Bromleag The newsletter of the Borough Local History Society

September 2005

Shooting Common — growing into a Bromley suburb

Hard times Mottingham hamlet keeping out Bony to urban village Bromley Borough Local History Society

Registered Charity No 273963 About the Society Bromley Borough Local History Society was formed in 1974 so that anyone with an interest in any part of the borough could meet to exchange information and learn more about Bromley’s history. Contents History is continually being made and at the same time destroyed, buildings September 2005 are altered or demolished, memories fade and people pass away, records get destroyed or thrown in the bin. We aim, in co-operation with the local history library, museums and other relevant organisations, to make sure at least All copy for the December some of this history is preserved for future generations. edition of Bromleag must We hold regular meetings and produce a journal and occasional publications reach the editor by 1 where members can publish their research. November Chairman and Membership Secretary Dr Anthony Allnut Woodside, Old Perry Street, , BR7 6PP P3 News 020 8467 3842 [email protected] P4/5 Secretary Society meetings: Mrs Patricia Knowlden 62 Harvest Bank Road, West Wickham, BR4 9DJ Researching 020 8462 5002 Chelsfield Evelyn Hellicar Bromleag P6/9 This newsletter is published four times a year. The editor welcomes articles of between 100 and 1,000 words, along with illustrations and photographs. Feature: These can be in paper copy, disk or e-mailed. Shooting Common Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope if you wish material to be P10/13 returned. Items remain the copyright of the authors and do not necessarily Feature: reflect Society views. Each contributor is responsible for the content of their article. Bony brings hard Articles are not always used immediately as we try to maintain a balance times to NW between research, reminiscences and articles about different subjects and P14/15 parts of the borough. Reviews: Editor Beckenham Home Christine Hellicar 150 Worlds End Lane, Chelsfield, Kent BR6 6AS Front 01689 857214 Bromley in WWII Email chrisandpathellicar @talk21.com Development of Mottingham P16 Bromley Local Studies, computer Subscription Rates system on-line 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.

2 Bromleag September 2005 News Publisher seeks local authors Bromley Local Studies Library has been approached Volumes in these series on Bromley might make sense by publishers Pen & Sword Books to help them find for us, and I’m exploring the possibilities. suitable authors for two books on Bromley, one on The book on crime would carry around 40,000 words of historic crime and the other on the history of the text and up to 80 illustrations. Famous or particularly individual towns and villages of the borough. revealing criminal episodes of all kinds would make up the bulk of the narrative, but most volumes in the series also Details of the projects are given in their letter include a general introduction to the criminal history of the published below. If you would be interested in finding area. out more about the projects and particularly if you The books are published as paperbacks at £9.99. They feel you could contribute a history of a specific area are targeted mainly at a local readership, but there is also then contact Simon Finch at the local studies library a modest national market for them. on 020 8 461 7170 The history of the districts would probably also require or email [email protected] about 40,000 words along with around 100 illustrations. The book would consist of a general historical introduction I am looking for authors for two possible Bromley book followed by short chapters – 1500–2500 words – on each projects – one would look at the criminal side of the area’s district. The book would be priced at around £11.99 and history and the other would be a combined history of the again it would be aimed at the local market. various districts that make up the modern borough. I need to find local historians with serious writing Pen and Sword publishes a range of local history titles experience, good research skills and enthusiasm for the under its Wharcliffe imprint. These include books on local tasks. crime and misconduct, which usually go out under the The writer will also have to produce copy that is edited as heading Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths. the publishers will not be providing an editing service prior We are also starting a series of books on the history of to publication. the constituent parts of major towns and cities – the Rupert Harding suburbs, villages or districts that have grown together to form the modern community. Pen & Sword Books Limited

Meetings September to December 2005

Meetings are held at 7.45 pm on the first Tuesday of the month, from October 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.

Tuesday 6 September Members Evening. An opportunity to hear about historical research, collections and stories from Society members Tuesday 4 October The History of the Bishops Palace, Bromley Michael Rawcliffe Tuesday 1 November Bolts from the Blue. The story of V2 rockets in the Bromley area Gordon Dennington Tuesday 6 December Film Show Old Beckenham and Bromley on film by members of the Spring Park Camera & Video Society

September 2005 Bromleag 3 News/ Society meetings Charter Researching a parish Market’s 800th Uncovering a village anniversary This year marks the 800th history anniversary of Bromley Charter Market - a weekly general market held every Thursday in Station Road car Nestling on the very edge of the park. The granting of the Charter borough Chelsfield has one of the ensured Bromley Town Centre’s role smallest populations of any as the hub of trading and commerce Bromley parish, but its history is in the area. rich indeed and has, for the past It was established in 1205 when a fifty years, been the focus of Court Lodge,1838 charter to hold a weekly Tuesday research by BBLHS member market in the Market Square was first Geoffrey Copus. where visitors were so few and far granted by King John. In 1447 John At our June meeting Geoffrey talked between that staff brought cups of Lowe, Bishop of Rochester and Lord with great enthusiasm about the tea to the researchers. of the Manor of Bromley, obtained a parish history which first caught his As well as the local records he also revised charter from King Henry VI. imagination when, as boy, he helped found material in the major This changed the weekly market day his father who was organist at the collections such as the British to Thursday and also granted the parish church of St Martins. Library and the National Archives – privilege of holding two annual fairs in he touched upon the wealth of Market Square. Although the fairs Geoffrey worked the organ bellows and wiled away dull moments by information to be gained from deeds haven't been held since 1862, and maps. Bromley Charter Market continues to reading old parish magazines, where articles on local history sparked his Geoffrey has also had access to flourish and now resides in Station private archives some of which he Road - its home for more than seventy interest in local history and the parish has transcribed. Although sadly years. of Chelsfield in particular. Over the years, with the help of his some have, with the passage of

