingham and his wife Audrey were much in favour with Elizabeth, and later with James I. Thus in 1597 Elizabeth visited Scadbury, where she knighted Thomas. This event is depicted on the Chislehurst Common village sign, unveiled in June 1953 (the picture is based on Ightham). In about 1600, Sir Thomas and Audrey were presented with a silver- mounted Ming christening bowl by Queen Elizabeth on the the birth of their son, also named Thomas. The bowl, which may possibly have originally been Walsingham bowl: a late 16th century Chinese part of Francis Drake's blue and white porcelain bowl, English silver-gilt captured treasure, eventually mounted. Exhibited at the Elizabeth exhibition in passed by marriage to the the National Maritime Museum in 2003. Browne family (Viscounts Montagu) of Cowdray Park, Sussex, and then in tragic circumstances to the Cecil family (Marquesses of Exeter) of Burghley House, Lincolnshire, where it remains today. It is the only surviving remnant of the Walsingham family of Scadbury in its floreat. Thomas was a patron and friend of Christopher , the Elizabethan poet, playwright, and government agent, who is a most interesting but enigmatic figure. Marlowe’s connection with Scadbury, particularly his arrest and its sequel, has always been the subject of much interest. Marlowe must have been a frequent visitor to Scadbury, for it was there in May 1593 that he was sought for arrest. A messenger, Henry Maunder, was sent by the Privy Council to Scadbury with a warrant in connection with allegations of atheism (then a very serious crime). Marlowe was questioned, but released pending further action. Then on May 30th it was reported that he had been killed at by one Ingram Frizer, a close servant of Thomas Walsingham, in self-defence. The incident took place at the house of Elinor Bull, a well-connected widow (not at a tavern as usually stated). Also present, and witnesses at the inquest, were and . Poley was an experienced agent closely involved with the detection of the Babington

16 Bromleag September 2009 Feature plot of 1586, which led to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Skeres was a minor agent and associate of Frizer. The inquest was held by the Queen’s Coroner, William Danby. Then Frizer swiftly received the Queen’s pardon. The question of the credibility of the accounts given by Frizer and his witnesses at the inquest has been the subject of much controversy. The murky world of Elizabethan espionage, though it may seem to strain our credulity, was real enough (see, e.g. Charles Nicholl’s The Reckoning, a very well researched and referenced account). One sidelight on Tudor life at Scadbury was provided by the excavation on the site of the first of the two large classrooms erected at Scadbury in the last few years. In addition to large brick pig-sties of around 1900, destroyed by the V1 flying bomb of 1945, we discovered the foundations of a Tudor-period building divided into four small compartments with a central entrance area. Just outside were two later brick square cisterns. These remains are almost certainly the privies serving the gatehouse a short distance away. They must have been very inconvenient on a cold wet winter’s night. In 1831 the steward George Golding, who resided at the gatehouse, wrote in a list of improvements required “Remove privy to any place more convenient” This almost certainly refers to this building, and it is surprising that they were still in use then. The two cisterns (cesspits) were in 1831 still relatively new and were not filled in until later. Privies, cesspits and pig-sties are now underneath a huge slab of very thick concrete, so no- one will see them again, and it is satisfying that at least there is now a record. Our latest excavation has centred on the brick and cobble avenue running from the fallen archway by the walled garden eastwards to the (missing) moat bridge. We had Cellar brickwork Brickwork on the moated island. The whitish uncovered this mass of bricks in the foreground is original ca. 1500, but most of the remainder is of the 1930s restoration, built over the lines of patterned avenue the original ruined foundations. of about 1650 in

17 Bromleag September 2009 Feature sections during the last few years, but recently have found that in some places, parts of an older avenue of nicely laid cobbles survives at a slightly lower level. It dates to some time after 1450, and must be the surface on which Queen Elizabeth walked when she visited Scadbury in 1597, and so is of considerable interest.

We will be pleased to welcome members of BBLHS to the Scadbury open afternoons on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September this year. There is a self-guiding trail (with ODAS members present to help). Easiest access is from St Paul's Wood Hill opposite Breakspears Drive, and limited free moat-side car parking is available for those with disability (but please phone 01689 820432 to arrange).

