When was croydon founded

More recently, David Bird has speculated that the name might derive from a personal name, Crocus : he suggests a family connection with the documented Chrocus, king of the Alemanni, who allegedly played a part in the proclamation of Constantine as emperor at York in AD The town lies on the line of the Roman road from London to Portslade, and there is some archaeological evidence for small-scale Roman settlement in the area: there may have been a mansio staging-post here.

Later, in the 5th to 7th centuries, a large pagan Saxon cemetery was situated on what is now Park Lane, although the extent of any associated settlement is unknown. By the late Saxon period Croydon was the hub of an estate belonging to the Archbishops of Canterbury. The church and the archbishops' manor house occupied the area still known as "Old Town". The archbishops used the manor house as an occasional place of residence: as lords of the manor they dominated the life of the town well into the early modern period , and as local patrons they continue to have an influence.

Its Domesday assets were: 16 hides and 1 virgate; 1 church, 1 mill worth 5s, 38 ploughs , 8 acres 3. The church had been established in the middle Saxon period, and was probably a minster church , a base for a group of clergy living a communal life. A charter issued by King Coenwulf of Mercia refers to a council that had taken place close to the monasterium meaning minster of Croydon. An Anglo-Saxon will made in about is witnessed by Elfsies, priest of Croydon; and the church is also mentioned in Domesday Book.

The will of John de Croydon, fishmonger, dated 6 December , includes a bequest to "the church of S John de Croydon", the earliest clear record of its dedication. The church still bears the arms of Archbishop Courtenay and Archbishop Chichele, believed to have been its benefactors.

In Archbishop Robert Kilwardby acquired a charter for a weekly market, and this probably marks the foundation of Croydon as an urban centre.

Croydon developed into one of the main market towns of north east Surrey. The market place was laid out on the higher ground to the east of the manor house in the triangle now bounded by High Street, Surrey Street and Crown Hill. By the 16th century the manor house had become a substantial palace, used as the main summer home of the archbishops and visited by monarchs and other dignitaries. The original palace was sold in , by then dilapidated and surrounded by slums and stagnant ponds, and a new residence , at nearby Addington , purchased in its place.

Many of the buildings of the original Croydon Palace survive, and are in use today as Old Palace School. The Parish Church now Croydon Minster is a Perpendicular -style church, which was remodelled in but destroyed in a great fire in , following which only the tower, south porch, and outer walls remained.

A new church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, one of the greatest architects of the Victorian age , and opened in His design loosely followed the previous layout, with knapped flint facing and many of the original features, including several important tombs. In addition to the suffragan Bishop of Croydon, the Vicar of Croydon is an important preferment. Six archbishops lived there between and , when it was sold.

Between and it was the home of the Royal School of Church Music. It is now a conference and banqueting venue. Croydon was a leisure destination in the mid 19th century. In , one of England's most prominent architects, Decimus Burton, designed a spa and pleasure gardens below Beulah Hill and off what is now Spa Hill in a bowl of land on the south-facing side of the hill around a spring of chalybeate water.

Burton was responsible for the Beulah Spa Hotel demolished around and the layout of the grounds. One widely publicised event was a "Grand Scottish Fete" on 16 September "with a tightrope performance by Pablo Fanque, the black circus performer who would later dominate the Victorian circus and achieve immortality in The Beatles song, Being for the Benefit of Mr.

It was destroyed in a spectacular fire in Horse racing in the area took place occasionally, notably during visits of Queen Elizabeth I to the archbishop. Regular meetings became established first on a course at Park Hill in and from at Woodside , where particularly good prizes were offered for the races run under National Hunt rules. In that sphere its prestige was second only to that of Aintree , home of the Grand National. Increasing local opposition to the presence of allegedly unruly racegoers coupled with the need to obtain a licence from the local authority led to it being closed down in He petitioned for and received permission from Queen Elizabeth I to establish a hospital and school in Croydon for the "poor, needy and impotent people" from the parishes of Croydon and Lambeth.

The foundation stone was laid in and the building was completed in The premises included the Hospital or Almshouses, providing accommodation for between 28 and 40 people, and a nearby schoolhouse and schoolmaster's house. There was a Warden in charge of the well-being of the almoners. The building takes the form of a courtyard surrounded by the chambers of the almoners and various offices.

