Croydon
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- For other uses, see Croydon (disambiguation).
Template:Infobox London place Croydon is a major suburban town and commercial centre situated 9.5 miles (15.3 km) south of Charing Cross and the principal town in the London Borough of Croydon.
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The name
One theory is that the name of Croydon derives originally from the Anglo-Saxon croeas deanas, meaning "the valley of the crocuses", indicating that, like Saffron Walden in Essex, it was a centre for the collection of saffron <ref name=Brewer>Brewer's Britain and Ireland, compiled by John Ayto and Ian Crofton, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005, ISBN 0-304-35385-X</ref>.
Another opinion <ref>1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica at Love to Know</ref> holds that the name derives from the Old French croie dune, meaning chalk hill. This was because Croydon stands at the northern edge of the chalk hills called the North Downs.
A third suggestion is also from the Anglo-Saxon crogdaen meaning "crooked valley".
Status
Croydon was created a municipal borough of Surrey in 1883. In 1889, through its growing economic importance, it was made a county borough exempt from county administration. In 1965 the County Borough of Croydon was abolished and its former area was transferred to Greater London and combined with that of the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District to form the present-day London Borough of Croydon.
History
There is evidence of Roman settlement in the area and a 5th to 6th century pagan Saxon cemetery.
Archbishops of Canterbury as lords of the manor
In the late Saxon period, it was the centre of a large estate belonging to the Archbishops of Canterbury. The church and the archbishops' manor house occupied the area still known as the Old Town. The archbishops used the manor house as an occasional place of residence and would continue to have important links as Lords of the manor, a title originally bestowed on Archbishop Lanfranc by William the Conqueror<ref name=Brewer/>, and then as local patrons right up to the present day.
In 1276, the archbishop acquired a charter for a weekly market, and this probably marks the foundation of Croydon as an urban centre. Croydon developed into one of the main market towns of northeast Surrey. The market place was laid out on the higher ground to the east of the manor house in the triangle now bounded by High Street, Surrey Street and Crown Hill.
By the 16th century the manor house had become a substantial palace used as the main summer home of the archbishops, visited by monarchs and other dignitaries. The original palace was sold in 1781, by then dilapidated and surrounded by slums and stagnant ponds, and a new residence, nearby at Addington, purchased in its place. Many of the buildings of the original Croydon Palace survive, and are in use today as Old Palace School.
Croydon Parish Church, St John the Baptist
The earliest record of Christian leaders in Croydon is found in an Anglo-Saxon will made in about 960, witnessed by Elfsies, priest of Croydon. The Doomsday Book has the earliest written record of Croydon Church. The earliest date of the name of the church is 6 December 1347, when it was recorded in the will of John de Croydon, fishmonger, containing a bequest to "the church of S John de Croydon". The church still bears the arms of Archbishop Courtenay and Archbishop Chicheley, presumed to be its benefactors.
The Perpendicular-style church was remodelled in 1849 but was destroyed in a great fire in 1867, following which only the tower, south porch and outer walls remained. A new church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, one of the greatest architects of the Victorian age, and opened in 1870. His design loosely followed the previous layout, with knapped flint facing and many of the original features, including a fine alabaster reredos and several important tombs. Croydon Parish Church is the burial place of six Archbishops of Canterbury: John Whitgift, Edmund Grindal, Gilbert Sheldon, William Wake, John Potter and Thomas Herring.
Previously part of the Diocese of Canterbury, Croydon is now in the Diocese of Southwark. The Vicar of Croydon is an important post, in addition to the suffragan Bishop of Croydon.
Whitgift Almshouses
The Elizabethan Whitgift Almshouses, the "Hospital of the Holy Trinity" as it was named, have stood in the centre of Croydon (at the corner of North End and George Street) since they were erected by Archbishop John Whitgift. He had petitioned for and had received permission from Queen Elizabeth I to establish a hospital and school in Croydon for the "poor, needy and impotent people" from the parishes of Croydon and Lambeth. The foundation stone was laid in 1596 and the building was completed in 1599.