Further Reading

E.A. Webb, G.W. Miller, and J. Beckwith, The History of Chislehurst, George Allen, 1899; reprinted 1999, The Chislehurst Society. P.E.W. Street, Manor Farm, St. Mary Cray, Kent (typescript at Orpington Library), ca.1938 (refers to the re-erection of this building at Scadbury). C. Nicholl, The Reckoning, Picador, 1992. F.A. Hart, Excavations at Scadbury: a series of publications by ODAS describing the archaeological work in detail. So far published are: Excavations near the Island Wall, 2000; The Estate Barn, 2003; Remains of Buildings in the Farmyard, 2005; A Tudor Gatehouse becomes a Modern Mansion, 2008. R. Hopper, Connections between Kemnal and Scadbury Manors, Archives of O.D.A.S., 26, 9-12, 2004. F.A. Hart and S.M. Archer, Scadbury Manor and its History and Archaeology, ODAS, 2009.

18 Bromleag September 2009 Feature Benefits at the West Wickham Swan Public Houses have not always been limited to drinking, eating and entertainment as Joyce Walker reveals.

Before the Great War licensing hours did not exist and The Swan at West Wickham was open all hours, not just as a coaching inn but functioning as a public meeting place. Go back 200 years and you would have found members of St John’s Church, West Wickham lining up for parish benefits. The Swan was used by officials of St John’s Church for meetings of the vestry; dinners for the vestry; housing the poor and sick; payment of weekly ‘pensions’ and relief to the poor of the parish. Evidence of these activities is to be found in the parish poor rate books:

1781 December 23 Woman fell sick at the Swan — £1 1s 0d 1782 March 24 Paid for George West at the Swan — £2 0s 6d 1785 March 29 Paid Fryer for eating & drinking at Swan — £1 3s 11d 1787 January 2 Pd a Bill at Swan of Account of keeping Bishop — 9s 10d 1798 May 5 Berrington’s [landlord at the Swan] bill on Vestry Day — £2 14s 8d 1807 September 7 Paid Fuzzey for the horses 1 night & hay and corn at the Swan & Post Lad’s beer — 7s 8d 1812 November 11 To paid at the Swan for Thos. Iverson for 9 days Board Lodging and Beer — £1 7s 0d 1820 February 7 Pd Mr Crittal [landlord at Swan] for Liquor etc. for Constable & man taken at Mr. Best — 4s 6d 1824 March 27 Pd Mr Crittall for Gin to the Men carrying young Baldwin home Dead — 1s 8d Coroner’s dinner etc at the Swan — 8s [1s = 2.5p, 5d = 1p]

Some entries will always remain a mystery. Who was Fuzzy? What was the story of the man “taken at Mr Best”? Young Baldwin, however, was a tragic tale, a 12-year-old boy crushed by a cartwheel.

19 Bromleag September 2009 Letters What was the great fire of Crofton?

Thomas Philpott published Villare Cantinarium [Kent Surveyed and Illustrated] in 1659. His publisher was William Godbid,, house over against the Anchor Inn in Little Britain, London. The book has often been quoted and has much detail on the major families and their genealogy. As with many later works it has less detail on North West Kent. However, Crofton has a long, intriguing paragraph: Crofton …formerly swell into so much grandeur and populacy that it was known for a Parish of itself, till by fire it was entombed in it’s present Desolation, and by the Violence of that wild and imperious Element reduced into a Heap of Flame and Ruines; and certainly those deplorable Remains which yet expose themselves to an Inquisitive Eye, and the Groundswells too, and scattered Foundations of Houses, which the Plough often raises out of their Sepulcher and Rubbish, and represents to the public views, do evince this Truth to us, that Towns and Villages, have their stated Periods and Duration and must at length find a Grave like Men. But though this village be shrunk into this disordered Heap, yet still it preserves the Reputation of a Manor … In fact there is more on Crofton than Bromley. Clearly the village was devastated by fire, but when? I feel sure the late Bill Morton would have known. Can anyone throw any light on the story? Michael Rawcliffe

