In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Beckenham like this:
BECKENHAM, a village and a parish in Bromley district, Kent. The village stands on a small tributary of the Ravensbourne river, close to a junction of several railways, 3 miles SE of the Crystal Palace, and 2 W of Bromley; has stations on the railways, and a post office under London, SE.; and is rapidly becoming a suburb. ...
The parish comprises 3,875 acres. Real property, in 1865, about £40,000. Pop. in 1861, 2,124; in 1865, about 3,500. The property is subdivided. Beckenham Place is the seat of A. Cator, Esq.: Kelsey Park, of P. R. Hoare, Esq.; Old Manor House, of H. Fortescue, Esq.; and Langley Park, ofGoodheart Esq. Beckenham was the residence of Brandon, Duke. of Suffolk, when visited by Henry VIII.; and Clay-Hill here was the residence of Edward King, author of the "Munimenta Antiqua," who died in 1807. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £900.* Patron, J. Cator, Esq. The church was built about the beginning of the 16th century; has a lofty white spire, rebuilt in 1796; and contains monuments of the Styles, the Burrells, the Hoares, and others, and a tablet to Captain Hedley Vicars, who fell at Sebastopol. The ancient lich-gate, for setting down corpses at funerals, still stands. The p. curacies of a. St.-Paul and Shortlands are separate charges, both of them constituted in 1868. There are endowed national schools with £42 a year, and other charities £68. Dr. Assheton, prolocutor in convocation, who died in 1711, was rector.
Beckenham through time
Beckenham is now part of Bromley district. Click here for graphs and data of how Bromley has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Beckenham itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Beckenham, in Bromley and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/710
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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