Brockley
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Brockley was once a small settlement on the borders of Lewisham and Deptford, but now stretches from Lewisham Way to Forest Hill. The site of the original Brockley is now called Crofton Park, after the railway station there. Brockley may mean "Broca's clearing in the woods" or perhaps "the clearing by the brook".

Before the area was built up, the principal buildings in Brockley were Brockley Farm, Brockley Hall (a large private residence), and the Brockley Jack public house. The Brockley Jack was formerly a picturesque wooden building, and was said to have been a haunt of highwaymen. It was owned by the Noakes family, brewers, who lived at Brockley Hall.

The northern part of Brockley was owned by the Tyrwhitt-Drake family who developed the Wickham Drake and Tywhitt-Drake Estate in the 19th century. The Brockley Cemetery opened in 1858 to serve the growing population of Deptford.

Open Spaces:

Archive Collection pages with connections to Brockley:

People with connections to Brockley:
The author David Lodge grew up in Brockley, which appears as "Brickley" in some of his novels. The footballer Ian Wright grew up in Brockley and New Cross. The poet and painter David Jones (1895-1974) lived in Howson Road for much of his life.

Pages with connections to Brockley:

For more information, pictures and maps, see our Ideal Homes webpages at http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/assets/histories/brockley

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