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Category Archives: History
Take a turn around Shirley Windmill for a history masterclass
Making a strong pitch for a promotion to becoming Inside Croydon’s tea and cakes correspondent, KEN TOWL pictured left, makes a visit to the Shirley Windmill and adds it to your summer ‘To do’ list We started on the dust … Continue reading
Carriage driver yelled ‘Murder!’ in a Victorian road rage episode
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Almost 200 years ago, travelling even modest distances, between the capital and coast, could be a perilous business – especially if you had a short-tempered baronet driving your stagecoach at high speed. DAVID MORGAN explains Impatience on the … Continue reading
Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the 24 unaffordable flats
Planning permission was refused last night for a scheme that threatens a South Norwood heritage building which was once home to Arthur Conan Doyle. But this case is not closed yet… And so it came to pass… The first planning … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, History, Housing, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sean Fitzsimons, South Norwood
Tagged 12 Tennison Road, Arthur Conan-Doyle, Blue plaque, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Johnson, Melanie Felten, Nicola Townsend, Planning Committee, Sean Fitzsimons, Sherlock Holmes, South Norwood, Tory, Walker Properties Ltd
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Sea Cadets recreate HMS Belfast crew for The Big Help Out
Eighty Sea Cadets from across the capital stepped aboard HMS Belfast on Saturday, June 6 – the 82nd anniversary of D-Day – to learn from volunteer crew and reimagine their place in the ship’s story. The Sea Cadets were taking … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Community associations, History, London-wide issues, Old Coulsdon, Sea Cadets
Tagged Bromley, Caterham, Croydon, D-Day, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, National Volunteers Week, Old Coulsdon, Pool of London, Sea Cadets, Sutton, Tower Bridge, Volunteers Week, World War II, World War Two
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Roll up! Roll up! Enjoy Croydon’s summer fayre, 1920s style
CROYDON CHRONICLES: With summer fairs being planned and organised across the borough, this week DAVID MORGAN looks back more than 100 years at the stalls and events staged for the church fête of 1921 The bunting’s up. The marquee is … Continue reading
Paxton is given a new perspective across the park he designed
Paxton’s head is back! The bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the designer of the Crystal Palace, has been relocated to its original location on the Italian Terraces in Crystal Palace Park, as part of ongoing regeneration works.
Posted in Art, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, History, Victoria Pinnington
Tagged Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, National Lottery, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Paxton's head, Sir Joseph Paxton, Victoria Pinnington
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Biggles and the curious case of the curate from Croydon
CROYDON CHRONICLES: One of the most-read fictional action heroes of the 20th Century was based at Croydon Airport. DAVID MORGAN pulls on his sheepskin helmet and goggles and goes in search of adventure Biggles, the character James Bigglesworth, appeared in … Continue reading
Young refugees’ art exhibition to open at Museum of Croydon
A multimedia exhibition created by young refugees and asylum seekers is opening at the Museum of Croydon tomorrow to mark 10 years of the charity Play for Progress. Forever We Can Be Full will bring together original artwork, photography, music, … Continue reading
When ‘Race Around The World’ was a tea shipper’s business
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Victorian England depended on trade with the rest of the world, and a vast fleet of merchant sailing ships operated by private businesses, often based in the City of London. As DAVID MORGAN outlines, one such company was … Continue reading
Leslie Arms timeline: sad 25-year decline of heritage building
Between 2000 and 2025, the owner of the Grade II-listed Leslie Arms on Lower Addiscombe Road submitted 13 separate planning applications for the building – 14 if you include his 2009 appeal against a refusal of a planning application. Ten … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Croydon Council, History, Housing, Leslie Arms, Planning, Property, Pubs
Tagged AA Homes, Addiscombe, Anwar Ansari, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dr Anwar Ansari, Leslie Arms, Planning, pubs, Upper Addiscombe Road
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Grave error in the failure to reconstruct great Grindal’s tomb
CROYDON CHRONICLES: The Minster’s archive is a rich source of documents, registers, publications and correspondence that have yielded vast quantities of detail and information about the history of Croydon for DAVID MORGAN. But here is a letter that the archivist … Continue reading
Here’s Croydon’s election results – from Coronation year 1953
In a special edition of the Croydon Chronicles as the borough goes to the polls, DAVID MORGAN has trawled through the Minster archive to take a look at how local elections were run more than 70 years ago Allegations of … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged 1953, Conservative, Coronation year, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Labour, Liberal Party, London, London Borough of Croydon, Tory, Winston Churchill
