Market Square The Old New Townhall – Heritage Buildings

Posted on 27 March 2019 by campaignr

From 1863 until 1930, the market sported a ‘Elizabethan’ style, brick ‘Town Hall’. The new Lord of the Manor built it at his own cost.  He had bought the title and the Old Bishop’s Palace from the Bishops of Rochester in 1845 (on a reorganisation of the English dioceses that resulted in Bromley – for a time – not being in the Rochester diocese).  The new landowner was a Mr Cole-Childs, a coal merchant from Deptford. As the ‘Town Hall’ was constructed at his own cost, in 1863, the bricks were made from his own brick-pit, from where Havelock Rec is now:  http://friendsofhavelockrec.org/about-the-brick-pit-of…/.

It replaced a much smaller, more traditional market building in the centre of the square.

“The ancient heart of Bromley, the Market square, was re-laid out in 1863 when an all purpose town hall (centre background), was erected.

It housed the first police station (with a cell to replace the ‘Cage’ on Widmore Road), the first fire-station (before that the engine was lodged at the White Hart and then the Parish Church) – the next one is on West Street, and the current one on South Street), and a large upper room for civic meetings.  At various times it also housed the literary institute and meeting rooms.  However, the Vestry (who ran the town) never met there, so it was not used as a Town Hall.

It seems that it was at least 3 different buildings kludged together.  Most of its life it was rented by an estate agents.   Whilst the style was fashionable at the time it was built, by the end of it’s life, the local paper described it as ‘monstrous’.  This did not stop it being featured in many of the postcards of the town centre.

mock-tudor buildings and a road shiny from rain
1920s view of Market square from the south with the Electricity Company’s chimney visible in the background
The ‘Town Hall’ built for the town by Coles-Child at his own expense; it housed the police station, a cell, the fire-engine (which was evicted from the church) and free library
a churchy looking brick building with an italian looking tower
The Old ‘New Town Hall’ of Coles-Child
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BCS talk: From the Vestry to the Palace – Thurs 21 March

Posted on 16 March 2019 by Tim Hayward

This talk will cover the story of local government in Bromley; the buildings, the architecture and what the future might hold.

In 1858 when the railway came to Bromley, the borough was run by the Parish Vestry, and election to that body was restricted to residents who paid more than the qualifying amount of tithes.   The parish’s tithes were ‘commuted’ to their value in Pound, Shilling and Pence, and paid to the Bishop (who was also Lord of the Manor).

At the turn of the 20th century, the town progressed to having a local board to run the area (the building for this purpose is still on East Street) with a town constable and beadle.

In 1907 the town had grown again, and became a local authority, building itself the ornate building on tweedy road.   This included a council chamber.  In 1937 it had to be extended, and the town hall extension, including a new council chamber, was added on the Widmore Road side.

Then in 1982 Bromley became a London Borough, and the council offices moved to the old Bishops Palace, which had been Stockwell College, for training teachers.

Now the plan (see Site F) is to sell most of this site, so our palace is due to become a hotel and much of the remainder housing… so where next?

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from the vestry to the palace (and where next?) - Peter's talk on Thursday

from the vestry to the palace (and where next?) – Peter’s talk on Thursday

The talk will take place at the Parish rooms, Church Road, Bromley BR2 0EG

Thursday 21 March 2019 at 7.30pm

For more information, please see our flyer.

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Bromley Town Local Plan And AAP (as of 2019)

Posted on 10 March 2019 by campaignr

Bromley Town Plans: Local and Area Action

Table of Local Plan sites, adopted 2018, and their housing allocations.

Table of the 2010 Area Action Plan’s Opportunity Sites:

Update to AAP Sites as at March 2019:

The AAP was drawn up and adopted by Bromley Council in 2010. The plan identifies the following sites in the Town Centre for development. It has been somewhat modified by the Local Plan adopted in 2018.

 

Site A (Site 2 in the Local Plan): Bromley North station. 

Site B: Tweedy Road adjacent to Bromley & Sheppard’s College. Approved despite harm to the 17th Century widows and spinsters colleges.

