Roman Croydon

Roman Road to Portslade passed through Croydon.

Saxon Croydon

809 Reference to a minister of Croydon

871 Reference to Crogdene
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Norman Croydon

1086 In Domesday Book Croydon had a population of about 365, a church and a mill.
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Medieval Croydon

1273 Charter granted to Croydon Market.. Held between Surrey Street, Crown Hill & High Street. House grew around market on Market Street & Middle Row (later Street). Between these ran a range of alleyways.

1347 Reference to the Church of St. John de Croydon

ca1450 Great Hall added to Croydon Palace.
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Tudor Croydon

1596 After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Britain suffered bad harvests and wounded soldiers. Archbishop John Whitgift (c. 1530-1604) received permission from Queen Elizabeth I to build a hospital and a school in Croydon.



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Stuart Croydon

1640 Reference to the Ship Inn (rebuilt in 1835)
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Georgian Croydon

1726 Vestry of Croydon built first workhouse on Duppas Hill.

1752 Rose & Crown opened in Wallington.

c. 1785 Print of Croydon Palace 



1800 Topographical Map Of The Country Twenty Miles Round London (Croydon section showing proposed canal)

1801 Census: population was 5,743
Archbishops moved from Croydon Palace to Addington Palace
Act passed to build a canal from Thames to Croydon.

1803 Surrey Iron Railway opened for horse-drawn freight from Wandsworth.

1805 Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Iron Railway opened for horse-drawn freight.

1809 Croydon Canal opened. Ran from a junction with the Grand Surrey Canal near new Cross Gate to a basin on a site now occupied by West Croydon station and adjoining bus station. With 28 locks grouped into two flights, and numerous swing bridges, the canal linked the Thames to Croydon via Forest Hill, Sydenham, and Anerley.

1811 Population of Croydon was 7,900.

1834 Butchers Row renamed Surrey Street.

1835 The Ship Inn on High Street rebuilt.

1836 Croydon Canal closed.
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Early Victorian Croydon

1839 (West) Croydon station opened as the terminus of the London & Croydon Railway.

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.
Line from Croydon Town station extended to Epsom.

1849 New St John’s church built (destroyed in 1867)

1849-51 Croydon Board of Health formed after 1848 Public Health Act

1851 River Wandle culverted (now Wandle Park).
Surrey Street Waterworks opened.
Croydon Town station renamed West Croydon.

1854 New Shirley windmill built.

1855 Branch line from West Croydon to Mitcham Junction & Wimbledon

1859 Theatre Royal opened on Crown Hill.

1866 Croydon Fair on Fair Field banned.
Land bought by Brighton Railway Company.
Second gasworks built.
Croydon Racecourse opened near Lower Addisconbe Road

1867 Allders opened as a drapers shop by Joshia Allder.
 St John’s damaged by fire.
Park Hill water tower built.

1868 Croydon School of Art opened above Public Halls in George Street.
Central Croydon Station opened (closed 1871).

1870 Allders Store expanded into 104, 106 and 107 North End.

1871 Woodside Station opened to serve Croydon Racecourse

1872 St John’s rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott.

1877 Ramsey Court almshouses built on Church Street.

Late Victorian Croydon

1881 Census: Population of Croydon was 78,947.
Mayday Road Infirmary (later Hospital) opened on London Road.

1883 Croydon became a corporation.

1884 Woodside & South Croydon Railway built by Joseph Firbank with three tunnels.
High Street Improvement Committee set up.

1886 Central Croydon Station re-opened

1888 Pitlake Technical Institute formed (later Croydon Polytechnic)

1889 Croydon became a county borough. Now included Norbury, Upper and South Norwood, Addiscombe, Waddon, Selhurst, and Thornton Heath.

1890 Croydon Racecourse closed by Croydon Borough.
Wandle Park acquired
Central Croydon Station closed. Now Queen’s Gardens.
Croydon Improvement Act cleared away slums in Middle Row. High Street widened from 29 ft to 50ft. NB some old buildings remain 13-17 Crown Hill & “Butchers Row” 34-38 Surrey Street.

1891 Relics of Old Croydon - John Ollis Pelton published by Roffey & Clare Stationers of Croydon. Pictorial record of medieval houses around Middle Row that disappeared in slum clearance.

