Brockley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Brockley (disambiguation).
| Brockley | |
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference: | TQ365745 |
| Latitude: | 51.452955° |
| Longitude: | -0.034531° |
| Administration | |
| London borough: | Lewisham |
| County level: | Greater London |
| Region: | London |
| Constituent country: | England |
| Sovereign state: | United Kingdom |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial county: | Greater London |
| Historic county: | Kent (1889) |
| Services | |
| Police force: | Metropolitan Police |
| Fire brigade: | London Fire Brigade |
| Ambulance service: | London Ambulance |
| Post office and telephone | |
| Post town: | LONDON |
| Postal district: | SE4 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Politics | |
| UK Parliament: | |
| London Assembly: | Greenwich and Lewisham |
| European Parliament: | London |
| London | List of places in London | |
Brockley is an area of the London Borough of Lewisham in England. It is covered by London postal district SE4, and lies on the old boundary between the Lewisham and Deptford parishes. The name 'Brockley' is derived from either 'Broca's woodland clearing', or a wood where badgers are seen (broc is the Old English for badger).
The area remained agricultural until the nineteenth century, the most notable building of the time being the 'Brockley Jack', a hostelry reputed to be a favourite amongst highwaymen. The market gardens were famous for the enormous Victoria rhubarb which were fertilised by night soil from London. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Wickham and Drake families developed the north of Brockley with large villas, terraces and semi-detached houses. This part became the Brockley conservation area in 1974, when also the Brockley Society was formed.
A local open space, Hilly Fields, was saved from development by the Commons Preservation Society and local groups in the 1880s and 1890s (including Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust). In 1894, after being bought with the proceeds of private donations and funding from the London County Council, the fields were transformed from old brickpits and ditches into a park. The park became a regular meeting place for the Suffragette movement between 1907 and 1914. The old West Kent Grammar School (then later renamed Brockley County Grammar School), now Prendergast School, a Grade II listed building, is situated at the top of the hill (with a listed prerapahaelite mural in its hall), and close by, a stone circle was erected in 2000 as a millennium project by a group of local artists, which won a Civic Trust Award in 2004.
Contents |
[edit] Famous Residents
- Alan Brownjohn the poet and novelist attended Brockley County School
- Kate Bush the singer, lived on Wickham Road and performed at the Rose of Lee.
- Gabrielle the singer, lived in Brockley
- David Haig the Actor and writer, lives on Harefield Road.
- Darren Johnson Green Party politician
- David Jones, poet and artist, was born in Brockley and lived in Howson Road for much of his earlier life.
- Kano (Rapper) the rapper was born and grew up in Brockley.
- David Lodge (author), grew up in Brockley.
- Tony Malone (designer), Local resident.
- Montague Summers, eccentric writer, taught at Brockley County School
- Edgar Wallace (author and original screenwriter of King Kong) lived at 6 Tresillian Crescent, Brockley, between 1900 and 1932.
- Henry Williamson writer and author of Tarka the Otter, lived at 21 Eastern Road, Brockley, during his childhood in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
- Shaun Wright-Phillips the footballer, grew up in Brockley and attended Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] Nearest railway stations
[edit] References in popular culture
Linton Kwesi Johnson mentions Brockley in his poem "Inglan Is A Bitch". He spells it "Brackly" as this is roughly how it sounds in a Jamaican accent:
- dem a have a lickle facktri up inna Brackly
- inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry
- fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah
- now awftah fifteen years mi fall out a fayvah