Site C: Old Town Hall, Tweedy Road & Widmore Road and adjacent Car Park – Approved in 2015 for a hotel scheme and 50 flats in South Street car park. Approved, and variation for the town hall (not the flats) submitted August 2018.  

Site E: The Pavilion. AAP proposals to move these leisure facilities onto the Civic Centre site and extend the Glades shopping centre have been abandoned. Bromley Mytime, a charitable trust, has completed a £5M refurbishment of this leisure centre in March 2012.

Site F: Civic Centre (Local Plan Site 1). AAP proposals were relocation of the Pavilion Leisure facilities, housing and retained Council use. Current Local Plan proposals are retained offices, retained car park , 70 housing units including conversion of the Palace building, retention of south east open space as a public park as now. BCS sought restoration of the Palace grounds in consideration of what has been lost to build Kentish Way, the multi-storey car park & the newer Council offices and continued public use of the Grade II listed Palace. This has been rejected by the Council.

Site G: Lower High Street (Local Plan Site 10 now extends to include BS Station and platforms). AAP proposals for a shopping Mall now scrapped in favour of the Local Plan modification for 1230 residential units plus offices. Vicinity of TK Maxx site is identified in the AAP as possibly suitable for a tall/taller building. This gave rise to a 2018 consultation by the owner for a 20 storey block of flats opposed by BCS. No planning application as yet.

This is the most controversial of all the development sites. The Council intend acquiring by CPO the 40 homes in Ethelbert Close for what is called Phase One – Churchill Quarter. This is a co-development with the Council of 410 flats still awaiting a decision. The AAP Inspector required the Council to produce a Masterplan for the whole site but this was only produced in 2018 well after the Churchill Quarter application was made and proposes a mass of tower blocks. The upper part is in the town centre conservation area and environmental groups including Historic England have objected both to Churchill Quarter and the Masterplan. A decision on both from the Council is still awaited. In 2014 Crest Homes implemented a large flatted development in Ringers Road on part of the site which had already gained permission from the Council before the AAP have been drafted.

Site J: Bromley South Station ( now included in Site G/10 in the Local Plan. Upgrade of the station facilities, funded through the government’s Access to All programme. Completed Spring 2012. Now part of Site G/10 earmarked for housing development

Site K: Westmoreland Road. In March 2012 Cathedral Group received planning permission to replace the

existing multi-storey car park with a nine-screen multiplex cinema, hotel and 200 homes in a very high tower.

(Planning ref: 11/03865/FULL1). The outline plans predate the drafting of the AAP and the development is now complete nicknamed variously as the ‘ski slope’ or ‘titanic’ because of its shape by locals.

Site L: DHSS Building and Christian Centre, Westmoreland Road & Mason’s Hill. A hotel development was approved in 2013 by the Council but the site was acquired by the Department of Education and subsequently subject of an application for a 10 storey School building (the SHAW). This was recommended for approval by Council officers but refused by Councillors. The subsequent planning Appeal was dismissed February 2019 mainly on grounds of the loss of the protected view of Keston Ridge which is something of a breakthrough decision for environmental matters in the Town Centre

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High Street No. 123, Marks and Spencers – Heritage Building Profile

Posted on 9 March 2019 by campaignr
Marks and Spencers in the 1930s

“Wright Brothers’ attractive bow-windowed shop was taken over by a High Street chain store, who a few years ago took great trouble to reproduce in every detail

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High Street No. 72-80, Bromley House Parade – Heritage Building Profile

Posted on 3 March 2019 by campaignr

Bromley House Parade of shops was built about 1930 when this part of the High Street was developed.  The rows of shops on this side of the High Street replaced a line of fine villas that overlooked the Ravensbourne valley. The parade is fronted in brick with stone ornamentation, the broken pediments and sash windows of Neo-Gothic style.

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Half Term fun! Do our new Family Heritage Trail !

Posted on 12 February 2019 by campaignr

Have the most amazing time this half term! Do our new family Heritage Treasure Trail around our historic buildings in central Bromley.

No booking required, find us in the Local Studies Centre on the 2nd floor of Bromley Central Library (on the High Street) from 1-4pm.

drawings of the arts-and-science school cupula, shells, and HG Well's time machine.

Half Term fun! Our new family heritage trail!