1894 Grants Department Store opened at 14-18 High Street.

1895 East Croydon station rebuilt
National Palace of Varieties opened in North End (demolished in 1959)

1896 Third Town Hall built with Clocktower added. Designed by Charles Henman Junior.
Croydon A Power Station

1898 East Croydon & New Croydon stations merged into a single station but with 2 booths. Edwardian photo of station shown below.

Edwardian Croydon

1901 Electric tramway opened between Norbury & Purley via London Road, North End & High Street.



1906 West Croydon - Sutton tram route opened.

1907 Peggy Ashcroft born in Croydon.
Colourised photo of Tram 49 of the South Metropolitan Electric Tramways and Lighting Co. Ltd at Tamworth Road, West Croydon.



1908  Station Picture Hall opened on Station Road, West Croydon. It was Croydon’s first cinema.
Film director David Lean born at 38 Blenheim Crescent, South Croydon.
Allders sold to J. W. Holdron and F. C. Bearman, owners of Holdrons, Peckham. Store developed into 50 departments with 500 staff.

1909 Electric Theatre cinema opened at 108 North End.

1910 New Theatre Royal on Crown Hill renamed Hippodrome.



Swan Electric Theatre cinema opened at 3 Brighton Road.
1911 Population of Croydon was 169,551.

1913 Photo of Star Inn, 152 London Road, Croydon.



William expanded E. Reeves Ltd from the original premises, 120 Church Street, into neighbouring properties.

Croydon in WWI.

1914 Orpheum cinema opened at 1 Surrey Street.
Scala Cinema opened at 16-18 North End.

1915 October 13: Nine people died & many more were seriously injured in a Zeppelin attack.
Dec: Beddington aerodrome established for defence of London during First World War.

1917 Station Picture Hall closed.

Interwar Croydon

1920 Feb: RAF left Beddington. March: Commercial operations started at Croydon Aerodrome (ex-Beddington).

1921 Croydon Cenotaph unveiled on Katherine Street. Designed by James Burford. Figures by Paul Raphael Montford (1868-1938).

1924 Imperial Airways established at Croydon Aerodrome for International flights. 
Purley Way bypass opened.  

1927 Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) arrived in Spirit of St Louis at Croydon Aerodrome  to be greeted by a crowd of over 100,000 people. Nine days earlier he had crossed the Atlantic Ocean single-handed.

1928 Davis Picture Theatre opened 73 High Street. Designed by Robert Cromie (1887-1971?). 2nd largest cinema in UK.



New complex of buildings added to Croydon airport, including the first purpose-designed airport terminal and air traffic control tower, the world's first airport hotel, and extensive hangars. 



1930s Grants Department Store opened (14-18 High Street). 

1930 Amy Johnson (1903-1941) flew solo from Croydon Airport to Australia in 20 days.

1931 Census: Population of Croydon was 233,115.

1933 New station for West Croydon

1935 Purley Way Lido opened.
Film (3:40 Youtube) of Imperial Airways Handley Page flight operations at Croydon Airport .
Trolleybuses introduced in Croydon. Route ran between Sutton and West Croydon.

1936 Savoy cinema opened by ABC at 225 London Road, Broad Green.

1938 FILM (3:28) of Croydon Airport in its heyday 
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Croydon in WWII

1940-1 Croydon bombed during the Blitz.

1941 Croydon Municipal offices for Water & Electricity opened.

1944-5 45,000 houses damaged in Croydon by 141 flying bombs.

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Postwar Croydon

1950 Croydon B Power Station by Robert Atkinson opened. Chimneys remain (Ikea store).

1955 Croydon Technical College (later known as Croydon College of Design and Technology) built on Park Lane. Designed by David Beaty-Pownall.

1956 Croydon Corporation Act
Led to expansion of Croydon high rise offices.
Eros Cinema (previously Theatre Royal) opened

1959 High Street widened and Davis Theatre demolished.
Croydon Technical College opened (amalgamation of Croydon Poly & College of Art .
Croydon Airport closed.
Trolleybus discontinued in Croydon



1962 Fairfield Halls opened on Park Lane. Designed by David Beaty-Pownall (1904- 1993) of Robert Atkinson & Partners and is 'indebted to the Festival Hall in its elevations and section'. Halls included Ashcroft theatre (755 seats) and Arnhem Gallery, and the concert hall (1801 seats). 

1963 March 21: The Beatles played The Regal, Broad Green, as support band for Tommy Roe and Chris Montez.
April 25: The Beatles played the Fairfield Halls with Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and The Big Three as part of the Mersey Beat Showcase event, which took place in the ballroom.



