Park Langley is a suburb of South-East

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, located in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,3 ...

, Greater London and prior to 1965, in the historic county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It borders

Shortlands Shortlands is a suburb of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It has been part of Greater London since 1965, and was previously part of the historic county of Kent. It is located between Beckenham and Bromley, to t ...

and

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

to the north,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

to the east, Hayes and

West Wickham West Wickham is an area of South East London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Bromley with some parts lying in the London Borough of Croydon. It lies south of Park Langley and Eden Park, west of Hayes and Coney Hall, north of ...

to the south, and Eden Park to the west.

History

The area can possibly be traced back to 862, with the mention of 'landan leage' in a charter, however the first definite reference is found in the 13th century, when the Langley family (or de Langele) family are recorded as owning land in this area.Willey, Russ. ''Chambers London Gazetteer'', p 376-7 The area, known as

Langley Park Estate The Langley Park Estate was an English country house estate on the south side of Beckenham, Kent. Over the centuries the estate was owned by the Malmains, Style, Elwill and Burrell families. The Langley Farm forming the west side of the estate wa ...

, passed through various owners over the centuries, ending up in the possession of the Goodhart family in the early 19th century, who later sold it to the

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

-based building firm H & G Taylor in 1908. Modern Park Langley was first developed in the 1900s by H & G Taylor Builders. The initial phase (1909–1913) was laid out under the influence of the

garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...

, with individual houses in a generous sylvan landscape. The layout of the estate and the design of most of the houses was entrusted to

Reginald C Fry Reginald C Fry (1878–1932) was an English architect. Fry's largest body of work can be found at Park Langley, Beckenham where he was supervising architect for the laying out of the estate and designer of many of the houses. His most memorabl ...

.The Ideal Home Through the Twentieth Century, Deborah S Ryan, 1997 Other architects who designed houses for this initial phase were Edgar Underwood, H. T. Bromley, Sothern Dexter, and Durrans & Groves. The first roads to be laid out were Wickham Way, Elwill Way and Hayes Way in 1909, with Malmains Way, Whitecroft Way and Styles Way following in 1910. Around 80 houses were complete by 1914, although by that time H & G Taylor had been succeeded by The London and Kent Estate Ltd. This initial phase of the estate was designated a Conservation Area in 1989. The estate development included a golf club (opened 1910), housed in the old LangleyPark Mansion, and a tennis club. The mansion was destroyed by fire in 1913. The estates most historically interesting house is 2 Whitecroft Way by Reginald C Fry – the design for which won the Ideal Home competition in 1910 and was erected at Olympia in the

Ideal Home Show The Ideal Home Show (formerly called the Ideal Home Exhibition) is an annual event in London, England, held at Olympia . The show was devised by the ''Daily Mail'' newspaper in 1908 and continued to be run by the ''Daily Mail'' until 2009. It w ...

of 1912. The famous Langley Park Garage (

Chinese Garage The Chinese Garage is a former garage and petrol station situated in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, on a roundabout linking Beckenham, Eden Park and Shortlands. Built in 1928 to a Japanese pagoda style design by Edmund B. Clarke ...

), built in 1929, adjoins the first phase of the Park Langley suburb but was not part of its development. Henry Wellcome purchased part of the site in 1918 in order to construct a pharmaceutical testing laboratory. This site was closed in 1995 and later developed for housing. The area remains a wealthy one, and contains gated communities such as Langley Park and Langley Waterside. It is primarily residential, with small rows of shops located on the edge of the area on Wickham Road and Westmoreland Road. In August 2012, Bromley Council granted planning permission for Langley Court, Beckenham, Langley Court, a £150 million regeneration scheme in Beckenham by the developers Altessen (a joint venture betwee
Altyon
an
Essential Land
. Park Langley has a committee called the PLRA.

Transport

London Buses routes 162, 352, 358 and night route N3 serve the area.

Sport & Leisure

Old Dunstonians Sports Club, owns the sports ground in St Dunstan's Lane, Langley Park. Founded in 1922 it hosts two sports clubs: Old Dunstonian RFC (founded 1903) for competitive rugby union and OD Cuaco CC (founded 2003) for competitive cricket, with tenant sports clubs providing tennis, archery and football. Beccehamians RFC a Rugby Union Club founded in 1933 plays competitive rugby at the bottom of Corkscrew Hill
Langley Park Golf Club
established in 1910 is located in Barnfield Wood Road and has hosted British Open Qualification rounds www.langleyparkgolf.co.uk Club Langley is a football and sports club in the area.

Gallery

File:Westmoreland_Road_shops.jpg, Shops on Westmoreland Road File:Langley_Waterside.jpg, Entrance to the Langley Waterside gated community File:Chart_House,_Bushey_Way.jpg, Chart House, Bushey Way File:Chinese Garage c2001 (3197849292).jpg, The Chinese Garage, now listed at grade II File:Park_Langley.jpg, Brabourne Rise, a typical street in the area, with a wide road lined by large detached houses File:Wickham_Road_shops.jpg, Shops at the bottom end of Wickham Road

References

{{LB Bromley Districts of the London Borough of Bromley