Farnborough, London

Summary

Farnborough is a village in south-eastern Greater London, England, and prior to 1965, in the historic county of Kent. Situated south of Locksbottom, west of Green Street Green, north of Downe and Hazelwood, and east of Keston, it is centred 13.4 miles (21.6 km) southeast of Charing Cross.

Farnborough
Farnborough High Street with its village sign
Farnborough is located in Greater London
Farnborough
Farnborough
Location within Greater London
Population14,632 (2011 Census. Farnborough and Crofton Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ445645
• Charing Cross13.4 mi (21.6 km) NW
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townORPINGTON
Postcode districtBR6
Dialling code01689
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°21′33″N 0°04′27″E / 51.3591°N 0.0741°E / 51.3591; 0.0741

Suburban development following the Second World War resulted in the area becoming contiguous with the conurbation of London. The area has formed part of the London Borough of Bromley local authority district since the formation of the ceremonial county of Greater London for administrative purposes in 1965.

History edit

 
The early 18th-century house at Number 5 Church Street, now Grade II listed

The village name derives from Fearnbiorginga, meaning a village among the ferns on the hill.[2] Old records date from 862 when Ethelbert, King of Wessex, gave away 950 acres at Farnborough. The village was not included in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the manor existed in the Middle Ages and was held in the 13th century by Simon de Montfort.[3][2]

The village evolved on the main road from London to Hastings which originally ran via Church Road and Old Hill (to the south of the village). The George pub existed in the 16th century and was used as a coaching inn. Coaches and horses were accommodated later.[3] In 1639 a severe storm destroyed St Giles' Church –it was later rebuilt.[2]

Farnborough formed a civil parish in the Ruxley hundred of Kent. In 1840 the parish was included in the Metropolitan Police District. It was part of the Bromley rural sanitary district and went on to form part of the Bromley Rural District from 1894 to 1934. The parish was abolished in 1934 as part of a county review order, following the Local Government Act 1929, and its area was split between the Municipal Borough of Bromley (3 acres) and Orpington Urban District (1,426 acres). The entire area has formed part of the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London since 1965.[4] The population of the parish was as follows:

Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931
Population[5] 314 452 553 638 680 920 955 1,086 1,451 1,627 2,262 3,210 3,322 4,373

Suburban development occurred in the post-Second World War years, resulting in the former village becoming contiguous with the London conurbation, however Green Belt legislation prevented any further development southwards.[2]

In film edit

On 1 May 1933, British Pathé released As Befits a Romany Queen.[6] The subject was the funeral of Urania Boswell, wife of Levi Boswell, of Willow Walk, behind Princess Royal University Hospital, on 24 April. She was the last Queen of the Kent (England) Gypsies (Romani People). The film lasts just under two minutes, and follows the cortege into Saint Giles the Abbott Church, where the gravestone may still be found, very near to the war memorial.

Transport edit

 
The Church of Saint Giles in Farnborough

Rail edit

The nearest National Rail station to Farnborough is Orpington, located 1.7 miles away.

Buses edit

Farnborough is served by two London Buses routes.

Notable residents edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Bromley Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Willey, Russ (2006). The London Gazetteer. Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. pp. 172–3.
  3. ^ a b "Farnborough Village Society". Farnboroughvillage.info. Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  4. ^ Great Britain Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Farnborough (historic map). Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  5. ^ Great Britain Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Farnborough population. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  6. ^ Film identification No.:705.07; media urn: 6136
  7. ^ "Birthdate and Biographical detail". the Football League official website. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  8. ^ "Biography of Nigel Farage at the European Parliament". European Parliament. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  9. ^ GRO Register of Births DEC 1936 2a 1038 BROMLEY - James Hanratty, mmn = Wilson
  10. ^ Thomson, Alice; Sylvester, Rachel (9 June 2018). "Ben Wallace: we don't set out to kill terrorists". The Times.

External links edit

  • Farnborough Parish WEB Site