September 7: The Beatles played the Fairfield Halls again.
c.1963 Second Crawdaddy Club opened at The Star, 152 London Road.  Groups featured included the Yardbirds, John Mayall and The Who. 

196? Croydon Magistrates Court buildings. Designed by David Beaty-Pownall.

1964 St George’s House, a 79-metre (259 ft) office tower, opened on Park Lane. Also St George's Walk (partially covered) shopping parade. Both designed by architects Ronald Ward and Partners. 

1965 Work started on Whitgift Centre. Designed by Charles Anthony Minoprio (1900-1988).
Aug: Ornette Coleman recorded live at the Fairfield Halls audio clip

1967 Feb: Jimi Hendrix Experience played The Star Hotel, 152 London Road.  

1968 Sept: The Nice (with Dave O’List) filmed at the Fairfield Halls (31:12). Shown on Colour Me Pop on BBC TV. 
Photo of central Croydon flyover.

1969 Greyhound Club opened at St George’s House, 22-24 Park Lane. Blues & Rock groups.
17 Oct: The Nice recorded live with London Sinfonia at the Fairfield Halls.



Dec: Delaney & Bonnie with Eric Clapton, recorded live at Fairfield Halls.

1970 Whitgift Centre opened on three storeys. The upper two for retail, and the basement for vehicle access to all retail units.  With 1,302,444 sq ft of retail space it was the largest covered shopping development in London.



The NLA Tower (later 1 Croydon) opened at 12–16 Addiscombe Road.  Designed by Richard Seifert (1910-2001) with 23 multangular storeys. 



Sept: Free recorded live at Fairfield Halls.

1976 Allders Department Sore had 1,700 staff and 500,000 sq ft of retail space. Third largest UK department store after Harrods & Selfridges. 

1977 Warehouse Theatre opened in a converted Victorian warehouse on Dingwall Road with 50 seats.

1978 Cartoon music venue opened at , 179-183 London Road (closed in 2006).

1979 Purley Way Lido closed.

1981 The Masked Orchestra band formed by Kevin McCrea (b. 1953) in Croydon.

1985 Grants Department Store 14-18 High Street closed down.  

1989 North End pedestrianised.

1992 New East Croydon station. Designed by Alan Brookes Associates with the structural engineers YRM Anthony Hunt Associates.

1994 Clocktower arts complex opened including the David Lean arthouse cinema.

2000 Tramlink introduced with routes from Croydon to New Addington, Croydon to Beckenham Junction and Elmers End to Wimbledon. First tram system in London since 1952.
Old Grants Department Store re-developed into an entertainment centre. 

2004 Croydon General hospital demolished.

2010 West Croydon stations now served by London Overground as well as mainline trains.

2011 House of Reeves bunt down in England Riots, later rebuilt.

2012 Rotunda built on the south side of Croydon College building alongside modernisation of the rest of the building. 
Allders Department store went into administration.
Warehouse Theatre on Dingwall Road closed.

2016 Boxpark Croydon opened by East Croydon Station.
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Books
Victorian Croydon Illustrated - John B. Gent (CNH&SS 1979)
Croydon Between the Wars - John B. Gent (1986)
Edwardian Croydon Illustrated - John B. Gent (CNH&SS 1981) 1990
Croydon A Pictorial History - John B. Gent (Phillimore 1991)
Croydon Tramways - John B Gent et al (Middleton Press 1994)
Croydon Trolleybuses - Terry Russell (Middleton Press 1979)
Surrey Street, Croydon - Vivien Lovett (Frosted Earth 1995)
Croydon Old & New - John B Gent (CNH&SS 1996)
Croydon Airport: (Archive Photographs) - MJ Hooks (History Press 1997)
Rockin Around Croydon - Chris Groom (1999) 
Croydon From Above 1870-1999 - John B Gent (CNH&SS 1999)
Croydon in 1940s & 1950s - John B Gent (CNH&SS 2000)
Croydon’s Transport Through the Ages - John B Gent (CNH&SS 2001)
Book of Addiscombe - John B Gent (Halsgrove 2001)
A Century of Croydon - John B Gent (Sutton 2000)
Croydon Past - John B Gent (Phillimore 2002)
Croydon Airport: The Peaceful Years - MJ Hooks (History Press 2002)
Croydon Tramways - Robert J Harley (Capital 2004)
Croydon Cinemas - Allen Ayles (History Press 2006)
The Wood That Made London - C.J. Schüler (Sandstone Press 2021)

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