South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...
,
Greater London and formerly in the
historic county of
Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of
Charing Cross, north of
Woodside and
Addiscombe
Addiscombe is an area of south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Charing Cross, and is situated north of Coombe and Selsdon, east of Croydon town centre, south of Woodside, and west of Shirley.
E ...
, east of
Selhurst
Selhurst is an area in the London Borough of Croydon south-south-east of Charing Cross. Historically it lay in Surrey. The area is bounded to the west and south by Thornton Heath and Croydon and to the east and south by South Norwood and Woodsid ...
and
Thornton Heath
Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...
, south of
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
/
Upper Norwood and
Anerley, and west of
Elmers End and
Penge.
Together with
Norwood New Town
Norwood New Town is a largely residential, former working-class enclave within the larger district of Upper Norwood in Southeast London. It is within the London Borough of Croydon. In common with the neighbouring districts of West Norwood, South ...
, it forms the electoral ward of
South Norwood in the local authority of
Croydon. The ward as a whole had a resident population in 2001 of just over 14,000.
The south-eastern side of the district is dominated by the
country park which opened in 1989. At the northern end of the town is
South Norwood Lake, which was created after the reservoir for the unsuccessful
Croydon Canal went out of use. It is used by the Croydon Sailing Club and local anglers who fish for carp, bream and perch.
There are two secondary schools in the area along with a public
leisure centre. South Norwood has a high street which forms part of
Selhurst Road, and which includes a number of banks, cafes, shops and other amenities. It is a
commuter district, with many residents travelling to either the financial and insurance districts of
Croydon or the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
for employment via the large
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
. South Norwood and surrounding areas are covered by the
London SE25 postcode. It is also the southernmost location of the London
post town
A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...
.
History
The area was originally covered by the
Great North Wood, which was a natural oak forest that covered four miles (6 km) of
south London. Apart from South Norwood, the wood covered
Upper Norwood,
West Norwood
West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...
(known as Lower Norwood until 1885) and the
Woodside and
Gipsy Hill areas.
References to rents being paid for a coppice called Cholmerden in the area date to the 1400s.
By the 1670s the site had been developed into the grounds of Goat House.
Handley's Brickworks' seven chimneys once dominated the landscape of the area. It has been demolished and the site changed into grassland and a lake, called
Brickfields Meadow.
The
Croydon Canal was constructed in the early 19th century, running from
New Cross
New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwic ...
to the site of
West Croydon station.
As it passed through South Norwood, pubs sprang up near its course. The Jolly Sailor still stands at the intersection of South Norwood Hill and High Street. The Ship, a few yards to the east, was beside the loading point for bricks from a nearby brick field across what is now the High Street. The passageway through which bricks passed to the canal is still there. The Goat House pub (which has since been demolished) was said to have been named after an island in the canal on which goats were kept.
Jolly-sailor station opened in 1839 by the
London and Croydon Railway. It was listed as ''Jolly-sailor near Beulah Spa'' on fare lists and timetables and renamed 'Norwood' in 1846. The station was immediately adjacent to a
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
over Portland Road, making it slightly further north than the site currently occupied by Norwood Junction station. As part of the construction works for the
atmospheric-propulsion system, the world's first railway
flyover was constructed south of Tennison Road, to carry the new atmospheric-propulsion line over the conventional steam line below. In 1847, the atmospheric propulsion experiment was abandoned.
In 1848 South Norwood remained a small hamlet, however the following 10–20 years rapid development occurred with the construction of roads and the Selhurst Park estate.
The area gained its own parish church,
Holy Innocents, in 1895. Much of the growth of the area was the result of
William Ford Stanley, who constructed a factory in the area in 1867 and established a technical school here in 1902 (now the Stanley Halls).
Further development occurred throughout the 20th century with the building of terraced houses and public housing developments.
Large numbers of immigrants from the Caribbean settled here and the area retains a large black population.
In 1966, a dog called
Pickles
Pickles may refer to:
Dogs
* Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966
* Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball
* Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in ...
discovered, under a bush in
Beulah Hill
The A215 is an A road in south London, starting at Elephant and Castle and finishing around Shirley. It runs through the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon.
Beginning as Walworth Road, the A215 becomes Camberwell Road—much of ...
, the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
Jules Rimet Trophy
The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...
, which had been stolen from an exhibition of rare stamps at
Westminster Central Hall
The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...
.
South Norwood today
The area is centred on the junction where the High Street meets South Norwood Hill/Portland Road; the bulk of the shops and amenities are located along the High Street and Selhurst Road/Penge Road, with further shops, restaurants etc. lining Portland Road for some distance. South Norwood is now unofficially divided into the less deprived area in the north west side of the railway, which was the location of a private estate, and the generally more deprived area in the north east. In the south east of the borough, where workers for a former brick factory lived, the entrance to the estate was between a pair of pillars, though they have long since been demolished. However the capitals were preserved and now sit on the two brick pillars at the
Selhurst Road entrance to
South Norwood Recreation Ground. In 2006,
South Norwood Lakes in the north of the ward was the scene of a fatal stabbing.
