Bromley Town Centre Park Trail – Stop 4/3 (The Bowie Balustrade)

Posted on 24 July 2024 by campaignr

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Church House Gardens – The Bowie Balustrade

a stone balustrade casting shadows on the path
The intact end of the Bowie Balustrade in 2022.

Welcome to Bromley Palace Park and it’s historic features! This location is the first stop on the heritage and biodiversity trail around the historic parks in Bromley Town Centre.

The balustrade you can see here was originally the boundary between Church House and the gardens.

group of boys in waistcoats sitting with guitars on a stone balustrade
1955 photoshoot of David Bowie (David Jones) and the Konrads in Church House Gardens. Unfortunately that actual section of the balustrade has not been repaired/replaced after it was broken in the 2000s.

The balustrade’s claim to fame is that an early photo shoot for local boy David Jones, better known as David Bowie, was shot here.

Fun Fact

Though David Bowie never showed any liking for his home town, one of his last videos was filmed in Whitehall Recreation ground. His favourite condemnation is reputed to have been “That’s so f*****g Croydon!”

All the stops in the Bromley Town Centre Parks Heritage & Biodiversity trail can be found on the page about it here.

To continue the Heritage Trail, continue uphill and on the other side of the trees, on the level ground at the top, is a Carriage Drive in a loop around the flower bed.

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