Spring Park is a small area in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is within 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 332,336 ...

and 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; ...

, straddling the traditional

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 ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

border along The Beck. Spring Park is located north of Addington, west of

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 ...

and south of

Monks Orchard Monks Orchard is a suburb on the edge of the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London, England, priot to 1965 it was located in the historical county of Surrey. It is situated about 10 miles (16.1 km) south ...

and

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 ...

.Willey, Russ. ''Chambers London Gazetter'', p. 467.

History

The area was historically known as Cold Harbour. Settlement began in the area in the 1830s at the instigation of the MP

John Temple Leader John Temple Leader (7 May 1810 – 1 March 1903) was an English politician and connoisseur. Early life Born at his father's house, Putney Hill Villa, on 7 May 1810, he was the younger son of Mary and William Leader, a London merchant, and Whig ...

, who employed the agricultural innovator Hewitt Davis to turn what was barren heathland into productive farmland. Large scale residential building began in the 1920s–1930s. The Shrublands council estate was constructed after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on compulsorily purchased land from the golf course. The area contains a small row of shops at the junction of Bridle Road and Broom Road. The Goat pub, which closed in 2017 following an attack on a local asylum seeker, re-opened in 2019 as The Apple Tree.

Notable residents

Joshua Buatsi Joshua Buatsi (born 14 March 1993) is a British professional boxer who held the British light-heavyweight title in 2019, and the WBA International light-heavyweight title between 2018 and 2021. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the lig ...

- boxer, grew up on the Shrublands estate.

Gallery

File:Apple_Tree_pub,_Spring_Park.jpg, The Apple Tree pub, with Broom Road shops File:All Saints church, Spring Park, Shirley, Croydon - geograph.org.uk - 34331.jpg, All Saints Church on Bridle Road was built in 1955-6 by

William Curtis Green William Curtis Green (16 July 1875 – 26 March 1960) was an English architect, designer and barrister"Quite ceremony in Archbishop's Palace", ''The Nottingham Evening Post'', 3 August 1935, p. 8. who was based in London for much of his career. ...

and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. File:Wood_clearing,_Spring_Park.jpg, Clearing in the woods that border the Shrublands estate File:Millers_Pond,_Spring_Park.jpg,

Millers Pond Millers Pond is a small park in the Spring Park area of the London Borough of Croydon, England.Winterman, M.A. (1988). Millers Pond. . 57In: ''Croydon's Parks: An illustrated history''. London Borough of Croydon, Parks and Recreation Dep ...

, originally part of Spring Park Farm

References

Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Croydon {{London-geo-stub