Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

. Norbury is south of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

Etymology

The name Norbury derives from ''North Burh'', (North Borough). Some local histories note that this was due to Norbury's position on the northern boundary of the former Manor of Croydon. Others state that it takes its name from a split in the borough of Bensham, one of the former seven boroughs of Croydon. "Northbenchesham" became the Northborough, then Norbury; "Southbenchesham" later became Thornton Heath.

History

For most of its history Norbury was rural countryside through which the London to Brighton Way Roman road passed. At Hepworth Road, the intact road, 32 feet wide, was excavated in 1961. Remnants of a metalled ford across the stream were found further south at Hermitage Bridge on the River Graveney which forms part of the boundary between Norbury and Streatham, before flowing on to the River Wandle, then the River Thames.

Norbury Manor

By the early thirteenth century, Norbury was a sub-manor within the chief manor of Croydon. The first recorded mention of Norbury Manor was in 1229 when Peter de Bendings conveyed the Manor to John de Kemsing and his wife Idonea and is referred to as the "lands stretching out either side of the London Road". In 1269 the Manor comprised 91 acres of arable land in Pollards Hill, 30 acres in Grandon, 55 acres of pasture, 36 acres of heathland, 2 acres of woodland and 17 acres of meadow land. In 1337, Norbury Manor was granted to Nicolas de Carew, who also held neighbouring Beddington Manor. The Carew family remained Lords of the Manor of Norbury until 1859 except for a brief interlude during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Norbury remained rural and agricultural throughout this period. By 1800 most of the land in Norbury was owned by a handful of people; approximately half was owned by the Carew family, and the remaining large landowners were Peter du Cane, Croydon Hospital and Pembroke College.

Victorian period

At the start of the Victorian period, the population consisted of fifty six people and three main dwellings; the Hermitage, Norbury Manor Farm House and Norbury Hall. The Hermitage was situated alongside Green Lane and backed onto Hermitage Sports Ground (now Norbury Park). The last resident of The Hermitage was Jenny Hill, a famous music hall performer in the 1890s. In 1894 the North Surrey Golf Club built a 90-acre golf club on Hermitage Sports Ground and in 1896 purchased The Hermitage to use as their club house. The following year it was destroyed by fire. Norbury Manor Farm House was situated on the corner where Norbury Avenue meets Kensington Avenue and was the Norbury Manor House until Norbury Hall was built in 1802. The Farm House was demolished in 1914. Only Norbury Hall remains, now used as a retirement home and protected as a Grade II listed building. In 1859, the first Victorian villa, known as Norbury Villa, was built on the London Road. A second villa followed in 1878, and thereafter followed the construction of clusters of large villas along both sides of the London Road. In 1867, the Committee of Croydon Steeple Chase and Hurdle Races leased approximately 100 acres at Lonesome Farm. The following year, the first Streatham Horse Race meeting was held and a temporary grandstand was built on Northborough Road. The two day meets, held four or five times a year, proved successful and attracted large crowds from London. To cater for the crowds,

Norbury railway station Norbury railway station is a National Rail station in the Norbury area of the London Borough of Croydon in south London. It is on the Brighton Main Line, down the line from . The station is operated by Southern, which also provides all train s ...

opened in 1878, built on a railway line which had run through Norbury since 1862. The increased crowds however led to an increase in anti-social behaviour, and local residents lobbied politicians to enact a new law in 1879 banning horse racing within ten miles of Westminster, effectively ending the Streatham Races.

Urbanisation

By 1900, Norbury was an affluent semi-rural suburb boasting two golf courses and cricket, football, tennis and bowls clubs. The first shopping parades on the London Road were constructed in 1900 and side roads behind the parades began to be laid out. Electric trams were introduced in 1901 connecting the town to Purley, however as Croydon trams and London trams used different systems and could not use the same tracks, when going to London passengers had to change in Norbury. During the next thirty years most of the housing in Norbury was constructed, with the houses and roads in different areas forming part of several residential estates. The most notable estate was the Norbury Cottage Garden Estate built in 1901 in thirty acres of land between Northborough Road and Semley Road, and which was the first cottage estate built by the London County Council. The population of Norbury had risen from 475 people in 1901 to 15,538 by 1931. During the second half of the twentieth century, many of the large Victorian villas were demolished and office blocks were built on their sites. Later many of the office blocks were themselves converted into residential apartments. In 1970 Norbury Fire Station was built to replace nearby Streatham Fire Station.

Modern Norbury

Horseshoe, Thornton Heath, CR7 (3580337619)

Today, Norbury is a built-up residential area housing a diverse and multi-cultural community. It has a variety of local commerce, with most of Norbury High Street consisting of newsagents and various independent businesses, as well as several pubs. It is also very well connected to other areas, such as Crystal Palace, Croydon, Streatham and Central London. Norbury Station is in fare zone 3. Some locals consider the area to be in decline, with increased fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour, and a campaign has been started to reverse these changes.

Demography

In the 2011 census, Norbury was White or White British (37.4%),

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

Asian British British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as As ...

