Orpington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orpington is a place in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a suburban development located 13.3 miles (21.4 km) south east of Charing Cross.
Contents |
[edit] Retail and commerce
The High Street and adjacent Walnuts Shopping Centre contain a wide selection of high-street shops. There is a general market located in front of Orpington College, three days a week. Planning permission was granted (in 2005) to demolish a multistorey car park at the south end of the High Street, and replace it with a large Tesco supermarket. Work started at the beginning of February 2007. Metered parking has been installed at various street locations around Orpington station to cope with the loss of the car park. This has resulted in the exit of long-established local businesses as the office space they occupied will no longer be feasible without adequate parking. There are larger retail outlets in the industrial estate on Cray Avenue and Sevenoaks Way in St Mary Cray including the new Nugent Shopping Park.
[edit] Sport and leisure
The Walnuts Leisure Centre [1], just east of the High Street, has a six lane, 33.3 metre indoor swimming pool which is home to Orpington Ojays Swimming Club [2] which competes at county, district and national level. Other facilities include squash courts and gym with sauna and steam room as well as a sports hall used for activities such as badminton, basketball, trampolining and fitness classes.
There are two other local leisure centres: one at the Priory School [3] which has a floodlit synthetic pitch for hockey and football, 3 outdoor tennis courts, 2 netball courts, 4 outdoor cricket nets, and a sports hall, gymnasium/fitness suite and dance studio. The other is a members only health club on Sandy Lane called Dragons Health club. [4] There are rugby, football and cricket pitches in Goddington Park. Orpington Cricket Club [5] and Orpington Football Club [6] are based here. Cray Wanderers F.C., established in 1860 no longer plays in Orpington, but now shares a ground with Bromley F.C..
Since 1985, the local running club, Orpington Road Runners [7] have met every Tuesday near The Buff Pub and on Sundays at High Elms Country Park. Bromley Indoor Bowls Club is situated off Gillmans Road. Lawn bowls is played at the Excelsior Club [8] in Poverest Recreation Ground. Knoll Lawn Tennis Club [9] has (despite its name) five tarmac courts tucked away amongst the houses of Mayfield Avenue. Bromley Tennis Centre (six indoor courts and four floodlit outdoor courts) is in the grounds of Newstead Wood School for Girls.
Set back from the High Street and near to the historic parish church, Orpington has a large and well-used public library [10], set in attractive grounds: Priory Gardens. The Priory itself contains Bromley Museum [11].
[edit] History
Stone age tools have been found in several areas of Orpington, including Goddington Park, Priory Gardens, the Ramsden estate, and Poverest. Early Bronze Age pottery fragments have been found in the Park Avenue area. During the building of Ramsden Boys School in 1956, the remains of an Iron Age farmstead were excavated. The area was occupied in Roman times, as shown by Crofton Roman Villa, and the Roman bath-house at Fordcroft [12]. The first record of the name Orpington occurs in 1032, when King Cnut's treasurer Eadsy gave land at "Orpedingetune" to the Monastery of Christ Church at Canterbury. The parish church also pre-dates the Domesday Book.
Until the railway came, the local commercial centre was nearby St Mary Cray, rather than Orpington. St Mary Cray had a regular market, and industry (paper mills and bell foundry), whereas Orpington was just a small country village surrounded by soft fruit farms, hopfields and orchards.
[edit] Coming of the railway
The South Eastern Railway arrived in 1868, linking Orpington to central London and Sevenoaks, and housing development began on a small scale on the Knoll. The line was widened and Orpington railway station was rebuilt in 1904, expanding to six platforms. The resulting improvement in rail services lead to an acceleration in housing development, and hundreds of houses were built in the 1920s and 30s. The population rose from 5,000 in 1911 to 25,000 in 1931, and 49,500 in 1939. Orpington overtook St Mary Cray as the local commercial centre. Development was brought to a halt by the second world war.
[edit] Pre Second World War
- Court road and spur road built by the Fordyce Bros LTD late 1920s.
- AStandard imperial Airways plane is forced down near Goddington Park 1930.
- In 1931 a flying company offers trips in a two seater AVRO flying from a large field located at the top of Goddington lane.