wife Brenda, he has dived into time, disappeared before any archives across London and Kent to transcription was made. Facelift for transcribe documents and find But for every document lost a new information on the parish. And it was source appears and he has been this research and the sources that he given access to collections of family Watermen used for compiling his History of papers as diverse as those of The carved coat of arms on a stone Chelsfield that was the focus of his Maurice Asprey, grandson of George gable at the Royal Watermen and talk. Asprey - Chairman of the Bond Lightermen building in Penge has Firstly, he acknowledged the debt he Street jewellers, and tenant of Court been restored. The carving, of two owes to others who researched before Lodge Chelsfield from 1892 to his dolphins rampant, supports a shield him and who shared their material, death in 1918 - and those of a local with the motto over reading At particularly Arthur Eldridge, the early farming family. As the Asprey Command of our Superiors. 20th century Orpington historian, and collection is 27 volumes of George's diaries and the farmers have a A specialist stone conservation Col. Arthur Waring who owned roomful of documents, both company undertook the work, which Chelsfield manorial documents. personal and business, there is was grant aided by Bromley Council’s Wills have been a very important clearly a lot of work ahead. environmental improvement fund. source and Geoffrey has transcribed hundreds. They have provided not Geoffrey’s enthusiasm and useful Other conservation work is being tips on sources should encourage undertaken at Waterman Square. only glimpses into personal lives but also are some of the oldest material others to research their chosen Paving has been re-laid in the parish. And I say chosen deliberately on the parish. balustraded walk and sections of because although many people now arcading are also being rebuilt. Looking back to the days before think of Geoffrey as a venerable record offices became ‘user friendly’ resident of Chelsfield he has never Geoffrey recalled dusty, cold and dark actually lived in the parish. record offices of the past in Maidstone, Rochester and Canterbury

4 Bromleag September 2005 Society meeting

Researching an individual Bromley’s forgotten architect

Doug Black, Bromley Council’s Rev Arthur Hellicar in the design of a Country work and some of his principal conservation officer, was new chancel at Bromley Church. domestic Bromley architecture is still intrigued by the work of Edwardian Many of Evelyn’s commissions standing and has been visited, architect Evelyn Hellicar, who lived would appear to have come through photographed and recorded by Doug. nearly all his life in the borough and local and family connections but in In Bromley Evelyn designed St was responsible for the design of his talk Doug also emphasised that Mark’s Church, Westmoreland Road, many fine buildings both in Bromley the work he carried out was always described by Doug as “beautifully and in the West Country. of the highest quality. built in red brick in the late Gothic Despite his bricks and mortar legacy Not just the designs but the detail (Perpendicular) style.” It was Evelyn Hellicar was forgotten. But – gates, gables, porches, stonework destroyed by enemy action in 1941 Doug discovered that when Evelyn – all appealed to Doug’s own but many of its fittings survive (having died in 1929 he had merited a long architectural eye and expertise. His been put into storage) as does the and very flattering obituary in The illustrated talk used slides from a tower. Journal of the Royal Institute of British range of buildings, humble to grand, An impressive town house in London Architects, and this inspired Doug to that Evelyn designed, some of which Road was demolished in 1993 and find out more about the man and his Doug had spent many hours the Carnegie Library in Bromley High work. Partly to establish, for his work searching round the countryside to Street made way for the present as a conservation officer, the merits find. library/Churchill Theatre complex. But of Evelyn’s work, as he has to in He also had praise for restoration his last Bromley commission, the consider what buildings in the work carried out by Evelyn on older music room at Ripley, is still standing borough should be listed. And partly buildings, where he had stripped and enjoyed by many. because he was intrigued that a man them of earlier Victorian additions to In his researches Doug has tracked whose work he admired should have down Evelyn’s European sketchbooks, been forgotten. held in an American university, and At our July meeting Doug gave an some of his family history. He adds: illustrated talk on Evelyn Hellicar, “Today the handful of Hellicar’s focusing on the major buildings he Bromley buildings that survive are created in the borough, how he fitted locally listed but none are statutory into the local social and political listed. However, even in the absence scene and drawing on his work – with of any academic study into his work, a wealth of slides – from elsewhere. most of his best houses in Somerset Evelyn was the son of the vicar of and Dorset are grade II listed Bromley the Rev Arthur Gresley reflecting his skill as an architect.” return them to their previous glory. Hellicar. He was a pillar not just of the ecclesiastical community but was also Often, said Doug, the restoration involved in committees, fund raising, work was so subtle that you did not charity and all aspects of Bromley’s realise that it had had to be carried life. out, a sign of a sensitive architect. In Bromley, Evelyn’s first major commission was the Valley School in Shortlands. All designs were submitted under pseudonyms and Evelyn’s was ‘Bromley’. Whether the competition was entirely open may be questionable as his father was chairman of the school board but the building is, says Doug, “A well- considered composition”. And, of The front entrance to the house course, is still in use today. in Bickley that Evelyn Hellicar At 21 Evelyn was apprenticed to Which can’t be said of many of built for his family. All pictures leading architect Sir Thomas Jackson Evelyn’s civic and church buildings courtesy of Doug Black who was, at the time, employed by the in Bromley, though much of his West

September 2005 Bromleag 5 Feature Shooting Common and This edited article was written by Victor Rickman in 1990 and traces the development of Shooting Common. Mr Rickman was born off Chatterton Road, he worked for the railway and lived in the area all his life.

