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Beckenham is on the London-Kent border
by the river Beck. The origin of the
name is from Old English and probably meant Beohha's village.
Medieval Beckenham
1086 Beckenham spelt Bacheham
in Domesday Book.
Beckenham Manor covered modern Beckenham and Shortlands.
C12 St George's Church built.
C13 Part of old manor house remains from Middle Ages
(now council offices).
C13 Lynchgate built for St George¹s Church (oldest
in England?).
Manor lands were split up in Middle Ages to form large estates including
Langley and Kelsey. Kelsey Park remains and has river Beck running though
it.
C14 New St George's Church built.
Stuart Beckenham
1662 Earliest date for the
George (Coaching inn).
1694 Rawlins Almshouse built in Bromley Road (reconstructed
in 1881).
Georgian Beckenham
c1723 Red brick mansion built in and located near Beckenham Road (now occupied by the Leisure Centre). 1782 the seat of Joseph Cator (1733-1818) brother of John Cator. Became known as Clockhouse after the large turret clock on its stable block.
1773 Beckenham Place built
C18 Copers Cope House built on Southend Road (still in
existence).
Victorian Beckenham
1850s Large Italianate houses
built on Southend Road.
1857 Beckenham Junction railway station built for Mid
Kent Railway.
1865 Watermill built on Southend Road (still in existence).
1866 New Beckenham Station built on Lennard Road.
1881 Rawlins Almshouse reconstructed on Bromley Road.
1883 Public Hall built by George Vigers on Bromley Road
in Arts & Crafts style.
1887 St George’s rebuilt by W. Gibbs Bartleet (1829-1906)
1888 Print of Beckenham Road
1890 Clock House station opened nearby to Clock House.
1892 Beckenham Hill station opened.
1896 Old Clock House mansion demolished. Clock moved by the Cator family to the stable buildings at Beckenham Place (until damaged in a fire in 2011).Edwardian Beckenham
1903 Tower completed on St George¹s Church.
1910s Photo of Railway Hotel (destroyed in WW2, now Beckenham Green)
1913 Langley Park mansion burnt down.
Interwar Beckenham
1921 Beckenham War Memorial completed on start of High Street. Designed by designed by Newbury Abbot Trent (1885-1953)
1928 Chinese Garage Langley Roundabout built by Edmund
B. Clark in the style of a Japanese pagoda on land adjoining Stone Park Farm which was part of the Langley Court Estate.
1929 film of Chinese Garage
1930 Regal cinema opened at 296 High Street. Designed by Robert Cromie (1887-1971?).
1931 Beckenham County School for Boys moved to High Street, Penge.
1932 Town hall built on Church Avenue. Designed by Lanchester, Lucas and Lodge.
1937 St Edmund (RC) consecrated, Village Way.
1939 Beckenham Library opened on Beckenham Road (railings later used in war effort).
WW2 Beckenham
1944 2nd August at 13.02 a V1 Flying bomb hit a restaurant crowded with people lunching in arestaurant on the west side of Beckenham Road south of the rail bridge. 44 people were killed, many instantly and many badly injured. As well as the restaurant huge destruction was caused to the shops and houses which lined the road. The blast extended in each direction and the Prince Arthur pub on corner of Churchfields Road was destroyed too.
Beckenham County School for Boys became the Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School
Postwar Beckenham
1947 Future Rolling Stone Bill Wyman (b. 1936) attended Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School.
1950 Peter Frampton born in Beckenham.
1960 West Oak house built by Eric Lyon on The Avenue.
1965 Beckenham became part of Greater London.
1969: David Bowie (1947-2016) moved to Flat 7, Haddon Hall, 42 Southend Road, Beckenham (demolished).
Started Beckenham Arts Club at Three Tuns, 157 High Street, Beckenham
Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School moved to Eden Park as the Langley Park School for Boys.
1972: David Bowie left Beckenham after success of Ziggy Stardust album.
1992 Old Beckenham Town hall demolished.
2000 Tramlink to Croydon & Wimbledon opened.
Book list:
Manors
and Estates of Old Beckenham - H. Rob Copeland. (1967)
The Village of Old Beckenham- H. Rob Copeland. (1970)
Early History of Beckenham - Len Hevey (F Cartet 1997)
Beckenham - Eric Inman & Nancy Tonkin (1993 Phillimore
David Bowie - The South London Years
(c) South London Guide 2023