Image:Whitgift Almshouses Croydon DSCF0287.JPG
The premises included the actual Hospital or Almshouses, providing accommodation for between 28 and 40 men and women, and a nearby schoolhouse and schoolmaster's house. There was also a Warden in charge for the well-being of the almoners. The building is constructed with the chambers of the almoners and various offices surrounding an inner courtyard.
Threatened by various reconstruction plans and road-widening schemes in more recent times in the area, the Almshouses were saved in 1923 by intervention of the House of Lords. On 21 June 1983, Queen Elizabeth II visited the almshouses and unveiled a plaque celebrating the recently-completed reconstruction of the building. On 22 March each year the laying of the foundation stone is commemorated as Founder's Day.
Industrial era
The development of Brighton as a fashionable resort in the 1780s increased Croydon's role as a significant halt for stage coaches on the road south of London. At the beginning of the 19th century, Croydon became the terminus of two pioneering commercial transport links with London. The first, opened in 1803, was the horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway from Wandsworth which was later in 1805 extended to Merstham, as the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway. The second, opened in 1809, was the Croydon Canal, which came from the Grand Surrey Canal at Deptford. The London and Croydon Railway (an atmospheric and steam-powered railway), opened between London Bridge and West Croydon in 1839, using much of the route of the canal, which had closed in 1836, and other connections to London and the south followed.
The arrival of the railways and other communications advances in the 19th century led to a 23-fold increase in Croydon's population between 1801 and 1901<ref name=Brewer/>. This rapid expansion of the town led to considerable health problems, especially in the damp and overcrowded working class district of the Old Town. In response to this in 1849, Croydon became one of the first towns in the country to acquire a Local Board of Health. The Board constructed public health infrastructure including a reservoir, and water supply network, and sewers, a pumping station, and sewage disposal works.
A growing town
As the town continued to grow, it became especially popular as a pleasant leafy residential suburb for members of the Victorian middle classes, who could commute to the City of London by fast train in 20 minutes. In 1883, Croydon was incorporated as a borough. In 1889, it became a county borough, with a still greater degree of autonomy. The new county borough council implemented the Croydon Improvement scheme in the early 1890s, which resulted in the widening of the High Street and the clearance of much of the 'Middle Row' slum area. The remaining slums were cleared shortly after World War II, with much of the population relocated to the isolated new community at New Addington. New stores opened and expanded in central Croydon, including Allders, Kennards and Grants, and the first of Sainsbury's self-serivce shops in the country<ref name=Brewer/>.
By the 1950s, with its continuing growth, the town was becoming congested, and the Council decided to introduce another major redevelopment scheme. The Croydon Corporation Act was passed in 1956. This, coupled with government incentives for office relocation out of London, led to the building of new offices and accompanying road schemes through the late 1950s and 1960s, and the town boomed as an important business centre in the 1960s, with the building of a large number of multi-storey office blocks, an underpass, a flyover and multi-storey car parks.
Modern Croydon
Croydon also developed as an important centre for shopping with the construction of the Whitgift Centre, which opened in 1969. In the same period, the Fairfield Halls arts centre and event venue opened (1962). The Warehouse Theatre opened in 1977. The 1990s saw further changes intended to give the town a more attractive image. These include the closure of North End to motor traffic in 1989 and the opening of the Croydon Clocktower arts centre in 1994. Tramlink began operation in May 2000. A new shopping centre, Centrale, was opened in 2004 and lies opposite the Whitgift Centre. There are now plans for a large new shopping centre, Park Place, the redevelopment of the Croydon Gateway site and extensions of Tramlink to Purley, Streatham and Crystal Palace.