Early development end of the adjacent Wendover Road to preserve Sir Coles Child’s right of way. hooting Common, now known as Bromley Common, When an alternative entrance was made from Widmore for part of its original length dates from the latter Road the Wendover Road bridge was closed. It remained S part of the 17th century. It extended from the old Toll so for many years and so earned the name of the ‘ivied House, at what is now Napier Road, to a point just past bridge’. It was opened again when Wendover Road was Pope Road and was of varying widths and comprised extended as the Palace estate was developed. around 20 acres. On the south western side of Shooting Common was The title is derived from its use as a shoot by the local Hook Farm which appears to date from King Edward III, gentry and farmers, for game was plentiful – snipe being 1334, but there is no information available until about prominent because of the marshy nature of the ground. 1700 when the Westbrook family took over the farm and The Common was formerly part of a much larger area tilled the land for around 100 years until adversity brought known for several hundred years as the Pye. It consisted of the tenure to an end. They were succeeded by a farmer approximately 400 acres and embraced an area to the named Bedle, who was a keen cricketer, and he appears Plough Inn in Hastings Road. The whole area was to have made the field available for the sport. scrubland for a long time bearing much gorse or broom, In 1855 Dunkin recorded that there were 25 houses which has given the town its name. adjacent to the Common Lands, evidently large ones, Held by the Bishops of Rochester it was leased for providing the guns for the shoots, which came from The several years by Bishop Pearce to a Mr Scott for a sum of Rookery (circa 1660) Oakley (circa 1660) and Elmfield £40 per annum. (1775). The farmers from Hook, Oakley, Coopers and Slough farms probably joined them. In 1822 William Cobbett referred to a ride he took At the start of the 19th century two farms abutted through Bromley described as: “ Mostly common, part of Shooting Common. Hook with around 100 acres was which had been enclosed. The women folk were rosy farmed by Mr Osborn, whose landlord was Mr Norman. cheeked.” Thomas Smith a tenant of Mr R Makepeace worked a Two Acts of Enclosure dealt with the whole area, one small farm of 33 acres, part in Brick Kiln Lane and part in around 1825, which dealt with the much larger portion at Hayes Lane and the Common. the southern end, around Holy Trinity church. The second The present modern tavern, The Five Bells, replaced a handled the Shooting Common end and resulted in the much smaller inn, which has been described as a northeastern side from the then Brick Kiln Lane to the Five “hedgerow ale house”. A very apt description for there Bells Tavern being developed by a local builder, Mr Barrett. were only two small bars and, in the First World War era, The old Toll House was demolished in 1865 when the sold only from barrels containing 36 gallons of beer charging of tolls ceased and it was re-erected in Gravel supplied by Messrs Page & Overton of Shirley Brewery, Road, Bromley Common. Croydon. Delivered by leather aproned brewery approved For many years the name Shooting Common was draymen, the full barrels weighed around four perpetuated by the official title of the post office on hundredweight and were conveyed by flat dray pulled by Bromley Common, which stands a few feet from the spot Suffolk punch white horses. Mine host was Mr Charlie where the 11th milestone from London was situated. (It Matthews, a portly and red-faced publican, and his wife changed names in 1999.) The stone also served to matched his appearance. indicate the stop – and provide a seat for the weary At the same period the Post Office was operated by Mr E traveller - of the No 47 bus to Farnborough operated by S Parker, his district extended to the cottages nearby Messrs Thomas Tillings, which made its inaugural run on 9 Keston Mark in Croydon Road and the mail was delivered March 1913. by him on foot, his fitness must have verged on the Napier Road was formerly named Palace Road for it legendary. provided at its end the entrance and drive to Bromley Palace. When the railway blocked off the end of Napier (Palace) Road a bridge over the railway was built at the

6 Bromleag September 2005 Feature its hinterland The first buildings in Chatterton Road appear to have been the seven terrace houses, Kingsbridge Terrace at the south eastern end, culminating in 1870 with the corner premises of Joe Brown, a builder of many houses and some years later the host of the Chatterton Arms. Opposite was a tavern the Hit and Miss run by a Tommy Carter and reflecting a cricket connection. It later became a shop but the original beer cellars still exist (1990).

Passing of the grand houses and people

eron Court, which was developed around the mid twentieth century, was the site of a house named Elmfield House, built 1775, is one of the oldest buildings in Carisbroke, where Mr J Wheeler-Bennett resided the Bromley Common area H until succeeded by Mr John Williams, a city merchant and philanthropist much interested in children and the poor. The house at his passing became the HQ of the local Development in the Territorial Army and was renamed Yeomanry House. th In Great Elms Road Mr Matthew Hodder established the late 19 century Iron Room, which was much used, under his guidance for interdenominational evangelical services for some 37 t was around 1870 when the area started to develop. years from 1865. He was the founder of Messrs Hodder Building began slowly and over many years, firstly in and Stoughton (publishers) and worker for many good I Palace Road – now Napier Road – Homesdale Road causes. and Chatterton Road, with one dwelling in Johnson Road. Col John Golland, who succeeded Dr Chatterton as the The tempo increased in the 1880s when houses were local doctor, was, in addition, commandant of the best erected in Addison, Wellington, Havelock, Great Elms, kept branch of the Voluntary Aid Detachment who Cowper and Bloomfield Roads but in small groups. As a performed valued work in caring for the wounded result there is diversity in design and for fifty years or more serviceman who were housed in the Rookery and there were vacant areas in Addison, Chatterton and elsewhere during the First World War. Bloomfield Roads. Chantry Lane, originally a bridle path, provided a home Bloomfield Laundry situated on a plot of land bounded by for an eccentric character in the 1920s. Captain Addison, Cowper and Bloomfield Roads was built in 1863 Stansfield, son of titled parents and an owner of a and several other major projects followed in the next 25 business, was a semi-recluse who was observed generally years – the purchase of land in Addison Road for in shirtsleeves with the neckband of the shirt fastened with Christchurch in 1881 by Samuel Cawston, a Church of an iron nut and bolt as he said he was an engineer. England day school in the same road and the Primitive Many of the large houses on the common have now Methodist Church in Bloomfield Road. gone. Those of the Sandle Bros, partners in a City firm of The road names are interesting for Napier, Havelock, stationers, Henry in Walpole Lodge, now demolished for Marlborough, Raglan and Nelson roads are all famous housing and Sidney in the Hollies which became Clarke’s figures in the history of the fighting services, whilst the College and was also demolished for an office block. poets are represented by Cowper, Chatterton and Pope Mr Crowhurst, who for many years owned a general roads and Addison and Walpole roads represent outfitters shop in Bromley’s Market Square retired and politicians. settled in Sussex Lodge, which occupied the area fronting In the first quarter of the 20th century the only the Common from Pope Road to Johnson Road. blacksmith’s forge was in Walpole Road. Other skilled trades were a wheelwright in Napier Road, a beehive maker in Stanley Road and a well sinker in Pope Road. Continued on P8

