Crofton Park

Crofton Park is a mainly residential suburb and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is the original site of the former agricultural hamlet of Brockley. It is located 8.5 km (5.3) miles southeast of Charing Cross, and is south of Brockley and north of Honor Oak. The two main points of interest are the Rivoli Ballroom and the Brockley Jack Theatre.

The area includes Blythe Hill Fields which is one of a number of hills in South East London and which provides a good view of the eastern side of the City of London. A section of Ladywell Fields borders Crofton Park to the south east.

Schools

The recently (2007/8) rebuilt Crofton School is the main secondary school in the area and is located on Manwood Road. The area has a number of primary schools.

Bars and Restaurants

There are a number of bars and restaurants in the area that good places for dining that avoid going into central London. This includes Babur - an excellent indian restaurant on Brockley Rise, Tapestry - a tapas bar on Honor Oak Park. There are a number of other restaurants on Brockley Rise, Honor Oak Park and Brockley Road. Jam Circus, opposite Crofton Park library, provides a good atmosphere for a quiet drink, and is open until midnight on most evenings as does the Lawrence Wine Bar. The newly refurbished Honor Oak Pub lies in close proximity to the south of the area.

Shops

Brockley Road runs north south through Crofon Park and contains a number of small supermarkets (Co-op and Budgen), dry cleaners, post office, estate agents, coffee shops and bars, including Jam Circus and the Mr Laurence Wine Bar. The Brockley Jack Pub is located to the south of the main shopping area. A second smaller shopping area is located at the southern end of Brockley Rise, which includes a number of shops and restaurants and the Chandos Pub.

A sub post office is available on Brockley Road, just along from the Co-op, whilst the main delivery office for the collection of parcels is located towards Brockley.

An excellent local butcher - Peter James - is located on Crofton Park Road, whilst a bakery recently opened (2008) on Brockley Rise.

Transport

Crofton Park station is located in the middle of the area and provides services to Blackfriars. From early 2009 this services will operate through Blackfriars to St Pancras International and other locations on the First Capital Connect's Thameslink network. Services are provided approximately every 30 minutes. On Sunday the services operate to London Victoria station. In the southbound direction the service links to Catford, Bromley and Sevenoaks. These services are provided by Southeastern. New entrances to the station has recently been opened from Marnock and Lindal Road. The station ticket office is open every morning, and an automatic ticket machine is also available.

Honor Oak Park station is located in the southern end of area and provides good links to London Bridge station, Crystal Palace, Sydenham, Forest Hill and East and West Croydon. From mid 2010 the station will also have East London line extension as part of London Overground and with benift of services to Surrey Quays, Canada Water, Whitechapel, Shoreditch High Street in Shoreditch and Dalston. New East London line services will operate 8 times an hour northbound, and 4 trains per hour southbound to both West Croydon station and Crystal Palace. The station will be operated by London Overground from late 2009.

A number of bus services operate throughout the area includig the 171 and 172 that both provide links to the West End, 122, P4. Night buses are provided by the N171.

History

Before the area was built up in the late 1800s, the principal buildings in Brockley were Brockley Farm, Brockley Hall (a large private residence), and the Brockley Jack public house. The Brockley Jack was formerly a picturesque wooden building, and was said to have been a haunt of highwaymen. It was owned by the Noakes family, brewers, who lived at Brockley Hall. There is still a pub of the same name, built more substantially in brick and stone in the late nineteenth century.

Famous Residents

Jim Connell (1852-1929), writer of the anthem, "The Red Flag", lived in Stondon Park (which is on the border of Crofton Park and Honor Oak).

The comedian Spike Milligan (1918-2002), lived at 50 Riseldine Road (which is on the cusp of Crofton Park and Honor Oak) after coming to England from India in the 1930s.