Chatterton Road, Bromley Common, 1974

Chatterton Road, Bromley Common, photographed in 1974

Chatterton Road was part of a piecemeal development of small houses beginning in the 1860s as a direct result of the railway at Bromley in 1858.

Chatterton Road, named after the poet Thomas Chatterton, soon became the main shopping centre for the district.

Sedgwick the butchers was established in 1934, but there had been a butcher's shop on this corner since the 1880s until recent conversion to a restaurant.

Other early arrivals were a baker, a laundry, a draper and two greengrocers.

Today although the usual charity shops and take-aways predominate, there is still a good range of small shops including bakers and a laundrette, providing continuity throughout the last 120 years.

Copyright: Kentish Times

See historic maps of Bromley Common