Threatened by various reconstruction plans and road-widening schemes, the Almshouses were saved in by intervention of the House of Lords. On 21 June Queen Elizabeth II visited the Almshouses and unveiled a plaque celebrating the recently completed reconstruction of the building. On 22 March each year the laying of the foundation stone is commemorated as Founder's Day. It is a red brick building with stone dressings. Its three bays are divided by paired Doric pilasters supporting a triglyph frieze and panelled parapet.

The development of Brighton as a fashionable resort in the s increased the significance of Croydon's role as a halt for stage coaches on the road south of London. At the beginning of the 19th century, Croydon became the terminus of two pioneering commercial transport links with London. The first, opened in , was the horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway from Wandsworth , which in was extended to Merstham, as the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway.

The London and Croydon Railway an atmospheric and steam-powered railway opened between London Bridge and West Croydon in , using much of the route of the canal which had closed in Other connections to London and the south followed. The arrival of the railways and other communications advances in the 19th century led to a fold increase in Croydon's population between and This rapid expansion of the town led to considerable health problems, especially in the damp and overcrowded working class district of Old Town.

In response to this, in Croydon became one of the first towns in the country to acquire a Local board of health. The Board constructed public health infrastructure including a reservoir , water supply network, sewers , a pumping station and sewage disposal works.

In Croydon was incorporated as a borough. In it became a county borough, with a greater degree of autonomy. The new county borough council implemented the Croydon Improvement scheme in the early s, which widened the High Street and cleared much of the 'Middle Row' slum area. The remaining slums were cleared shortly after Second World War , with much of the population relocated to the isolated new settlement of New Addington.

New stores opened and expanded in central Croydon, including Allders, Kennards and Grade II listed Grants, as well as the first Sainsbury's self-service shop in the country. There was a market on Surrey Street.

Croydon was the location of London's main airport until the Second World War. During the war, much of central Croydon was devastated by German V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets , and for many years the town bore the scars of the destruction.

After the war, Heathrow Airport superseded Croydon Airport as London's main airport, and Croydon Airport quickly went into a decline, finally closing in By the s, with its continuing growth, the town was becoming congested , and the Council decided on another major redevelopment scheme.

The Croydon Corporation Act was passed in This, coupled with national government incentives for office relocation out of London, led to the building of new offices and accompanying road schemes through the late s and s, and the town boomed as a business centre in the s, with many multi-storey office blocks, an underpass , a flyover and multi-storey car parks. In Croydon celebrated its millennium with a pageant held at Lloyd Park and an exhibition held at the old Croydon Aerodrome.

The growing town attracted many new buildings. The Fairfield Halls arts centre and event venue opened in Croydon developed as an important centre for shopping, with the construction of the Whitgift Centre in The Warehouse Theatre opened in The s saw further changes intended to give the town a more attractive image.

These included the closure of North End to vehicles in and the opening of the Croydon Clocktower arts centre in The Croydon Tramlink began operation in May see Transport section below. The Prospect West office development was built in to , and its remodelling planned in has now been completed.

Renamed Interchange Croydon when it was reopened in , the , square foot office development was the first new grade A office development of its size to open in Croydon for more than 20 years. It was probably after his deprivation, that he was tried at the Old Bailey, and burnt in the hand, for stealing a silver cup. In Smith's Lives of Highwaymen, where this fact is mentioned fn. The highwayman accepted his proposal, and won the gown. Clewer died in fn.

The papers relating to his dispute with the inhabitants of Croydon, are printed at large in the additions to the history of that place fn. The present vicar is the Reverend East Apthorp, D. Author of Letters on the Prevalence of Christianity. A chantry, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was founded in the church of Croydon, about the year fn. The income of this chantry was valued at 14l.

Its revenues appear, by the Survey in the Augmentation Office, to have amounted to 16l. Another chantry, dedicated to St. At the time of the foundation of this chantry, its revenues were valued at 10 marks; in fn. The parish register commences in the year the latter part of it has been kept with great neatness and accuracy, particularly during the incumbency of the present vicar. I found the register so defective during the last century, that it was impossible to obtain an average of ten years together.

