Old Town is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Croydon, lying immediately to the west of Croydon town centre. It is centred on Croydon Minster and the Old Palace, and is the location of the original early medieval settlement of Croydon. As defined for modern planning purposes, the neighbourhood includes Surrey Street Market to the east, and extends west as far as the boundaries of Wandle Park, and south to Croydon Flyover (part of the east–west A232 road). It is bisected by the dual-carriageway north–south A236, known along this stretch as Roman Way.[1] It is in the CR0 postcode area.
The dual-carriageway Croydon Flyover at Old Town, seen from Ruskin Road
Map of Croydon by Jean-Baptiste Say, 1785.[2] Old Town (including the parish church, marked B) lies to the west. The triangular medieval marketplace, associated with Archbishop Kilwardby's market charter of 1276, lies further east, although by this date infilled with buildings.
A Roman road, the London to Portslade Way, is known to have passed through what is now Croydon, but its precise route is debated. One suggestion is that it ran through Old Town, and it is in acknowledgement of this theory that the local section of the A236dual carriageway was named Roman Way in the 1960s. The argument is by no means universally accepted, however, and it is equally possible that the Roman road was situated on the higher ground to the east, running along what is now North End, High Street and South End in central Croydon.[3]
A settlement developed at Croydon in the mid-to-late Anglo-Saxon period, around the parish church (now Croydon Minster) and the manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury (Croydon Palace, now occupied by Old Palace School). However, in 1276 Archbishop Robert Kilwardby acquired a charter for a weekly market, and, probably in association with this charter, laid out a new market place on the higher ground to the east, in the triangle now bounded by High Street, Surrey Street and Crown Hill.[4] Croydon's commercial and social focus therefore also shifted east, leaving Old Town on its periphery. The earliest occurrences of the name "Old Town" ("Vetere Croyndon" or "vetire villa") date from the 1280s, implying that the locality was already seen as subsidiary to the "new town" around the market and High Street.[5] The area was also prone to flooding from the River Wandle, and in the early modern period declined further into a partial slum area. The archbishops sold the palace in 1781, purchasing instead a new residence at Addington.
Present dayedit
The Bull's Head on Laud Street, a quiet backstreet pub in Old Town
The Old Town area now has a large residential and business community.[1] There are two secondary schools in the locality: Old Palace School and The Write Time School, which occupies the buildings of the former St Andrew's Church of England High School. Old Town is also home to Croydon town centre's main fire station.[1]
The area partially overlaps with three conservation areas: the Croydon Minster Conservation Area, the Church Street Conservation Area, and the Central Croydon Conservation Area.[1][6]
A prominent local business is the House of Reeves, an independent furniture store founded in 1867, which gives its name to the road intersection of Reeves Corner, between Church Street and Roman Way. The company came to widespread national public attention in August 2011, when one of its buildings was destroyed in an arson attack during the 2011 England riots.[7]
In 2017 the area was the site of a council-funded tech incubator scheme, with several companies relocating from central London.[8]
town, croydon, town, neighbourhood, london, borough, croydon, lying, immediately, west, croydon, town, centre, centred, croydon, minster, palace, location, original, early, medieval, settlement, croydon, defined, modern, planning, purposes, neighbourhood, incl. Old Town is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Croydon lying immediately to the west of Croydon town centre It is centred on Croydon Minster and the Old Palace and is the location of the original early medieval settlement of Croydon As defined for modern planning purposes the neighbourhood includes Surrey Street Market to the east and extends west as far as the boundaries of Wandle Park and south to Croydon Flyover part of the east west A232 road It is bisected by the dual carriageway north south A236 known along this stretch as Roman Way 1 It is in the CR0 postcode area The dual carriageway Croydon Flyover at Old Town seen from Ruskin Road Contents 1 History 2 Present day 3 Nearest stations 4 References 5 External linksHistory edit nbsp Map of Croydon by Jean Baptiste Say 1785 2 Old Town including the parish church marked B lies to the west The triangular medieval marketplace associated with Archbishop Kilwardby s market charter of 1276 lies further east although by this date infilled with buildings A Roman road the London to Portslade Way is known to have passed through what is now Croydon but its precise route is debated One suggestion is that it ran through Old Town and it is in acknowledgement of this theory that the local section of the A236 dual carriageway was named Roman Way in the 1960s The argument is by no means universally accepted however and it is equally possible that the Roman road was situated on the higher ground to the east running along what is now North End High Street and South End in central Croydon 3 A settlement developed at Croydon in the mid to late Anglo Saxon period around the parish church now Croydon Minster and the manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury Croydon Palace now occupied by Old Palace School However in 1276 Archbishop Robert Kilwardby acquired a charter for a weekly market and probably in association with this charter laid out a new market place on the higher ground to the east in the triangle now bounded by High Street Surrey Street and Crown Hill 4 Croydon s commercial and social focus therefore also shifted east leaving Old Town on its periphery The earliest occurrences of the name Old Town Vetere Croyndon or vetire villa date from the 1280s implying that the locality was already seen as subsidiary to the new town around the market and High Street 5 The area was also prone to flooding from the River Wandle and in the early modern period declined further into a partial slum area The archbishops sold the palace in 1781 purchasing instead a new residence at Addington Present day edit nbsp The Bull s Head on Laud Street a quiet backstreet pub in Old Town The Old Town area now has a large residential and business community 1 There are two secondary schools in the locality Old Palace School and The Write Time School which occupies the buildings of the former St Andrew s Church of England High School Old Town is also home to Croydon town centre s main fire station 1 The area partially overlaps with three conservation areas the Croydon Minster Conservation Area the Church Street Conservation Area and the Central Croydon Conservation Area 1 6 A prominent local business is the House of Reeves an independent furniture store founded in 1867 which gives its name to the road intersection of Reeves Corner between Church Street and Roman Way The company came to widespread national public attention in August 2011 when one of its buildings was destroyed in an arson attack during the 2011 England riots 7 In 2017 the area was the site of a council funded tech incubator scheme with several companies relocating from central London 8 Nearest stations editReeves Corner tram stop Church Street tram stop Wandle Park tram stop West Croydon station Waddon railway stationReferences edit a b c d Old Town masterplan Croydon gov uk 1 December 2014 Retrieved 2 July 2023 Lancaster Brian March 2012 Jean Baptiste Say s 1785 Croydon street plan Croydon Natural History amp Scientific Society Bulletin 144 2 5 Maggs Ken De Athe Paul 1987 The Roman Roads of East Surrey and the Kent Border Westerham North Downs Press pp 40 44 Harris Oliver 2005 The Archbishops Town the making of medieval Croydon Croydon Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society pp 253 6 ISBN 0 906047 20 X Harris 2005 p 254 Thornhill Lilian 1987 Conservation Areas of Croydon Croydon Croydon Society pp 8 13 36 44 ISBN 0 9512713 0 X Adams William Lee 11 August 2011 The London Riots how the community of Croydon consumed itself Time Archived from the original on 12 August 2011 Retrieved 11 February 2018 Moving out London s up and coming office locations Propertyweek com Retrieved 29 January 2018 External links editLondonTown 51 22 23 N 0 06 18 W 51 373 N 0 105 W 51 373 0 105 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Old Town Croydon amp oldid 1193783555, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