September 2005 Bromleag 7 Feature Shooting Common and its hinterland

Contined from P7 money with the society for many years to have saved £100, enough to buy one of the smaller terrace houses of the neighbourhood. Shoppers would become a member on Final development the payment of a shilling, which had to be built into a share of £1 to secure voting rights hooting Common derived its title from the game that Shopping was more leisured than it is today and the abounded because of the marshy nature of the more leisured ways took longer. Nearly every shop S ground. The Tithe register records two areas on the provided chairs for the customers for bacon was cut into edge of the common The Little Marsh Field and the Great rashers, chesse cut off with wire cutters and butter Marsh Field, which appear to be White Hall Road and removed from a large lump and fashioned with wooden Brooklyn Road and the area to their south. platters into the weight desired. A design of a rose and a The houses that run from St Luke’s Church to Skilleters cow was carved in the platter and this made an imprint on cottages were built by Joseph Peill, the contractor whose the butter. yard was at the rear of the church, at a rental of Many goods in the grocery department were sold loose approximately 7s 6d (37p) per week. Some 20 years later and packaged as you waited, goods of all kinds with sugar the opposite side of the road to Raglan Road School was and biscuits generally coming to the shop in square tins of built and in 1925 the land behind these houses became 7lb each. And there were soda crystals before the days of Carisbrook Road. In the same year the space fronted by washing up liquid. Vinegar, pickles and jam would be Bloomfield Road and Chatterton Road and Addison Road obtained loosely by taking your own bottles and jars. was fully developed with houses and shops. Brimstone, the common name for sulphur, which is a most useful medicine, could be obtained powdered. It was Shopping widely used by parents, mixed with black treacle, for several childish ailments. he hinterland on the north eastern Milk and bread were invariably side and carrying the densest delivered by the farmer in a hand T buildings was for many years the truck, usually three times daily - very home of laundries. In 1910 there were no early then around midday for full fewer that 24 listed in the town directory. cream milk and tea time skimmed Elliot Road headed the list with three - milk. In fact, the dairyman near the New Invicta, Clarence and Elliot – and Old Toll Gate invited people to watch was known locally as ‘Soap Sud Alley’. the first milking at 4.15am. Among the shopkeepers Mr Wallace The co-operative society provided Pring was a keep fit fanatic and swam shopping books for customers to order daily in Keston Ponds before opening his supplies and hand to the milkman on Pharmacy where he repaired and treated Tuesdays for free delivery by another the damages sustained by many children, employee on Fridays, everything neatly painlessly destroyed the household pets, packaged. when necessary, for a small consideration and dispensed his advice freely and courteously to all who requested it. Church and Another well remembered sight was the carcases of the pigs, reared locally on St Luke’s Church, Bromley Common social Jackson’s allotments in Union Road, which festooned the shop of Mr T H Jayes at Christmas n 1881 a Samuel Cawston purchased a site in Addison time. Road, corner of Bromley Common, and set up an iron The Bromley and Crays Co-op Society traded from the I church on it. However, disputes arose over the corner sites of Addison and Chatterton Road with four evangelical influences and he withdrew his support, pulled departments – dairy, butchery, grocery and a joint drapery down the structure, which, was re-erected at the bottom of and outfitters. Before the First World War it paid a divided Masons Hill and became St Marks. of 1s.6d to 1s.8d (7-8p) in the pound each half year. This However, the congregation held together and with the was very helpful in providing renewal of clothing for the help of Mr Jackson, Mr A Norman and Mr J Bennett a family. It was not unknown for some members who left the committee was formed and in June 1887 the eastern

8 Bromleag September 2005 Feature portion of the church was consecrated. It was finally completed in 1889 to seat 750 people on a new site. The style of St Luke’s is early English. The building of St Luke’s church enabled Southlands Road to be extended, in about 1885, from Skilleters Cottages opposite Haywood Road to Shooting Common. Until then the farmer had refused to part with some of his farm and the brickfield, which lay on the route. The latter when derelict was known as the hollow and a dump for rubbish. The Church of England School commenced work in 1885 in a house at 50 Pope Road. After many years the site was sold, the school closed and replaced by flats. The Primitive Methodist Chapel, Bromley Common and Bloomfield Road The Five Bells is a relatively modern replacement for an had a hall to the rear and was completed in 1876. older Inn but the properties either side are much older Also in Bloomfield Road, around 1877, a hall was opened by the London City Mission to provide coffee and soup to the poor. They held regular services there on Sundays as well as open air services in the surrounding streets, the music being provided by a small but portable Recreation organ. For a brief time Christchurch, Addison Road also had a hitehall recreation ground, secured by the council mission hall in Homesdale Road, which was superseded by in 1901, hosted in its history football, cricket, the Elliott Road Mission Hall. In the first quarter of the 20th W tennis and bowls and in the early part of the 20th century it housed a men’s club every day with small century had a quoits pitch next to the nursery of trees billiards table. The Men’s Hour every Sunday afternoon maintained by the council. took place at 3pm when six or so musicians and invited Here the men tossed heavy iron rings in an effort to soloists would entertain. The wives, however, in time made encircle a short pole embedded in the ground which was protests of discrimination and it was changed to People’s kept moist to avoid injury from rebounding rings. It was Hour. The same musicians also performed for the Penny based on the game of rope quoits but needed greater Hop on Monday evening with dancing from 8– 10pm. It strength, also provided facilities for scouts and guides. A notable sporting occasion took place on Whitehall St Luke’s Institute opened in 1892 and also housed a recreation ground during the 1914/18 war when the local branch of the Public Library and was used for concerts, football club, Raglan Old Boys, played eleven professional lantern shows and many related activities players from the RAF station at and narrowly lost 2 goals to 1. Even here we had a sporting clergyman. The Rev Woodhouse, the first vicar of St Luke’s, was a prime mover Education in securing the 9-hole golf course in Magpie Hall Lane, the course was later extended to 18 holes. aglan Road School opened in 1889 and had four The advent of radio and television has changed separate departments – Infant, juniors, senior girls enormously our life styles and it is not until I list the games R and senior boys. and pursuits of those early years of the 20th century that it My memory is clearer in regard to matters affecting the is realised how many street games of childhood have Senior Raglan Boys Department where (early 20th century) disappeared – marbles, tops, five stones, leapfrog and Mr Edwin Owen, a Welshman and a fervent patriot, ruled hopscotch with the flying of kites, bowling hoops and his boys with a strict discipline to earn the awe of his skipping. pupils and the nickname ‘Old Stick’. He was in fact seldom In the home tiddlywinks, many dice orientated games, without his cane. His devotion was such that his Old Boys cards and dominoes, draughts, snakes and ladders are held him in the highest regard and he maintained contact seldom played though not yet extinct, whilst shove with many of them for a long time. halfpenny, a regular diversion in taverns, has really gone. A master, Mr John Vann, was also much loved for he was Playing card games have suffered a lack of interest for one still a boy a heart. A native of Northamptonshire, for whom seldom hears of a whist drive, once a very popular he played cricket at County level, he was a big man in diversion for many folks. And a hobby which 70 or 80 years every sense of the word. David Long, a football referee, ago had many practitioners was fretwork, among young was a master who steered the school football team to and old alike. many successes.