(28%), Black or

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

(24.8%), Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (6.5%), and Other ethnic group (2.2%). The largest single ethnicity is White British (24.1%). Of those living in Norbury, the most common place of birth is England (55%), followed by India (5%), Pakistan (4%), Jamaica (4%) and Kenya (2%). The main first language spoken is English (76.5%), followed by

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

(4%), Urdu (3.3%) and

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

(2.8%). The largest religious groupings are Christians (52 per cent), then Muslims (17.8 per cent), those of no religion (12.6 per cent), Hindus (7.6 per cent), no response (7.6 per cent),

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

(0.9 per cent), other (0.8 per cent),

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

(0.5 per cent) and Jews (0.1 per cent).

Politics

Norbury is part of the Croydon North constituency and the current MP is the Labour politician Steve Reed. The constituency replaced the Croydon North East constituency in 1997 and has returned Labour Party MPs since it was re-instated. Norbury includes two of the twenty-eight wards which make up Croydon London Borough Council. These two wards, both created in 2018, are Norbury and Pollards Hill and Norbury Park.

Norbury and Pollards Hill

Norbury Park

Nearest places

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

* Streatham Common * West Norwood * Crystal Palace /

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

* Mitcham * Pollards Hill * Thornton Heath * Croydon

Notable people and residents

* Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), novelist * Correlli Barnett (1927–2022), military historian * Derek Bentley (1933–53), a burglar who was controversially hanged for the death of a police officer in 1952 (subject of the film ''

Let Him Have It ''Let Him Have It'' is a 1991 British drama film directed by Peter Medak and starring Christopher Eccleston, Paul Reynolds, Tom Courtenay and Tom Bell. The film is based on the true story of Derek Bentley, who was convicted of the murder of a p ...

''). * Edwy Searles Brooks (1889–1965), novelist * Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), composer * John Creasey (1908–1973), detective-story writer *

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

(1998–), rapper * Janet Francis (1947–), actress * Deryck Guyler (1914–1999), actor *

Wee Willie Harris Charles William Harris (born 25 March 1933), better known by his stage name of Wee Willie Harris, is an English rock and roll singer. He is best known for his energetic stage shows and TV performances since the 1950s, when he was known as "Bri ...

(1933–), singer *

Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...

(1888–1949), comedian and actor * Libera, boys' choir * Michael Moorcock (1939–), writer and musician * Osh (1995–), singer *

Robert Prizeman Robert Gordon Prizeman (28 February 1952 – 8 September 2021) was a British composer. He was born in the London Borough of Lambeth. He attended the Royal College of Music in South Kensington. Prizeman studied organ with Timothy Farrell and John B ...

(1952–), composer *

Ralph Reader William Henry Ralph Reader (25 May 1903 – 18 May 1982), known as Ralph Reader, was a British actor, theatrical producer and songwriter, known for staging the original Gang Show, a variety entertainment presented by members of the Scouti ...

(1903–1982), actor *

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' series of f ...

(1993–), rapper *

Roxanne Tataei Roxanne Tataei, also known by the stage name Rox, is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Early life Born and raised in Norbury, London, England Roxanne Tataei's heritage is half-Jamaican (mother) and half-Iranian (father). She cites ...

(1988–), singer

Nearest railway stations

* Mitcham Eastfields railway station *

Streatham Common railway station Streatham Common railway station is in Streatham in south London, from , and in Travelcard Zone 3. The station is managed by Southern who also operate trains from the station. Direct trains from the station run to Victoria, London Bridge, Eas ...

* Streatham railway station * Mitcham Junction railway station *

Thornton Heath railway station Thornton Heath is a railway station in the London Borough of Croydon in south London, down the line from . It is on the Brighton Main Line between Norbury and Selhurst. The station is operated by Southern, who also provide all train services.Th ...

In fiction

Norbury is portrayed in a

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

short story, "

The Adventure of the Yellow Face "The Adventure of the Yellow Face", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the third tale from ''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in '' The Strand Magazine'' in the United Kingd ...

", as one of the few places in which the detective turned out to be wrong regarding his theories (as referenced in the episode "

The Six Thatchers "The Six Thatchers" is the first episode of the fourth series of the British television programme '' Sherlock'' and the eleventh episode overall. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC First, PBS and Channel One on 1 January 2017. Plot ...

" of the BBC television series '' Sherlock''). Norbury is mentioned in Penelope Fitzgerald's ''

The Beginning of Spring ''The Beginning of Spring'' is a 1988 novel by the British author Penelope Fitzgerald. Set in Moscow in 1913, it tells the story of a Moscow-born English-educated print shop owner whose English wife has suddenly abandoned him and their three c ...

'' (1988). The character of Nellie Reid, who is central to the plot, but who does not appear until the book's final sentence, is from Norbury; and it is repeatedly mentioned throughout the book in contrast to a very different type of life in Moscow. Norbury station features in the song "Lesley", from rapper

's debut album Psychodrama (2019).

References

{{London Districts Districts of the London Borough of Croydon Districts of the London Borough of Lambeth Districts of the London Borough of Merton Areas of London District centres of London