Did You Know?

Bromley is first recorded in a charter of 862 as Bromleag and means 'woodland clearing where broom grows. The town was an important coaching stop on the way to Hastings from London.

The biggest of the London boroughs, Bromley stretches from Crystal Palace in the west to the Cray valley in the east. It reaches out to the borders of Kent countryside in the south, where some of suburban London’s best attractions can be found.

Nearby is Darwin’s real home, Down House.  Living there from 1842 until his death in 1882, Down House has been preserved as it was when it was the Darwin family home, down to his and his wife’s recreated room.  You can also wander the gardens where Darwin formulated many of his evolutionary ideas and walk in the footsteps of one of history’s most famous scientists.

The foundations of modern London come from the Roman settlement here during the height of the empire, and there are still many ruins left from this time.  Crofton Roman Villa was inhabited from 140 to 400 AD and was the center of a farm that stretched 500 acres. 

Bromley also has the cultural distinctiveness of having its own Morris team, The Ravensbourne Morris Men. Founded in 1947. In the famous Monty Python Spam sketch Bromley was stated to be the location of the fictional Green Midget Café, where every item on the menu was composed of spam in varying degrees.

H. G. Wells, the famous author who wrote War of the Worlds' was born in Bromley in 1866. His father was the founder of the towns Cricket Club and the proprietor of a shop that sold cricket equipment.

The Romans are thought to have built a camp at Keston,where a natural spring known as Caesar's Well is the source of the Ravensbourne. Some time after the Roman era, an Anglo-Saxon settlement developed around the location now occupied by the market square.

The boroughs most notable and famous features are Crystal Palace Park in Penge; the Glades shopping centre in Bromley and Down House, home of Charles Darwin, in Downe village. It was the birthplace of H.G. Wells, home of exiled French Emperor Napoleon III and childhood home of David Bowie, Enid Blyton and Hanif Kureshi.

More mines than caves, the Chislehurst Caves are perhaps the most distinguishing feature and a landmark in Bromley.  They were carved out as mines for chalk and lime and have served multiple roles since mining stopped in the 1830s including as a munitions storage site in World War I, an air raid shelter in World War II.

The London Borough Of Bromley is very large. Actually, it is the largest borough in London. It occupies an area of 153 square kilometres, which is approximately 59 square miles. The green belt comprises a large portion of this land.

Never mind Intu Bromley or whatever it’s supposed to be called now, it will always be the Glades to you.