Penny for your memories I wonder if any BBLHS members remember the Bromley Carnival Day before the war? It started with many decorated floats driving through Bromley High Street and, I believe, it stopped at Norman Park on . Also on that weekend there was a fair on the Mead at the end of Glassmill Lane. I also remember a line of pennies that stretched from the town centre, on the pavement, up to Masons Hill. I have spoken to many people about this but have yet to find someone that remembers it. Was it in my imagination? Who laid the pennies down and picked them up at the end of the day? J Cross, Keston If anyone remembers the pennies or knows what the purpose of the penny chain was then please let me know. Ed

20 Bromleag September 2009 Letters Pictures of Lennards Hospital sought

Some dog walking friends of mine walk through the woods off of Lower Gravel Road, we go pass the site where the above hospital was, we proceed up the lane to the woods where once upon-a-time stood a 'small pox' unit/isolation (later we think it became a Nurses quarters), we can see debris and flora which was planted there for the gardens. I have been to Bromley Central Library who have been very helpful but cannot supply me with a photo of the 'smallpox buildings', they do have an aerial plan of the site over the years and do have several pictures of the main hospital. I was wondering if anyone in your society have pictures/know about this unit - we just want to have an idea of what was there whilst out walking. Lynn Curtis [email protected] or the editor [details inside front cover].

Does anyone know the Tasker family?

I am currently working on my family history. My grandmother was Annie Tasker, daughter of George and Sarah Maria Tasker living at 14, Napier Road, Bromley, in 1881, my Great Grandfather George Tasker was a Painter and Glazier. My grandmother died in 1925 here in Liverpool and my mother did not appear to know much about her Mother’s family. According to the 1901 Census my Grandmother’s brother was called George or George Henry and was born in 1880. According to the census he was employed as a decorator by his uncle John L. Woodhams who was a builder in Bromley at that time. But after that there appears to be no trace of him, or come to that of his sisters Mary E Tasker and L E Tasker – I have no idea what the L E stands for. I wondered if anyone in the society has anything further on these elusive characters. If there is anything I can do to help anyone in researches here in Liverpool, which does have the most wonderful local records library at the Central Library in the city, I would be only too happy to help if I can. Many thanks in advance for any help you or the membership can give. Pat King [email protected] If you can help Pat but do not have Internet access do drop me a line at the address on the inside cover. Ed

21 Bromleag September 2009 Feature Mottingham’s unique war memorial Mottingham’s war memorial is one of the earliest and most unique war memorials in the country; it is also probably Mottingham’s best known landmark. John Kennett recalls its history. undreds of vehicles pass by Mottingham’s war memorial every day but it is only on one day H a year that the traffic is stopped so that due respect can be paid to the men and women who fell in two world wars. Following cessation of hostilities in 1918 Mottingham residents decided that they wanted to honour their loved ones who had not returned from the four year long conflict. In the best traditions of decision making a public meeting was called by the Parish Council, at the Council Schools [now the site of Mottingham Library] on 12 February 1919, and a committee was elected. The chairman was Mr S P Page, JP of Mottingham Hall and four suggestions made were, a playing field for children, a burial ground, almshouses for aged people and a memorial in the centre of the village. But it was thought something of a modest cost was more likely to be achieved, as the population of Mottingham was then only 1,534. Comments like ‘something that would not wash out with the centuries’, ‘ a restrained memorial’, ‘elaborate memorials are for great cities not country villages’ were made at the meeting. The preferred site for the memorial was at the junction of the High Road and West Park, already occupied by a lamppost bearing directional signs and established when The war memorial today is at the centre of a roundabout West Chislehurst Park, as

22 Bromleag September 2009 Feature it was then known, was built on Crown land from 1888. The committee of thirteen members accepted a design from local resident George Hubbard ARIBA, who lived in West Park and who also sat on the committee, because of its ‘suitability, practicability and simplicity.’ Funds were raised and permission was sought by Mottingham Parish Council of the Bromley Rural District Council and the Ministry of Health to carry out the work. Construction of the war memorial started in January 1920 by Messrs J Daymond & Sons, architectural sculptors of Westminster, at a cost of £620. George Hubbard’s design was described as: “a small classic temple or shrine, hexagonal in shape, surrounded by six Roman Doric columns which stand on a hexagonal base some three feet six inches above the level of the ground. Within this shrine is a six-sided pedestal surmounted by a stately white stone Portland Cross and seen between the columns”. On five tablets below the cross are inscribed the names of the 45 men and on the sixth panel the words:

This monument is erected in the memory of the men of Mottingham who gave their lives for God, King and Country in the Great War, 1914 – 1918.