By taking a number of detached years, it appeared to be nearly as large as it is at present. The following averages are given in the Appendix to the History of Croydon:. It is said, in the same place, that the upper part of the town was formerly a common field, and had only a bridle way through it. The principal increase of population must have been above a hundred years ago. There are now about houses in this parish.

The number of persons who fell victims to the plague in the last century, is thus specified in the register:. It is recorded in a note, that "from the 11th to the 18th of August , persons died of the plague in London, and the liberties thereof, and that many died in the highways neare about the citie;" and that, "from the 25th of August to the first of September, persons died. Divers other entries, either curious in themselves, or relating to remarkable persons, are here copied, without regard to any other than a chronological arrangement:.

Alexander Barkley, or Barklay, who appears to have been by birth a Scot fn. He is best known by his celebrated Poem called The Ship of Fools, taken from a work of the same name, written in German by Sebastian Brandt.

It is a satire upon the follies of the age. The first edition was printed by Pynson, in Warton, in his History of English Poetry, says, that the stanzas are verbose and prosaic, but that it is a work deserving of attention, as it exhibits, like other satires, a picture of familiar manners, and popular customs.

He adds, that the author's language is more cultivated than that of many of his contemporaries, and that he contributed his share to the improvement of the English phraseology fn. Barkley frequently mentions Croydon in his eclogues. Warton has quoted two of the passages, by one of which it appears, that this place was his residence in the early part of his life—.

Besides his Ship of Fools and his Eclogues, he published also a treatise against Skelton, the poet laureat; the Lives of some of the Saints, and several translations fn. To one of these fn. Archbishop Grindall died at Croydon fn. A short time before his death, being rendered unable, by his blindness and infirmities, to perform the duties of his high station, he was urged to resign the archbishopric, which he consented to do, requesting only that he might reserve to himself the house and park at Croydon, to which place he retired.

No successor however having been appointed till after his death, it is supposed that his resignation never actually took place fn. That whereas Samuel Fynche, vicar of Croydon, lycensed Clemence Kinge, the wife of John Kinge, brewer, to eate fleshe in the time of Lente, by reason of her sicknesse, which lycense beareth date the 29th of Feb. Mosar, churchwarden of the said parish of Croydon, the 7th of March, in the 38th year of the Queen's maj's most gracious reign, and for the registering thereof, there is paid unto the curate 4d.

Archbishop Whitgift's suneral was solemnized in a manner suitable to the splendour in which he had lived; Babington, bishop of Worcester, preached the sermon; the Earl of Worcester and Lord Zouch carried the banners of state fn. It is said, that the archbishop on his first journey into Kent, was attended by a hundred servants, forty of whom wore chains of gold fn. This splendour was thought to be serviceable at that time to the interests of the church, by reconciling the papists to the reformation fn.

It excited, however, the indignation of the puritans, and exposed the archbishop to the censures of Prynne, who handles him very severely on that account. He gave l. This was a younger son of the Lord Admiral, by his second wife Margaret, daughter of James Stewart, Earl of Murray; he afterwards became the third Earl of Nottingham, of the Howard family.

During the civil wars, he attached himself to the parliament; obtained some of the sequestered lands fn. Dugdale fn. His father, who died in , aged 87, being 73 years of age at the time of his birth; and his half-brother, whom he succeeded in , being also named Charles, most probably occasioned this mistake. This was the day of the terrible snow, and the Sonday following a greater. His funeral was with great solemnity kept in the church here, upon the third day of September following, and the next day his corpse was conveyed to Guildford, and there buried according to his will.

Archbishop Sheldon, after he had retired from public business, lived for the most part at Croydon fn. William Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, died at his palace at Lambeth, Jan.

Archbishop Wake was author of many controversial and theological works, of which no one perhaps is better known than his Exposition of the Church Catechism. Archbishop Potter was a man of great learning, and particularly conversant in the Greek language. Many of his theological writings are extant; but the work for which he has been most celebrated is the Antiquities of Greece.

Archbishop Herring was buried in a very private manner, according to his own request; which expressly forbad also, that any monument should be erected to his memory fn. Sir Richard Gurney, the celebrated lord mayor of London, distinguished for his courage, loyalty, and sufferings, during the civil wars, is said by Lloyd fn. It was endowed with lands and tenements, which produced the annual sum of 18l.