September 2005 Bromleag 9 Feature Bony didn’t get us either

ony will get you! By Patricia Knowlden It was not until 1815 that mothers could no longer B threaten their children with this awful fate - it was well known that Napoleon Bonaparte gobbled up naughty resigned because she could not manage on 3/9 per children at the drop of a cocked hat . But in 1805, with head per week – although for a further 3d she agreed to the defeat of the French fleet at Trafalgar by Nelson's navy, stay. By the end of 1804 this allowance had risen to 4/-. the immediate threat of invasion was seen to be averted, A weekly ration of 1lb of meat was given out in Hayes but folk could sleep easy in their beds again and preparations in May 1801 it had to be discontinued. The Poor Rate for defence could turn to the offensive. Even here in NW began to rise everywhere from a universal 1/- in the £ to Kent the Napoleonic threat had had its repercussions. 2/- or even 2/6 by 1805. All this placed a burden on the As war clouds loomed on the Continent at the end of ratepayers in the area although, as prices rose, they did 1792, the people of Bromley and around gathered get more for their produce. together to declare their loyalty to the King and to ‘express Their pockets were being hit in other ways. William Pitt, the deepest concern at the present situation.’ They Britain’s Prime Minister (living at Holwood in Keston), determined to form an association ‘to assist the instigated an Income Tax in 1797 – unpopular and short magistrates to maintain Public Tranquillity … upon all lived. Other rates bit harder. occasions when the Public Peace is threatened with Danger.’ The 326 signatures (written into a book which was to be kept at the White Hart Inn and is now in Bromley Archives) include those of Lord Sydney of Frognal, Lord Lewisham of Hayes, William Pitt’s bailiff at Holwood, John Till and other local clergy and Richard Rawes and schoolmasters from most of the villages. Charles Townshend of Farringdon, brother of Lord Sydney, had chaired the meeting. Bromley’s military support for His Majesty was to come presently. The part-time Militia had already been put on stand-by. The continuing need for men to serve in the army and navy would affect many families, richer and poorer; and they were to be affected in other ways, by food shortages and prices and the imposition of rates and taxes; and, during the early years of the 19th century, the very real threat of invasion. Many of us will remember what that felt like from 1940. Britain had begun to import wheat from the Continent but this source dried up as ports were blockaded, and Nelson’s flagship Victory at Portsmouth the price of grain rose. In July 1795 the Parish Officers of Bromley banned wheaten bread in the Poor House and the following March Chislehurst Vestry decided their In 1795 an Act was passed to increase numbers in the bread should be half wheat and half barley flour - with Navy. Keston Vestry Minutes for 1796 has attached a detailed instructions on how barley flour should be milled. copy of the printed Return of Persons inrolled to serve as Bread would be sold to the poor at 8d for a quartern loaf Volunteers in His Majesties Navy in the County of Kent. provided an application was made to employers for a rise Keston Overseers were to provide one man together with in wages; and they added a few days later that if no rise Hayes and were to meet at Petty Sessions at the Bell Inn was forthcoming the bread would be 4d, with the shortfall in Bromley at 11 o’clock in the forenoon of 12 to the bakers made good by subscription among the December. parishioners. ‘Here one William Randall of High Wickham in The cost of other food rose too and in 1800 Chislehurst’s Buckinghamshire appeared and offered himself’…a Rector bought a cauldron to make soup to be sold to poor farmer’s man, aged 20…. Expecting a bounty of 18 families at 1d a quart. In Hayes, two old ladies in the Poor guineas.’ House, who asked for an increase to their 3/- pension So this amount (plus expenses) had to be found because of the high prices, were allowed an additional 6d among the inhabitants of the two parishes. The previous a week. And in Bromley the Mistress of the Workhouse