Later protocol decreed that only the names of the fallen should be recorded on war memorials – being one of the first to be erected the Mottingham memorial is unique in that the ranking of the men and their regiment or service is given. On the wet evening of Friday 26 April 1920 a large circle of people gathered round the war memorial. Standing three deep within this circle were scholars from Mottingham Council School who assisted with the singing of the hymns under the direction of their headmaster, Mr TW Toll. The original dedication panels The Rev Noel Mellish, VC, of St Mark’s Church, Lewisham opened the proceedings and spoke about men who fought for ‘right and freedom’ and then dedicated the memorial. Mr S P Pate unveiled the Cross and spoke of the valour of those who had fallen. He also commended the work that had been carried out on the memorial

23 Bromleag September 2009 Feature under the careful supervision of George Hubbard, and then read out the citation and the names of the men who are recorded on the memorial. This was followed with dedicatory prayers. The hymns sung were Onward Christian Soldiers and Fight the good fight. Following the Blessing the National Anthem was sung. After an Armistice service at St John’s Church, Eltham, on Sunday 13 November 1921 ex-servicemen of the Eltham branch of the British Legion marched to the war memorial. They were led by a Scouts’ band and joined at Mottingham Station by Mottingham Football Club, at St Andrew’s church by the Rector, choir and church wardens who together made for the memorial which had been illuminated and where a deep circle had formed. It is recorded that: “the Rector conducted a short service in the beautiful fading light of a November evening.” Wreaths were laid and the colours of the ex-servicemen and the scouts were lowered and the Last Post played. Local people and organisations continued to gather round the Mottingham memorial in November for the act of remembrance until the increase in traffic made it a dangerous activity. In 1972 a roundabout was marked out around the memorial and the remembrance service was transferred to the car park of The Porcupine pub, with the permission of the licensee. The memorial suffered damage in 1944 when Hyde’s Garage and the Express Dairy premises were demolished by enemy aerial attack. Following repairs 24 names were added of those who lost their lives in the Second World War. In 1987 an act of vandalism saw the stone sword snapped off and thrown through a car windscreen. Bromley Council, under whose control the memorial rests, affected repairs and cleaning of the memorial. On Remembrance Sunday Mottingham residents will gather at the Porcupine for their act of witness with hymns accompanied by the Mottingham Village Concert Band. Just before 11a m, after the traffic has been stopped by the police, representatives will lay wreaths on the memorial and the Last Post played; thus continuing a tradition of remembrance started over eighty years ago.

24 Bromleag September 2009 Feature Preparing for war on the home front

This month marks the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII. Patricia Knowlden – who later in the war became Bromley’s youngest Air Raid Warden - looks back at the civil defence plans made by Bromley Town Council in the months leading up to 3 September 1939.

By the close of 1937 Bromley’s town council was already considering the problem of Air Raid Precautions [ARP]. At a crowded meeting in December a letter from Town Clerk, Mr S Critchley-Auty, assured members that the Government was considering how best to train and convey information to volunteers and added: “Bromley’s own scheme was being worked out step by step.” On Sunday 13 March 1938 Hitler’s tanks violated the beautiful city of Vienna, capital of Austria, and the following day British Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare appealed on the radio for a million volunteers for the ARP Service. “If the emergency arose,” he said, “I know men would come in their hundreds of thousands. But they would come untrained. For the work they might have to do one man trained beforehand was worth two or three who came in the last moment.” By the end of that week upwards of a hundred men and women had enrolled in Bromley’s ARP service, my father, Reginald Gedye, among them. By the first of April another 250 had joined them and, immediately after Easter, they were together plunged into their initial training. It had been decided, by the newly-appointed ARP Officer Col W T Bird and the ARP committee of the borough, to hold a main recruiting drive when this nucleus had been trained – for it was estimated that 2000 volunteers would be needed for all the necessary branches of ARP, including an augmented fire service; for, although poison-gas attacks were probably the most feared and every man, woman and child was to be issued with a gas-mask, it was considered that gas alone was not the chief source of danger, but that incendiary bombs, interspersed with gas, were “more perilous.” To deal with these threats and those of high explosive bombs, specialists were needed – and auxiliary Fire Service, Rescue Teams and First Aid Parties, who would be deployed from a main report centre on information supplied by the man – literally – in the street. He would be the Warden, who would live in and know his neighbourhood, visit householders to discuss with them what they would do to increase the protection of their homes and, if and when the raids came, act as street patrol