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Langley Vale conservation talk, Honeywood Museum, May 28
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
‘Young people out of hand’: perennial problem of street crime
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Mobs of young people roaming the streets, stealing from shops and terrorising the neighbourhood – just an everyday episode in Croydon, not from last month but during the Edwardian era. DAVID MORGAN delves into the Minster archive The … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Chronicles, Croydon police, David Morgan, Hooliganism, Hooligans, London, Magistrates' Court
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Town’s oldest building opens its doors for local history month
Croydon’s oldest building is opening its gates to the public for expert guided tours, as part of local history month in May. Thousands walk past the Whitgift Almshouses in Croydon town centre every day, but few give it a second … Continue reading
Duke survived death after he hunted with Croydon’s hounds
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Two hundred years ago, the Derby Arms off Handcroft Road ran a well-regarded livery stables and was a centre for local hunts that were attended by princes and dukes, butchers and shop-keepers. From a single gravestone in the … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Alfred Bignell, Croydon Hunt, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Duke of Cumberland, Fox-hunting, Joshua Bignell, King George II, Old Surrey Hunt, Parsons Mead, Pitlake, Rabies, The Derby Arms, The Old Surrey and Burstow Hunt:, West Croydon
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History of Kenley Airfield, free talk, East Surrey Museum, Apr 22
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Posted in Activities, Advertisement, Advertisement features, History, Kenley
Tagged Caterham, Croydon, East Surrey Museum, Kenley, Kenley Airfield
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Memorial to victims of Lanfranc air disaster to re-open this July
NEIL BENNETT reports on the fund-raising success and hard-work – even by some doing community service – to make a garden in Croydon Cemetery a fitting memorial to the 39 people killed when their aeroplane crashed into a Norwegian mountain … Continue reading
Posted in Archbishop Lanfranc, History, Neil Bennett, Sanderstead, Schools, Thornton Heath, West Thornton
Tagged Archbishop Lanfranc School, Croydon Cemetery, Lanfranc air disaster, Neil Bennett, Rosalind Jones, Simon Trehearn, Suzy Stowell, The Lanfranc Boys, Thornton Heath, West Thornton
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History of Kenley Airfield, free talk, East Surrey Museum, Apr 22
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Posted in Activities, Advertisement, Advertisement features, History, Kenley
Tagged Caterham, Croydon, East Surrey Museum, Kenley, Kenley Airfield
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Langley Vale conservation talk, Honeywood Museum, May 28
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The day Dr Bookless took the wicket of the great WG Grace
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A long career in medicine based at Croydon General Hospital and on Harley Street followed for a sporting young man who, when a student at Guy’s Hospital, once enjoyed a cricket moment of a lifetime. DAVID MORGAN explains … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Cricket, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Health, History, Mayday Hospital, Purley Hospital
Tagged British Medical Journal, cricket, Croydon, Croydon General Hospital, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace Park, David Morgan, Dr John Bookless, Guy's Hospital, London, London County Cricket Club, Mayday Hospital, Purley Hospital, WG Grace
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From flames to fame, Waddon’s Knox family made their mark
CROYDON CHRONICLES: From the night of the Great Fire of Croydon, DAVID MORGAN tells the story of a family of vicars and bishops, of writers and editors, and Enigma codebreakers The fire which destroyed Croydon Parish Church in 1867 had … Continue reading
‘Decency’ hustings as no one missed the missing candidate
ELECTION SKETCH: In a cramped ‘hub’ in Broad Green, the first full hustings of the 2026 Croydon Mayor campaign took place last night. KEN TOWL was there, so you didn’t need to be (and you couldn’t have squeezed in, anyway) … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Community associations, Croydon Business Association, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Pusey, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Rowenna Davis, Ruskin House
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Ben Flook, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Conservative, Councillor Rowenna Davis, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dan Tebbutt, Green Party, Ken Towl, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Rowenna Davis, Taking The Iniative Party, Tory, TTIP
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The wartime night that the ‘first lady of jazz’ sang for Croydon
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Adelaide Hall performed at the Cotton Club, sang with Duke Ellington and took to the stage in the Berlin of Sally Bowles. And she was a star of the old Croydon Empire, as DAVID MORGAN explains It was … Continue reading
Langley Vale conservation talk, Honeywood Museum, May 28
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
