Local Roads and Place Names.

These family names have been remembered in our road names as, of course, has CATOR itself. BLAKENEY and MONIVEA have associations with Ireland. Albemarle Cator married Elizabeth BLAKENEY of MONIVEA, Ireland, in 1834. The three large farms of FOXGROVE, COPERS COPE and KENT HOUSE have present road names, and between the two latter farms were fields and meadows with the names of REDDONS, ALDERSMEAD, BARNMEAD, PLAWSFIELD, LAWN, BRACKLEY and WORSLEY which have now given us

A lasting link in roads with these names. Other roads on the north side of Beckenham Road are named after farms in that area; THAYERS FARM, ELM FARM, ROWDEN and CHAFFINCH.

Beckenham Place was once described as situated on Stumps Hill, and today we have STUMPS HILL LANE, which runs off the Southend Road into Worsley Bridge Road, and WESTGATE ROAD was the west drive entrance to Beckenham Place Park.

Kelsey Manor estate dates back to the beginning of the 15th century and the Brograve family. A recent cul-de-sac off Wickham Road has been named BROGRAVE GARDENS. Many roads on this estate are very familiar: KELSEY PARK ROAD, KELSEY PARK AVENUE, KELSEY WAY, KELSEY SQUARE, MANOR WAY, BURRELL ROW (at the bottom of the High Street) with MANOR VIEW just round the corner from where, at one time, there was a clear view of Kelsey Manor. PARK FARM COURT, at the top end of Wickham Road, stands on the site of the former Kelsey Park Fark.

Along the Croydon Road there were farm fields belonging to Peter Burrell in 1762 named GREAT GROVELAND and BROOM FIELD, while further back in 1685 there were farm fields named ALLEN, GREENWAYS, THE MEAD and MEADWA Y, and although these are words in common use, our local roads with these names are possibly named after these fields. There was an ABBOTS FARM shown on maps of the 16th century.

This would be an appropriate place to mention MONKS ORCHARD and HOLLY LODGE which was part of that estate. The Loyd family were the original owners of Monks Orchard, and I think that LLOYDS WAY was named after them, although the spelling is different. At the back of Holly Lodge we have HOLLY CRESCENT and LODGE GARDENS (off Eden Way). STANHOPE was a family related to the Edens and Pitts.

Eden Park mansion stood on the present site of CREASE PARK, named after Aldennan J. Crease, our Second Substitute Charter Mayor. We have not many road names associated with this property except, of course, EDEN ROAD, EDEN PARK AVENUE, WELLHOUSE ROAD and STANHOPE GROVE. Nearby is WHITMORE ROAD, the road from Croydon Road leading to Whitmore’s house in Kelsey Lane, now known as ‘Beau Lodge’.

Park Langley has several roads named after former occupiers of Langley. STYLE(S) WAY, after the Style family of the 16th century; ELWILL WAY Sir John Elwill married Elizabeth Style; and on the border, GOODHART WAY