The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868

"BROMLEY, a parish and market town in the hundred of Bromley and Beckenham, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, in the county of Kent, 10 miles to the S.E. of London, and 42 from Sydenham. It is a station on the London and Bickley branch of the South-Eastern railway, and also on the Dover and Chatham line. The parish is situated in a pleasant country on the banks of the Ravensbourne, and has been a possession of the see of Rochester for above a thousand years, the manor having been given to the bishop by Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the 8th century. The possession was interrupted, but only for a short time, by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who seized and held the manor after the Conquest, till 1076.

The town consists chiefly of one street, extending along the high road to Tonbridge Wells, on the N. bank of the Ravensbourne, and before the construction a railway was the seat of a large posting trade. The to is paved and lighted with gas, and contains many pretty and well-built houses. In the market place is an old market-house supported on pillars. There are also a police court and a savings-bank. Bromley is the seat of a Poor-law Union for 17 parishes, the head of a registration and County Court district, and a polling place for the western division of the county. Petty sessions are held in the town, for the western division of the county, the second Monday in every month.

The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Canterbury, of the value of £160, in the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester. The church of St. Peter is a spacious edifice, with a massive embattled tower and a peal of eight bells, partly rebuilt about 1795, and repaired in 1830. It is partly in the perpendicular style, but has been much altered. It contains an old Norman font and some interesting monuments; among which are those of Dr. Zachary Pearce, and other bishops of Rochester; of Dr. Hawkesworth, author of "The Adventurer;" and of the wife of Dr. Johnson. There are several monumental brasses. The entrance gate to the churchyard affords a good example of the ancient liche-gates by which, in former times, the corpse was borne into the burial-ground. A church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was erected on Bromley Common in 1841. It is a handsome structure in the Gothic style of architecture. The curacy,* worth £132, is in the gift of the Bishop of Worcester.

In the town are chapels belonging to the Independents and Wesleyan Methodists, and a literary institution. A college was founded and endowed here in 1666 by John Warner, Bishop of Rochester, for the support of 20 widows of clergymen, and a chaplain. The funds of the charity having been largely increased by later bequests, the number of inmates has been doubled. Each inmate receives £38 a year, besides an allowance for coals and candles; the management of the charity is vested in trustees. The college stands at the northern entrance to the town; its revenue amounts to about £2,000 per annum. The other charitable endowments of the parish, including the income (£40) of a free school, amount to about £42 per annum.

Bromley Palace, situated on a hill near the town, is a plain brick building, erected on the site of the ancient palace of the bishops of Rochester, which had fallen into decay, in 1777. It is now the residence of Coles Child, Esq., who is lord of the manor. In the grounds is a chalybeate spring, once in high repute, and called St. Blaise's Well, after the patron saint of an ancient oratory established near it. The bishops of Rochester have their seat now at Danbury Palace, in Essex. There are many seats of the gentry in the neighbourhood, among which are Bickley Park, Eden Farm, Hayes Place, Langley Park, Sundridge Park, &c. Thursday is the market day. A cattle fair is held once a month. Extensive fairs for live stock also take place, in Widmore Lane and near the church, on the 14th February and the 5th August. Races are held annually in the month of September."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]