Bromley London Chartered Surveyors
Approximate Population: 299,700
The history of Bromley is closely connected with the See of Rochester. In AD 862 Ethelbert, the King of Kent, granted land to form the Manor of Bromley. It was held by the Bishops of Rochester until 1845, where Coles Child, a wealthy local merchant and Philanthropist, purchased Bromley Palace (now the hub of the Bromley Civic Centre) and himself became Lord of the Manor.
The Town was an important Coaching stop on the way to Hastings from London, and the now defunct Royal Bell Hotel (just off Market Square) is referred to in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It was a quiet rural village until the arrival of the railway in 1858 in Shortlands, which led to rapid growth and construction of outlying suburban districts such as Bickley, (which later overflowed into Bromley Common) were developed to accommodate those wishing to live so conveniently close to London.
The historic heart of the town is Market Square which sits at the junction of the High Street and Church Road. The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul stands on Church Road. It was largely destroyed by enemy action and rebuilt in the 1950s encorporating the medieval tower and reusing much of the flint and fragments of the original stone building.
The most noteworthy historic building is Bromley College, London Road. The mature and very well maintained central public open spaces are noteworthy – Queen’s Gardens, Martin’s Hill, Church House Gardens, Library Gardens and College Green.