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The Author H.G. Wells in Bromley

Posted on 24 January 2019 by campaignr

The Author, HG Wells, grew up in the upstairs of a shop on Bromley High Street. He is most famous for his prescience books The War Of The Worlds and The Time Machine. His auto-biographical writings capture a time of rapid social change in the market town.

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Arts And Crafts Movement in Bromley – Ernest Newton

Posted on 23 January 2019 by campaignr

Ernest Newton (thanks to the Chislehurst Society)

Ernest Newton was a renown Arts and Crafts movement architect.  In Bromley, in addition to the rebuilding of the Bishops Palace, he built one of his best works, The Royal Bell on the High Street

This lovely red brick building has Queen Anne style plaster initials and designs, and gracious bay windows.  Originally it also had a stain glass porch on the front.

There is more on the Royal Bell’s website.

The Chislehurst Society (as his portfolio has a number of fine examples there) says on this page: “Ernest Newton (right) was born in Bickley in 1856, the son of an estate manager. He was educated at Uppingham School, Rutland. He married Antoinette Hoyack in 1881, and they had three sons. He was resident again at Bickley in 1883 where he built his own house at Bird in Hand Lane, Bickley in 1884. Over the next 20 years he designed a large number of houses in the Bickley and Chislehurst area, many of which still exist“.

Royal Bell

Ernest Newton was a protégé of Norman Shaw, who had exemplified the best late Nineteenth Century architectural practices developing the suburbs of Bedford Park.  Norman Shaw is thought to have introduced him to the Lord of Manor of Lee, Earl Northbrook (of the Baring banking family). The manor of Lee, especially Grove Park, was the subject of “progressive” development in the Victorian era, a chance to create a “artistic suburb” in the same manner as Bedford Park. 

On Barings Road, he designed the villa “Three Gables” (that was occupied by the children’s author E Nesbit:

“The house was in the best fashion of “Queen Anne” free styling, beneath the hipped roof, tall brick chimneys and titular gables (two half timbered, the central one pargeted), the fenestration was irregular and deep bay windows were thrown out from the principal rooms into the generous gardens. It was a suitably free and liberating backdrop for Nesbit and her circle, that included HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw. Whether just following architectural fashion or a real attempt to style a South London rival to Bedford Park, the efforts of Lord Northbrook did attract its share of liberals and free-thinkers.” from http://www.theroyalbell.co.uk/

There’s more about his buildings at the page on the Chislehurst Society about him.

Three Gables – Grove Park

Bullers Wood

Grove Park House

Again, from the Chislehurst Societies page, we can find these local buildings by Ernest Newton (there were many more that are less local to the town):

  • 1888 Mission Church, Widmore, Bromley
  • 1891 St Luke’s Institute, Raglan Road, Bromley Common
  • 1891 238 Southlands Road, Bickley
  • 1898 Martins Bank, 181 – 183 High Street, Bromley
  • 1898 Shop, 179 High Street, Bromley
  • 1898 The Royal Bell Hotel, High Street Bromley
  • 1902 Nos 21 and 23 Page Heath Lane, Bickley
  • 1904 Spire, St Georges Church, Bickley Park Road, Bickley
  • 1920 Alterations to Bromley Palace, Widmore Road, Bromley
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High Street No. 160, Victoria Chambers, now Primark’s Annex – Heritage Building Profile

Posted on 23 January 2019 by campaignr

Victoria Chambers is a fine building from the 1890s in the Arts & Crafts style with its characteristic Dutch influence.

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Historic Architecture Talk on February 28th: Venue Change

Posted on 17 January 2019 by Tim Hayward

Please note that the venue for Benedict O’Looney’s talk on historic architecture in south London has been changed to the Small Hall, Bromley Central Library (see below). Benedict will also speak about progress with the current plan to restore the Royal Bell hotel.

Royal BellBenedict O’Looney
Talk on 28th February 2019, 7:30pm: Small Hall, Bromley Central Library
‘Conserving and celebrating the historic architecture of South London’
Benedict will be able to give us an update on progress with the Royal Bell – also his experience in restoring and building new work around Peckham’s historic townscape and what was involved with the initiation of central Peckham’s conservation area
(£3 voluntary donation).

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