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Friends of Havelock Rec

Neighbouring Local History – Keeping Riff-Raff out… Bromley’s own Class Wall

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Kerry Hood

In 1926, there was a ‘wall’ built on Valeswood Road/Alexandra Crescent (a private road) , to keep the inhabitants of The London Corporation’s estate in Downham out of Bromley (or to deter them from taking a short cut – thanks to Downham Estate Having Your Own Patch for the pic).  The estate was built to house people moved out of the London slums when the post-war clearances took place.  The houses are designed to be reminiscent of Kentish cottages. 

History Today mentions it on their website, demonstrating that the concept of gated communities is not a modern one: by Michael Nelson, here.  He grew up on the ‘wrong’ side of the wall in Downham.  "stood near the house where I lived as a child... the residents of Alexandra Crescent, a private road in Bromley, Kent, ... built a seven-foot wall, capped with broken glass, across the road. The wall was constructed to stop the working classes ... like our family, entering the streets of the adjoining middle-class estate."

Bromley was part of the county of Kent until the boundary changes of 1965, so the houses in areas of Bromley, still list ‘Kent’ in their addresses. When the boundaries changed, the Orpington residents were given a vote as to whether they wanted to join the new borough or not.

Posted in Neighbouring Local/Oral History | Tagged Bromley Wall

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Local History, Photos & Reminisces

Browse our collection of remarkable local reminisces in our oral history pages look at the park's previous incarnation as a working brickpit or a summary of it all here.

See also:

  • Bromley Civic Society
  • Friends of Whitehall Rec
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Check out the Gallery

Early morning landscape by Jon Emmanuel
Landscape by Jon Emmanuel
IYellow Lab Daphne playing with her friend Molly
It's snowing!
evening light over our park
snow angel!
2008 double rainbow brickfield
IMG_1001-3
snowmen and snow forts in 2009
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2002jul02 tansy with little cricket bat
HotBalloon060630-3
033 field water fight
dragging the sledge back up the dip
The firemen parachuted in to raise money in 2005
fun-in-the-snow
fun-in-the-snow2
fun-in-the-snow3
fun-in-the-snow4
fun-in-the-snow snowman making
sledging-the-dip
dog in the snow
15jul01_sunset_over_brickfield_havelock_rec.jpg
14jun08 50490 view pink clouds brickfield.JPG
15feb28 dog walkers in field.jpg
andy_loakes_snow_on_the_brickfield.jpg
P1090838.JPG
15mar14-brickfield-bulbplanting.jpg
16jul18 bug-day-tent-view.jpg
14jun08 50495 view sunset brickfield.JPG
15jun29_4567-brickfield-field-bindweed-768x1024.jpg
15jun29_4583-brickfield-elderflower-768x1024.jpg
15mar14-di-and-felix-litterpicking-brickfield.jpg
16jan18_volunteers-planting-hedge-brickfield.jpg
16jun12 big-lunch-tug-war.jpg
16sep12-hoedown-2.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20059-baker-girl-beauty-dancing-1024x768.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20064-andy-emma-connie-pimms-tent-768x1024.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20071-girls-umbrella-rainbowjpg-1024x768.jpg
1924 o-peills-brick-pit-half-mile-SW-Bickley-Stn-looking-S-16386_synch-l.jpg
1940 havelock-rd-bomb-damage-1940-4-e1437292677505-1024x699.jpg
P7190918-3rd-bromley-on-brickfield-1024x768.jpg
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