25 Bromleag September 2009 Feature for reporting to HQ what was happening in his sector. Therefore, the emphasis in the training of Wardens was then, and all along, on the speed and accuracy of their reporting. By August 1938 the first batch of wardens had passed their tests and my father, now one of 17 Senior Wardens, was in charge of Group 2 – the northern half of Plaistow Electoral Ward and the tip of Sundridge, lying either side of Burnt Ash Lane. This was to be our battlefield – here in these ordinary suburban streets my father and his team would fight to defend their neighbours, in what should have been the sanctity and safety of their own homes, from such forces of death, destruction and distress that none of them could have imagined a few years before. In the middle of August the latest series of talks with the Germans broke down; Col Bird wrote a terse missive to his wardens instructing them: “to commence their duties.” These were initially, and in conjunction with the Local District Committees of the Wards, to publicise ARP in order to gain the many more recrits that were needed and also to advise people on preparation for an attack. There were public meetings, posters and leaflets; for the gasmasks, which were now to be issued, there were leaflets; for the census of households, there were leaflets. The door-to-door delivery of leaflets was considered, as I well remember, an eminently suitable occupation for an eleven-year-old. On the 30th September Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich. There were those who shared his hope of “peace in our time,” but the ARP was not going to let up. Now there was some time for consolidation, for oranisation; but no-one knew how much time. Bromley’s town clerk, late Captain in the 151st Punjabis, Mr S Critchley-Auty, was appointed Controller of Civil Defence liaising with other boroughs and departments. As far as the wardens were concerned Bromley had already been divided up into Sectors: “by estimation of population, numbers of houses, size and internal communications.” There were 162, each with a Sector Warden. Various groups were tried which by the end of July 1939 had crystallised into 17 groups or areas with Head Wardens, each with 5 – 10 Sectors. The question of protection of personnel arose, especially of the Head Wardens, and 173,000 sandbags were ordered, to reinforce three “Posts” on each Area; these posts became the nerve ends, which connected with the main report centre. This would be at the Municipal Offices “if the balloon went up” but, in the meantime, for practice purposes, and while the main centre was being prepared, there were four – the one we in Area A2 reported to was at the Express Dairy Depot at the end of Farwig Lane and the others were at Sergeant and Collins Garage in Road, at Hayes Rectory and at the

26 Bromleag September 2009 Feature Boys’ County School in Hayes Lane. As it was not always convenient for the posts to be set up in private houses the Head Wardens were asked for their recommendations, and eventually 43 were built as Pill-boxes and equipped with telephones etc. They were always grumbled at as being cramped and damp but were an ever-present refuge in times of trouble and an essential part in the chain of reportage. Until these were ready the appointed Post Wardens continued to offer hospitality to their fellows and their houses would always be used for storage of equipment, hours of duty when there was no “alert” and for meetings. There were always meetings, meetings to discuss the internal workings of the Area or to consider the ceaseless flow of information and instructions from HQ in Bromley – especially after the appointment in September 1938 of a Chief Warden, Mr E Ford Duncanson DSC, MA, JPP and twice Mayor of Bromley. The first meeting of Group 2 was held on 30 October 1938 at the Burnt Ash Working Men’s Club, and was attended by six Sector Wardens with the Senior Warden [my father RG] in the chair. The subjects on the agenda included the recent census of households, the procuring of a large-scale map, trenches, first aid and other classes for new wardens – and ended with a swap of cigarette cards. In case this sounds like little boys playing games, I must add that those cards were a series that depicted hints on ARP. That was the first of the Sector Wardens’ meetings. Later, when the Posts