Governance
South Norwood was within the
County Borough of Croydon until 1965 when, following the enactment of the
London Government Act 1963
The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...
, it became part the local government of
Greater London. The town is now part of the
wards of South Norwood and Woodside in the
local authority of Croydon, which has the responsibility for providing services such as education, refuse collection, and tourism.
South Norwood Ward is part of the ethnically diverse
Croydon North parliamentary constituency, which had one of the largest electorates in England at
the 2010 general election, whereas Woodside Ward falls within the boundaries of the
Croydon Central constituency. The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for
Croydon North is
Steve Reed, a member of the
Labour Party, following the death of
Malcolm Wicks. The sitting Member of Parliament for
Croydon Central
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...
is
Sarah Jones, also a member of the
Labour Party.
Policing services are provided by the
Metropolitan Police via the Croydon Police Station branch in Park Lane, Croydon. The
London Fire Brigade provide services for the area and Greater London as a whole; the nearest
fire station
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...
is at Woodside which has only one pumping appliance.
Geography
South Norwood is bordered by
Anerley to the north,
Selhurst
Selhurst is an area in the London Borough of Croydon south-south-east of Charing Cross. Historically it lay in Surrey. The area is bounded to the west and south by Thornton Heath and Croydon and to the east and south by South Norwood and Woodsid ...
to the south,
Woodside due east and
Thornton Heath
Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...
to the west. The northernmost point of South Norwood is at
Beaulieu Heights (alternatively spelt Beulah Heights, Beaulah Heights and Beulieu Heights) which contains Beulah Heights Park, overlapping with Upper Norwood and New Town. The northern part of the district is situated on the lower parts of the hill that forms Upper Norwood.
South Norwood lies on the southern slopes of the
Norwood Ridge which forms the southern edge of the
London Basin
The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea. The basin formed as a result of compre ...
. This line of hills runs from north-east to south-west for about three miles (5 km) and rises to approximately above sea level at its highest point. It is formed by a ridge of grey silty deposits known as
London Clay, capped in places with the gravel of the Claygate Beds. Because of this gravel working was an important local industry and at one time the road along Beulah Hill was called Gravel Pit Road. South Norwood Hill is the most southerly spur of this ridge and the London Clay extends at its foot to the southern edge of the South Norwood Country Park. Here a brook marks the junction with the sands and gravels of the Blackheath Beds that rise to
Shirley
Shirley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë
* ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film
* ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film
* ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...
,
Addington Hills
Addington Hills (also referred to as Shirley Hills) is a park in Upper Shirley, London, England. It is managed by the London Borough of Croydon. It was part of the old parish of Addington before the suburb of Shirley was developed in the 1930s. ...
and
Croham Hurst
Croham Hurst is a 33.6 hectare (83.02 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in South Croydon in the London Borough of Croydon. Its SSSI designation is due to its ...
. Streams join Chaffinch Brook and the Beck to form the
River Pool, which eventually flows into the
River Ravensbourne.
Education
There are many primary schools in the South Norwood area including Priory Special School, Heavers Farm Primary School, South Norwood Primary School, Cypress Junior School and Cypress Infant School, St. Chad's Roman Catholic Primary School, St. Mark's Primary School and Oasis Academy Ryelands.
The former Stanley Technical High School (the legacy of local inventor and engineer
William Stanley) has been replaced and turned into an
academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
as part of the
Harris Federation
Harris Federation is a multi-academy trust of 52 primary and secondary academies in and around London. They are sponsored by Philip Harris (Lord Harris of Peckham).
Description
With 52 academies in London and Essex, the Harris Federation educates ...
. After deliberations with local residents it was originally going to be called Harris at Stanley, but the federation changed it to
Harris Academy South Norwood
Harris Academy South Norwood is a city academy in South Norwood, London, for students of both sexes aged 11–18. The school was designated as a Business and Enterprise College by the Department for Education and Skills when it was formerly call ...
, an act which created some controversy. Many local residents are upset that the name Stanley was removed from the school, as Stanley, who had the original school built in 1907, is a famous and well regarded figure in South Norwood.
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is a city academy in the north west of South Norwood, but to avoid confusion with the other school it uses the Crystal Palace name. Other secondary schools in the area include
Oasis Academy Arena.
South Norwood is also the home of
Spurgeon's College
Spurgeon's College is an evangelical Baptist theological college in South Norwood, London, UK. It is affiliated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain.
History
The school was founded in 1856 by Pastor Charles Spurgeon as "Pastors' College" in ...
, a world-famous Baptist theological college, since 1923; Spurgeon's is located on South Norwood Hill and currently has some 1,000 students. It is one of only four further education establishments in the borough.
South Norwood Library is located on Selhurst Road. The building is arranged over five levels split across the front and rear of the building. The front part of the building has the ground floor entrance level, which houses the reception, and the second floor which houses the children's library. The rear of the building has the basement, first and third floors. The levels are offset so that the floors in the front and rear of the building appear like
mezzanine levels to each other.
Sports and leisure
South Norwood F.C. were an amateur
football club who were active in the 1870s and played their home matches at Portland Road.