- Population 1935 now estimated 33,420
- population 1937 now estimated 39,000
- population 1938 now estimated 43,610
[edit] Second World War
In World War II the town suffered incendiary bomb damage and, later, V-1 and V-2 attacks because of its location on the flightpath to London and also its proximity to Biggin Hill aerodrome which was an important airbase for Spitfire and Hurricane fighters in the Battle of Britain. The last British civilian killed by German bombing was Mrs Ivy Millichamp, 34, who was killed in her home at 88 Kynaston Road, Orpington on 27 March 1945, by a V-2.
[edit] After 1945
After the war, a large estate of council housing was built at Ramsden, but Green Belt legislation has limited further expansion to the east and south. As a result, suburban semi-detached houses incongruously adjoin open fields.
In commemoration of the WW2 fighter pilots stationed at nearby Biggin Hill, the roads of the Grassmead housing estate were named after various pilots who fought and died. At the entrance to the estate is a marble tablet set on a plinth, with the inscription:
"THIS PLAQUE WAS PRESENTED BY PLANWELL HOMES A MEMBER OF THE RONSON GROUP OF COMPANIES, WAS UNVEILED BY AIR CHIEF MARSHALL THE LORD DOWDING G.CB., G.C.V.O., C.M.G., R.A.F. (RETD) ON 25TH MAY 1965. THE GRASSMEAD ESTATE IS DEDICATED TO THOSE ILLUSTRIOUS PILOTS WHO FLEW WITH THE ROYAL AIR FORCE DURING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN. THE ROADS HEREON ARE NAMED AFTER SOME OF THEM WHO DIED IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM WHICH WE ENJOY TODAY”
[edit] Politics
From 1894 to 1934 Orpington formed part of the Bromley Rural District of Kent. The rural district was abolished in 1934 and until 1965 Orpington formed part of the Orpington Urban District. In 1965 the urban district was abolished and its area transferred to Greater London. It became part of the present-day London Borough of Bromley.
Politically, the Orpington constituency is famous for its 1962 by-election. A shock win by Eric Lubbock of the Liberal Party spelt the beginning of the end for the Conservative Macmillan government.
[edit] Fame
[edit] Orpington chicken
Orpington is known for the "Buff", "Black" and "Speckled" chickens bred locally by William Cook in the 1890s. The Buff Orpington can still be seen at Tripes Farm, Chelsfield Lane.
[edit] Orpington car
The Orpington Car, built by Frank Smith & Jack Milroy at their works in Wellington Road, was shown at the 1920 Motor Show. It was a two-seater convertible, with a dickey seat, and a 10 horsepower (7 kW) engine. Although briefly successful, Smith and Milroy could not compete with mass production, and the last car was built in 1925. Unfortunately, there are no surviving examples.
[edit] Famous residents
- Steve Bennett, soccer referee
- Charles Darwin, scientist in nearby Downe
- Emma Johnson, clarinetist, BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1984
- Eric Lubbock, politician
- Sir John Lubbock, banker and politician
- David Nathan, journalist
- Gary Rhodes, chef
- Barry Knight, football referee
[edit] TV appearances
- An Orpington curry house was featured on British television for being "one of the worst in Britain", due to its practice of reusing leftover curry in the following days menu. The next morning it had a window smashed, and closed down shortly afterwards.
- A Honda Civic advert.
- A Eurostar advert.
- Orpington has been the set for a number of episodes of The Bill, including a Christmas episode filmed on the High Street.
- The live-action opening for The Simpsons was filmed there in late 2005. It was first used on Sky One in the UK, and appeared before Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife in the U.S.
- A Kodak TV advert was filmed here in which a fighter jet was placed in the front garden of a house on Hillcrest Road.
[edit] References in pop culture
- In the classic Only Fools and Horses episode 'Yuppy Love', (which includes the famous scene of Del Boy (David Jason) falling through the bar), Rodney (Nicholas Lynhurst) and Del are arguing over the morality of Del's decision to buy, and then hopefully sell, their Peckham council flat. Rodney says: 'Del, council properties were built so the poorer classes would have somewhere to live! If they start selling them to Hooray Henrys where are they gonna go?' To which Del casually replies: 'Esher, Orpington - somewhere like that.'
[edit] Places of interest
- The art deco tower at Allied Bakery is a local landmark.