Do-it yourself refuge room with gas attacks in mind

27 Bromleag September 2009 feature were organised, each Post held its own weekly meetings, and all the Post Wardens met as often at our house – “District HQ”. It would be true to say that most of the Post Wardens and, indeed, wardens as a whole, were mostly White-collar, though there were as well a general labourer, window cleaners and a dustcart driver. This was due to District 1As suburban nature. No woman was ever a Post Warden, although on Posts A1. A2 and A3, nearly one-third of the wardens, full-time as well as part-time, were women; on A4 the proportion was nearer one in five. They were mostly married women with no occupation entered on their record cards, and there were a good many instances of both husband and wife joining. Men full-timers may have come from the less well-paid sectors, among them being a butcher’s assistant and a canvasser, as well as a barrister’s clerk; also a shelter erector – presumably after Bromley’s Anderson shelters had all been erected. Two men also had no occupation entered and perhaps were retired, another certainly was, although the average age of volunteers was somewhere in the 30s in the early days; but as the 30 to 40 age group was conscripted for the Services, or directed into industry, the older men had to tackle the job, prepared and ready to give succour and comfort to their neighbours sometimes under appalling conditions. Training was always a major topic: on the syllabus of Group 2 in May 1939 were organisation and the warning system, messages, protection from bombs, maps and local knowledge, “relations with police, public and other services” and some first aid. In the beginning of 1939 recruiting was still at full tilt, for the Borough still needed 350 volunteers to complete its complement, now estimated at 1000 – comprising of 700 Wardens, 22 First Aid Parties, seven Rescue Parties and seven gas decontamination squads. At a public meeting at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Burnt Ash Lane, the wardens dressed up in their yellow gas-proof oilskins with gumboots and respirators, and thirty or forty of the audience were so impressed that they signed on as recruits then and there. Similar activities were going on all over Bromley and recruitment was a standard topic at the Head Wardens’ monthly meeting. Naturally relations with the public varied. Reactionaries still had their heads firmly in the sand. In December it was reported that: “some members of residents’ associations were anti-ARP and should be called on by Head Wardens with a view to modifying their views.” On the other hand the Plaistow Ward Residents’ Association chairman Mr CH Wright, invited the wardens to one of their meetings. As the storm clouds failed to disperse, an information bureau was opened in

28 Bromleag September 2009 feature May at the Municipal Offices, public lectures were held at the Girls’ County School in Nightingale Lane and at the Library and a brochure was produced by Mr Franklin of the Bromley Times, to be distributed to every household in the borough, with a card to be filled in by the householder with the name of the nearest Warden and Sector Warden so that they would know who to turn to in need. Although poison gas was now considered to be only third in importance of threat after explosives and incendiary bombs, it was still being prepared for, so the gas chamber at Waldo Road was opened to the public on Wednesdays from May onwards. It was an eerie experience to stand in a group in the dimly lit gas chamber, hardly able to communicate with the others, while you sensed, rather than knew, the danger in the air around you. These tests were only made with tear gas; but it was rather unnerving all the same. New ways of living on the Home and the Kitchen front Sixty thousand civilian-type respirators had, with a struggle, been distributed in Bromley since the previous September but not all the children’s coloured masks and the babies “helmets” arrived until the end of September 1939; and not everybody had their cardboard boxes so many people bought their own strong containers. After war was declared we were supposed always to have our gas masks with us and there was a special form for objectors to sign, admitting responsibility should they become a gas casualty. Unfortunately, in spite of efforts by the RSPCA no really effective and acceptable gas protection was devised for animals and many people had their pets destroyed for fear of their suffering. A very important part of the warden’s taskwas to recommend the safest room to use as a shelter – under the stairs was considered a good place for a small

