Croydon history

The court-house, of which the upper story was used for the trial of civil causes and the ground floor as a criminal court, was built in 1809.

The Lambeth Parochial School in Elder Road was founded in 1815.

39) Spa Hill and Spa Road mark the site of Beulah Spa, opened in 1831.

The Reform Act of 1832, the first of three major reform bills of the 19th century, stripped many old boroughs of their representation and created many new ones centred on industrial towns.

The reform of municipal corporations in 1835 gave English boroughs a uniform constitution and transformed them into modern units of local government.

1841 (East) Croydon station opened on new London & Brighton Railway.

1842 Duppas Hill Workhouse expanded.

1846 Croydon station renamed East Croydon station after amalgamation of the London & Croydon Railway and the London & Brighton Railway.

1847 (West) Croydon station renamed Croydon Town.

Among other modern buildings in Croydon mention may be made of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in St James' Road, founded in 1850.

Our Research Room holds an excellent collection of Croydon Street Directories dating back to 1851.

The Westmorland School on Tulse Hill, founded by the Westmorland Society, was opened in 1854.

The building underwent a general repair in the earlier years of the 19th century, and was further 'restored' in 1860, at which date all the chimney-stacks were rebuilt, with the exception of that on the north side of the gatehouse in the eastern range.

1863 South Croydon station opened.

After parts of White Flats were surveyed in 1868 many parcels of land were bought and the first shelters built.

The new church was designed by esteemed Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1870.

The Royal Normal College for the Blind was founded in 1871 and first occupied a house near the Low Level railway station, but its rapid growth necessitated its removal to the buildings on Westow Hill. (fn.

40) The Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum at Knight's Hill, West Norwood, was built in 1876.

Late Victorian Croydon 1881 Mayday Road Infirmary (later Hospital) opened.

Croydon’s electoral registers first began in 1883 they were annual registers listing local government electors.

The old buildings are now used for the infants' school; the new buildings were opened in 1885.

25) In 1887, however, the palace was sold to the Duke of Newcastle and by him presented to the community of the Sisters of the Church, who now carry on a higher grade day school for girls there.

The Local Government Act of 1888 established county boroughs, which—unlike municipal boroughs—were empowered to act independently of administrative counties.

Besides the usual municipal offices and courts it contains the Croydon Library, founded in 1890, which now includes about 40,000 volumes.

The present building was opened on 4 March 1891.

The present town hall was erected in 1893–4 on the site of the former Central Croydon railway station, in the Renaissance style with a lofty tower.

The Croydon Tramways Company was incorporated in 1894. (fn.

4) In 1896, in Edridge Road, south of the town hall, a most valuable discovery was made of Teutonic, possibly Frankish, interments, with weapons, armour and pottery. (fn.

The New York legislature adopted the name when in 1897 it combined five large areas known as the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Richmond (Staten Island) to form the city of Greater New York.

Other local governments did the same — Fulham and Hackney councils both opened power stations in 1901 and operated for many decades before being absorbed into the wider, national system.⁵ ⁶ The scale and independence of the network in Croydon ensured greater longevity.

In 1809 a town hall was built to replace the old market-house, pulled down in 1807 (see below). This building stood in High Street, and was in a pseudo-classical style. It also contains the great series of views belonging to the Photographic Survey and Record Society of Surrey, which was founded in 1902 for the systematic record of architectural and picturesque features of the county.

1) At Waddon in 1903 a discovery was made of three beehive-shaped chambers in the Thanet Sand, of a kind unknown elsewhere in England.

Land bought by Brighton Railway Company. It passed through London Road, North End & the High Street 1906 West Croydon - Sutton tram route opened.

J. M. Hobson, M.B., B.Sc., for many notes and much information concerning the palace and for lending a copy of his article in the Reliquary of October 1909, in which he gives a full description and history of the palace.

A market was established in 1920 where livestock was auctioned and household items could be purchased on ‘Market Mondays’.

From 1921 shops were no longer built from timber as Main Street was declared a ‘brick’ area.

Eros Cinema (previously Theatre Royal) opened 1959 Croydon Technical College opened (amalgamation of Croydon Poly & College of Art . Croydon Airport closed.

The present borough was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former county borough of Croydon and the adjacent district of Coulsdon and Purley.

After consulting with leading members of the Croydon business community and Croydon Council, in 1983 Croydon Business Venture Limited (“CBV”) was formed to help individuals start their own businesses.

In 1988, CBV moved to Acorn House, which was opened by CBV’s Patron, Bernard Weatherill.

In 1994 the Shire of Croydon became part of the new City of Maroondah with the amalgamation of the Cities of Ringwood, Croydon and parts of North Ringwood, Lilydale and Kilsyth South.

Croydon went through its own identity crisis in 1987, its community feeling that the borough lacked a personality that made it unique. It originally opened in 1995 under the poetic name Lifetimes.

With the agency’s ongoing expansion plans, in 2003 initial meetings commenced with Barratt Homes and Croydon Council utilising a Section 106 agreement.

In 2005 the s106 agreement was entered into whereby part of the development, meant that Barratts Homes would have to build the shell of the building for CBV at no cost, with the condition that the agency had to completely fit it out.

Subsequently, in September 2008 following discussions and financial support from Croydon Enterprise, CBV opened a new Enterprise Opportunity floor at Park House, 22 Park Street, Croydon.