In just 100 years Penge went from being a small rural hamlet to a busy London suburb. CHARLOTTE MCDONALD talks to the author of a new book which describes the transformation.
When the Industrial Revolution brought canals and rail roads, it became possible to travel from Penge to London for work.
Before that, the ten miles which separated the two took a long time to travel by poor roads.
In 1790, there was a small rural community of about 50 people recorded as living in Penge.
By the beginning of the 20th Century there were tens of thousands of people living there.
Martin Spence, who has lived in Penge for 11 years, decided he wanted to investigate how the modern suburb had taken shape during the Victorian period.
advertisement
His studies resulted in the writing of The Making Of A London Suburb: Capital Comes To Penge.
Mr Spence says the transformation began when a canal was built from London Bridge to Croydon, which was a busy market town in the 19th Century.
Navvies working on the building of the Crystal Palace in Penge in 1852, which is now part of the Crystal Palace area COURTESY OF BROMLEY LIBRARIES
The riverway passed through Penge but it did not manage to sustain itself and was closed down.
However, a train company took the opportunity to buy up the canal route and build a rail line in its place.
Mr Spence, who is the assistant general secretary for broadcasting trade union Bectu, said: "It was the first significant commuter line, built in the 1830s.
"London Bridge rail station was the first big terminus in the capital. It was a pioneering railway.
"At first it didn't work very well,
but when something is in place, eventually people will come to use it.
"Soon stokebrokers and big merchants moved to Penge, living in big houses.
"They needed regular access to the city, so the rail line was vital."
The area was developed and became built up with big spacious houses and working-class terrace houses, along with parks and roads.
By the mid-19th Century, stokebrokers and business men who lived in their comfortable middle-class homes in Penge could take the train into London Bridge and return after a day's work. This was the beginning of commuting into London.
Their houses needed to be staffed by servants and so a large working-class population appeared in Penge.
By 1971, most people living on Croydon Road in Penge worked as domestic servants.
Mr Spence said: "One of the paradoxes is respectable middle-class households need to be near tradesman, gardeners and servants so they can be on hand all the time."
This meant Penge was made up of a mix of different people, both affluent and the less well-off. It is for this population Penge was shaped and houses built.
Mr Spence added: "If you look at a map of Penge in 1870 it is essentially the same place as today.
"It had taken its shape by that date.
"The roads are all in the same place.
"We are living in what the Victorians built."
The book is published by Merlin and can be seen merlinpress.co.uk
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