South Norwood contains a leisure centre which is owned and maintained by Better on behalf of Sport Croydon.
South Norwood Leisure Centre is situated on Portland Road and reopened in late 2007 after refurbishment. It had been closed in early 2006 and was due for demolition, so that it could be redesigned from scratch like the leisure centre in Thornton Heath, at a cost of around £10 million.
In May 2006 the Conservatives gained control of Croydon and decided that doing this would cost too much money, so they decided to refurbish the centre instead, although this decision came with controversy.
It now includes a 25m swimming pool and a gym.
South Norwood is also the home to
South Norwood Country Park, a former sewage works which closed in 1966, and of a fireworks factory; it was the converted into a nature reserve. Other parks in the local area are
South Norwood Recreation Ground,
Heavers Meadow,
Brickfields Meadow,
Beaulieu Heights,
South Norwood Lake and Grounds,
Woodside Green and
Ashburton Park.
Croydon Sports Arena
Croydon Sports Arena was first opened in 1953 and is a multiple-use sports arena in South Norwood.
The arena is located on the edge of
South Norwood Country Park. Facilities include an eight-lane 400m running track, with a centre field and training area for throwing events. The stadium is floodlit. During the winter the inner field becomes a football pitch, home to
Croydon F.C. In the summer the stadium is mostly used for athletic events. It is used by athletics clubs Striders of Croydon and
Croydon Harriers. The stands in the sports arena can hold up to 388 people. From 2018, the arena is being managed by
Greenwich Leisure Limited
Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), operating under the brand "Better", is a non-profit charitable Social Enterprise organisation which runs over 250 sport and leisure facilities and libraries on behalf of local authorities in London and across the UK, ...
.
South Norwood Tourist Board
South Norwood Tourist Boardhas spent the last few years trying to promote South Norwood, from organising "PicklesFest" with Dave Corbett, owner of
Pickles
Pickles may refer to:
Dogs
* Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966
* Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball
* Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in ...
; challenging the
Lake District for their title; and more recently proclaiming ourselves the People's Republic of South Norwood. All these stories have been given media attention across the world, including the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' to name a few.
On 26 July 2014, South Norwood Tourist Board, in partnership wit
to unveil 'The Sensible Seat' a bench within the Sensible Garden; a derelict piece of land in South Norwood, which had been turned into a garden through hard work of the local community.
Stanley Halls are a 250-seat and 60-seat theatre venues home to a theatre school, offices of resident theatre makers, productions from local theatre clubs, a coffee shop, and other community activities. The Halls are a grade II listed building.
Screen25 (formerly Stanley's Film Club) is a non-profit community cinema based at the Harris Academy South Norwood, with a weekly programme of independent and cultural film, as well as family screenings and special events.
are in the South Norwood area. The A213 is High Street, Penge Road and
. The A215 is
is situated in the centre of South Norwood just off High Street. It has 7 platforms but only 6 are in use at the present time.
. Fast trains generally take 10 minutes to reach central London and slow trains 20 minutes. Also
trains take 20 minutes.
stations and urban and rural stations thereafter including regular train service to
.
(formerly known as Thameslink 2000), is a £3.5 billion major project to expand the
. The project includes the lengthening of platforms, station remodelling, new railway infrastructure (e.g. viaduct) and additional rolling stock. The new Thameslink timetable for Norwood Junction started 20 May 2018: "Norwood Junction gain
an all-day-long Thameslink service to Bedford via Blackfriars and St Pancras, with two trains per hour to Epsom via Sutton" and timetables will continue being expanded and adjusted into 2019.
. On completion in May 2010, services run between
.
Trains make an unpublicised stop at Selhurst from Victoria through the night to enable engineers at Selhurst to get to
and vice versa. This means that it is possible to board the train during the night all through the early hours of morning to South Norwood. However, the trains state East Croydon on the board. Trains run out of Victoria after 1.00 am on the hour until the train service starts up again officially.
Trams do not run through the town centre of South Norwood, with the nearest stops on the
. In the mid-2000s there were proposals for an extension to Crystal Palace, which would have resulted in the construction of an additional stop on Penge Road.
(15 August 1875 – 1 September 1912) was an English composer and conductor. Of
birth (''his father was a doctor from Sierra Leone)'', Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African
" when he had three tours of the United States in the early 1900s. There are two
in his memory, one in Dagnall Park, South Norwood, and the other in St Leonards Road, Croydon, at the house where he died.
*
(1885–1946) - actor, was born, and spent the early part of his childhood, at 2 Upton Villas, Albert Road.
*
- child murderer. The murders of two young boys was committed in Newcastle when she was 10 and 11. For a time, Bell lived in a girls' remand home at Cumberlow Lodge in South Norwood, off of Chalfont Road behind Stanley Halls.
*
- musician, attended school here.
(1859–1930) - author, lived at 12 Tennison Road in South Norwood, from 1891 to 1894 (commemorated with a blue plaque).
" (1903). This story, for the most part, takes place in Lower Norwood (today known as
). The only connection between this story and South Norwood is that South Norwood's railway station
is used by the character Jonas Oldacre.