Penge

History

Penge was once a small town, which was recorded under the name Penceat in an Anglo-Saxon deed dating from 957. Most historians believe the name of the town is derived from the Celtic word Penceat which means "edge of wood" and refers to the fact that the surrounding area was once covered in a dense forest. The original Celtic words of which the name was composed referred to "pen" ("head"), as in the Welsh "pen", and "ceat" ("wood"), similar to the Welsh "coed", as in the name of the town of Pencoed in Wales.

Pensgreene and the Crooked Billet

Penge was an inconspicuous area with few residents before the arrival of the railways. A traveller passing through Penge would have noticed the large green with a small inn on its boundary. Penge Green appears as Pensgreene on Kip's 1607 map. The green was bounded to the north by Penge Lane, the west by Beckenham Road and the southeast by the Crooked Billet. On a modern map that area is very small area but the modern day Penge Lane and Crooked Billet are not in their original locations and Beckenham Road would have been little more than a cart track following the property line on the west side of Penge High Street. Penge Lane was the road from Penge to Sydenham which is now named St John's Road and Newlands Park Road. There was also an old footpath crossing the Green leading to Sydenham that was known as Old Penge Lane. After the London, Chatham and Dover Railway was built, Penge Lane crossed the line by level crossing. When this crossing was closed Penge Lane was renamed and Old Penge Lane became the present day Penge Lane.

The 1868 Ordnance Survey map shows the Old Crooked Billet located to the southeast of the current location. This earlier location was on the eastward side of Penge Green, which disappeared as a result of The Penge Enclosure Act, 1827 which enclosed the whole Green. This left the Crooked Billet with no frontage to Beckenham Road, so new premises were constructed on the present site in 1827 and subsequently replaced in 1840 with a three-storey building. This was severely damaged by enemy action in World War II and subsequently rebuilt.

The Crooked Billet is by far the oldest public house in Penge. Peter Abbott states that it was there in 1601 and speculates that it might be much more ancient. In modern times it is particularly well known for lending its name as a bus route terminus. From 1914 General Omnibus routes 109 and 609 both operated between Bromley Market and the Crooked Billet following different routes. The 109 was renumbered 227 by London Transport and continued to terminate at the Crooked Billet. (Route 609 was shortened terminating in Beckenham ). Around 1950 some services were extended past the Crooked Billet to the Crystal Palace. Eventually nearly all buses traveled the extended route. The 354 buses now use the terminus, as do so short running buses on route 194 which carry the destination 'Penge High Street'.

William Hone wrote about a visit to the Crooked Billet in 1827 and included a detailed sketch of the last building on the original site.

Expansion

The London and Croydon Canal was built across Penge Common along what is now the line of the railway through Penge West railway station, deviating to the south before Anerley railway station. There is a remnant at the northern corner of Betts Park, Anerley. Following the closure of the canal, the London and Croydon Railway was built largely along the same course, opening in 1839. Isambard Kingdom Brunel built an Atmospheric Railway along this alignment as far as Croydon. The Crystal Palace pneumatic railway underground between the Sydenham and Penge entrances to Crystal Palace park operated for a short while but proved not to be economically viable..

In the Victorian era, Penge developed into a fashionable suburb because of the railway line and its proximity to the relocated Crystal Palace. It became a fashionable day out to visit the Crystal Palace during the day and to take the tram down the hill to one of the 'twenty-five pubs to the square mile' or two Music Halls—The King's Hall (later the Gaumont cinema) and. in 1915. the Empire Theatre (later the Essoldo cinema).

By 1862 Stanford's map of London shows large homes had been constructed along Penge New Road (now Crystal Palace Park Road, Sydenham and Penge High Street), Thick Wood (now Thicket) Road and Anerley Road. This all came to an end in 1875 and 1877 with the notorious Penge murders. In 1875 Frederick Hunt murdered his wife and children then in 1877 a wealthy heiress, Harriet Staunton, together with her infant son, was starved to death by her husband and his associates. In 1934, Elizabeth Jenkins published the novel Harriet, based on the case, whilst Forbes Road was renamed to Mosslea Road because of its connection with the murders.