- Crofton Roman Villa
- Goddington park
[edit] The Parish Church
The Parish Church, "All Saints", stands upon pre-Norman foundations. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, it is Early English in style, but some Saxon work is visible. It was endowed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1173. The tower and steeple were damaged by a storm in 1771. The rebuilt steeple was struck by lightning in 1809, and it was not replaced. The church was greatly enlarged in 1957. The present Vicar is the Reverend Alan Mustoe.
[edit] Orpington Priory
Orpington Priory is a fine example of a medieval 'hall house'. In 1032, Eadsy, chaplain to King Cnut, gave his estate at Orpedingetune to Christ Church Priory, Canterbury. The first Rector of Orpington, Hugh de Mortimer, held court here in 1270. The house was rebuilt, this time of stone, in 1290, and added to in 1393 and 1471. In the 17th century the house ceased to be a rectory and passed into private ownership - a timber framed extension was added, which no longer exists. The house was acquired by Orpington Urban District Council in 1947, and now it houses a museum and a public library. The garden forms an attractive public park, and contains a natural pond which is the source of the River Cray.
[edit] Orpington Hospital
During the first world war a large military hospital, the "16th Canadian General", was built south-east of the station, funded by the government of Ontario, Canada. It originally accommodated 1050 patients; an extra wing was added in 1917. By January 1919 more than 15,000 wounded soldiers had been treated here. Many of the 182 who died are buried in "Canadian Corner" of All Saints' churchyard. Most of the original pre-fabricated buildings remained in use for more than 80 years before a major renovation around the turn of the century. Today Orpington Hospital provides rehabilitation and therapy services, outpatient and diagnostic services (including dermatology and diabetes), but it no longer has an Accident and Emergency Unit. The nearest A&E is Queen Mary's, Sidcup, or Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough.
[edit] Hewitt's Farm
Orpington is home to Hewitt's Farm. A large "pick your own" fruit business is all that remains of what was once a major European farming enterprise. After a failed attempt to get planning permission for an out-of-town shopping centre in the 1990s, much of the land is now the 18 hole Chelsfield Lakes Golf Centre. The former grain store, which was used to sell locally grown produce, has been converted into a showroom for a furnishings company.
[edit] Education
Pre-school & nursery
- Robin’s Den Playgroup (Hillside Primary school)
- Happy Faces Montessori
- Charterhouse [13]
- St Paul's Cray CE Nursery
- Bright Sparks
- Cannock House [14]
- Threshers Day Nursery
- Asquith Nursery Crofton [15]
- Warren Road Primary school [16]
- Hillside Primary school [17](formerly Ramsden Primary School)
- The Highway Primary school [18]
- Blenheim Primary school
- Darrick Wood Infant school [19]
- Darrick Wood Junior school
- Perry Hall Primary school [20]
- Holy Innocents Catholic Primary school
- Crofton Infant school
- Crofton Junior school [21]
- Poverest Primary school
- Tubbenden Infant school, federated with
- Tubbenden Junior school [22]
Secondary schools:
- Newstead Wood School for Girls
- St Olave's Grammar School moved here from Southwark in 1968.
- The Priory School [23]
- Darrick Wood School [24]
Further education:
- Orpington College, the tallest building in the town
[edit] Transport
Orpington railway station is a transport hub served by Southeastern trains to Charing Cross, Cannon Street, London Bridge and Victoria stations.
Orpington is also a major hub on the London Bus network and is served by routes to Sidcup, Chislehurst, Bromley, Lewisham, Addington Village, Chelsfield, Green Street Green, Farnborough, Cudham, Downe, Knockholt, Halstead, and Biggin Hill.
Because of the developed transport system, Orpington is a popular commuter base. Rail lines from Orpington offer connections to the Eurostar stations at London Waterloo and Ashford International. There are also connections to London City (via Lewisham DLR station), London Biggin Hill and London Gatwick (via Victoria station) airports.
[edit] Nearest places
- Chelsfield
- Petts Wood
- St Mary Cray
- Farnborough
- Ruxley
[edit] External links
- Bromley London Borough Council - Orpington town centre Accessed on 1 February 2006
- Orpington and District Archaelogical Society
- Orpington Astronomical Society
Photos of around town :-
[edit] References
- Dorothy Cox (1983). The Book of Orpington. Barracuda Books. ISBN 0-86023-164-X.
- John Edwards (1991). A Look Back at Orpington. Bromley Leisure Services. ISBN 0-901002-13-5.
