In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Penge like this:
PENGE, a village and a chapelry in Battersea parish, Surrey. The village stands adjacent to the boundary with Kent, to the London and Brighton railway, and to the London, Chatham, and Dover railway, near the Crystal Palace, 4 miles N N E of Croydon; includes new streets on what was formerly a common with picturesque oaks; and has a post-office, ‡ of the name of Penge, under London S E, and railway stations with telegraph, of the names of Penge-Bridge and Penge-Lane. ...
The chapelry contains also the Crystal Palace, with its r. station, and the Anerley hotel and tea gardens, with their r. station; and it ranks politically as a hamlet of Battersea. Acres, 840. Pop. in 1851, 1, 169; in 1861, 5,015. Houses, 668. Pop. in 1868, nearly 10,000. Villas are very numerous; and King William IV.'s naval asylum, the Watermen's alms-houses, and the North Surrey industrial school are here. The naval asylum is for decayed widows of naval officers, and was founded by Queen Adelaide. The Watermen's alms-houses were built in 1850, at a cost of £5,000; and comprise 41 residences. The industrial school is for the parishes north-ward to the Thames; occupies a plot of 7 acres, with farm and kitchen garden; and, at the census of 1861, had748 inmates. The chapelry is threefold, consisting of Penge-proper, Upper Penge, and one formed in 1868. The livings are p. curacies in the diocese of Winchester. Value of Penge, £750; * of Upper Penge, £800. Patrons of both, Trustees. Penge church, or St. John's, is a modern edifice, in the decorated English style; and consists of nave, aisles, transepts, and chancel, with tower and spire. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans, and national schools.
Penge through time
Penge is now part of Bromley district. Click here for graphs and data of how Bromley has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Penge itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Penge, in Bromley and Surrey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/164
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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