The vicar, churchwarden, and four of the principal inhabitants of Croydon, were appointed governors; the masters and wardens of the mercers' company, overseers. The statutes are to be found at large in archbishop Morton's register fn. The founder charges the members to occupy themselves "in praying and in beding, in hering "honest talk, or in labours with there hands, in some other occupations, to the laws and worship of almighti God, and profit to them and there said alms-hous.

The statutes enjoin them "to absteyne, as moch as may be, from vayne and evill woords at mete and souper; and yf they will any thinge talke, that it be honest and profitable. Any person guilty of being custumably dronkley, glotons, rigours amongs his felawes, or haunting taverns, or being unchast of his body, or walking or gazing in the opyn stretis of the towne," to be expelled upon the third offence. The statutes are dated April 27th, The reformation having rendered it necessary to make some alterations in them, they were reviewed by archbishop Parker in the year , and established under his public seal fn.

The alms-house was rebuilt some years ago; the revenues are now about 40l. Archbishop Whitgift, in the year , began the foundation of the hospital at Croydon, which goes by his name. It was finished the 29th of Sept. The schoolmaster, who is likewise chaplain, is allowed by the statutes 20l. The nomination of the brethren and sisters was vested by the the founder in his successors in the see of Canterbury, whom he appointed also to be visitors.

Whenever that see shall happen to be vacant, the rector of Lambeth, and the vicar of Croydon, are to fill up the places. The persons to be admitted, must be sixty years of age at least; inhabitants of Croydon and Lambeth are to be preferred.

Among the crimes to be punished with expulsion, are "obstinate heresye, for"cerye, any kind of charmmynge, or witchcrafte. These drawings are engraved for the History of Croydon, where copies of the instruments themselves, of the statutes of the hospital, and other papers relating thereto, are printed in the Appendix. The building of the hospital cost the archbishop above l. The lands with which it was endowed, were of the annual value of l.

The estates have been much improved, and the revenues of the hospital farther increased, by various benefactions, to the amount of about 40l. The chapel, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity on the 10th of July fn. At the west end, is a portrait of the founder, painted on board, with the following inscription: "Feci quod potui; potui quod, Christe dedisti: Improba fac melius, si potes, invidia.

In the hall, is a copy of The Dance of Death, with coloured drawings, much damaged. There are also three antique wooden goblets; one of them, which holds about three pints, is inscribed with the following legend: "What, sirrah! William Crowe, who was appointed schoolmaster here in , published a catalogue of the English writers on the Old and New Testament, which has been frequently printed fn. Oldham the poet was for three years an usher under John Shepherd, who was appointed schoolmaster in Here he wrote his satires upon the Jesuits, and here he was honoured with a visit from the Earls of Rochester and Dorset, Sir Charles Sedley, and other persons of distinction, who had seen some of his works in MS.

By a very natural mistake, they were introduced to Shepherd the master, who would willingly have taken the honour of the visit to himself, but was soon convinced, to his mortification, that he had neither wit nor learning enough to make a party in such company fn. Henry Mills, who was appointed schoolmaster in , distinguished himself as an opponent to bishop Hoadley, in the most personal and illiberal part of the celebrated Bangorian controversy fn.

The pamphlet which he published on the subject, related to the bishop's receiving into his family as tutor to his children, one Francis de la Pillioniere, a converted Jesuit, who had been usher under him at Croydon. Mills published also "an Essay on Generosity;" a panegyric on public charities. The present chaplain and schoolmaster is the Rev. James Hodgson, who was appointed in There is also an alms-house at Croydon, called the Little Almshouse, where the parish poor are usually placed, towards the rebuilding of which Arnold Goldwell gave 40l.

In the years and , some new buildings, for the reception of twelve poor inhabitants, were added to these alms-houses, with a sum of money given by the late Earl of Bristol, and a voluntary subscription of the principal inhabitants. Archbishop Tenison gave a school-house, and two farms, the revenues of which amount to 53l.

Henry Smith left certain lands and houses to this parish, which produce l. Other benefactions have been given by divers persons, amounting in the whole to about 36l. In the town of Croydon are meeting-houses for the Quakers and Anabaptists, and one for the Presbyterians, which has been for some years unfrequented.

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