{"id":195643,"date":"2021-11-08T12:47:36","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T12:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/?p=195643"},"modified":"2022-03-16T11:49:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T11:49:19","slug":"bromley-the-five-minute-spare-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/bromley-the-five-minute-spare-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Bromley The Five Minute Spare Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bromley is both a historic market town and a London Borough situated in Southeast London. Not far from Charing Cross, this former village grew exponentially just after the start of the Industrial Revolution. We\u00a0love to find out about the best things to see in London. Could Bromley be one of those best things? Let’s find out as we take the Five Minute Spare tour of Bromley. All you ever needed to know and more.<\/p>\n

Early History of Bromley<\/h2>\n

Bromley was given its first charter all the way back in 1158, so we have a lot of history to get through. Its origins date all the way back to 862, meaning that Bromley had already existed for a couple of hundred years before it was ever given permission to exist by the king. Is first mentioned in an Anglo Saxon charter and shared its name with a town up in Essex, named Great Bromley. The word Bromley actually translates from Old English. That meant a woodland clearing Containing broom. For all those that don’t know, the plant broom or Scotch Broom is the name of the yellow flowering shrubs that can be found in the UK.<\/p>\n

So, Bromley was named after a clearing in the woods where yellow flowers grew. All things considered, that’s kind of a nice way to earn your name. In 862 AD Ethelbert, the King of Kent was the man who first wrote about Bromley. He gifted the land there to the Manor of Bromley. That same manner later passed into the hands of the Bishop of Rochester. The Bishop of Rochester built a palace at Bromley, which remained in the hands of the bishops until 1845. It was the palace at Bromley, which would have served as a safe place for villagers to flock to. As we know, towns often grew up around religious establishments, forts, and castles.<\/p>\n

We next note the town of Bromley in Kent was present in the Domesday Survey<\/a>, taken in 1086. It is mentioned as the land of Saint Andrew and the Bishop of Rochester. It contained no more than 56 households which made it one of the largest settlements recorded in the survey. The Domesday Survey was conducted by King William the Conqueror because he wanted to know which lands he had conquered. He had only been here 20 years at the time. It was the first official Ordnance Survey performed in the UK. It is interesting to scroll through the towns contained within it to see if you can find your own hometown.<\/p>\n

The bishop is the only noted landowner in the area. His land consisted of 30 villagers and 26 smallholders. He had 13 ploughlands with 13 plough teams to work the land. He had two acres of meadows, woodland that contained 100 swine, 1 mill, and many tenants. The land made \u00a312 and 10 shillings per year in 1066, but by 1086 it was making 18 pounds. The lands of the church were fruitful indeed.<\/p>\n

Bromley during the mediaeval ages<\/h2>\n

During the Middle Ages, we know that Hornchurch Priory was built Circa 1301. The windmill at West Wickham was built in 1308 and in 1310 William De Bilhberg was given permission to strengthen his Bromley house. This would later become known as Simpson\u2019s Place. In 1332 masses were celebrated at Bromley Manor Chapel which was the first mention of religious services given at this time.<\/p>\n

In 1400, the Blackbrook family moved away from Bromley. To this day, Blackbrook Lane is named for their family. In 1447 Bromley Market moved from a Tuesday to Thursday. It has been held every Thursday since apart from a short time in the 1860s. In 1449, the watermill that is mentioned in the Domesday book was purchased by Lord Saye and he converted it into a paper mill. During the Middle Ages, paper was made in Bromley.<\/p>\n

In the 17th<\/sup> century. Robert Simpson sold Simpson\u2019s Place to John Style of Langley and Robert Beckingham was named as the owner of the White Hart Inn in Bromley. The first mention of the Great House in Bromley, which was owned by a London Brewer named Thomas Knight was in 1532. In 1588 John Scott of Bromley gave 25 pounds (a princely sum) towards the Armada loan to help Britain build ships.<\/p>\n

There was an outbreak of plague in 1603 and there would be again and again throughout history. The plague hit Bromley again and 1630, the same year that Widmore house was built. The Bishop of Rochester was forced to remove himself from the palace for his own protection. A diarist named John Evelyn was robbed on Bromley Common in 1652. The assailants jumped out from behind an oak tree to attack him. In 1662 a survey listed 129 households with a population of about 700 people. Bromley College was built in 1672. It was meant to be a home for widowed clergyman’s wives.<\/p>\n

Local cabinetmaker John Dunn set up his business in Bromley Marketplace in 1710 and it is still there to this day. Bromley Charity School was then added in 1716. The Bromley Parish Workhouse opened in 1732. The market house was erected in 1729 and the first Bromley cricket match took place in 1735. The first official record of a Bromley cricket team is in 1742[i]<\/a>. Let’s stop there and review some fun trivia about Bromley before we dive into the Industrial Revolution headfirst.<\/p>\n

Bromley Trivia<\/h2>\n

Here at Five Minutes Spare, we like to give you a bit of local trivia. Bromley has got some great background that we could draw from. Here are our favourite fun facts about Bromley. Use them wisely.<\/p>\n