10 Bromleag September 2005 Feature - but they were hard times year Hayes had already provided one man with West whose names are hereunto subscribed do hereby enrol Wickham, when the charges had been shared in the ourselves to serve personally in the Bromley Armed proportions of their Poor Rate totals (Hayes £10.13s and Association according to the terms of the Resolution Wickham £14.4s) and Hayes had had to impose an extra made and signed by the Committee….’ and followed by rate of 3d to cover the cost; and now Wickham was also to 70 signatures, headed by George Norman who became provide a man with Farnborough. Chislehurst Vestry the Captain. reluctantly agreed an extra rate of 1/6 in 1796 ‘towards Recognised by Government, and allowed £1 per man four men for the Navy in the County.’ for uniform and equipment, the force mustered and The need for soldiers was met by other means. In early trained regularly ready to repel any enemy. Maybe they December 1796 a meeting was held at the Bell to raise a were still too raw to do so but the Bromley troop did not provisional force of cavalry. Lord Gwydir of Beckenham, attend the Review before the King in Mote Park at with 12 men and horses for instance, was liable to provide Maidstone in August 1799. However the Chislehurst one and Sir John Farnaby of West Wickham with three, troop of yeomanry-cavalry raised in 1794 by their captain another. By February 45 men had been found to serve as John Thomas Townshend – elder son and heir of Lord these gentlemen’s ‘substitutes’ for £5.5s each e.g., John Sydney – did. Drawn up behind the lines of infantry they Farnaby had chosen John Mumford of Hayes aged 26, a carried their husbandman; Lord Sydney of Chislehurst had his groom swords and James Bristow aged 22; while Joseph Berens in St.Mary held Cray sent his 25 years old Footman. The Bromley troop steady while was allocated £275 out of the County allowance of £996 George III for the men, their clothing and the horses. Then in 1801 passed by to Government imposed a duty on horses at 4/6 each. Out of the Bromley’s estimated 425 Bromley Parish was liable for playing of 110, Wickham 29 and Cudham 7. A week after that meeting another took place at the Bell, chaired by John Cater as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County plus three local JPs. The Minutes record: ‘Warrants issued today to the Chief Constables of the Hundreds to issue their Precepts to the Petty Constables to make return by Monday 19th Dec. of lists of the several persons residing within their respective Parishes liable to serve in the Western parts of the County’ - to supplement the long- established Militia – the Home Guard of the day. Men between 18 and 45 served in their own county to free the regular army from home duties. Names were balloted from these lists; and those chosen were allowed to find a substitute. By the end of January 1797, Bromley Hundred’s expected 101 men included three from Hayes, Admiral Nelson nine from Beckenham, five from Wickham and 21 from Bromley itself; four of Wickham’s had found substitutes, trumpets. All movements were signalled by cannon fire th two of Beckenham were excused by being under age, three and at the 13 salvo all wheeled right and marched off of the rest said they had ruptures and one was short of his to dinner – probably very welcome after being on parade right thumb, six were ‘not to be found’. Only six of since early morning. Bromley’s names went forward. Over the next few years A new young French general named Napoleon lists continued to be drawn up and ballots held, Bonaparte had declared that with three days east wind substitutes found, excuses made – and men quietly he could repeat the exploit of the Duke of Normandy in disappeared. In December 1798, Lord Sydney in the chair 1066 but, as British intelligence reported, he decided at one of the frequent meetings at the Bell had to issue that ‘the pear was not yet ripe’ and Britain relaxed – warrants to fill no less than 42 vacancies caused by the another ‘phoney war!’ desertions of ‘Bromley’s’ men. Yet plans were drawn up for defence in the event of At the same time, patriotic gentry and yeomanry were invasion, mostly for east Kent, such as the evacuation of thinking of forming Voluntary Armed Associations. A Roll of cattle and of non-combatants and included a line from names written on a day in May, 1798, is headed ‘ We Shooters Hill along the Norwood Ridge to protect London.

September 2005 Bromleag 11 Feature Bony didn’t get us either - but they were hard times

Continued from P12 another seven preferred to pay the £15 penalty allowed; one man claimed he was ruptured, another was ‘in a Then in July 1801 there was an alert, as it was apparent decline’; one was under the minimum height of 5’2”; that Napoleon was massing men and boats along the there were seven no-shows. French shores. Admiral Horatio Nelson, in charge of the A new ballot produced one or two substitutes’ British Fleet, patrolled up and down the Channel so, substitutes but the next year Bromley was down to only without command of the seas, Napoleon gave up and two vacancies, even though a Hayes man had deserted. turned his attention to his European neighbours - for the Scraping the barrel now a farmer was chosen, but was time being. able to pay the penalty, while a butcher of Beckenham There was talk of a peace treaty and the Militia were found himself a substitute. However, the call to arms disbanded; so Hayes Vestry stopped the allowance to the was unceasing – though not being very well met. In mid- wife of William Lucas because he would now be able to 1805 Bromley had to agree an extra rate of 6d to pay work. A Treaty was actually signed in March the next year fines for men not raised. and someone probably exclaimed … ‘peace in our time.’ The Bromley Volunteers, however, were re-constituted, But it was an armed truce: the Navy was strengthened, the George Norman taking the lead and the Captaincy. At yet Militia were re-embodied in March 1803 and Britain another meeting of inhabitants, on 14 August 1803, no declared war again on 18th May. William Pitt, who had fewer than around 250 men signed or made their marks resigned over the Irish questions in 1801, left Holwood ‘for Defence and Security of the Realm.’ Too many in and was living at Walmer as Warden of the Cinque Ports, fact. Under old laws the parish was only allowed to form raised a company of Militia there. one company of 60 men. This did cause a certain The struggle to meet quotas for the Militia began all over amount of acrimony, but their one company was formed again. Hayes Churchwardens were claiming 5/- a time for and eventually became a founding part of the Royal West making out the Militia List and attending the Bench at the Kents. The list of names practically provides a ‘census’ of Bell. In June, 30 men short, new warrants were issued. By Bromley at that time and many men’s trades are noted. It July 7 men had found substitutes who were sworn in; is in the same book as the 1792 Association - which has caused some confusion. Napoleon’s Grand Army of 200,000 men, with their flat -bottomed boats at the ready in special harbours such as Boulogne, waited for that fair wind and the chance to cross. But now their defenders of the French fleet were blockaded in harbours at Brest, Rochefort and Toulon. The Western Approaches were guarded by Admiral Cornwallis. So Admiral Villeneuve was sent to Toulon by Bonaparte in 1804 and in March 1805 he broke out - and headed for the East Indies.

Nelson, who had been lying in wait off Sardinia, gave chase until he learned that Villeneuve had been spotted sailing north again. So he raced for home and on 4 August joined Cornwallis off Brest. The French discovered this sea-barrier and, short of supplies, turned south.

