Martins Hill- Deadman’s Steps
Welcome to Martins Hill. This location is the second stop in this park, on the heritage and biodiversity trail around the historic parks in Bromley Town Centre.
Deadmans steps is another old name where the origin has been forgotten, but some local history experts think that the name is due to the steps being on a Medieval “coffin way”. The bottom step is where the coffin would have been unloaded, to be carried on people’s shoulders, because the hill was too steep for the horses to continue.
It was a requirement (and revenue) in the medieval era to only bury people at the Parish church, which in some cases could be quite a way from where people on remote farms lived. The funeral would be held at the Lych Gate of the church before the body was buried in ‘the ‘hallowed ground’. Lych is a corruption of ‘Liche‘ which was early English for a dead body.
Fun Fact
It was believed that ghosts would travel the Coffin Ways at night – Shakespeare in Midsummers Night Dream says “Now it is the time of night That the graves all gaping wide, Every one lets forth his sprite, In the churchway paths to glide.”
Deadman’s steps is also known locally to be haunted: a badly injured man in breeches and waistcoat can be seen lying in a pool of blood at the top of the steps.
The road at the bottom of the steps used to be called ‘Swan Hill’ – as the inn at the top is called The Swan and Mitre. Locals say that the swan represents the bishop’s mistress, but unfortunately not which Bishop it was (or even which actress!). The Bishops of Rochester have been Lords of the Manor in Bromley for over a thousand years. However, the Swan and Mitre public house is connected with an actress, Marie Lloyd, and her dressing-room mirrors are still there.
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, go down the steps and up the hill to the junction. At the car park entrance, turn right down the uphill side of the car park, and the Bromley Zoo mural is on the wall to the left.
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