How trams and the Second World War changed a long stretch of the Brockley Road
We recently picked up this postcard of a part of the Brockley Road which is almost unrecognisable today.
On the left, in the far distance between the trees, you can see the railway bridge over the Brockley Road, by Brockley station. At that time, the bridge was the location of Brockley Lane station, which closed to passengers in 1917 but continued as a goods station until 1970.
The spire of a church is clearly visible behind the row of buildings. This was the Wesleyan Methodist Church which stood on the corner of Harefield Road for many years. Built around 1877, it was badly damaged by bombing in World War II, but the congregation continued to meet in the hall next to the church until 1954, when they were warned that the whole structure might collapse. Post-war, like so many bombed buildings, the bombed church itself became a playground for local children, and locals complained regularly of the dangers it presented.
In 1958 Mrs Mary Westford, who lived in Harefield Road told the Kent Messenger “I was always chasing the children away but they still managed to climb in. They have been very lucky that there hasn't been an accident for the floor is rotten and the place is slowly falling to pieces. It could only have been a matter of time before a child was seriously injured there.” The newspaper reported, ‘Only a fortnight ago a fire brigade was called to the Church to put out a fire started by mischievous children’.
That year it was announced that the ruined church was to be demolished. Royal Mail offices are on the site today.
This photograph was taken before 1911 – that is clear from the absence of tram lines in the road; trams ran along the Brockley Road from 1911 until 1952. Their arrival meant major changes. This pre-1911 Brockley Road, seen here, was too narrow for them, and the railway bridge was too low. To get round this, the council was given powers to take parts of front gardens and business forecourts to widen the road. Homeowners and shopkeepers were paid compensation. For instance, as the owner of numbers 199-235, Mr J Hawke, was paid the grand sum of £55. Frontage was bought wherever necessary from various properties on both sides, down to Stanstead Road.
Rather than rebuild the railway bridge at Brockley Cross, the road under the bridge was lowered, making a deeper dip which can easily be seen today.
As to the houses, the postcard shows numbers 201 to 251; today only 201 to 211 remain. No. 213 and 219-227, were so badly damaged by bombing in October 1940 that they had to be demolished. In March 1945, Nos 231-5, were heavily damaged, and 237-251 had to be demolished after a V2 strike. After the war they were all replaced by Chestnut House, Holly Tree House and Conifer House, pictured above.
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