North side of Market Square in the 1900s, with the Royal Bell at the back. The row of buildings on the left were later demolished to make the square larger.
Market Square is the centre of the Old Town which until the coming of the railway in 1858 comprised a single street. The Market Charter was granted to Bishop Gandalf by King John in 1205. The market itself moved to Station Road in 1933, returning to the High Street and square in 2012 (as the Station Road place is part of Local Plan site 2)
The limits of the pre-railway town are still marked by existing buildings – Bromley College in the Upper High Street and Tweed Cottage (Tiger) in the Lower High Street.
Posted on March 3, 2019 by campaignr A modest 1923 parade of shops, with nicely proportioned windows above, in Art Deco style. They occupy the whole front of what used to be the large garden of Ravensfell House
Ravensfell House was built for an Australian merchant* ,John Richardson, and was the first, of a number,
of fine villas overlooking the Ravensbourne Valley built in 1858 at the coming
of the railway. There is a note that John Richardson corresponded with
George Sparkes (who retired from being a judge for the East India Company) next
door at Neelgherries, about ancient lights and greenhouses.
Prior to the arrival of the railway in 1858,
Bromley High Street stretched only a short distance south from the Market
Square. Redwood House on the east side (now the site of Marks & Spencer and
Neelgherries on the west side (where the library is now) were the limit of
continuous development. Bromley House and Bromley Lodge further down the hill
had fields between them and the High Street itself. After 1858, the area between
here and the station began to be filled, mainly with detached Victorian houses.
The construction of Ravensfell House in 1858
The
construction of Ravensfell House in 1858
When Ravensfell House was built, and for a while afterwards, it was the
most westerly building on the high street. It is recorded that the road next to
it, Ravensbourne and Ethelbert Roads, were laid out in 1870-1872. This (now
demolished) mansion had been built in the late 1850s and only survived for just
over half a century. When the property was demolished there are deeds for it,
describing the property of the Richardson Family to include Ravensfell House, Mill Pond Meadow, and Kingswood Avenue and ‘Lascelles’, in 1922.
“In summers around 1920, public entertainments were
given in a garden marquee” (Murial Mundie nee Searle).
The first record, in the local business listings
for Ravensfell Parade, is in the 1924 Kellys Directory, where it informs us
that Number 6 Ravensfell Parade was the establishment of Rae Bertina, who was a
‘Costumier’.
By 1928, Russell and Bromley are at number 7 and
have placed an advert in Kellys, , as has Staples at number 2:
No.
2: Staples, makers of picture frames, gilders, pictures cleaned & restored
artists’ & crafts materials, with an advert and listed in 3 places.
No.
3: Harris W. J. & Co. Ltd., baby carriage manufacturers
No.
4: Willmett Kate (Mrs.), milliner
No.
5: Lawley’s (1921) Ltd. china & glass merchants
No.
6: Rae Bertinal costumier
No.
7: Russell and Bromley, fine shoes and foot fitters
It’s hard to miss the pink frontage of this building. Not just is it one of the older buildings on the High Street but it has fantastic décor – the shop floor ceiling is removed and the first floor has period furniture suspended from the ceiling.
This makes an extravagant and innovative way of
illustrating what this building was like 100 years ago – without getting in the
way of merchandising.
Period furniture and decor of the first floor, suspended.
Period
furniture and decor of the first floor, suspended.
When the railway came to Bromley in 1850s, this area was fields. Then a series of villas, making use of the new station and views over the valley, were built along the road. When this was changed to become shops and commercial buildings, it was renamed to the ‘Broadway’, and the sign can still be seen just up hill from Bromley South.
Posted inhistoric_link_page|Comments Off on Heritage Buildings of the Broadway High Street
Charles Cowles Voysey (1889-1981) was a renowned architect from the early part of the 20th Century. In Bromley he was responsible for the ‘Town Hall extension’ (1939) and the former Magistrates Court (1939). Elsewhere, his notable works include Worthing Town Hall, seven years before (old) Bromley Magistrates Court (6) and Kingsley Hall in the East End of London (3). Continue reading →
In 1897 the lord of the manor, Charles Cole-Childs, gave the field known as White Hart Field, to the people. This became Queens Gardens. Before the Glades was built it stretched between Market Square and the Bishops Palace (the Bishops of Rochester were the Lord of the Manor) – the palace is now the Civic Centre.
The current Queens Gardens is between the Glades and the Kentish Way bypass.
from the Friend’s page about this park: “Queen’s Garden represents the last remnant of the countryside hugging the old Market Square on the east side of town. It was part of the farmland belonging to Bromley Palace (now the Civic Centre) stretching from the White Hart Inn in the High Street all the way to Widmore Green. By the l8th century it was known as White Hart Field and it was here that the coaching horses could graze and where the town held their cricket matches. Despite its accustomed use by the townsfolk the field remained in the possession of the Lord of the Manor until donated to the town in 1897 on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and on condition it was laid out as a public garden.”
A large section of it was sold to the developer’s of the Glades. They gave some exchange land, but as this lacked the protection of public park land, this was then claimed back in 2015 and the restaurant terrace built on it.
When it was White Hart Field, it was the town’s cricket ground, and the scene of the live changing event for the famous author HG Wells, when in 1894, he says:
The agent of good fortune was “young Sutton,” the grown-up son of the landlord of the Bell. I was playing outside the scoring tent in the cricket field and in all friendliness he picked me up and tossed me in the air. “Whose little kid are you?” he said, and I wriggled, he missed his hold on me and I snapped my tibia across a tent peg. A great fuss of being carried home; a painful setting — for they just set and strapped a broken leg tightly between splints in those days, and the knee and ankle swelled dreadfully — and then for some weeks I found myself enthroned on the sofa in the parlour as the most important thing in the house, consuming unheard-of jellies, fruits, brawn and chicken sent with endless apologies on behalf of her son by Mrs. Sutton, and I could demand and have a fair chance of getting anything that came into my head, books, paper, pencils, and toys — and particularly books.
I had just taken to reading. I had just discovered the art of leaving my body to sit impassive in a crumpled up attitude in a chair or sofa, while I wandered over the hills and far away in novel company and new scenes. And now my father went round nearly every day to the Literary Institute in Market Square and got one or two books for me, and Mrs. Sutton sent some books, and there was always a fresh book to read… I cannot recall now many of the titles of the books I read, I devoured them so fast…
Some pictures of Queens Gardens, past and present:
(1) From An Experiment in Autobiography by H. G. Wells, 1934, Chapter 2.
Help stop our parkland being built on: Email David Berger at the Council – david.berger@bromley.gov.uk and go to the Ward Councillors Drop In (7.30pm on 10th September at the Civic Centre). The Town Ward Councillors describe it as selling derelict buildings but this is our parkland that’s being ‘disposed’. It’s even been decided that if the new owner’s builds blocks on the existing footprint, they won’t have to apply for planning permission. Regardless, once the land is sold, it’s gone forever, and it will never be possible for it to be part of the palace grounds again.
There will be a drop in event for the sale of part of our Palace Park, on 10th September at 7.30pm at the Civic Centre. But, this sale is being described as the disposal of derelict buildings, (it contains 2 caltrop shaped buildings that the council has allowed to deteriorate) in this part of the palace gardens. Even worse, it looks like the council is going to allow prospective buyers to bypass planning permission, preventing anyone from objecting to the development:
Browse our old photos, in 
from being dominated by tower blocks: Look here and email our ward councillors about:
* 