Napoleon left Boulogne. The British Fleet provisioned Nelson rejoined HMS Victory, after a short break, and followed. He found the French at Cadiz and held them there – until they slipped A talk on Tracing your naval ancestors in the National out – and battle was joined off Cape Trafalgar on Archives by Mark Pearall will be held at the Centre for 21October, with the outcomes everybody knows. A few Kentish Studies on Wednesday 21 September at days afterwards the news of victory reached London and 6.30pm. It will be at the Sessions House Lecture the Admiralty issued an announcement of: Theatre in County Hall Maidstone. A Glorious Victory, over the Combined Fleet … and the Death of Lord Nelson

12 Bromleag September 2005 News

‘It is with mixed sensations of transport and anguish, of the deepest joy and Beckenham’s the sincerest sorrow, that we communicate the most welcome and unwelcome news at once … Providence has blessed His Majesty’s Arms with missing ARP posts a most signal Victory over the Combined Fleet; but it has thought fit to chasten our exultation, by depriving us of a Man, whose very name was a Pat Manning is researching ARP posts that existed in the borough of host and tower of strength.’ Beckenham - included West Wickham The news quickly spread and the Maidstone Journal carried a copy of the but not Penge - during WW2. statement … ‘the sudden arrival of the joyful news of the immortal Nelson’s Victory obtained over the Combined Fleet of our enemies, on Wednesday She says: “I know of only four with the night last at 11 o’clock, threw this town into such exultation that scarce ever positions of three others; Brackley Rd was exceeded, and the plaudits of the inhabitants continued till near post 13, Town Hall post 39, Queen Anne Ave post 40, Tootswood Rd post daybreak next morning, with ringing of bells for four days….’ 42, Thayers Farm Rd, Worsley Bridge After Trafalgar the French naval power was blunted, though not entirely Rd in Lloyds sports ground (my father destroyed, until France’s European allies had been dealt with. But Britain Alfred Ridler was a warden here) and gained domination of the seas, completed her coastal defences of Martello Towers and the Royal Military Canal and moved to the offensive, gathering Lennard Rd by Holy Trinity church. strength for her own campaign which ended in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo. “Since each post had at least 20 Unfortunately food shortages and high prices and the sufferings of the wardens attached I hope that some readers may have memories better poorer sections of society were not so abruptly settled. than mine. There do not seem to be official records available at Bromley Local Studies or Bromley Museum.” If you can help please contact Pat at: Dad’s Army 1803 style 29 Birchwood Ave, BR3 3PY, email [email protected] or phone 0208 By Joyce Walker 8650 3418

England was threatened with invasion by Napoleon in 1803, so Historic Penge preparations were made to repel his army. Plans were drawn up to Daivd Johnson will be leading a walk recruit men into either the Militia, the Army of Reserve or Provisional round Penge on 12 September Cavalry. starting at 10am from the Rangers’ A group of gentlemen met in Bromley in July 1803 to enforce the new Enquiry Office in the Crystal Palace Defence Act in the area and they appointed Inspectors of Hundreds Park, 200 yards from Penge Gate. (administrative divisions of a shire) and Superintendents of Parishes. He plans to visit two homes within The rector of St John the Baptist, West Wickham, Joseph Faulder, was the alms houses, St John’s Church one of those present at the meeting and he was appointed Inspector and a plaster contractor, Tomei. The of the Upper Division of the Hundred of Ruxley. Francis Berrington, firm, founded in the 19th century, look landlord of the Swan, was appointed Superintendent of West after the food hall at Harrods. Wickham. The Penge Gate is in walking distance The subdivision of Bromley was ordered to produce 47 men to serve of Penge East and Penge West in the Army of Reserve of which Wickham’s contribution was to be stations and the 227 bus stops near three men. All men eligible were given a number and a ballot was the entrance. taken. If one’s name was drawn one could appeal on domestic grounds or pay a sum of money, fixed by the authorities, to find a ODAS Exhibition substitute. To mark Orpington & District The first three names drawn in West Wickham were William Farmer Archaeological Society’s 30th Esq., Charles Hutchinson and George Killick. William Farmer paid 18 anniversary Bromley Museum will be guineas for another name to be drawn, which turned out to be George staging an exhibition Scadbury People Overall who agreed to be enrolled. from 7 October to 5 November in the Charles Hutchinson, a farm labourer, had other ideas and ran away Priory, Orpington. so James Mumford was drawn in Hutchinson’s place. James Mumford declined to serve, paid a fine and Robert Phipp was duly enrolled. Suburban travels The third man originally drawn, George Killick, a labourer, somehow Artist Stephen Chaplin, who grew up found 18 guineas and James Lane took his place in the Army of in Orpington, has recorded his own Reserve. personal journey through the town in an exhibition at Bromley Museum The Rector and Francis Berrington had finally got their men. from 11 November to 6 January.

September 2005 Bromleag 13 Review

Two books have been published this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Both focus on the effect of the war on the people of Bromley Beckenham, The Home Front 1939 – 45 concentrates on Beckenham, Penge, Anerley and West Wickham and Bromley in the Front Line covers the whole borough. Beckenham — The Home Front