Government

Penge formed a part of the parish of Battersea, with the historic county boundary between Kent and Surrey forming its eastern boundary. In 1855 both parts of the parish were included in the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works, with Penge Hamlet Vestry electing six members to the Lewisham District Board of Works. The Local Government Act 1888 abolished the Metropolitan Board, with its area becoming the County of London. However the London Government Act 1899 subsequently made provision for Penge to be removed from the County of London and annexed to either Surrey or Kent. Accordingly, an Order in Council transferred the hamlet to Kent in 1900, constituting it as Penge Urban District. The urban district was abolished in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963, and its former area merged with that of other districts to form the London Borough of Bromley. With the creation of the Penge Urban District, Penge New Road (formerly the part of Beckenham Road north of Kent House Road) was renamed Penge High Street.

From 1885 the Hamlet of Penge was part of the Dulwich parliamentary constituency, which was then in Surrey, and remained in that seat until 1918 when it was transferred to the new Bromley constituency. From 1950 it was part of the Beckenham constituency. Since the 2010 general election Penge has formed part of the Lewisham West and Penge constituency.

Geography

It borders the London Borough of Lewisham. It lies west of Bromley and north east of Croydon, and is located 7.1 miles (11.4 km) southeast of Charing Cross. The largest amosite mine in the world, in South Africa, was named Penge because apparently one of the British directors thought the two areas were similar in appearance.

Nearby areas

Economy

Many residents commute into central London or to Canary Wharf/Docklands. It is the only place in the London Borough of Bromley to have a London SE postcode covered completely by the London Borough of Bromley (this includes Anerley).

Culture and community

Community facilities

Fragments of the original Penge Common still survive as Betts Park and Cator Park. Winsford Gardens formed part of the grounds of Chesham Park and later Winsford House.

Landmarks

Rail

Penge is served by three rail stations. Penge East and Kent House have frequent services to London Victoria and Orpington and First Capital Connect operates a limited peak hour service via St Pancras International to St Albans, Luton or Bedford (Trains via St Pancras International generally start or terminate at Beckenham Junction). Also Penge West with services to London Bridge and Caterham, as well as London Overground services to Dalston Junction/Highbury and Islington and West Croydon.

Buses

Penge is served by many Transport for London bus routes, connecting it with areas including Beckenham, Bromley, Catford, Central London, Croydon, Crystal Palace, Dulwich, Lewisham, Orpington, Peckham, Shirley, West Wickham and Sydenham.

Road

Three A roads, the A213, A214 and A234 pass through the area. The A213 intersects with the A234 at the Pawleyne Arms and the A214 at the Robin Hood.

Education

St Johns C.E. Primary School, was originally part of the Old Penge Chapel which opened in 1837. Early in the 1850s following the completion of St John the Evangelist, the chapel building became used entirely as a school. In 1977 the school's site was extended and a new school building was opened in September 1978.

The Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School for boys, formerly the Beckenham Technical Institute which opened in 1901, moved to a new site on Penge High Street between Kent House Road and Kingsdale Road in 1931. It moved from Penge to its present location in Eden Park, Beckenham, in January 1969.

Religious sites

St. John the Evangelist's Church, Penge, Beckenham Road, built 1850 to designs by Edwin Nash & J. N. Round Penge Congregational Church, built 1912 to designs by P. Morley Horder with passage aisles and clerestory. Shafts on large, excellently carved corbels. and has a stained glass window by William Morris.

Sport

Crystal Palace Park contains the National Sports Centre which includes an international-class athletic stadium and a former motorsport circuit used in the 1969 film The Italian Job. The Crystal Palace Park once housed a football ground, which hosted the FA Cup final from 1895 to 1914 as well as London County Cricket Club games from 1900 to 1908, when they folded, and Crystal Palace F.C.'s matches from their formation in 1905 until the club was forced to relocate during the First World War. Other facilities include Alexandra Recreation Ground, Penge Recreation Ground and Royston Playing Fields. There is a municipal golf course across the borough boundary in Beckenham Place Park.

Notable residents