29 Bromleag September 2009 feature family – but there was not a lot that could be done in the way of reinforcement or protection other than piling up sandbags filled with soil from the garden. From April 1938 onwards the Anderson steel shelters were distributed free by the Government, on request, to those with an income of £250 pa or less [a bus conductor earned about that much]. When half buried in the ground and with a good covering of earth these were later found to give complete protection even from an almost direct hit – providing it was only a small bomb. Because of the income restriction, pamphlets were distributed to the “better off” describing other types which could be bought, or built. With all types of shelters, and most especially those that could be buried in rubble so easily, it was one of the warden’s essential duties to know their exact location and the number of people using them. In June, the Borough Engineer made a survey in the centre of Bromley near the shops and buses, and issued a poster listing basements where the owners would allow people to shelter in a raid and which he considered suitable. Trench shelters had been dug during the Munich crisis the previous autumn, rather hurriedly and not always in the most suitable ground. Those on our area, near the top of New Street Hill, were always damp and always a nuisance. A few brick shelters were also later constructed, one opposite Milk Street near the shops in Burnt Ash Lane; they were generally used only during daylight alerts. While the general public were, in these ways, being prepared for the horrors that now seemed inevitable, the ARP Service was working away to be ready for the part they would have to play. Training classes were still being held, the Head Wardens of each area began to hold their own exercises in reporting as part of their training programmes, and in March there was the first joint exercise in which 250 members of all services took part. In June a whole borough exercise with “31 incidents” showed up lack of message practice in some Areas. In the summer the ARP Service was re-named Civil Defence and there was to be some re-organisation in which Area 2 would be absorbed by the next Area. My father put his case for keeping his team intact with sufficient force and conviction that Area 2 remained unaltered. They continued to hold regular monthly exercises until a recess was declared from the beginning of August until September 11; they were then resumed under somewhat different conditions. The day war was declared Towards the end of August 1939, my mother and father and I were camping near the Sussex coast; in spite of wonderful weather my parents

30 Bromleag September 2009 feature did not seem to be enjoying themselves very much. On Sunday morning, a little before eleven o’clock, my father set off alone to the village shop, and when he returned I could tell both from their solemn faces and from the tears in my mother’s eyes as she ran to me, and took me into her arms to protect me from a calamity I did not know about and could not understand, that something very bad had happened. My father had, of course, been listening to Neville Chamberlain’s declaration over the radio that we were at war with Germany. We stood there for a while outside the tent, trying to adjust to the world in pieces around us, yet looking the same in the sunlight. Suddenly, along the lane raced a man on a motorcycle, his horn blaring continuously as he went and we realised that this, so soon, was an air raid alarm. On a campsite you can’t rush to shelter and we did not really expect the sky to darken with hordes of aircraft, but we were nervous, busying ourselves about the tent, waiting for whatever might happen next. What did happen was that the motorcyclist returned, blowing an “all clear”. Armageddon was not to be just yet. But we had been preparing for it for guite some time.

This article is an extract from Patricia Knowlden’s book The Long Alert 1937 – 1945. It has been re-issued and is available from BBLHS’s publications officer [see inside cover] or from Bromley Local Studies Library.

Do you memories of those early days of the war in Bromley borough, or have you a family tale about day war was declared? If so, write to the editor [details on inside front cover].

31 Bromleag September 2009 Bromley Local History Society Registered Charity No 273963 History is continually being made and at the same time destroyed, buildings are altered or demolished, memories fade and people pass away, records get destroyed or thrown in the bin. BBLHS was formed in 1974 so that those with an interest in the history of any part of the borough could meet to exchange information and learn more about Bromley’s history. We aim, in co-operation with the local history library, museums and other relevant organisations, to make sure at least some of this history is preserved for future generations. We hold regular meetings and produce a newsletter and occasional publications where members can publish their research. The society covers all those areas that are within the present day London Borough of Bromley and includes : - - Beckenham - Bickley -Biggin Hill - Bromley - Chelsfield - Chislehurst - - - Downe - Farnborough - -Hayes - Keston - - Mottingham - Orpington - Penge - - St. Mary Cray - St. Paul’s Cray - - Sundridge Park - West Wickham.

http://bblhs.website.orange.co.uk/

Subscription Rates Yearly subscription from 1 January Individual £8.50; couple £10. Senior citizens pay a re- duced rate of £6 per person or £8 for a couple. Members joining after 30 June pay half rates. Membership Secretary 020 8467 3842

32 Bromleag September 2009