ur members here at this time will know how the Civil Defence organisations and Cliff Watkins district sustained heavy and another of Womens and Nursing O and Pat continuous air attack over most of Services badges. Manning these war years. We owe much to the members of have compiled The memories of individuals these organisations and it is good that Beckenham the recorded in the book give a vivid they are recorded here. Home Front 1939- and realistic view of how it felt to be The book, fortunately, puts some of 45. caught up in events. The attitudes, these people, and the debt we owe They bring to it a wealth of historical which sustained the spirits of many them before our eyes. and photographic expertise, which will people, are shown at first hand. This is a well researched book and make the era alive for those who did People, including those who were an asset to local historians as well as not experience the horrors, excitement, children at the time, tell their own an interesting and enlightening read anxieties, and camaraderie of the time. individual tales as the story of those for those who did not live through The book covers the Beckenham, years unfolds chronologically. those times. West Wickham and Penge of the Death and destruction are detailed Our society supported the book with present London Borough of Bromley. in several schedules at the end of financial sponsorship and copies are That is to say the 1939-45 Beckenham the book. The appendices are most available at BBLHS meetings, priced Borough and Penge Urban District, useful since during general reading £8, from our publications officer John which included Anerley and part of one can quickly look up details of an Clarke. Upper Norwood and the iconic Crystal incident. Palace. Another useful appendix shows David Johnson Anyone that lived the images of the badges of various Bromley — Battle on the doorstep he first air raid live through that time to first published 25 years ago and as Mr incident in comprehend. They are set against Blake says in the introduction: “It was T Bromley was on a narrative that tracks the believed to be unique in giving a detailed, the night of 30 July progress of the war and the types factual coverage of air attacks … on a 1940 and the last – of weapons being deployed. specific suburban area of London.” Now possibly the last The pages are interspersed with more material has come to light the book anywhere in Britain – was at Scadbury pictures of houses turned to has been updated. Park, Chislehurst on 28 March 1945. rubble, important buildings that For those interested in the detail of the In those five years Bromley got caught had stood for generations that raids it contains a vast amount of time and again – as part of the were obliterated overnight, local information but I did find the listing of bombing of London or as an overspill defence emplacements and raid after raid a little repetitive, and it from the bombing of Biggin Hill – in air sketches of various armaments. dulls the sense of tragedy that each raids that were to claim 7,000 killed or But there are lighter – spirit of incident represented. injured. the Blitz – moments such as a But for those whose interest is in Lewis Blake’s Bromley in the Front May Queen in Penge stepping wartime and military history this is an Line takes the reader chronologically defiantly with her entourage excellent book with many unique through those raids and the stories of through the rubble. illustrations and clearly indexed and the people who were caught up in the The book is well researched sourced by an author who is an expert in action. drawing on official records, reports this field of history. Many of the chapters are a catalogue from the press, from Mass Bromley in the Front Line is published by of the incidents, places, numbers killed, Observation and firsthand Bromley Library. It is available from all weapons used and personal tragedies accounts. Bromley libraries and some local that are hard for anyone who did not Bromley In the Front Line was bookshops at £8.

14 Bromleag September 2005 Review

Mottingham, from hamlet to urban village

ottingham may, as Winifred H Parkinson says in and well written book. her book From Hamlet to Urban Village, have For example, when the M been a place where “little else but hunting, Porcupine Inn, whose fishing and shooting took place” but it still contains a history is well wealth of history. documented by The peace and isolation of the hamlet with its big estates Winifred Parkinson, was changed with the coming of the railway and the demolished in 1922 development of the village. Between 1851 and 1881 the she tells us: “Heavy population rose from 124 to 779. chains attached to two traction engines were put round it Early references are sparse but in King Ethelbert’s Charter and when they pulled, it collapsed like a house of cards”. of 862 Modingahema – land of the people of Moda or It is also well illustrated with some photographic gems, proud place – makes it’s first appearance in the records. including the last known photo of WG Grace, who retired It was in 1560 that George Stoddard built a Tudor mansion to Mottingham. It also has a comprehensive index and in the area, “bringing Mottingham into focus as a list of sources or, where more appropriate, footnotes. settlement rather than just fields and woods.” Winifred devotes her early chapters to this and other substantial properties and their owners. The Stoddards have a particularly colourful history preserved in lawsuits which, inevitably after two centuries, led to a decline in fortunes and the house passing out of the family. It was rebuilt as Mottingham House and survived until 1969. Two contrasting pictures of the house, in its rural setting of 1850 and its demolition amid a townscape, illustrate well the changes that happened in a little more than a century. Other grand houses have, however, fared better. Fairy Hall became the Royal Naval School in 1889 and later, Eltham College. The Grange and Grange Lodge and the Chantry Mottingham House 1850 (above) and being are also owned by the school. demolished (below) in 1969 Mottingham really comes into its own from the late Victorian area and the 20th century history is traced as it developed and found a new and changing identity in the shifting local government structures and the development of suburbia. The history of its community life is covered in the second half of the book – entertainment, charity, churches, personalities and schools are all comprehensively covered. Winifred first wrote a history of Mottingham over twenty- five years ago, for residents, teachers and children, following the success of the first Mottingham Week in 1973. This revised edition has new material on schools and the Mottingham estate and includes the history of recent decades. There is a wealth of detail in this book that brings the area alive and makes it an interesting book to read, not just to Mottingham, From Hamlet to Urban Village, 140pp, by discover the overarching history of Mottingham but Winifred H Parkinson, is published by Bromley Libraries because of the snippits of history which add colour and and is available from all the borough libraries priced £8 interest and that come with a thoroughly well researched

September 2005 Bromleag 15 Unlocking Bromley Archives

new searchable database, for throughout the borough the vast wealth of documents in New records are being added all A Bromley archives, was launched the time, so keep checking. At a in July. later date the museum records will It can be viewed at the library on be added. computer or online via the Internet. There is a very useful glossary of The site can be accessed via the terms used in the descriptions of Bromley Council website or direct at the items and there are also links to www.library.bromley.gob.uk/archive/ other Internet sites – both local and index.htm family history - that might be of The catalogue uses the Cataloguing interest. for Archive, Libraries and Museums It is a very easy to use site but for (CALM) system and the work has been anyone not familiar with searching financed by a grant from the Heritage on computers library staff will be Lottery Fund. available to give advice if you are Keyword searching allows the accessing from a Bromley library. researcher to locate an individual A paper catalogues is still document, but the program also available but one major advantage allows the document to be seen within of using the online catalogue is that the context of the collection in which it you find the documents you want, was created. either from home or your local The records catalogued so far library computer, and can order the include Anglican parish material, Poor documents you want to see in Law Union records, school records, advance of your visit to the local company records, manorial records, studies library. as well as deeds for various properties

16 Bromleag September 2005