The Arts
Croydon is often disparaged for its lack of culture and its archetypal suburban atmosphere. The town has born the brunt of many jokes aimed at its enthusiastic adoption of urban modernism. It has often been characterised as dull and inhuman. Discussing model Kate Moss, born and raised in Croydon, BBC News of 21 September 2005 remarked "Articles about her always mentioned her Croydon roots, although the suspicion in hindsight is that this was probably to sneer, as if her origins made her beauty all the more extraordinary." A calendar entitled Roundabouts of Croydon, with a picture of a different Croydon roundabout each month, has enjoyed some success. More recently the name was often the subject of parody by comedy duo Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.
Image:FairfieldHalls.jpg Nevertheless, there are several high-quality arts venues. Foremost amongst these is the Fairfield Halls, opened in 1962 with a large concert hall frequently used for BBC recordings, the Ashcroft Theatre and the Arnhem Gallery. The Halls are the home of the London Mozart Players, whose Principal Guest Conductor is flautist Sir James Galway. Many famous faces have appeared at the Fairfield Halls, from the Beatles through Bucks Fizz, Kenny Rogers, James Last to Coolio. The Warehouse Theatre is a studio theatre known for its work on new playwriting, as well as comedy and youth theatre. Croydon Clocktower, built by the London Borough of Croydon in the mid-1990s, houses a state-of-the-art library, the David Lean cinema, a performance venue in the old reference library and the town museum.
The late singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl was born and grew up in Croydon.
There are several local and small venues for live music, comedy and community events dotted around Croydon and its neighbourhoods. Croydon Youth Theatre Organisation celebrated its 40th birthday in 2005. There are several community arts groups, particularly in the large South Asian community. There are controversial plans to develop an arena for entertainment and sporting events at the Croydon Gateway site.
Transport
Croydon is situated near one of the sources of the River Wandle. Just to the south is a significant gap in the North Downs, which acts as a route focus for transport from London to the south coast.
The old London to Brighton road, the A23, passed through the town as does the main railway line from London to Brighton. Today the A23 follows a route to the west of the town known as the Purley Way.
Croydon's early transport links
The horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway was Britain's first public railway. It was opened in 1803, had double track, was some 8½ miles long and ran from Wandsworth to Croydon, terminating at what is now Reeves Corner. The railway boom of the 1840s brought superior and faster steam lines and it closed in 1846. The route is still followed in part by Croydon's new Tramlink system.
The Croydon Canal ran for 9½ miles from what is now West Croydon railway station north along the course of the present railway line to New Cross Gate, where it joined the Grand Surrey Canal and went on into the Thames. It was opened in 1809 and had 28 locks. It had a strong competitor in the Surrey Iron Railway and was never a financial success. It sold out to the steam railway in 1836 and the present West Croydon to New Cross Gate line follows much of its course. The lake at South Norwood is the former reservoir for the canal.
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport on Purley Way used to be the main airport for London before it was superseded by London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport. Starting out during World War I as an airfield for protection against Zeppelins, and developing into one of the great airports of the world during the 1920s and 1930s, it welcomed the world's pioneer aviators in its heyday. As aviation technology progressed, however, and aircraft became larger and more numerous, it was recognized in 1952 that the airport would be too small to cope with the ever-increasing volume of air traffic. It was decided it would have to close, and the last scheduled flight departed on 30 September 1959.
The air terminal, now known as Airport House, has been restored and has a museum open one day a month.
Railways and trams
Image:Tramlink East Croydon.jpg
Croydon is the hub of Tramlink service in South London and has mainline rail services to Central London, Gatwick Airport and the South Coast from East Croydon station. There is a large bus station at West Croydon. There are plans to extend the East London Line to West Croydon.
Railway stations
Stations in central Croydon:
Tramlink stops
Tramlink stops near the centre of Croydon:
- East Croydon station
- West Croydon station
- Wellesley Road
- George Street
- Church Street
- Reeves Corner
- Lebanon Road
- Centrale
See also
- Croydon facelift — a particular type of hairstyle
References
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